Not deported

This may seem like a funny story to some, but I had to beg, borrow and steal just to board a flight that I had already paid for.

The story goes like this: :unamused:

Even though I know Taiwan is sticky about letting you into the country without an onward ticket if you donā€™t have and ARC/multiple-entry visa or any other visa, I figured Iā€™d probably be okay because, in the past, all I had to do if they questioned me at the airport was provide proof of residence and/or provide a bank or visa card that proved I could indeed buy another ticket out of the country when and if I had to.

With me so far? Iā€™ve been through this before, and last two times it was Korea and once before with Taiwanā€¦never a problem at Taiwan or Korea immigrationā€¦ever!

So these guys in the Philippines tell me no way are we letting you on the flight without an onward ticket. After about an hour of screwing around, they finally send me upstairs where a China Airlines staffer places a personal call to CA in Taiwan, explaining my situation, behaving as if itā€™s the first time they have ever seen this kind of thing. :noway:

Anyway, after producing my now expired ARC and my bank card AND my cell-phone number ANDā€¦my girlfriendā€™s cell numberā€¦ANDā€¦promising to pay for an onward ticket to Hong Kong that they had booked for me as soon as I touched down in Taiwan (they would ā€œinterceptā€ me before immigration :loco: ). They finally agreed to let me board the flight. :notworthy:

So I arrive in Taiwan, a little nervous about the whole thing because I had to do all this running around before I even went throught customs. I look around for the interceptor people, assuming they would be CA staff, and nobody is there.

So I go to the counter between the two rows of immigration booths and tell them my story. The woman says ā€œAha!ā€ And patches me through to China Airlines. And get this; This is what they tell me after all of that B.S. ā€œWhy donā€™t you just try to go through immigration, and if they stop you. come back and phone us and weā€™ll issue you the HK ticket.ā€

:astonished:

Well! Off I go to immigration now. By this time the whole flight had already passed though and there was just little ā€˜ole me and some weird looking chick. So now itā€™s my turn and I chose my immigration officer carefully; young, kindaā€™ casual and looking basically disinterested (him, not me).

I get there and heā€™s checking out my passport, ticket, and that little paper that you have to fill out, disembarkation card or whatever. Then he says ā€œNo visa?ā€ I said ā€œNo. They told me at China Air to just try to go through and see waht happens. But Iā€™ll buy an onward ticket if I have to.ā€

Then the guy just looks at me and grins, stamps my passport for a 30-day visa and tells me to have a nice day. Iā€™m Canadian BTW.

The real message here? Even though I know there are problems with the above situation, why then do the airlines, and for that matter immigration, sell you roundtrip tickets and approve your exit from the country without once mentioning that Iā€™ll need an onward ticket in order to get back into the country without any hassles? Basically, they expect everyone just to know all the rules. Things like that arenā€™t exacty common knowledge.

The way I finally convinced the guy in the Philippines to let me use the second half of my roundtrip ticket was to say; I paid for this ticket and Iā€™m going to use it. NOBODY actually told me at anytime that I needed another ticket just to use this one.

Iā€™m not naive. I am a frequent flyer whoā€™s had his share of ups and downs. But even the most ardent opponents of what I have just reported have to agree that my last statement does hold some water.

If an airline brings you to a country where youā€™re not entitled to be then they have to bear the cost of flying you to somewhere where you are entitled to be.

So when you check in the staff are usually instructed to ensure that you have everything you need to gain admittance at your destination. The guy at the check-in knows that you need either a visa or an onward ticket to be allowed into Taiwan, and that if you donā€™t have either then you may be refused entry and heā€™ll be in the shit for costing his employers money.

The problem is just some poor low-level guy trying to cover his arse. Itā€™s worse when youā€™re argueing with someone who thinks you need a visa when you donā€™t. Itā€™s worse still when they forget and you do get caught.

I once landed in NZ without an onward ticket, and was refused entry. Qantas sent someone down to solve the problem and I was given a choice between a) getting on the next flight to the UK at their expense, and b) buying a return ticket to Australia.

Having a ticket out of NZ would almost satisfy the immigration people, but as I wouldnā€™t be allowed into Oz without a flight out I had to buy a return ticket - which would have brought me back to NZ :loco:

I explained that I had only left Australia because they wouldnā€™t extend my visa any more, and the Qantas woman went and got me an electronic one in about five minutes. :unamused:

Then I told them that I was waiting for some money that was owed to me. I couldnā€™t afford to buy a return ticket to Oz at full price and still have enough money to live on for a month. The reply from the immigration guy was that I only had to buy the ticket to show it to him, and that I was free to go to the airline office and get a refund the following day. So thatā€™s what I did. :sunglasses:

He gave me a one-week visa-exempt entry stamp, as I didnā€™t have a lot of cash on me. I refunded my ticket and went to the immigration office downtown with the money. They gave me three months, even though I no longer had an onward ticket. :notworthy:

Great stories! I had similar problems getting into Canada once, but I was on foot.

itā€™s easy to get into canada ā€¦ commit a heinous crime somewhere, then run to canada. theyā€™ll let you stay for years fighting extradition.

if you are honest and upfront with immigration, you have very little chance. sad, but true.