I almost didn’t make it out of the country three years ago. If this is your first international trip, brace yourself. You may run into this situation at immigration.
My flight to Kaohsiung was scheduled for 16:10. Both the check-in counters and immigration lines were extremely long. After three hours, it was finally my turn.
Imagine being an officer, and in front of you is a single female remote worker whose last international trip was eight years ago, now booked to Taiwan the night before departure to see her foreign boyfriend. If you get the picture, then you know what happened after. Yes, I was sent to a second interview.
If you don’t know what a second interview is, it is an additional pre-boarding assessment triggered by red flags in your profile. What do I mean by that? While I am not part of immigration, my experience tells me that you undergo this secondary screening when there is a perceived risk that you might overstay. This usually occurs if you lack the financial means to support your trip, cannot prove strong ties to your home country, provide inconsistent information, or appear to be a potential victim of human trafficking. In short, any factor that creates doubt about your intentions will require you to demonstrate that you truly plan to follow your itinerary and return home.
Together with other passengers, I waited in the corner after filling out the form I was handed. I was extremely anxious over the possibility that I could be offloaded. In simple terms, denied boarding. An AirAsia attendant would check in on me every few minutes as the boarding time approached. All I could think of was how expensive the ticket was, so it would be a waste not to use it. Besides, “the trip was only for four days, why does getting approved have to be so difficult?
What I feared the most happened—the plane had departed. I was heartbroken and in tears. I didn’t know what was going to happen anymore, but I was so determined to reach a happy ending, especially after all I had been through.
Shortly after, I was called to sit with an officer who primarily asked for proof of financial capacity and the legitimacy of my relationship. When I mentioned having a credit card, the officer inquired about the type and the specific bank. As soon as I said BPI Gold Rewards, she gave me a look of approval. This implied that having an account with an established bank is a plus. Sensing the direction of the interview, I was prepared to state my total credit limit, but her question was how much limit I had remaining. At the time, I had PHP 30,000 left to spend. Looking back at all my travels to date, no officer has ever gone so far as to request disclosing my bank balance. I’d be really wary if I were asked to log into my online banking, and be straight-up suspicious if they asked for a physical card. Such requests feel uncomfortable and invasive. To prove my relationship with my boyfriend was real, I presented physical photos from our trip to the Philippines that I coincidentally brought with me, along with my Facebook posts. It was incredibly helpful having him just a message away, ready to send over any additional information I needed.
Miss Officer smiled at me and handed me a slip with my passport—I passed the second interview! I felt huge relief, but I had not fully moved on from the flight that I missed. It was kind enough of her to ask what was wrong. When she learned about my situation, she provided me with instructions to rebook my ticket.
Back at the AirAsia check-in counter, rebooking was free, but the earliest schedule wasn’t until three days later. I thought things would be smooth sailing after, yet again, I was faced with another setback. My work shift was starting in three hours, so I had to step aside and think of my next move. Clearly, I couldn’t be stuck in the airport. Apart from the noise, I had poor network coverage in the seating area. I considered going home, but it was already 8 PM. It would be a nightmare to spend five to six hours traveling in the pouring rain, only to have to head back to the airport for the same amount of time in the morning. I made up my mind that there was only one solution: “I need to fly to Taiwan today, no matter what.”
I scoured every counter and checked my options online, but with time running out, most flights were either overpriced or for a different day. I found a last-minute seat with AirAsia for a 23:15 departure, but it was bound for Taipei. Unless I had superpowers, it would be impossible to reach our hotel in Kaohsiung that same night, especially since the Taipei MRT only runs until midnight.
Problems kept piling up, but it only made me want this trip to work more than ever. Embracing the chaos, my boyfriend and I changed our plans on the fly. With no other choice, I booked the ticket and went back to the immigration line.
If you’re wondering—yes, I had to queue again for the first interview because my initial stamp was voided when I missed the flight. The officer essentially just restamped my passport once they saw I had already been approved earlier. Finally, I cleared immigration!
Against all the odds, I made it to Taiwan. My boyfriend picked me up at Taoyuan International Airport, and we stayed at a nearby hotel for the night before heading to down to Kaohsiung the next morning. Despite the delay, we managed to stick to our itinerary for the remaining three days, and I eventually flew back to Manila from Taipei as planned. After all the stress and emotional rollercoaster, I truly manifested my happy ending.
I was completely unprepared for this trip, but I’m still glad things happened the way they did. The experience proved vital for my future travels—with every trip since then, my immigration interviews have become shorter and shorter. Now that I’ve built a solid travel history, it’s nowhere near the same struggle as before. I get cleared in no time now.
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