SOS: Immigration help! Stuck in Manila :(

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi everybody,

I usually don’t post stuff on the main forum but my brother is in a difficult situation right now. So please forgive me if this is somewhat off topic, but he is an athlete, in fact, he just competed for Switzerland at the World University Games in Thailand in the 100m and 200m Breaststroke.

So here it goes, if anybody can somehow help, I and my brother would greatly appreciate it.

He is currently (past 2 years and again in the fall) a student at the University of Utah. Before he traveled from Salt Lake City to Switzerland, he accidently washed his passport. Everything looked still good, except his picture on his F1 Visa. So he contacted the Embassy and they told him not to worry, there was not enough time yet and he can simply get everything done when in Bern, Switzerland. Back in Swizterland, the American Embassy told him that one week was not enough, even though from personal experience, I had one done within 12hrs in the past. Anyways, they told him not to worry, everything is fine since everything else is legible. His regular picture and his I-20 are all good, so they advised him to continue the process when back in the US.

Fast forward, he traveled from Zurich, Switzerland, to Bangkok, Thailand where he competed at the World University Games. Then he traveled from Bangkok to Manila, the Philippines where he should have boarded a flight to the US. Problem is, now they won’t let him fly. I just got a message from him on my cell phone (was out riding) and he told me of his situation. He said that they told him that he has to go through the regular Visa application process as the Filipinos and that it could take take weeks!

I know it’s a far shot, but Slowtwitch has surprised me and others in many ways before. Does somebody has any ideas how we could speed things up?

The airline currently gave him a 24 hrs flight extension, after that he will lose his flight. I don’t think he has much chance to get on that plane, since the Philippines Airline doesn’t want to risk being charged $3,000 fine for allowing somebody to fly that might not get past airline immigration into the U.S.

If anybody has any idea on how to handle that situation, my brother Michel would be very thankful.

I just talked to him for 5min and he’s definitely not in the best spirit. I told him right now I can’t really help, maybe his best bet is to hope that Angelina Jolie would adopt him, but he didn’t think that was very funny.

Anyways, his last flight would leave at 10:30pm from Manila, that gives him 11 more hours to take advantage of his already paid flight. Otherwise, do we have anybody in Manila near the airport that could provide him with a cheap homestay?

he (Michel De Carolis) can be directly reached at mdc801@gmail.com

Thank you for your time and possible help in advance.

Daniel De Carolis

2

Was the decision to not be allowed to travel to the US made by an airline representative? If yes, then perhaps another airline representative will give him a different decision. Airlines have a legal responsibility to screen people flying into the US. If that doesn’t work, I would suggest contacting the US Embassy in Manila to try and get some sort of emergency approval. Finally, he could fly back to Switzerland and boarding a flight from there to the US. I guess he might miss a few days of class, but can’t be helped. Good luck.

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you guys got nothing to loose, those bureaucrats usually pretty stupid and just care about place they got - just call to airport (get someone with “official” voice) and pretend that it’s US Embassy, tell them you approve his status and his OK (use important worlds)
.

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I had short-notice, passport renewal emergency a couple of years ago and called my congressman and after two days of back and forth they said they couldn’t do anything in the short time I needed it taken care of… I called my senator and they got it taken care of in hours.

Call your senator.

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thanks, you are right, the decision has been made by the airline representative. The only reason they gave him a 24hrs extension before his flight expires is because the airline told him they did a mistake and never should have let him board in the first place. I wish they would have left him in Thailand because it is so much cheaper to stay over there. I seriously consider advising him that if he cannot fly he should ask the airline to fly him back to Thailand and he can go through the process from there.

But maybe he has more luck with the next airline rep. I definitely don’t want him to fly to Switzerland first as I couldn’t afford to pay for his flight there and then back again to the U.S. unfortunately I’m stuck supporting him at the moment :frowning:

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thank you for your feedback. Problem is (I should have made that clear) that we both have a Swiss and an Italian Passport, but no American.

Maybe I should give Arnold a call. Maybe the Governator can help us out, after all we both grew up in Europe speaking the same language. Anybody have his phone number (just kidding, but you never know on ST…)

7

How about if he flies into Canada and then drives or walks into the US. There is no passport needed to drive or walk back into the US as of now. They extended the date that mandates the passport even for US citizens.

.

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that’s funny! I’m sure it would work but I’m sure it’s a crime to pretend to be an official, so I have to skip that one. But I might give the SF Airport a call in the morning and talk to immigration there. Problem is that they open about 30minutes prior to his departure…

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Do you know of the requirements to fly into Canada? Do you guys require Visas?

Cool, I just read up and according to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp he wouldn’t need a VISA to enter Canada. That might be an option if the airline allows him to change final destination. Thanks for the idea.

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I had short-notice, passport renewal emergency a couple of years ago and called my congressman and after two days of back and forth they said they couldn’t do anything in the short time I needed it taken care of… I called my senator and they got it taken care of in hours.

Call your senator.

He is not a US citizen so how calling a senator going to help?

This happens all the time and you would be surprised how many students since 9/11 miss a semester or two before they are allowed back in. You would be surpise how many foreign students do not leave the country while they are in school just in case they are not allowed back in.

Don’t take any short cuts by trying to enter in from Canada or someplace else. He could get his visa revoked. Since he has a Swiss passport, it should not take too long to get the proper documentation. He should not have left the country until he had his passport replaced.

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I’m confused… if you are citizens of Switzerland and Italy, why talk to the US Embassy if you’re not US citizens?

Call your Swiss and Italian embassies here, and have him contact the Swiss and Italian embassies there.

If you live on the left coast I guess it wouldn’t hurt to call Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer’s offices as well… they can tell you what to do if they can’t help you.

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Daniel,

Tell your brother to call the Border Patrol in El Paso to report an illegal immigrant (himself). I guarantee that in less than 24 hours he’ll be in Mexico and then it’s easy to get back to the US. Just warn him not to attack a Border Patrol agent with a rock, or he will be shot dead.

Now seriously, his best bet is to get back to Switzerland asap.

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He is not a US citizen so how calling a senator going to help?

He did not disclose that in his original post so I didn’t know that, but to answer your question… you’d be surprised… regardless, what would be the harm in calling?

My first advice, as posted, is to call his embassies.

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I’m confused… if you are citizens of Switzerland and Italy, why talk to the US Embassy if you’re not US citizens?

The US Embassy is where foreigners including students apply to get their visas.

He has a big problem. School started yesterday so he may end up missing this semester.

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He did not disclose that in his original post so I didn’t know that, …

I guess immigration law is not your specialty? :wink:

Clue 1:
he just competed for Switzerland

Clue 2:
except his picture on his F1 Visa.

Clue 3:
his I-20 are all good

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Yeah, get him to Canada, and if that doesn’t work, then he needs to head back to Switzerland. Manila is certainly not the place for immigration problems.

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I guess immigration law is not my specialty? :wink:

Clue 1:
read my first post

Clue 2:
read my second post

Clue 3:
read my third post

However… if it’s yours, I’m not seeing a lot of brilliant advice coming from you either :wink:

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However… if it’s yours, I’m not seeing a lot of brilliant advice coming from you either :wink:

Well, the only good thing is that he has not been officially denied entry to the US. He can try Canada and then try to enter at a border crossing. I would make sure its a Canadian city that has both Swiss and US consulate offices in case they deny him.

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Well Daniel the problem maybe that the Philippines may ask that you have a visa to enter the country and if you don’t have a visa then that is where the problems start. and he will have to sit in the airport until he gets a visa or be shipped back to where he came from or back to the CH!

this happened to a couple from Mexico when i was in europe. they went from Hungary to the Czech republic but they had to travel thprough Slovakia. Well they didn’t have a Visa to enter Slovakia, they where detained for a day sent back to Hungary and had to fly to the Czech Republic.

You can’t assume that just because you are an American Citizen or in this Case a EU Citizen that you can fly anywhere without a Visa.

But that is probably what went wrong and countries do not like people trying to enter with out a Visa when it is required.

Just try to Fly to LAX without a Visa and see what happens they will detain you and send you back to the country of Origin on the first flight out.

I think that is what is happening to your brother and the passport being washed has nothing to do with it. and neither does the fact the American Visa was washed as this is probably just philippine immigration/customs laws he violated by entering the country without a Visa.

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Fact is:

  • he does have a valid passport
  • he does have a valid f-1 VISA
  • he does have a valid I-20
  • he does have a memorandum from the Univ. Utah that he is a student there.

Only problem is that his VISA photo is slightly washed out, still recognizable. The university as well as the US embassy in Bern, Switzerland said it would be fine, don’t worry about it and he can get a renewal VISA after he enters the US from his summer travels.

He legally entered Thailand (destination of World University Games). He didn’t enter the Philippines, only the airport for transit. After not allowing him to continue his travel they allowed him to go to a hotel and to the US embassy. Only thing is that for hours already, nobody is there nor do they answer phones at the US embassy…