Unaccompanied Filipina allowed to travel?

[Jimmyzr1 34]

How possible is it for an unaccompanied Filipina to be able to travel to Mexico? I’m not going to be allowed back into the Philippines, how possible would it be for her to be allowed to travel to Mexico to meet with me? She has been out of the Philippines once, to Singapore on her previous Passport. She would stay with me there for 3-4 weeks to consummate our marriage.

[Adventine 3,187]

Nothing is guaranteed. Every tourist trip is a gamble now with PH exit immigration.

 

Apart from that single international trip to Singapore, can she prove significant ties to the Philippines? A steady job, her own savings, a business, etc? Risk of being offloaded is higher for single Filipinas who don't have any of these things. And you won't know for sure until she actually tries.

 

[Jimmyzr1 34]

52 minutes ago, Adventine said:

Nothing is guaranteed. Every tourist trip is a gamble now with PH exit immigration.

 

Apart from that single international trip to Singapore, can she prove significant ties to the Philippines? A steady job, her own savings, a business, etc? Risk of being offloaded is higher for single Filipinas who don't have any of these things. And you won't know for sure until she actually tries.

 

We’re actually married. She has none of thos except for the money I send her.

[Jimmyzr1 34]

56 minutes ago, Adventine said:

Nothing is guaranteed. Every tourist trip is a gamble now with PH exit immigration.

 

Apart from that single international trip to Singapore, can she prove significant ties to the Philippines? A steady job, her own savings, a business, etc? Risk of being offloaded is higher for single Filipinas who don't have any of these things. And you won't know for sure until she actually tries.

 

I would reserve our hotel in both names, send he $2000, just in case and meet her there. The other issue is, she’d have a layover in Los Angeles. I don’t know if that could be an issue, since she’s not leaving the airport?

[Chancy 6,233]

7 hours ago, Jimmyzr1 said:

The other issue is, she’d have a layover in Los Angeles. I don’t know if that could be an issue, since she’s not leaving the airport?

 

A layover in the US requires a US visa because all travelers to any US airport, regardless of final destination, go through CBP.  If she has a flight to the US but no US visa, she will not be allowed to check in by the airline staff in the Philippine airport.  Either book flights to Mexico that do not go through the US or any country that requires transit visa, or get a 9a visa to visit her in the Philippines yourself.

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by Chancy
clarification

[Adventine 3,187]

9 hours ago, Jimmyzr1 said:

I would reserve our hotel in both names, send he $2000, just in case and meet her there. The other issue is, she’d have a layover in Los Angeles. I don’t know if that could be an issue, since she’s not leaving the airport?

 

As Chancy said, with a layover in LA and no US visa, she won't even be allowed to board the plane in Manila. If she doesn't have a US visa (and likely she doesn't, because otherwise why would you be meeting in Mexico), the trip is dead in the water.

 

Either rebook and this time check visa/travel restrictions for layovers, find a different destination entirely, or you apply for a 9a visa to visit her in the PH. EDIT: you may be able to enter the PH starting Feb. 10. Check this other thread for details:

 

I recommend the last option because based on how you've described your fiancee, she's going to have trouble with exit immigration, no matter what her international destination is.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Adventine

[Commish10 427]

10 hours ago, Jimmyzr1 said:

How possible is it for an unaccompanied Filipina to be able to travel to Mexico? I’m not going to be allowed back into the Philippines, how possible would it be for her to be allowed to travel to Mexico to meet with me? She has been out of the Philippines once, to Singapore on her previous Passport. She would stay with me there for 3-4 weeks to consummate our marriage.

I have a thread(s) here that Filipinos were not admitted and turned back. So be very careful

[RO_AH 1,615]

13 hours ago, Jimmyzr1 said:

How possible is it for an unaccompanied Filipina to be able to travel to Mexico? I’m not going to be allowed back into the Philippines, how possible would it be for her to be allowed to travel to Mexico to meet with me? She has been out of the Philippines once, to Singapore on her previous Passport. She would stay with me there for 3-4 weeks to consummate our marriage.

I would avoid meeting in Mexico completely. People have had problems getting in from Philippines. Costa Rica would be a better option. Why can't you gpo to Philippines? That would be your best option.

[Talako 756]

You cannot go to the Philippines because you are blacklisted or for some other reason?  It was in the news today that the Philippines will be opening up in February (yeah, I know).  You might be able to avail that.

[top_secret 2,062]

Notwithstanding the difficulties Filipinas have exiting the Philippines, and that they cannot transit the US without already having a valid US Visa, Mexico is a difficult destination for Filipinas.  We have some considerable negative first-hand experience on the subject.

 

Filipinas require a visa for Mexico.  To get one they must show some considerable financial resources on their own and must interview at the Mexican Embassy.  Mexico would not accept a foreign sponsor so she would have to be able to show she had a job that or business that generates sufficient income to support a trip to Mexico and they would look at several months of financial records.  Quite honestly most Filipinas could not even get the Mexico visa.

 

In our case my wife has the credentials to qualify for more difficult visas on her own with no sponsorship.  Pre-rona she had multiple entry tourist visas for Japan, Korea and a multiple entry Schengen visa for most of Europe. No problems whatsoever traveling to like 20 different countries including a number of G7 nations.  But stopped cold by Mexico immigration attempting a 2-week trip to Cancun and deported on site WITH a valid visa and without a specific reason.  Mexico like the US and most countries will tell you that a valid visa does not guarantee entry.  And they mean it.

 

In our after the fact “what went wrong" research we found that apparently Mexico is rather notorious for summery deportation on arrival of other Latin American nationality’s, Africans and MENA nationalities.  It doesn't much affect the English-speaking world with Filipinos being perhaps the exception. 

 

The Mexican news articles below describe pretty much exactly what we encountered.

https://www-animalpolitico-com.translate.goog/2018/07/gobierno-epn-extranjeros-mexico/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

https://elpais-com.translate.goog/mexico/2021-03-20/maltratos-discriminacion-y-deportaciones-bajo-sospecha-el-infame-cuartito-de-inmigracion-de-mexico.html?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

Edited January 28, 2022 by top_secret

[Jimmyzr1 34]

15 hours ago, Adventine said:

 

As Chancy said, with a layover in LA and no US visa, she won't even be allowed to board the plane in Manila. If she doesn't have a US visa (and likely she doesn't, because otherwise why would you be meeting in Mexico), the trip is dead in the water.

 

Either rebook and this time check visa/travel restrictions for layovers, find a different destination entirely, or you apply for a 9a visa to visit her in the PH. EDIT: you may be able to enter the PH starting Feb. 10. Check this other thread for details:

 

I recommend the last option because based on how you've described your fiancee, she's going to have trouble with exit immigration, no matter what her international destination is.

Ok, I hadn’t booked the flights yet to Mexico, was just asking the questions. I’m not going to be allowed entry into the Philippines, so we have to come up with a different option. She doesn’t have a job, or account. I send her money every month for her expenses though. She has been out of the country once before, to Singapore, I don’t know why she’d be denied now, except that that was on her previous passport.

[Adventine 3,187]

10 hours ago, Jimmyzr1 said:

Ok, I hadn’t booked the flights yet to Mexico, was just asking the questions. I’m not going to be allowed entry into the Philippines, so we have to come up with a different option. She doesn’t have a job, or account. I send her money every month for her expenses though. She has been out of the country once before, to Singapore, I don’t know why she’d be denied now, except that that was on her previous passport.

 

Why aren't you going to be allowed entry to the Philippines? 

[sckms 15]

We went through this process recently. While it was certainly not the smoothest process, it was worth it for us. 

 

My wife was able to get a visa to go to Mexico and traveled there in October. We tried for the first time in June, as the financial requirements weren’t clear. Essentially, the requirement was to have roughly 150K PHP or $3000 in an account under her name for 3 months. After we were told of this, I put the money into an American account that she had under her name and waited the months, then she reapplied in October and were approved.

 

Upon arrival in Mexico City, she was detained by immigration since they claimed that her visa was “invalid” or “fake.” Their English wasn’t perfect, so not entirely sure what happened, but after holding her and taking her phone away for maybe 4 or 5 hours, they let her go. During this process, there were many others that were held in the office, so they didn't get to her immediately. But essentially, she was careful in answering their and convinced them to get in touch with the Mexican Embassy who confirmed her visa. Luckily, she had a smart watch, so she was still able to communicate with me despite them taking away her phone.

 

Anyway, my flight was also delayed, so she ended up being released just before I arrived so the timing didn’t affect us too much. Mexico is weird in that your length of stay is actually given to you at the point of entry, so despite the fact that visa is valid for 6 months, the PoE will again decide how long you're allowed to stay. We were fortunate in that she was given 180 days she after a week in CDMX, we went to Cancun and she stayed there for a couple months while I flew back and forth from the States so I could work and also spend time with her. She returned to the Philippines earlier this month when the interview dates opened up, but it worked out quite well for us. 

[IWander 581]

2 hours ago, sckms said:

... Mexico is weird in that your length of stay is actually given to you at the point of entry, so despite the fact that visa is valid for 6 months, the PoE will again decide how long you're allowed to stay.

Actually this is how most countries operate.  The "validity" of the visa has nothing to do with the length of stay granted upon arrival.

[top_secret 2,062]

2 hours ago, sckms said:

Upon arrival in Mexico City, she was detained by immigration since they claimed that her visa was “invalid” or “fake.” Their English wasn’t perfect, so not entirely sure what happened, but after holding her and taking her phone away for maybe 4 or 5 hours, they let her go. During this process, there were many others that were held in the office, so they didn't get to her immediately. But essentially, she was careful in answering their and convinced them to get in touch with the Mexican Embassy who confirmed her visa. Luckily, she had a smart watch, so she was still able to communicate with me despite them taking away her phone.

I'm happy she made it and having the I-Watch was a coup.  Lack of connectivity was a major issue and they actually mocked my wife because she couldn't text me. (huge mistake we made was counting on WIFI being available when she arrived)  We are pretty confident that with 20/20 hindsight she could have made it, but OTOH any country that apparently routinely detains for hours or and/or deports Filipinas with valid visas is off our list of recreational vacation destinations.  Being sent to a secondary exit interview by Philippine immigration is certainly a walk in the park compared to Mexican immigration.