Traveling to Singapore with Filipina Fiancé - Offloaded Confusion

[NMinLasVegas 0]

Hello. I want to travel to some countries like Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand with my Filipina fiancé while we wait on our K1 visa application. I am having a hard time understanding the ins and out of getting offloaded from your flight. What steps can we take to minimize her chance of being offloaded? What steps can be taken not to lose out on money spent on plane tickets and hotel reservations? Is the CFO counseling program something that is helpful to avoid getting offloaded if we want to travel together while we wait on our K1 visa application? I read a post saying it was but I also read mention that they won't give you a certification until you have the K1 visa in hand.

 

Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

[Stevephoto 230]

My best GUESS is that she would need to get tourist visas for each of those countries (if needed from the Philippines). I don't see how the K-1 application in and of itself would have any impact on her traveling as a Filipino citizen. Others, please correct me if I am wrong.

[NMinLasVegas 0]

Basically I am picking countries off the list that Filipinos can travel to with just their passport and without a visa. But is seems there is another hurdle to overcome with immigration officials at the NAIA airport and there is a chance they will not let you board the plane so I am trying to understand that better.

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

1 hour ago, NMinLasVegas said:

Basically I am picking countries off the list that Filipinos can travel to with just their passport and without a visa. But is seems there is another hurdle to overcome with immigration officials at the NAIA airport and there is a chance they will not let you board the plane so I am trying to understand that better.

How old is she, what is her job and has she travelled before?  Will she be travelling with you?  Unfortunately those are big factors.

 

However, immigration recently apologized from some offloads and they were going to review the practices.

 

[Chancy 6,241]

10 hours ago, NMinLasVegas said:

I am having a hard time understanding the ins and out of getting offloaded from your flight. What steps can we take to minimize her chance of being offloaded?

 

Some suggestions here -- https://www.thepoortraveler.net/2014/03/offloaded-philippine-immigration-rules-requirements-airport/

 

10 hours ago, NMinLasVegas said:

Is the CFO counseling program something that is helpful to avoid getting offloaded if we want to travel together while we wait on our K1 visa application? I read a post saying it was but I also read mention that they won't give you a certification until you have the K1 visa in hand.

 

For a tourist, getting a CFO certificate may provide extra ammunition against offloading.  Your fiancee may register for CFO as a tourist now, which does not require submission of visa scans if visiting visa-free countries for Filipinos.  Do not register as a K1/immigrant visa holder, which requires having the US visa on hand.

 

[top_secret 2,387]

13 hours ago, NMinLasVegas said:

Hello. I want to travel to some countries like Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand with my Filipina fiancé while we wait on our K1 visa application.

Are you planning to travel with her?  IE, meet in the Philippines and fly together as a couple to Singapore?  If it were her first trip out of the country there's a pretty good chance they would send you both for a secondary immigration interview but typically in the case of couples traveling together the outcomes are mostly successful and the trip goes on.  Offloading is a far far greater threat if she were traveling alone and meeting you in another country.

 

In the secondary interview they might ask a bunch of intrusive questions and maybe make you fill out some weirdly worded affidavit that sounds something like a release form someone might be asked to sign if their child is going to summer camp or on a school field trip.  If you are traveling together just get to the airport way early so you have plenty of time for the secondary interview and don't be surprised if it happens.

 

Make sure she knows the details of her trip.  Not just "I'm following this guy to Singapore".  Make sure she has some cash, US $100's, and better yet make her an authorised user on one of your credit cards so she has a credit card in her possession that is in her name.  Proof that she has travel funds on hand independent of you.  Filipinos call this "show money".    They may ask her what exactly she would do if you abandoned her overseas so have an answer for that.  Like "go to the airport and change her return ticket, which she could easily do with her credit card". 

 

 

 

 

[NMinLasVegas 0]

Thanks everyone for all the tips and replies. A little more background info, and I realize much of this puts us under greater scrutiny. I am 40 and she is 20. She's never had a job before. It's been a 18 month online relationship but this summer will be our first time meeting in real life. My plan for a long time has been to fly to the Philippines and begin the K1 visa process and then while waiting for the K1 visa application, travel together to some of the countries that are visa free for filipino citizens. I think I understand some of the tips and strategies to lower her risk of being offloaded but there is an issue I haven't seen discussed anywhere. If I have to buy a roundtrip plane ticket and book the hotel or airbnb and possibly even make reservations for some things to do while we are there this is all adding up to a lot of wasted money if she gets offloaded. Is there any strategy to protect against wasting  all this money if she does end up getting offloaded?

[Chancy 6,241]

18 minutes ago, NMinLasVegas said:

Is there any strategy to protect against wasting  all this money if she does end up getting offloaded?

 

Get travel insurance for your fiancee in the Philippines.  Before signing up, get written confirmation from the insurance company that their coverage includes offloading as a valid reason for flight/hotel cancellation.

 

[NMinLasVegas 0]

I was thinking that is not something travel insurance would cover. Thanks, I'll look into it more. 

[RO_AH 1,659]

2 hours ago, NMinLasVegas said:

I realize much of this puts us under greater scrutiny. I am 40 and she is 20

That does not put you under scrutiny. It is pretty common for a Pinay to have an older partner.

[top_secret 2,387]

4 hours ago, NMinLasVegas said:

Thanks everyone for all the tips and replies. A little more background info, and I realize much of this puts us under greater scrutiny. I am 40 and she is 20. She's never had a job before. It's been a 18 month online relationship but this summer will be our first time meeting in real life. My plan for a long time has been to fly to the Philippines and begin the K1 visa process and then while waiting for the K1 visa application, travel together to some of the countries that are visa free for filipino citizens. I think I understand some of the tips and strategies to lower her risk of being offloaded but there is an issue I haven't seen discussed anywhere. If I have to buy a roundtrip plane ticket and book the hotel or airbnb and possibly even make reservations for some things to do while we are there this is all adding up to a lot of wasted money if she gets offloaded. Is there any strategy to protect against wasting  all this money if she does end up getting offloaded?

 

If you are traveling together she's far less likely to be offloaded so that is the biggest benefit. Most of the offloading stories you hear about are traveling alone or with other Filipinos. Secondary interviews are extremely common for foreigner-Filipina couples on a first trip but they do 'usually' work out if you are calm and friendly and just go along with the program.  At 20 you should probably have a lot of smiley pictures of you with her parents and family.  BI likes to see evidence the family knows you, approves of you and has some traceability on you if their daughter winds up in trouble overseas.  The CFO would probably be a big help too if you can get it.  CFO can be difficult for some without a visa but it is possible.  BI at NAIA has a direct line to USCIS and they can and absolutely will go and verify a pending petition which could work to your favor since it proves you are serious and that you are traceable.  But it could also further raise the CFO issue so it would be important to be quite clear the K1 petition is not yet approved you ARE NOT marrying on that trip. 

 

Theres about a 0.0% chance she is making it out of there without a valid confirmed return ticket and they could definitely take it in the office and verify it with the airline. At least consider what the change or cancelation fees are.  Usually you can go on various hotel booking sites and make a dummy hotel booking someplace with free cancelation.  You don't have to go so far as booking activities but it is definitely helpful if you both have some idea what you will do in Singapore or wherever.

[W199 329]

4 hours ago, NMinLasVegas said:

Thanks everyone for all the tips and replies. A little more background info, and I realize much of this puts us under greater scrutiny. I am 40 and she is 20. She's never had a job before. It's been a 18 month online relationship but this summer will be our first time meeting in real life. My plan for a long time has been to fly to the Philippines and begin the K1 visa process and then while waiting for the K1 visa application, travel together to some of the countries that are visa free for filipino citizens. I think I understand some of the tips and strategies to lower her risk of being offloaded but there is an issue I haven't seen discussed anywhere. If I have to buy a roundtrip plane ticket and book the hotel or airbnb and possibly even make reservations for some things to do while we are there this is all adding up to a lot of wasted money if she gets offloaded. Is there any strategy to protect against wasting  all this money if she does end up getting offloaded?

Some of the answers here are not that "accurate."  Here is what you need to know.  Yes, you are right, the fact that you never met her before and that she never traveled out of the Country will put you under the microscope..  If this is her first time out of the country,  it is extremely unlikely they will allow you to meet her for the first time, and then on the same visit  (or even the same year), take her out of the country. I would strongly suggest don't waste your time unless you get the CFO GCP certificate. 

 

Once she is your fiancée, she is required by the CFO office to get a CFO GCP certificate. Yes, she technically needs one per the CFO even if she is on a tourist visa, going to a different country that the one she will immigrate to. I have verified this,  and just did it my fiancée for meeting her in Canada while waiting for the K-1.

 

Once she gets the CFO GCP certificate, then this is her ticket to leave the Country without any hassles or risk.

 

If she is just your gf, not fiancee, then you don't need the CFO, but secondary will offload you because you just met her. 

 

It will be very difficult for her to get the CFO certificate if she has never met you before, you haven't even applied for the K-1 yet, and she doesn't have a tourist visa from a country that they CFO knows already did an investigation on her. But it is still possible, it will just be very hard a lot of documents needed. But for us, it was very easy, no documents were really needed, and it was only a 30 second interview. But this was because we had many years of visiting each other,  traveling locally, the K-1 was already applied for and they know how much paperwork was needed for that, and she had a tourist visa from Canada which they also know is difficult to get without all the paperwork. 

 

If you really want to try it, then your best bet would be to wait to meet her, have her do the online CFO, and then if everything goes smoothly she will have the certificate in just a 2-3 days.  Then you can make travel plans to travel with her.   But I bet it won't go smoothly with the CFO, but it is free to try and she can do it from her house with a zoom meeting with the CFO if she has high speed internet. Just don't get your hopes up.

 

 

 

 

 

[W199 329]

26 minutes ago, top_secret said:

 

If you are traveling together she's far less likely to be offloaded so that is the biggest benefit. Most of the offloading stories you hear about are traveling alone or with other Filipinos. Secondary interviews are extremely common for foreigner-Filipina couples on a first trip but they do 'usually' work out if you are calm and friendly and just go along with the program.  At 20 you should probably have a lot of smiley pictures of you with her parents and family.  BI likes to see evidence the family knows you, approves of you and has some traceability on you if their daughter winds up in trouble overseas.  The CFO would probably be a big help too if you can get it.  CFO can be difficult for some without a visa but it is possible.  BI at NAIA has a direct line to USCIS and they can and absolutely will go and verify a pending petition which could work to your favor since it proves you are serious and that you are traceable.  But it could also further raise the CFO issue so it would be important to be quite clear the K1 petition is not yet approved you ARE NOT marrying on that trip. 

 

Theres about a 0.0% chance she is making it out of there without a valid confirmed return ticket and they could definitely take it in the office and verify it with the airline. At least consider what the change or cancelation fees are.  Usually you can go on various hotel booking sites and make a dummy hotel booking someplace with free cancelation.  You don't have to go so far as booking activities but it is definitely helpful if you both have some idea what you will do in Singapore or wherever.

Before we got engaged, I did the same thing. I took her to Vietnam and Cambodia for a vacation.  BI sent us to secondary saying that is a blanket rule for any traveling for the first time, he appologized and said he had no choice.

 

At secondary, BI did not want to talk to me, made me sit in the waiting area, and then questioned my then gf on how she knows me, prove that she has traveled with me within the Philippines for the last couple of years, and needed to provide proof.  They explained that just recently a Filipina went abroad with her bf, he beat her, and left her stranded in the Country after they had a fight.  Therefore, just talking nice, showing you have a good job, etc.. is not enough. You need to prove a long time relationship and experience traveling with each other for evidence that you are safe.  This is simply because many guys want to just meet the girls for the first time, often not even give their real names, to take them out, and ultimately abuse them since they are helpless being out of the country. 

 

After secondary was satisfied she has traveled locally with me for the last couple of years with dated photos, and she could provide my personal details, they came to me, took a copy of my passport and made me sign an affidavit.  

 

So you can see, there is no way they will let the OP just meet her for the first time, the 18 month online relationship means nothing for proof he is safe to travel with, and let her leave.  Money, job, etc.. all will not matter .. they want proof in terms of time and personal experience.

 

He is going to need to get engaged, and get a CFO GCP certificate if he wants to travel anytime soon with her

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by W199

[NMinLasVegas 0]

I am already planning to get engaged with her. But being engaged isn't really a legal relationship so how much will being engaged help our goal to be able to travel together a month or two after we have met for the first time. Will seeing a ring on her finger mean much to immigration?

[W199 329]

4 minutes ago, NMinLasVegas said:

I am already planning to get engaged with her. But being engaged isn't really a legal relationship so how much will being engaged help our goal to be able to travel together a month or two after we have met for the first time. Will seeing a ring on her finger mean much to immigration?

Hi

As I explained above, after she is your fiancee, the CFO requires her to get a CFO GCP certificate to travel with you or meet you, even if its a tourist visa to another Country.  That's your only hope,  It will be a hassle but is doable if you persist and can provide all the paperwork.