Adventures in Immigration

[AdamSelene]

I sympathize with you.....unfortunately the airlines are under no obligation to do the homework for their clients.

I did do the homework. I dare you to find the requirements to enter Spain, using only English and the Internet. Let's see if you do find them. I still can't.

I still can't find half the requirements they ask for in Spanish searching Spanish government websites directly.

Do the honestly still expect all travelers to call the Spanish embassy for them? (Assuming that even works)

 

[wolfie_cr]

I would find them instantly because I know off hand that such a requirement exists and I would just punch the right key words until I find what I know must be found.......a different situation would be if I just google and find nothing.....and think thats it and then bang.....the s@#$@$# at Spain's airport hit me in the nose with their rulebook. Recently I read about a passenger that was denied boarding in Panama ...she was going to Amsterdam via KLM.......and short version......the flight was san jose-panama-san jose....a very short trip.


In Spanish

http://www.tuabogadodefensor.com/01ecd193df148a228/01ecd193e0147ef0a.html

In English

http://www.maec.es/en/MenuPpal/Cons...Extranjeros/Paginas/REQUIREMENTSFORENTRY.aspx

there is a system called TIMATIC which gives you the entry requirements of any country based on your nationality /residency/destination/transit points (but access is not public/free.a travel agent should be able to use it.....I think I once looked for entry requirements to me going into Europe and it didnt list the specific money thing but that was a while ago)

some friends of mine had the idea of doing a trip across Europe going low budget hostels etc.....I warned them....they called the Spanish Embassy..........then they gave up their plan of 'not having a plan' and made reservations at several hostels. But they only called because I told them what could happen

 

[wolfie_cr]

use this link

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/travel/passport/default.aspx

 

[AdamSelene]

use this link

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/travel/passport/default.aspx

Wow, that's a cool page. Thanks!

 

[wolfie_cr]

If Iberia had something like that and a big red notice saying "CHECK YOUR SITUATION HERE OR ELSE"...many problems would be avoided

HOLY #$@#$#@ ....the fine to the airlines is over 6k EUR!!!

See...even that info is not complete....they said they want an invitation letter....but the invitation letter that Spain wants suposedly has to include the stamp of the local police department where the owner of the property lives!

 

[AdamSelene]

a different situation would be if I just google and find nothing.....and think thats it and then bang.....

Nah, I googled and found several "official" looking entry requirements to Spain that generally agreed with each other but were all totally incomplete and incorrect.

It still pisses me off the treatment. If they had only let her go back to the airline desk inside the terminal (like they did Havana Mike) to book alternative travel arrangements and cancel connecting flights: a trip to an in-terminal ATM and one phone call to me, she has both the cash and hotel reservations to enter. She in fact did have hotel reservations made by her friend in the Canary Islands, but I'd just have booked new ones. As it was she couldn't even cancel the connecting flight.

 

[AdamSelene]

P.S. We now travel with all the documents they could even possibly ask for at a Visa interview -- e.g. proof of medical insurance, property records, letter of employment and income, bank and credit card records, kids birth certificates, etc. Overkill but taking no more chances.

That plus a 10-year U.S. visa, Canadian visa, and several entry stamps; she ought to feel safe enough to travel alone again maybe a few more years. Fucking Spaniards!

 

[fuzebox]

I've heard a few stories of people being hassled to buy return tickets back out of costa rica, although almost all of them happened back in the USA, not at costa rican customs...

Personally after 40 or so entries without a return ticket I've never been asked or bothered, although if I were in the situation I'd just buy a refundable ticket to anywhere and refund it the next day.

I wonder if they'd let you do it from your laptop, seeing has SJO has free wifi?

 

[VIEJODINOSAUR]

Happened a couple of times to me but only in the states...

Immigration here in Thailand is a working machine...no delays and most rquests are done within 2 days...I have an over 50 retirement visa that only took me a day and a half to complete...all Thailand asks me to do is check in every 90 days which takes a full 5 minutes to do...very efficient compared to Costa Rica where residency is almost impossible to get...

 

[wolfie_cr]

ALL it takes is that you check every 3 months? no background checks or anything??

 

[VIEJODINOSAUR]

Nope...all you need is a passport, be over 50, and have a Thai bank account with no max money needed...

You also have to take an oath that you know for a fact that Costa Rica put Taiwan under the bus in favor of Mainland China...LOLLOL

Difference here is that if you fuck up here, you are going home...Police take their job seriously over here because they make more money than sportsbook clerks in Costa Rica..

 

[wolfie_cr]

We should send a memo to all the child molesters/etc criminals that we have in CR

"Apply for a residence in Thailand.......you WILL BE accepted.........."

 

[wolfie_cr]

Police take their job seriously over here because they make more money than sportsbook clerks in Costa Rica..

not just that....but if THEY fuck up...they won't be going home..........

 

[HavanaMike]

I've heard a few stories of people being hassled to buy return tickets back out of costa rica, although almost all of them happened back in the USA, not at costa rican customs...

Personally after 40 or so entries without a return ticket I've never been asked or bothered, although if I were in the situation I'd just buy a refundable ticket to anywhere and refund it the next day.

I wonder if they'd let you do it from your laptop, seeing has SJO has free wifi?

The wifi may be free, but it almost never works. The immigration guy definitely had a hard on for gringos. One of us must of tagged his girl in the Rey...
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[wolfie_cr]

The wifi may be free, but it almost never works. The immigration guy definitely had a hard on for gringos. One of us must of tagged his girl in the Rey...
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Its funny to read the reactions when someone enforces the rules.......you guys are truly spoiled and naive sometimes.

You just can't win with you guys..........if the cops enforce the rules..you bitch.......if they don't take the bribes.....you bitch........if they ask for a bribe.....you bitch too.


PERHAPS the immigration guy once upon a time travelled to the US (assuming you are from the US......if you are from Canada then its even MORE!!!! fun to travel there) and they asked for a return ticket that he didnt print?

btw out of about 10-20 trips in the last 3 years? perhaps once or twice the wifi didnt work...and that time it was in the area where I was because at the new gates "to the left" it was working fine....now that they made the 'new gates' to the 'right' after security it works fine in that area too ..it worked just fine in june....and then in august .....and then again last Thursday.

the one that was truly trying to milk you......on top of that the fact that THEY screwed up....was the TACA agent.

 

[kingbill]

Its funny to read the reactions when someone enforces the rules.......you guys are truly spoiled and naive sometimes.

You just can't win with you guys..........if the cops enforce the rules..you bitch.......if they don't take the bribes.....you bitch........if they ask for a bribe.....you bitch too.


PERHAPS the immigration guy once upon a time travelled to the US (assuming you are from the US......if you are from Canada then its even MORE!!!! fun to travel there) and they asked for a return ticket that he didnt print?

btw out of about 10-20 trips in the last 3 years? perhaps once or twice the wifi didnt work...and that time it was in the area where I was because at the new gates "to the left" it was working fine....now that they made the 'new gates' to the 'right' after security it works fine in that area too ..it worked just fine in june....and then in august .....and then again last Thursday.

the one that was truly trying to milk you......on top of that the fact that THEY screwed up....was the TACA agent.

Agree with this...I've had to buy the fully refundable ticket to Panama twice but it's my own fault.

 

[WaynegoTango]

I have never had a problem...as Slim said once and as i do you wear a gaudy tropical shirt,act like you have just landed in paradise...get to counter smile...be nice,then i say sapprisa or the other gotdamn team there rival...cant remember name...whatever they say...i sayYES!!! they smile...in like flin...EZ

 

[HavanaMike]

Its funny to read the reactions when someone enforces the rules.......you guys are truly spoiled and naive sometimes.

You just can't win with you guys..........if the cops enforce the rules..you bitch.......if they don't take the bribes.....you bitch........if they ask for a bribe.....you bitch too.


PERHAPS the immigration guy once upon a time travelled to the US (assuming you are from the US......if you are from Canada then its even MORE!!!! fun to travel there) and they asked for a return ticket that he didnt print?

btw out of about 10-20 trips in the last 3 years? perhaps once or twice the wifi didnt work...and that time it was in the area where I was because at the new gates "to the left" it was working fine....now that they made the 'new gates' to the 'right' after security it works fine in that area too ..it worked just fine in june....and then in august .....and then again last Thursday.

the one that was truly trying to milk you......on top of that the fact that THEY screwed up....was the TACA agent.

I've not been told we had to have a paper ticket. I didn't think I'd need one, as people stopped using them 20 years ago...

What runs most afoul is that every attempt at presenting a solution was quickly dismissed and I was again herded back into the option of buying a ticket I wouldn't use. Bribery is one thing, extortion is another. Had I gone down stairs and they said "Sir, you have way too many cigars", then perhaps a reasonable regalo would have been called for. But this wasn't the case. This was, "If you don't buy a ticket to somewhere, we're deporting you".

Keep in mind, I had a ticket. They persistently prevented me from proving it. That is my bitch here. At any US airport, they can access any airline information they want and will to solve the problem. They don't simply say, you have to buy a ticket from TACA before you can leave.

I had to be willing to go to Havana with very little cash to call the bluff...
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[fuzebox]

I have never had a problem...as Slim said once and as i do you wear a gaudy tropical shirt,act like you have just landed in paradise...get to counter smile...be nice,then i say sapprisa or the other gotdamn team there rival...cant remember name...whatever they say...i sayYES!!! they smile...in like flin...EZ

My old story was that I was in love with this nice tica and we were going to get married some day, so I was flying down once a month to see her... If I had a female immigration officer she would smile and be like "awwwwww that's so sweet!" and wish me luck.

 

[WaynegoTango]

My old story was that I was in love with this nice tica and we were going to get married some day, so I was flying down once a month to see her... If I had a female immigration officer she would smile and be like "awwwwww that's so sweet!" and wish me luck.

nice thats a good one ill keep that up my sleeve