Immigration

Our visas are due to expire in less than a month, so I'm heading downtown tomorrow to pick up visa renewal forms. After poking around the Philippine Immigration website and finding next to nothing about our specific type of visas (they aren't the standard employment visa), I looked up the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 to figure out what kind of visas we have. The section that governs our stay in the Philippines reads, in full:

SPECIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 47. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, the President is authorized:
(a) When the public interest so warrants:
(2) To admit, as nonimmigrants, aliens not otherwise provided for by this Act, who are coming for temporary period only, under such conditions as he may prescribe;

This all came about after a trip to Makati last week to refund the return portions of our airline tickets, which will become worthless later this month. Shelly flew over on Philippine Airlines. Since I was carrying Mister Tanaka, I flew on Northwest, which allowed me to carry him in the cabin.

I stopped at PAL first. I stood in line. I filled out a form. I stood in line again. The agent then told me that he couldn't refund Shelly's ticket without either a different onward ticket, or the proper visa. Her visa, he said, which allows her to remain in the country after the expiration date of the ticket, was not good enough for the airline. They wanted either a standard work visa or an onward ticket. Period, and by the way, there will be no further discussion. (You would think that, since we were admitted with the authorization of the President, PAL would have been more accomodating.) The saddest part of the visit to PAL was that I knew I would get bogged down by Philippine bureaucracy, which was why I started the process so early.

My trip to Northwest was also as expected: In and out in less than ten minutes, with none of the hassles of dealing with Philippine Airlines.

Tomorrow's journey to the immigration office will include another stop at PAL. I'll show them the fully-refundable ticket I purchased for Shelly on another airline, claim our refund, and then cancel the new ticket.