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Every now and then some friends and relatives would ask me about applying for a U.S. visitor’s visa. Somehow word got around that I have managed to help quite a few hurdle what to many may appear to be a thoroughly daunting and mysterious travel procedure. How often have I heard people complain about being given a hard time, or about the arrogance, capriciousness, and apparent discriminatory or inconsistent attitude of those consular officers at the U.S. Embassy in Manila?
Speaking of which, let’s face it, some of these consuls do have an attitude. It comes with the territory (if you’ll pardon the expression). After having stayed in the Philippine territory for a while and realizing there’s thousands of desperate-looking Pinoys pathetically knocking daily at the US embassy gates on the off-chance they’ll qualify for a “tourist visa,” as if it were a super lotto outlet, many of these functionaries begin to develop the impression that they have been assigned to some remote God-forsaken U.S. colonial outpost and must act like some Roman tribune to make sure ”tributaries follow him back to Rome.” Sorry, Mr. Marcullus, I just got carried away.
If truth be told, it’s really more the Pinoy’s fault. Weder weder lang, as Erap would say. There are just too many things not to like about the Philippines or the Filipino at this moment in our history. Our country is exactly where President Quezon had envisioned us to be – run like hell by Pinoys. Pinoys are leaving this country in hordes. Instead of long bread lines and soup kitchens, you’ll find office buildings with recruitment agencies littered with hungry-looking, jobless people all desiring to work as peons or slaves in some savage but oil-rich middle east desert. Indeed, many decent office buildings have refused to accept such agencies as tenants to avoid having all their lobbies, corridors and open spaces becoming regular campsites for job applicants all desperate to work abroad.
It’s a symptom of a very sick country. Who in his right mind wants to leave home, friends, family, wife and kids just to earn a few dollars? But to many it’s an almost hopeless situation. The only solution it seems is to work abroad, anywhere else but… Or, as Tom Hanks would say: “Mr. Houston, we do indeed have a problem.”
Our people are now scattered all over the world, working mostly at menial if low-paying jobs, as chambermaids, domestic helpers, baby-sitters, caregivers, bar girls, prostitutes, busboys, construction site peons, and just about any job most citizens of those foreign countries will refuse to even consider. It’s the Philippine version of the Diaspora. And the temptation is always great to abuse and denigrate and further oppress an already oppressed people. It’s easy (and tempting) to kick a man when he’s down. He can’t fight back.
So, let’s stop blaming the US consul. Actually, it’s a very common human thing. Anytime somebody is given some little discretionary powers to make “judgment calls,” there is a great tendency for such powers to be abused or misused, wittingly or unwittingly. Basketball referees and baseball umpires, tennis linesmen, beauty pageant and boxing judges as well as magistrates have all been known to make atrocious, unfair, tyrannical or biased rulings; or worse, take or accept bribes and gifts in one form or another. One would suppose too that the people in the business are only too aware and used to such complaints or accusations and how to deal with (i.e., ignore) them. Fortunately, one can presume that there are safeguards and guidelines in the system to prevent or minimize such malfeasance; or, one can simply take comfort on the legal presumption that official duty has been done in the regular (i.e., proper or upright) manner.
Speaking of presumptions, the whole idea behind the so-called “interview” that a visa applicant has to undergo is based principally upon a legal presumption embedded in the U.S. immigration law that a person applying for a “visitor’s visa” shall be presumed to have the intention to stay permanently in the U.S.A. However unfair and oppressive you may view such a presumption, the law is the law –dura lex sed lex. What is infinitely more unfortunate, however, is that in practice, this presumption has been evidently applied and interpreted by some INS officials to mean that the more impoverished (or financially-challenged) or unlettered a visa applicant appears to be, the greater the chances of such intentions holding true and therefore the stronger or more rigid the presumption must apply to the miserable fellow.
This is particularly unnerving and unfortunate especially after 9/11, or in this age of Al Quaida, Bin Laden, Taliban, warring Jews vs. Palestinians (and vice-versa), Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan wars.
Most Pinoys simply wish to go to America because they love America and anything American, even the stupid game of basketball (stupid because Filipinos are not built for the game which recognizes neither height or weight limitations). We love Clint Eastwood and would like to visit him in Carmel or his ranch somewhere in northern California that very few know about. Call it colonial mentality if you like but it must be similar to the people from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and other former British colonies loving to emigrate to the UK and putting their pseudo-British accent to some practical use and being able to play cricket for a living.
Rich Arabs go to America because they hate America and will squander their money there to show off and humiliate penny-pinching Americans with their petro dollars. Indeed, some have been known to enroll for flying lessons while ostensibly cavorting as tourists in America only to wind up becoming suicide bombers with a view to blow up every monument to greatness in the U.S.A.
You would think Homeland Security would have learned its lesson enough to know that just because some people have more dollars than others is no assurance that that they will wind up to be the more desirable visitors. In the past, the evident preoccupation of these immigration bureaucrats was to make sure no tourists will become “public charge” during their sojourn in the U.S. Nevermind if they happen to be drug addicts or pedophiles (or worse, religious nuts out on a jihad) as long as their pocketbooks clearly demonstrate they are awash in cash. One wonders how Homeland Security views wealthy Russian tourists nowadays.
Indeed, it’s ironic that America seems to have completely forgotten that Filipinos fought side by side with American GIs against the Japs (as they were then called) during WWII. Nowadays, Japanese tourists are treated like royalty whenever they condescend to visit America instead of Europe. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, Japan is included along with some rich European countries in a mutual visa-waiver treaty with the USA. Citizens of these countries are just waved through the immigration gates at their port of entry while the poor, tired, hungry-looking Pinoys are huddled in long lines waiting to be interviewed once again, their tons of documentation at the ready - to convince the US consular officer at the other end that the US Embassy in Manila did not commit a mistake. (Sorry, got carried away again on a touchy subject).
My grandmother used to warn me that life is not fair. Sometimes, I suspect it may have something to do with the Pinoy’s pudgy-Karl-Marlden nose that he always manages to get the short end of the stick.
Anyway, to go back to that all-important “interview” at the US consular office. Many don’t seem to realize exactly what that the so-called interview is for or why it’s at all necessary. Remember that unfair if albeit legal presumption in the US immigration law about your intention to stay permanently in that “land of milk and honey?” Fortunately, that presumption is in legal parlance a “rebuttable” (as opposed to a “conclusive”) one. Well, America being the bulwark of democracy, the applicant for a tourist visa is afforded a sporting chance to overcome or refute the presumption by adducing sufficient evidence to the contrary. That is what the “interview” is for. It’s actually in the nature of a quasi-judicial type “hearing,” summary in character, not unlike the hearings conducted by our own government regulatory agencies exercising quasi-judicial powers, such as, labor cases, intra-corporate disputes, transportation franchises, etc. (minus the alleged corruption); and, for good or ill, without the presence or intervention of lawyers.
Hence, it goes without saying that preparation is important. The applicant must be aware at all times what the bone of contention is all about, i.e., he does not intend (at least not yet anyway) to stay permanently in the land that many Arabs hate. In this regard, it may be useful to seek the assistance of a trial lawyer skilled in the art of dealing with or overcoming legal presumptions.
As in all legal proceedings, everything starts with a complaint or petition, or in this particular case, an application form which must be prepared and accomplished in such a manner that the hearing officer must find to be “sufficient in form and substance.” Due care and attention must be given in filling out this innocuous-looking form. There may be trick or misleading questions in the form purposely designed to “sift chaff from grain” and justify outright dismissal or denial of the application. I have heard many an applicant complain that the consular officer did not even bother to ask any questions or look at his/her bag of documents. Actually, one look at the application form as accomplished was all that was necessary to make an easy determination – not sufficient in form and substance (to overcome the presumption).
In general, the application form as accomplished must be such that all that’s necessary (on the part of the consular officer) is to probe or seek a bit of confirmation or information here and there on certain entries thereon to enable him to make an expeditious or summary ruling (and thus be done with his day’s quota). In fairness to these public officers, as soon as a consul is convinced that the applicant has proven his point, the interview is terminated immediately and he is advised to expect his passport and visa to be delivered by special messenger within a few days. In this country, our government men have mastered the art of tweedling their thumbs, sitting around or staring out the window at nothing in particular until the poor citizen gets the idea and learns to come across.
Another basic principle trial lawyers will also tell you is that your evidence must fit the form, i.e., you substantiate with oral or documentary evidence only what you have alleged or entered in the application form, and consistent therewith. As a basic rule of evidence “what is not alleged (in the complaint/petition/or application) cannot be proved.” In brief, the form is the thing. A sloppily-filled form is the surest way to a summary or outright denial of your visa application.
The evidence and argument you offer will consist mainly of facts and personal circumstances which may be lumped as “the ties that bind,” i.e., family, social, business, financial, religious, etc., obligations and commitments which militate against your staying too long in America. It is therefore easy to understand why, for instance, a young, single, jobless young man or woman (nurses, especially) will be hard put to rebut the presumption in question. There is hardly anything or anyone to make him/her come back to this miserable country.
Stick close to the truth, as far as possible. One cannot complain of being treated unfairly if he was lying to begin with. But if you must lie, make sure it sticks because when the s—t hits the fan, there’s hell to pay (to use an American expression). Here a lawyer’s assistance may be helpful. It has been said that even in death, lawyers lie still. Justice is based on truth. Every court hearing begins with “do you swear to tell the truth…” All government forms and petitions, including your income tax return, are required to be submitted under oath, i.e., under pain of perjury, in quadruplicate.
My grandmother used to say that if you have to lie, cheat, steal or kill to get what you want, it’s probably not worth it. The good Lord who knows everything must know what’s best for you.
No matter how damning or silly some of your personal circumstances might appear, be as candid and forthright as possible. Don’t listen to travel agents who advise that you lie through your teeth. Be very clear, specific and convincing about what you want to do in America. It’s very important that you prepare a detailed itinerary/schedule. After all, this is supposed to be an expensive and rare trip you are taking. Hence, your listener will find it hard to believe you have no clear and definite travel plans.
Since everyone is laboring from a different set of circumstances, no two visa applications will be exactly alike nor treated alike. If necessary, on a separate sheet of paper, write if you can a sentimental tearjerker of an essay why you love America, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley or Johnny Cash or Depp, or Tiger Woods, or that you have always dreamed about auditioning for “American Idol” or to watch a Broadway show (which one and why). Tell them about your sick old grandmother back in your hometown who raised you and paid for your schooling and who wants you back as soon as possible. If you must, tell them you want to read for yourself Emma Lazarus’ ”The New Colossus” inscribed on a bronze plaque at the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Believe me, I kid you not.
In sum, you must come prepared for the “interview” as you would an important court hearing or Senate Investigation. Practice filling up several improved versions of the application form. Memorize and rehearse all material, pertinent and relevant facts. Be ready to answer without fear or hesitation all FAQs. Don’t do it the Pinoy way – just “winging it” or going for a novena in Baclaran.
So…good luck, “give my regards to Old Broadway…” Bon Voyage. And… do come back soon. – JAMES D. LANSANG, Esq.
I remember very well the consul who interviewed me. While sifting through my application form and fiddling with my passport (which was littered with various visa & travel stamps of various European countries I visited two years earlier) and not even looking at me, he blurted out the question: "So, why are you travelling to the USA?".
I replied casually: "I have free plane tickets because my wife works with PAL. I'm just curious to know if America is much better than Europe. I've fallen in love with Europe and I'm not really sure if I'll feel the same about yours." Still, without looking at me straight, he got his rubber stamp and said: "Come back this afternoon and get your Visa" , swiftly stamping his approval on my application. |
Kuya VJ, you old SANAMAGAN! Ang yabang mo. You were more than deserving of the visa and the consul - as I had indicated above - lost no time in granting your visa and getting rid of the smart aleck - hehehe. But that must have been some time ago. Nowadays, the consulate ships back your passport/visa via DHL or Fedex.
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elmersarmiento wrote on Apr 17, '10
I just hate getting visas. I guess it's the lot of Pinoys. Everytime I go to Japan, China, Korea, India, Australia, the Middle Eastern countries, U.K. and even to African countries, I have to apply for a visa. Same with Schengen member European countries. I have to queue like everyone else, a humbling experience I must say. The latest country I applied for a visa is The Netherland Antilles, a small nation composed of 5 tiny islands. The biggest island is as big as Boracay.
What hurts is that even if my (or a Pinoy) visa is approved, I have to stay only for a limited number of days (normally 15 days) in these countries, or else they kick me out. They only issue a single entry visa. I tell you, I have become a fixture in embassies. At least the U.S. and Canada give 10 years validity. Certainly, the Americans give us a hard time to get a visa. What adds insult to injury is that once in the U.S. immigration counter at the airport, we have to face a small camera where our picture is taken and then go through the finger printing procedure. We're like herd of suspected criminals. I was impressed with Brazil that when the U.S. implemented this procedure, they copied it too but applied to the arriving Americans only. I like President Lola of Brazil! |
Kuya ELMER, it is indeed unfortunate that even a well-traveled and world-class PINOY globetrotter like you has to be subjected to all kinds of annoying if unnecessary visa and airport bureaucratic requirements. I guess that's the way these wealthy and progressive countries show off to the rest of the world that PINOYS and lesser mortals are not really welcome to try to rub elbows with them.
They must think that poor PINOYS are not entitled to travel. I had a rather wealthy and elderly client who was arbitrarily (profiled) detained at a Central American country simply because his passport showed that he had been travelling (First Class) all over the world on a regular basis. So, they investigated and interviewed him at length to see if he was not really a drug courier. There was a time not too long ago when our local gentry's idea of fun was to travel to Tokyo and Taipei to take advantage of the cheap rates of ladies of the night there. Right after WWII some starving parents in Tokyo would sell their daughters to prostitution for a pack of cigarettes or a bar of chocolate. O tempora, O mores! |
a humbling experience 
elmersarmiento wrote on Apr 18, '10
I just arrived in Singapore and a lot of travellers bound for Europe have been staying in this excellent airport for hours and days waiting for their flights. I just received an email that most of my European counterparts whom I should be meeting here can't attend on time. European carriers are parked here too waiting for the go-signal to proceed to their destinations. I'm sure insurance companies will be paying a helluva lot of money for these delays all because of a volcanic eruption in Iceland that emitted clouds of dust enveloping the skies in Europe. I thought this is a great equalizer but lo and behold, I just learned that Pinoys were not given a free 3-day pass in Germany while waiting for their respective flights. Instead, the Filipinos were asked to just stay in the airport and not leave past immigration. I'm trying to confirm this news now. But if this is true, this is another one for the books for Pinoy travails. Putsa.
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Indeed it's really sad that our kababayans are discriminated that bad.
It's also partly our fault because due to desperation to escape the dire conditions of our country, they use all means to get out of the country. It's a well known fact that Pinoys, at one time, made the best counterfeit passports. For a while I stuck with my Philippine passport, since I had no difficulty going back to the Philippines on vacation. However, when my company (DJ) sent me to London to set up our computer systems, integrate it to our global network and teach our techs there how to operate it, it was such a hassle to be traveling to other countries on a Philippine passport. I was then compelled to get myself a US passport. What a world of difference. I wish and pray that Philippines will soon attain that same level of "respect". Back in the Philippines (yr 2000), I was already involved in the preparation to upgrade our manually processed passport to an ePassport. I was surprised it took DFA ten long yrs to realize it. With a new gov't and an ePassport, hopefully things will be better. |
As of now, I still didn't experience the discrimination you've experienced by being a Filipino. I'm surprised that this is happening to others. Thanks for sharing! By the way, for passport renewals, visa refusals, you can visit this site: www.surevisamanila.com.
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