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Experiences with embassies in the Philippines.

Discussion in 'Dumaguete City' started by Justice911, Jun 18, 2018.

  1. Happy Camper

    Happy Camper DI Senior Member Restricted Account Infamous Showcase Reviewer

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    Wyre, I am an American too. You don't kill everything you "hunt". We hunt down criminals and bring them to justice all the time in different countries. It all depends on the context meant in the use of the word.
     
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  2. birdwatch

    birdwatch DI Forum Adept

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    In Japan, visiting friends who try to get a visa identical to the one granted to visiting relatives is difficult. It is called Temporary Visitor:
    Tourism, vacation, sports, family visit, participation to seminars, conferences or reunions. It is possible also to have business meetings, sign contracts, engage in PR activities and conduct market research.
    My bf is American but is well established here and sent all the necessary documents needed to prove that he can financially shoulder all expenses for his Filipino friends on their intended stay but in the end, his friends applied for a tourist visa (which actually worked) because of the other requirements like proving that they are really friends, quite annoying and according to them, “not worth the effort”.

    Also, marriage visa is not always the easy path if the embassy notices something off.
    Example: (both married in the Phillipines and are applying for a marriage visa)
    Applicant A: pregnant; declared a previous stay in Japan; declared an erroneous entry in a previous passport: marriage visa granted in 3 days
    Applicant B: pregnant; lied about previously working in Japan, therefore the husband’s guarantee letter (story) is a lie; can not obtain a copy of previous passport unless she pays a huge amount to her agency(lucky not to face breach of contract, btw); got a new passport falcifying birth information/document: marriage visa granted after months of waiting and paying a huge amount to a fixer.
     
  3. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    ...and what happens when Duterte "hunts" some criminals down? In the context of who it was written to, what that person's history with "hunting" criminals is and with the anger shown in the letter it seems - to me - there was quite a bit of malice in the comment.
    Applicant A seems to have made a mistake. Applicant B seems to have knowingly lied and falsified documents. Applicant B should be arrested, thrown in prison for awhile, deported and banned from ever entering that country IMO.

    However, they are both examples of why Filipino visa applicants should be highly scrutinized, you simply can't trust what they write down. They either don't follow instructions, they don't understand them or they straight up lie on the forms to try to get what they want. When a significant portion of people are doing this then you have to take a closer look at what everyone from that country is claiming. People that do that nonsense are not a benefit to your country and should be kept out. If your country has a lot of integrity and discipline in the culture (such as Japan) you don't want to be letting in people who have basically zero of those traits. If Filipinos are upset about being scrutinized by immigration maybe they should look at the people from their own country and blame them.

    In the US being a mother gives you no right to visit the US (not until the child is 18 or 21). I do not know German/EU immigration law.

    That 35 year old Filipina was trying to get two different types of visas. Just because you were given 3 tourist visas does mean you are entitled to a different type of visa. Without seeing the paperwork or reason for being denied I will side with German immigration. I will almost always give the benefit of doubt to immigration until someone can show me proof that all the forms and procedures were properly filled out. Working with the government for most of my adult life I can say that almost all people are denied (for whatever they are applying for) because 1. they didn't fill out the forms correctly 2. they didn't meet the requirements or 3. they have something on their record that prohibits them from getting said thing. Basically, 99.9% of time it is user error/ignorance.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2018
  4. merlinfish

    merlinfish DI Junior Member

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    I thought the original question by Justice911; seeking comment on experience with foreign embassies (consulates) for Filipino family, was an entirely valid, and interesting one. I would be very interested to see answers posted here on personal experiences; Good and Bad.

    Most of the responses seem to be directed at the contents of the letter from Herbert Alexander Ramin, (or the translation of), and the wisdom of requesting the Philippine president to interfere with immigration policy matters of foreign powers.

    Some of the comments also do not seem to acknowledge that in some cases peoples lives can be severely impacted by seemingly arbitrary and unreasonable decisions.

    My own past experience from dealings with British embassy in Manila, and representative in Cebu, has been very very disappointing. My wife and I have been very happily married for many years, but in the past I was so upset that I was certain that British Embassy officials/ employees in Manila had to be corrupt! This anger has now subsided, but I'm left with a lack of trust for the consulate to make a fair and reasonable decision, and I understand the sentiment of discriminatory unfairness and frustration expressed in the letter from Herbert Alexander Ramin.

    I would like to comment on another facet of the 'visa industry'; The agencies. It seems that many Filipinos believe that paying the exorbitant fees asked by the visa agencies (in addition to the ever increasing visa charges by the embassies) is the only way they will have a good chance of being successful for a visa, no matter how genuinely deserving they are. I personally believe that foreign consulates should strongly discourage, even disallow (as per most Philippine government offices - "No Fixers") Filipino visa applicants from using agencies (it costs money most people can ill afford, or at least would otherwise be able to spend during their foreign visit). I would have expected that focusing on 'self service' would help weed out those non deserving applicants, whose applications are 'sanitised' by unscrupulous agencies. This would require that the foreign consulates provide much clearer information on their visa application forms and websites. For the UK it seems so incredibly difficult to understand which type of visa to apply for and have the best chance of being successful, in different circumstances.
     
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  5. birdwatch

    birdwatch DI Forum Adept

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    I definitely agree based on my personal experience. Getting the minimum wage since I got here in Japan, I told my Filipino daughter that she can only visit me here through a tourist visa which she has to work hard for in order to qualify. She worked for the same company for five years after graduation and even though her income tax return doesn’t say much, it was a start. She made it on her first application although she couldn’t stay 3 months like a what a visiting relative could.
     
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    Justice911

    Justice911 DI Member Restricted Account Showcase Reviewer

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    I can see, that you try to discuss with the normal common sense, be sure, this couple made all perfect, but the German Embassy tries to find hair-rising reasons to deny, they practice arbitrary exercise of power in a Third World Country and get away with it with impunity. They have "fool freedom" in the Philippines (means the freedom of crazy people). And this make Germans, who want to invite their Fiance or Wife to Germany so awfully angry.
    I can tell you only one example....a 55-year old German married a Philippina in the Philippines. He must still work until 65. He has a nice house at the Nordsee...North Sea. As he still worked as an employee, he could only visit his wife 3 times the year. So they applied a family-reunion-visa....and guess about the result....it was denied as thousands others are denied and now see, how shameless the German embassy is.

    The reasoning, why it was denied was: "Your marriage is a "fictitious marriage", because you only visit your wife 3 times the year".

    Wrye, I could name you hundred of such examples.
     
  7. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Ok, let us assume that all the paperwork was completed correctly and all requirements were met. My next question would be "why are they denying it?"

    "Arbitrary exercise of power in a third world country" is not a reason I would buy. They are exercising their power in their embassy, not in a third world country. The country they are operating in has no say over foreign immigration law.

    Since I don't know EU immigration law I have to ask: Does this immigration law give sweeping powers to staff at the embassy to deny visas at their own discretion? I think most countries do give their immigration staff quite a lot of power when it comes to this. They may not have to give you any valid reason for denying a visa.

    What I would do after being denied is (while leaving all emotion at the door):
    1. Set up a meeting at the embassy with the person in charge of this decision and ask "What do I have to do/provide to satisfy your requirements and get this (very specific type of) visa for my spouse?" (Preferably get this down in writing...so maybe an email from them would work better.)
    2. Make sure it all gets done exactly as instructed and dot all my i's and cross all my t's.
    3. Present these requirements to the appropriate person.
    4. If that fails I would then hire an attorney (from the country I want the visa for) that specializes in immigration law and have them send out the appropriate, and legal, threats to immigration/the embassy.
    5. Follow through with any needed lawsuit(s).
    Duterte (and anyone in his cabinet) cannot do anything to help you or your friend. Absolutely nothing will be achieved by writing him. This is a legal matter that only concerns Germany/the EU. After (if) it makes it through the courts it will set a legal precedent (which, to note, might not be in your favor). Also, by contacting a lawyer you may find out that you are wasting your time and what they are doing is perfectly legal (there might already be precedent for their actions) and there isn't a d*mn thing you can do about it...sometimes life isn't fair.

    Also, I may be inclined to believe that the marriage was a sham...especially if they haven't spent any actual time together or barely know each other. A lot of things would go into consideration with that decision. How old is the husband, how old is the wife, will she become a burden of the state when he passes away or is there enough saved up to take care of the spouse after death, etc? You may know a 100 stories of people getting denied a fiance/marriage visa but perhaps the embassy knows of 10,000 stories of people trying to get in with actual scam marriages (or worse). It is likely there is a very good reason for some people to be denied. And for those 100 you know that were denied...how many were approved? What's the actual ratio of approval:denial?
     
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    Justice911

    Justice911 DI Member Restricted Account Showcase Reviewer

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    I can see, that you try to discuss with the normal common sense, be sure, this couple made all perfect, but the German Embassy tries to find hair-rising reasons to deny, they practice arbitrary exercise of power in a Third World Country and get away with it with impunity. They have "fool freedom" in the Philippines. And this make Germans, who want to invite their Fiance or wife so awfully angry. I can tell you only one exemple....a 55-year old German married a Philippina in the Philippines. He must still work until 65. He has a nice house at the Nordsee...North Sea. As he still worked as an employee, he could only visit her 3 times the year. So they applied a family-reunion-visa....and guess....it was denied as thousands are denied and now listen, how shameless and sarcastic the German embassy is. The reasoning, why it was denied was: "Your marriage is a fictitious marriage, because you visit your wife only 3 times the year."
     
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    Justice911

    Justice911 DI Member Restricted Account Showcase Reviewer

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    Hi Wrye, you continue to work with your reasonable brain and you do not want to accept, that the German Embassy has the order from the Ministry of Foreign Affair in Berlin, Germany, to push down applications for Visit-Visas and for Family-Reunion-Visas so much / strict as possible and so the German Embassy follows this order like a slave and goes unscrupulous (mentally) over dead bodies (= German saying).
    This is not only against the Filippinos, it is also against the German Inviting-ones.

    Wrye it seems, that you keep more to the perpetrators, than to the victims of this injustice. The German law says, if you marry, you have the legally right to bring your wife to Germany. And the German law says, if you recognize a Child as yours, the child and the mother can come to Germany. That's it, so clear, no if, no but....,
    but the German Embassy, does not care, you must take a German Lawyer (they do not accept Philippine Lawyers) and open a case at the Administrative Court in Berlin, this takes much time, up to 2 years, and costs much money. The man, who wrote the letter to Duterte, does not need help any more, he found ways with the help of other embassies to bring Child and Mother finally to Germany. The man, who has to work until 65 years as an employee can only visit his wife 3 times the year and this is much !!! (You agree ?) because employees do not have so much official holidays and if he takes more, he will loose his job. Dont you see how crazy the decisions of the DBM (= German Embassy Manila) are. He wants his wife beside him, in order to see and embrace her every day and the German Embassy says: "You only visit her 3 times the year, so it is a fake marriage". He is 55 years old and she is 35 years old.
    I neither need help any more, I found ways to get the family reunion visa with the help of a German lawyer, it did cost me much money and nerves and made my hair grey (= German Saying), mostly we live in Sweden.
    And the bitter irony of all this is, that the German Government let up to 2 Million Moslems in their country since 2015 often without Passport or any identity papers, often with several different identities, often under them Ex-Criminals in their home country (raping, killing, stealing) but the few Christian Catholic Filipinas should NOT be aloud to visit Germany.

    The former bodyguard of Bin Laden lives free in Germany and receives a lot of social assistance, a lot of money from the German state.

    But my main purpose to open this thread was, to hear from the other foreigners here how strict or generous the other embassies are in those immigration- or just visiting-topics.
     
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    Last edited: Jun 20, 2018
  10. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I get you are making this claim but you have provided no proof for it.

    Of course they won't take a Philippine lawyer in Germany, it would be silly to hire a Filipino lawyer to deal with the matter. It makes perfect sense to hire a German lawyer for German immigration law. I'm glad you sorted it out and the guy can get his wife a visa.

    Well that sounds like the problem there. You have to file for the visa in the EU country you are trying to enter through/live in right? It sounds like the issue is stemming from a complicated living/relationship arrangement more than some conspiracy by the government.

    Meh, Europe used to give us (the US) a lot of crap for being strict on Mexicans entering our country. Human rights and all. I find it kind of funny that now the European people are facing a similar dilemma. Sucks to have a bunch of unskilled people flooding your country and sucking up all your social benefits, eh?

    The "alleged" former bodyguard of Bin Laden. Remember where that information came from, another Muslim from Tunisia sucking on the German social welfare tit. How would that guy know? If he knew where Bin Laden was did he try to turn him in at the time? If not maybe the guy making the claim should be deported as well. He can't be relied on to report terrorist activity. Germany is trying to deport the alleged bodyguard...but they will need more proof than some idiot's word to do so.
     
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