The long time and much admired Alien Control Officer for Dumaguete, Mr. Peter Bueno, has now been re-located to Mactan airport, Cebu. The new A.C.O at the B of I office in Dumaguete is Mr. Emmanuel A. Torres.
Do we know anything of him? I guess what I mean is have you met him? Can we expect any Surprises at all. We all knew where we stood with Peter, I am sure others as I do, will find a big difference.
I made a point of meetings and introductions this morning. First impression is that he is very amenable, is very approachable, has an open door policy, and trusts his staff to get on with it. Being the new kid on the block, he is still finding his way around and relying heavily on his staff, but (compared to other B of I offices) they are both experienced and efficient. I was in and out of there in 20 minutes, although lighter by 3030 peso.!!!!!
Well that sounds most encouraging Thank you for the prompt reply, my renewal is due on the 27th and I have a slight problem, lets just hope he will be as accommodating, as Peter would have been As I am sure you are aware, it is always useful to have some insight, prior to any of these somewhat delicate meetings, many thanks to you for this. JP
Not to get too far off topic, but what services does the Dumaguete BI office offer? I know some satellite offices don't offer all services. Can I apply for my 13a Spousal Visa there?
Sorry Larry that is the one thing a lot of us get annoyed about. No 13a application No exit Clearance in fact all they seem to do is Extensions. I personally wonder why they maintain an office here but then, there are a lot of us so it is an earner, if only on Extensions.
Right, he could have got away only spending 500 pesos at Tocino country, though at that rate they probably only give you 5 minutes (plenty for most) rather than 20. :P Er, wait, are we still talking about immigration?
Work to Rule?? mmmm Maybe Well Today, For the First time in 7 years, I was very angry, at the Bureau of Immigration, Not quite table thumping but pretty d*mn close. at 7.30 am I went to ask what was needed for my extended extension stay. Letter of Reason, Notorised, and that was all, plus the normal application form, at 9.30am, I went back, duly armed with the letter and form completed. The Girl ask where my NSO Copy of the marriage Contract was, errrrrrrrrrrr did you ask me for that, NO she said, so I asked why not? she said, I did not realize you were married to a Filipino, HUH I replied, WHY? do you think I am in the Philippines, Obviously No sense of Humour here, So after a return journey of some 1.5 hours to home to get a copy, I return to the BOI. Has it been Notorised she said? Oh yes I replied. So after handing over of some 6000+ peso we then have to have more photo copies done, But she neglects, to tell me, how many of the differing things to do. so after 4 trips back and forth to the travel Agent for copies, I am getting pretty mad WE are nearing Lunch time, Ha! now here, is one, of the reasons, that the staff are not as good as usual. Our New Leader has stopped the Lunch time closure, OK! his prerogative and good for us, But I am d*mn well not happy that, the new broom is sweeping too clean but for once, not against us ( well not yet anyway) I said to the girl, if you have a problem with the new boss, it is not our fault She just shrugged and said I am not sure what you mean, I Told her, that it had taken almost 5 hours to do what normally takes 1 to 1/2 hours give or take, she told me that he (the new boss was exact) and was demanding at times. Well this one made me laugh. I said to her, just tell us what you need to attend to our needs and we will supply it. Now here is the real funny part, she said it is up to You, to bring the requirements in when making an application O-| I said, I asked you this Morning, What you needed? You got it wrong, I guess, that was my fault? having never had to show a Marriage contract before, How stupid of me, not to know, I would need it today! I met the new man, very nice man and to the point he told me, they will settle down in time. ( He had heard my raised opinion of the days proceedings. Not sure I will live long enough to realize his statement but I urge every one, Just at this juncture, give yourself plenty of time at the BOI and if you need to ask a question, Ask it twice or thrice even I am sorry that I have to post this but it was a day I will wish to forget after so many years of somewhat excellent service, OH don't get me wrong, the ladies are doing the job as well as ever, it is just that they forget who is the Client and who is the Public servant (albeit we are the Foreigner) Rant Over JP
I was there yesterday, poor girls can’t have their lunch in peace, I asked if they have a lunch break, answer no sir, reply what you can’t even have a staggered lunch break? Reply no sir. Looks like the new chief rules with a very hard and long stick, I was asked to come back after 3 hours or next day to pick up my passport so maybe new chief was out to lunch.
