I would like to consider myself to be a savvy international traveler. I have the whole routine down pat. From bringing all the necessary documents (passport, visa, print out of electronic tickets-and photocopies of each), packing the essentials to fit into a small-sized luggage, to picking out a day bag that allows me to compartmentalize my things and secure my documents, I have got it down to a science. Just the same, I am still very much human…and so I continue to learn from my mistakes.
On a recent visit to Singapore, I had inadvertently misplaced my embarkation card…I realized this just as I was leaving for the airport to catch my flight back home.
What on earth is an embarkation card, you may wonder. Well, different countries would have different methods to track the movement of tourists in and out of their area of jurisdiction. Disembarkation and embarkation cards that are linked to a single serial number would be one way to do this. The disembarkation card, also known as an arrival card, is the form that a foreigner accomplishes when he arrives the host country-this card would contain information such as the name, nationality, passport number, country of origin, date of arrival and local address of the foreigner. The embarkation or departure card, on the other hand, is the card that the foreigner surrenders on leaving the host country-this would contain similar information as the disembarkation card except that details regarding the date of departure and destination country would be reported instead of the date of arrival and the local address.
There I was, hours away from my flight back home, missing a legal document: my embarkation card. I panicked but decided to still make my way to the airport without the card (I really didn’t want to miss my flight. I figured, the earlier I get to the airport, the sooner I can talk to the immigration officer). I had the phone number of the establishment where I last took out my passport, and may have dropped the card, so I tried to call them-no dice. I tried calling my airline but, as expected, they couldn’t offer much help.
My husband and I debated what would happen to those who lose their embarkation cards. We spoke of body searches and interrogations, half-jokingly. Surely, I wasn’t the first idiot to lose such a small card that is just inserted (not stapled) into a passport. Besides, we were about to leave the country, what danger could we pose? Continue reading »
