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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 »

Our family counts travel as one of the few activities that we still do as a family now that we kids are all grown-up. As far as travel goes, nothing seems to get us as excited as going to Europe so it came as no surprise that we started planning for yet another trip to Europe this year.

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Now retired, my father spends considerably more time listening to the news and surfing the internet. One of the tidbits he picked up from his various sources of information was that an electronic passport (e-passport) was now required for Filipinos to travel to Europe. Diligent travelers that we are, we immediately went through the motions of getting an e-passport, even though our old green passports were still valid, without bothering to confirm if this piece of information was true…big mistake as I later found out (but that’s another post entirely).

I went online to check out the procedure for applying for an electronic passport (also known as a machine-readable passport or a biometric passport). The DFA website provided straight forward information as to the requirements for electronic passport application   http://dfa.gov.ph/main/index.php/consular-services/passport . The website also required that we fill up and submit information regarding each of the applicants online to secure an appointment. We were shocked at how long the waiting time was…we applied for an appointment in the first week of June and were given an appointment for the early September. Luckily, my parents, both of whom are senior citizens, and myself found a way to get an earlier appointment through the courtesy lane. Continue reading »