Immigration complaints to authorities - any one?

federica

That is something that really annoys me, too: People complain about corruption but think of a bribe whenever something doesn't go as smooth as they want to.

I can understand that a local thinks about it after something isn't done for a long long time (and even then I wouldn't appreciate it at all). But for a tourist

Believe me, you can survive as a traveller in India without bribes!!!

7riddler

He was on the way out- Departure from India via Chennai. Arrival was 2 weeks back via same airport.

By getting in, i meant getting in to the departure area (Or getting past immigration).

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--- deepak.dk

7riddler

Edited the first post for clarity now.

He was detained by the immigration at departure

-D

federica

Ok. This can easily happen if they forget to put an entry stamp or whatever. Maybe they didn't like his look. Can happen anywhere in this world As long as he's safe home now, should be ok. At least India doesn't have Guantanamo.

7riddler

No, there wasn't any explicit demand for bribe.

They just told him that his passport is suspicious despite the fact that he has an entry stamp in it for 30th Sept. There was no demand for any additional ID which he could have provided. They just kept him for sometime while the officers kept talking to eachother in a little bit mocking fashion - Ofcourse this might be just his perception since he has no experience in the local language whatsoever.

-D

Nick-H

Yes, it probably was his perception.

Oddly, and I've done quite a bit of coming and going through Chennai airport, I find they are much fussier about letting people out than letting them in.

7riddler

May be they should improve the process a bit. Immigration has the right to suspect anybody but a bit more people friendly behavior should not hurt! .

I have no experience in Chennai. Bangalore is pretty decent i'd say

7riddler

. I think he looked decent. And had an entry stamp too.
Thank God!

matt67

Question: Is your Danish friend of Indian descent? The immigration authorirties will look at passports very carefully to ensure that the passport is being presented by the rightful holder and that it is not stolen (or even sold by the rightful owner for a quick profit to a dealer). there are thousands of Indian nationals travelling to European countries every year on stolen foreign passport. They are looked at very carefully by immigration around the world. It takes less than 10 minutes to sort out the real ones from the fakes. But if the fakes are very good and the presenter of that fake is clued up...it takes time. There is no easy way to tell genuine from a good fake. it takes time and experience and sadly in the real world sometimes that experience is gained from stopping genuine travellers. It all builds up to a better picture in the end.

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Om shanti Om

7riddler

He is of Danish origin.100% European guy. There is no way he can be taken for a person of Indian origin. So i think that was not the reason.

I hope with biometric passport etc, things will become more streamlined and easy for the travelers.

-D

Nick-H

99% of the time, they are streamlined and easy. Even my remarks about foreigners arriving at Heathrow were based on one particularly bad day, and subsequent experiences have been ok.

nycank

Problem with LHR is that of multiple terminals. Some of the terminals concentrated on regions of the world; and as a result you'd see a number of issues. In the last decade or so as the thinking evolved in operations of airport logistics, one began to see the re-allignment of gates and terminal space based on alliances - i.e Star, One World, Skyteam and their partner airlines. Same is true of multiple terminals in CDG, JFK. Some terminals are a United Nations of travelers and some are homogenous in composition

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bade bhaisaheb is outsourced

7riddler

Possibly. A bad day at the airport and a bad day for him too.

What makes me suspicious is that they let him go when he told them that they can talk with (on the phone)his local Indian contacts(ie with me or my brother ) if they are suspicious of his identity . . I am not sure if that carries a lot of value since we are just commoners . And they didn't ask for any other Identity proof as well.

-D

dillichaat

Very strange story imho. I think the immigration guys just had a valid concern about his passport. Or maybe they got an alert about someone who looked like your friend. All I can say is that I've never ever been stopped much less asked for a bribe by immigration authorities in India and I fly about a lot.

I have, otoh, while in transit to Brussels, been selected for an in-depth test by customs in Frankfurt. They were very professional and friendly but I did have to strip to my underwear By that time I was starting to wonder when they'd pull out the rubber gloves... They later explained that it was due to my travel history (couple of trips to a south american country a couple of weeks apart).

I don't think your friend has reasons to complain, much less a valid case here.

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When the wise man points out the black hole, the fool looks at the finger.

Haylo

It honestly sounds to me as if they were just doing their job.

As for saying they let him go "when he told them they can talk with local Indian contacts" you were not there and you have already told us that he did not understand a single word of what they were saying to each other.

It is quite possible that it was his demeanor and the way he was talking, as much as his actual words, that made them decide that he should be free to leave without further questioning.

Really, people bitch and whine about the security services not doing their jobs when there are terrorist attacks, but when they do start checking people, nobody is prepared to stand up for them.

Sounds like he didn't even miss his flight, sorry if I'm missing something but frankly I've no idea what on earth he has to complain about.

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