Filipinos told not to buy flight tickets
Their government will buy air tickets for those going home but will not refund pre-booked tickets
Filipinos availing the amnesty and wishing to go home have been advised not to pre-book or buy their own tickets prior to securing an outpass from the amnesty centres.
On the second day of amnesty on Thursday, Philippine Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes reiterated that the Philippine government will shoulder all their expenses related to their exit fees and tickets to Manila plus connecting flights to their provinces.
“I’d like to remind all Filipino nationals who are availing of the amnesty programme and are intending to return home to the Philippines that the Philippine government will be the one shouldering the expenses related to the exit permits, the removal of absconding cases and the one-way ticket back home,” Cortes told Gulf News.
“Regrettably, if you have already purchased your own tickets, we cannot and we do not have the facility to refund you for that. So I advise all those who want to return to the country, please refrain from purchasing your tickets first.”
Immigration officials announced on Wednesday that air tickets should only be booked 10 days after the issuance of the outpass. Meaning, if an amnesty-seeker received the outpass on the first day of amnesty on August 1, he can leave the country only by August 11.
On the first two days of the amnesty, Gulf News noted that a number of Filipino amnestyseekers approached consulate officials with tickets booked for the first week of August. They asked if the consulate could reimburse them since the tickets would be wasted.
Cortes said there are consulate officials assigned in all immigration offices in the northern emirates. In amnesty centres where there are no facilities for consulate officials to assist Filipinos, Cortes advised amnesty-seekers who intend to go home to pay the fees first and then proceed to the consulate to get their reimbursement and give their documents for their ticket booking.