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LOL, my wife and her sister flew to Greece without having even valid passports, they had been expired for years. It took them a number of hours just to get out of the airport (a cousin met them there, and, um, 'convinced' the officials to let them through). They were supposed to go directly to the American embassy to get new passports issued, but by the time they got out of the airport, the embassy was closed so they went on to their destination instead (a small village called Lamia, I think...or something like that). Eventually, they got things straightened out.
How long ago was that? I don't see it happenening post 9-11.
Interesting to hear all kinds of scenarios that have happened! What a nightmare (and indeed, embarrassment) to be returned on another flight! I would think a country that allows visa upon arrival could make a handsome $$$$ by charging a hefty fee that one is willing to pay as long as it's less than the return airfare
Usually, the airline is responsible if they board you without proper documentation. Also, you are then likely to be deported on the next flight out, which has happened to a friend of mine. In her case, she complained to the airline, which made good for restitution of all expenses incurred. She arrived in Chile without a visa, and was immediately escorted to the gate for a flight to Buenos Aires.
I think it is rare, but having a visa is no guarantee that you will be admitted to the country. The visa simply means you have been pre-cleared, but it is still the discretion of the immigration officer to admit you. Presumably, the reverse is also true, and an immigration officer has the discretion to admit a traveler who does not have a required visa.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I have never been checked in USA at departure for destination Visa. What does USA care (or know?). BUT... coming back into USA you WILL BE CHECKED, and there is plenty they can do to keep you out of your own country! Arrival country will not be impressed, and you may have to wait a few months. (before someone finds out where you are stuck ) Typically you get sent to an airport detention center and you get some interrogation, Best to rehearse this ahead of time. Some countries are quite suspicious of USA citizens, best to carry another version of ID. Concealed Weapons permit worked last week in Thailand. Not likely a good idea to use that ID today. (Military Coup underway.)
Just witness the many Canadian Border crossings since 9-11... Drive out, no problem. Try to Drive back in GREAT BIG problems with USA immigration getting back into USA!!!
Interesting to hear all kinds of scenarios that have happened! What a nightmare (and indeed, embarrassment) to be returned on another flight! I would think a country that allows visa upon arrival could make a handsome $$$$ by charging a hefty fee that one is willing to pay as long as it's less than the return airfare
Many countries that issue a visa on arrival have no fee for the visa. For countries that rely on tourism dollars, extorting money from visitors is not a good way to encourage more people to come.
Usually, the airline is responsible if they board you without proper documentation. Also, you are then likely to be deported on the next flight out, which has happened to a friend of mine.
If the airline sends you to a country where you don't have the right credentials to enter, it becomes their responsibility to fly you back out again. Which they will do ad probably charge you at the insanely expensive unrestricted coach fare rate. In addition, the airline is also subject to fines from the destination country for passengers turned away for documentation reasons, and some of those fines are both quite high and not as easy to reclaim from the passenger denied entry.
So any airline that's doing their job right will have multiple checks in place for the passport. I've recently had to scan my passport into the kiosk before printing out boarding passes, show it again when checking baggage, and then show it a final time at the gate, presumably to verify that I hadn't lost it between ticket counter and departure lounge.
And in the semi-tinfoil hat world, there's no way that Edward Snowden got from Hong Kong to Moscow without Russian immigration officials knowing what was happening and putting their fingers on the scale. At that point, his passport had been revoked and even though you technically don't need a Russian transit visa for less than 24 hour periods of time if you don't leave the airport, his name would have been radioactive on any passenger manifests.
I have never gotten on a flight to a foreign country where my passport and visa weren't checked before I boarded. Airlines simply will refuse to carry you if your documentation isn't in order.
The exception is countries like French Polynesia and Turkey where you are issued a visa on arrival. In this case, only your passport is checked for validity before you board the airplane.
I have several times seen airlines refuse passengers at the gate because they didn't have the right visa or didn't have enough time left on their pasport. (Most countries require you to have at least six months remaining on the passport to enter.)
If you are refused at the gate, you don't get a refund, and your travel insurance won't pay either, as this is your responibility to handle before you leave.
If you do have the appropriate documentation but are refused entry at the point of arrival (ie they determine you are entering for the purpose of work and don't have the right work visa) they will turn you away and the carrier will put you in a seat on the next flight with an available seat. Usually this is the next flight, unless it's a holiday period, in which case you can literally be stuck at the airport for a few days. There isn't a charge for the return fare, as the airline is supposed to be responsible to not allow you on the plane to begin with if you aren't entering legally.
Airlines refuse to transport those with invalid and or missing papers because often they will be landed with the bill/responsible for returning said passenger back to wherever he or she originally boarded.
Abroad, the airlines always check, and sometimes it's a pain. We were in Portugal, flying back to the States, on Canadian passports. The airline check-in person didn't know that we didn't need a visa for the US. She got it figured out, after some arguing.
Many countries do "visa on arrival", but if they don't, you WILL be asked.
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GREAT BIG problems with USA immigration getting back into USA!!!
