Malaysian Girl’s South Korean Holiday Limited To Airport, Forced To Return Next Day
The passenger was asked to return home due to not having her old passport with her.
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What was meant to be an exciting trip quickly became an unfortunate and learning experience for a local TikToker. The user who was keen on visiting South Korea, was boarded back home for not bringing her old passport with her.
According to her clip on TikTok, she explained that she had initially prepared all the documents before boarding the plane. This includes the itinerary, k-eta, flight tickets, and hotel bookings.
She even renewed her passport as she had not traveled internationally in a long time. However, upon arriving at the Incheon Airport in South Korea, she had difficulties in the immigration section.
“I have shown my passport and my printed documents. However, the officer kept asking where is the k-eta. I showed him the hardcopy which I applied through online,” she said in the video.
She then explained that he asked why there was no history of traveling in her passport. She explained that it was a renewed passport and that she did not bring her old one with her.
“All of sudden he asked me to follow another officer to further investigate. When I asked them why? They just said “Sit down”. That’s all,” she added.
The officers then interviewed her and came to the conclusion that she was not ready for the trip. Despite her having all the other documents, she was told to head home right away.
“They took out our passports and we can’t go anywhere else to buy food.” Stressed, she called the Malaysian Embassy for help. Fortunately, they picked up and quickly rushed to her defense.
Yet, they had no luck as the immigration officers refused to communicate with both her and the Malaysian embassy.
Fly back home
Hence, she was left with no other choice but to head home. The South Korean immigration officers were adamant that she boarded the earliest plane.
Although she is saddened by the event, the TikTok user takes this as a learning curve.
“Everything happens for a reason. No matter how hard you’ve tried to fight back for your rights. No matter how well-prepared you are. Things happened.”
She concluded her post by sharing that she will be saving the trip’s money for her future wedding.
Some still require
While some countries may accept a new passport and an old visa, others may require copies of old visas, along with possession of a new visa when you just recently renewed your passport.
This is to serve as a confirmation of your identity. Even when canceled or expired, the passport proves that you are indeed a citizen of that country. And that you have a history of traveling to other countries.
Hence, it may be a good idea to keep your old passport with you. This unfortunate incident also serves as a reminder for us to properly investigate the entry rule for the country that we plan to visit.
But what are your thoughts on this? Have you ever encountered a similar situation, and if you did, what did you do?
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