my experience with RP in Europe

[cchong]

I just came back from Europe a couple days ago. I would like to report my experience with traveling on RP going thru customs/airports in few countries.

I flew into the Netherlands and the officers have never seen an RP so they didn't know how to process it. One of the officer made a phone call and a minute later another officer came over to the counter and instructed me to follow him. he asked me why I don't have a passport and stamped my RP once he has learnt of my situation.

Again, when I was leaving from Poland (I had travel to Poland from the Netherlands) to Moscow, the custom officer in Poland could not scan my RP so she manually entered the information into the system although it took her a while to figure it out.

My experience at the custom in Moscow was very bad. The officer again could not scan my RP and did not know how to process my entry. He was very upset and slammed on his computer. After few minutes of banging on the computer, he asked me to go to a different counter and gave me some attitude. I went to a different counter and the officer also did not know how to process it and yelled at the officer of sending me to her counter. After several failed attempts of scanning my rp, she scanned my Russian visa and it worked. She was happy that she could finally let me go. The whole thing took awhile and the line got even longer due to the difficulty and it was embrassing to stand there.

When I left Moscow, the experience was awful. It took me close to one and a half hour to go thru the custom and the airport counters to get my broading pass. No one seems to know what is RP and how to process it. In the past, l travelled on RTD and have never experienced this kind of problem. This was the first time I travelled on an RP, I definately learned my lesson. In the future, I will stay away from travelling on an RP if possible.

 

[John Smith 1]

I just came back from Europe a couple days ago. I would like to report my experience with traveling on RP going thru customs/airports in few countries.

I flew into the Netherlands and the officers have never seen an RP so they didn't know how to process it. One of the officer made a phone call and a minute later another officer came over to the counter and instructed me to follow him. he asked me why I don't have a passport and stamped my RP once he has learnt of my situation.

Again, when I was leaving from Poland (I had travel to Poland from the Netherlands) to Moscow, the custom officer in Poland could not scan my RP so she manually entered the information into the system although it took her a while to figure it out.

My experience at the custom in Moscow was very bad. The officer again could not scan my RP and did not know how to process my entry. He was very upset and slammed on his computer. After few minutes of banging on the computer, he asked me to go to a different counter and gave me some attitude. I went to a different counter and the officer also did not know how to process it and yelled at the officer of sending me to her counter. After several failed attempts of scanning my rp, she scanned my Russian visa and it worked. She was happy that she could finally let me go. The whole thing took awhile and the line got even longer due to the difficulty and it was embrassing to stand there.



this happened to me all the times, especially when i travel to japan,

they dont understand what is RP in narita airport, they cant scan it,
they have to scan the visa instead, and when i leave the country, the counter person dont understand whaT IS RP, because they cant scan it,
they have to type the information,

one thing is good at NARITA AIRPORT, japanese are very polite,

this why i have to keep bowing the whole time there

 

[cchong]

this happened to me all the times, especially when i travel to japan,

they dont understand what is RP in narita airport, they cant scan it,
they have to scan the visa instead, and when i leave the country, the counter person dont understand whaT IS RP, because they cant scan it,
they have to type the information,

one thing is good at NARITA AIRPORT, japanese are very polite,

this why i have to keep bowing the whole time there



I did not know; otherwise, I will stay as far away of travelling on RP as possible. As mentioned early, I have never had problem like that travelling on an RTD since officers and airport personnels generally know what is RTD even if they can't scan it. The drawback of RTD is that it is only good for one year. My god, I still need to make another foreign trip next June. I hope I will have a better experience next time. But after hearing about your story, I doubt the experience will be much different from my previous one. In the past, I love travelling abroad. Now, I am so not looking forward to it. Becuase of my awful experience for my previous trip going thru custom, I have decided not to travel abroad for the X'mas break.

 

[wantmygcnow]

I did not know; otherwise, I will stay as far away of travelling on RP as possible. As mentioned early, I have never had problem like that travelling on an RTD. The drawback of RTD is that it is only good for one year. My god, I still need to make another foreign trip next June. I hope I will have a better experience next time. But after hearing about your story, I doubt the experience will be much different from my previous one. In the past, I love travelling abroad. Now, I am so not looking forward to it. Becuase of my awful experience for my previous trip going thru custom, I have decided not to travel abroad for the X'mas break.

I have traveled a lot over europe and have had no problems with RP ever. I have used different entry points like Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt,Munich, Venice,Rome.

Never ever I had where they didnt know what it was. Once they saw the visa, it wasn't really a big deal after that. I used to joke with my wife that how come its easier for me to travel overseas with RP but when I come back here, the officers have no clue what a RP is at the U.S Port of entry....

But usually i try to avoid any French airports & Italian airports because they always seem to be suspicious. If you have been to France or Italy, you can also see lots of illegal immigration problems so thats why they are extra careful in processing.

So when I travel, I try to land at any German Airport and Spanish airports.

 

[cchong]

I have traveled a lot over europe and have had no problems with RP ever. I have used different entry points like Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt,Munich, Venice,Rome.

Never ever I had where they didnt know what it was. Once they saw the visa, it wasn't really a big deal after that. I used to joke with my wife that how come its easier for me to travel overseas with RP but when I come back here, the officers have no clue what a RP is at the U.S Port of entry....

But usually i try to avoid any French airports & Italian airports because they always seem to be suspicious. If you have been to France or Italy, you can also see lots of illegal immigration problems so thats why they are extra careful in processing.

So when I travel, I try to land at any German Airport and Spanish airports.

Hi wantmygcnow,

Yes, I have been to France and Italy, but I have never exited from the passport control there. I had visited the Netherlands and entered thru AMS in the past, I have never had a problem when I travelled on RTD. This time, the same entry point, I encountered problem; perhaps, it is related to the particular officers. I don't know. But I am only saying that this time travelling on RP, I had some difficulty when entering Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and going out of Warsaw (Poland) and had very awful experience in Moscow both in and out of Moscow.

 

[John Smith 1]

Hi wantmygcnow,

Yes, I have been to France and Italy, but I have never exited from the passport control there. I had visited the Netherlands and entered thru AMS in the past, I have never had a problem when I travelled on RTD. This time, the same entry point, I encountered problem; perhaps, it is related to the particular officers. I don't know. But I am only saying that this time travelling on RP, I had some difficulty when entering Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and going out of Warsaw (Poland) and had very awful experience in Moscow both in and out Moscow.

from my experience, no matter where you go, we will always have problems by using travel documents, even here in american airports for example at SFO

when i was leaving for japan 2 weeks ago, the employee at the airline couter
could not scan my RP, shE kept asking me about NP,
to avoid a drama and to make it easy on me and her i asked her politely
to get her supervisor, i had to explain to the supervisor that i have visa
to japan issued on my RP, then he typed all information on the computer

my point is we will always have this problems, we need to be patient
untill we get the citizenship

 

[mh66ii]

What is RP?

What is RP?

 

[cchong]

What is RP?

RP = US Reentry permit

 

[cchong]

from my experience, no matter where you go, we will always have problems by using travel documents, even here in american airports for example at SFO

when i was leaving for japan 2 weeks ago, the employee at the airline couter
could not scan my RP, shE kept asking me about NP,
to avoid a drama and to make it easy on me and her i asked her politely
to get her supervisor, i had to explain to the supervisor that i have visa
to japan issued on my RP, then he typed all information on the computer

my point is we will always have this problems, we need to be patient
untill we get the citizenship

I believe airlines employee can scan your green card (gc). Everytime they experience problem with scaning my travel document, I always ask if they want my gc. They scan it and everything seems to work fine.

 

[John Smith 1]

I believe airlines employee can scan your green card (gc). Everytime they experience problem with scaning my travel document, I always ask if they want my gc. They scan it and everything seems to work fine.

thank you for this information, i never know that you can use green card
at the airline counter