Love In Time of Pandemic: Our first meeting and my first out of the country experience.-Maldives

It’s been almost 2 years now since Covid-19 hit the Philippines. The Philippines government has kept the country’s border closed for tourists to combat the spread of the coronavirus. However, this doesn’t stop the people who want to meet their loved ones abroad.

I met my lovely boyfriend online last February 2020. We communicate every day and fell in love. We closely watch the news in hopes that the country will reopen for tourists.

Around the middle of the year in 2021, we decided to meet in a third (3rd) country because it seemed like the reopening of the Philippines border was uncertain. I did a lot of research online and I found a bunch of offload stories, stories of my fellow Filipinos who were denied when they wanted to go outside of the country for tourism and to meet their loved ones. However, there are also some success stories. I talked to some Filipinos who were able to go abroad for the first time, who were sponsored by their foreign partner. They gave me the list of requirements that they prepared and that includes the CFO Certificate. I knew a little bit about CFO. At first, I doubted if I really needed it since I would only be going to another country as a tourist and the google results didn’t say anything about it except that it is for immigrants.

I joined the “Love Is Not Tourism” group and there I found many traumatic stories that made me feel like the Immigration Officers are more scary than the covid! The CFO acronym was mentioned a lot there so I got into details of why this CFO thing is relevant to those who wanna meet their foreign partner abroad.
The Commission on Filipinos Oversea(CFO) agency is responsible in providing pre-departure orientation to Filipino immigrants. Some of their functions are to develop and implement programs that will promote the interest and well-being of Filipinos abroad.
I told my boyfriend about it and then I signed up to the CFO website. To make the story short, I received my CFO Certificate 3 months after I signed up. After that, we set up the date on when we were going to take our vacation. We decided to go to Maldives since the country is visa-free and no quarantine and besides, we are both fully vaccinated so we are safe. My boyfriend booked our flights for December. It was quite expensive because it was already a holiday season. It added more pressure on my shoulders, telling myself that I have no place to be offloaded. I have a lot of negative what ifs shouting in my head but NO! I know I can do it!

A day before my flight, I took my swab test and received the result in the next morning, December 4, the DAY of my flight. NEGATIVE!!! I felt so relieved. By that time my boyfriend was already on his way to Doha (Qatar) where we both had our layovers before going to Maldives.

The time for my flight was approaching. I felt like my heartbeat was killing me slowly. I went to the airport (Naia Terminal 3) at around 9 o’clock and my flight was 6:20 in the evening. Too early! Since the check-in counter of my airline (Qatar Airways) was still closed, I spent my time roaming around, relaxing and reading some possible questions that the immigration officer might ask me. I also looked at the immigration area so when it’s time for me to go, I would not be looking at their place anymore. It looked scary and empty inside. The offload stories came back in my mind again.

Unlike with other countries, it’s not easy for Filipinos to go out from the Philippines, especially now that it’s pandemic. It’s not that once you have the passport already, you’re ready to go. There are many papers that you have to prepare, supporting documents, and documents to prove that you are not going out of the country for illegal purposes. Many Filipinos go abroad for jobs and some of them choose to do it illegally because for them it’s more convenient (not to mention, this is based on some Filipinos that I’ve talked to). They will tell the immigration officer that they are only going to have a vacation, but they’re actually going to work there. The other reason for this immigration interview is for the safety of the Filipinos as well, to avoid human trafficking.

Going back to my journey, 3 hours later the Qatar Airways counter opened for check-in. The time was already 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I lined up to drop my luggage and to get my printed boarding pass since I already checked-in through Qatar Airways app. While in the line, a girl from the airline checked my negative RT-PCR test, Vaccine Card, Passport, E-ticket and my Qatar Consent Form. I’m glad that I have all of them in hand. It was very smooth. In the check-in counter, they asked my passport, soft copy of my boarding pass (since I declared that I already checked-in online) and the hotel to stay in Maldives. After a few minutes, they gave me back my passport together with my printed boarding pass. Yay!

After the check-in process, I went straight to the immigration officers. As I walked near to the area, I felt like I was about to collapse from being nervous. I felt like I was about to die. lol. My boyfriend was still on the plane, on his way to Doha. He subscribed to the plane’s Wifi so we can communicate. I kept him updated on everything. First, I lined up to the first Immigration Officer. She looked scary. She didn’t ask for any specific papers that she was going to check. She just put her hands on the table. I gave her my passport, boarding pass, and vaccine card and then she asked me, where am I going? What am I gonna do there? Who is my company? Is it my first time meeting my boyfriend? Then after that she handed me a form to fill out and pointed to the glass room for me to proceed. I knew that it’s for the second inspection. I entered to the glass room and the IO (Immigration Officer) guy came to me to get my passport. He told me that they will just call my name for my turn to be interviewed. While waiting, I filled out the form that the first IO gave to me. After an hour of waiting, the IO called my name. I sat in front of her. She asked for these documents from me:

• The form that I filled out
• My Passport and my BF’s Photocopied Passport
• My Boarding Pass and His E-ticket (Roundtrip)
• Booked Hotels in Maldives
• Booked hotel in the Philippines for my quarantine
• My Travel Insurance
• My Yellow Card
• My Proof of Employment (COE, Company ID and my picture with my office uniform)
• CFO Certificates and my proof of payment
• Invitation Letter; and
• Affidavit of Support

She also asked my family background, what my parents do for a living, and my siblings’ status. I told her everything. She kept on repeating the same questions. I knew that it was her trick to know if I am telling the truth or not. The interview lasted for more than an hour because while she was interviewing me, she was also interviewing other people for a second inspection. She offloaded the other person for failing to provide the document that she was requesting. In the end, she told me that she will mark my immigration record as “under monitoring’’ because if I don’t come back to the Philippines after my vacation, they will hold me again next time if I try to go out of the country. She returned my passport, yellow card, company ID and the filled out form. I went back to the first IO and handed her the filled out form with the notes of the second IO then PAK! She stamped my passport. Yeeehey! I messaged my boyfriend right away and he felt so relieved.

I went straight to my gate number. By that time, I only had 45 minutes left before my boarding time. I bought some snacks because I thought there was no free meal in the plane. Lol. Well, it really was my first time. Lol. :D

                              (Me on the plane.)

9 hours later, I arrived in Doha. Before I lost my communication with my boyfriend we agreed that he was going to be at my gate to pick me up but when I arrived, he wasn’t there. The airline did not give him any arrival information about my flight so we had a little bit of trouble finding each other. On my boarding pass there was no gate number as well so I went to Qatar Airways information desk to ask for my gate number. The girl gave it to me and I started walking going to my gate. I only had 2 hours for layover so I have to rush finding my gate and finding my boyfriend. Along the way, I saw and recognized him right away because of his Twins shirt. :D Before his flights, he showed me his shirt so that helped me a lot. :D I guess he recognized my clothing too. We hugged and kissed while our mask were on. :D
It was very special. The stress and sleepless night was very worth it. I finally met him in person. My babe, my love of my life.

(Me & my boyfriend in our very first moment of seeing each other.-At Qatar Airport.)