Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Cullis
I had a similar problem in the 1980s when I didn't get my papers done on the way out. The next year I was flying in/out of Marrakech and the customs picked up on this fact. My flight was due to leave in an hour and the pilot (British Airways) refused to leave without his passenger and this forced the customs to get their act together. In the end the plane was 15 minutes late in taking off and there was a big cheer as I finally boarded!
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Heck, I had the exact same problem 2 years ago (2013) trying to fly into Australia as a passenger on Air Canada.
A couple of months earlier, I had delivered an aircraft - acting as the pilot - to Australia, and the immigration guy processed my entry as 'crew'. I handed the new aircraft over to the customer, then left as a passenger on an airline back to Canada. Because my passport was not stamped on the way in, the immigration guy didn't stamp it on my way out.
Two months later, I had to fly back to Australia (as a passenger on an airline), and when boarding the aircraft in Vancouver, Air Canada advised me that the Australians would not let me in "because I was still there (in Australia)".
It would have taken some time to find my luggage and offload it, so, the Air Canada station manager called Australia and after much arguing, convinced the Australian immigration people that 1) I was actually present trying to board the plane in Canada, and; 2) if they had any doubts about that, they could speak to me when I arrived in person 14 hours later.
Eventually, I was allowed to board the plane. The whole experience was surreal.
Michael
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