Before even considering not to go to the Bureau of Immigration to endorse your dost travel clearance because you feel lazy or complacent, let me tell you a story of a friend of mine who did exactly that.
I had a friend who was a DOST SEI Scholar during her Master's Degree but before completing her years of service, she got a scholarship for PhD abroad. It was not an opportunity to be missed so she decided to repay DOST for her Master's scholarship (roughly around 100,000.00 php) But don't get disappointed because you can still study abroad without having to pay but this will be another blogpost or you can read my blogpost about surety bonds here.
Having paid the full amount, it then follows that she is entitled to acquire the coveted DOST SEI FINAL CLEARANCE. But whether or not it was a miscommunication or lack of information on her part, she did not go to the Bureau of Immigration to present her travel clearance and clear her name from the BI watch list. She was able to leave the country though and go back and forth, just by presenting her copy of her final clearance to the immigration officers. She had kept doing it for 2 years without much trouble until that unfaithful day.
This year after spending Christmas holidays in the Philippines, she went to the airport to board her flight back to her foreign school. Her flight was scheduled in the afternoon (one of those days, or so she thought). But when she got to the immigration officer, she was stopped and was asked about her DOST clearance status. Although she tried to explain about her final clearance and her full payment, the officers were not so convinced. She was even reprimanded for not forwarding her DOST Final Clearance to the BI. And no matter how hard she explained that she was not properly informed about this procedure, it was fruitless.
To make the story short, she was stopped and she was not allowed to board the plane. And to make it worse, she had to rebook and pay for another plane ticket which scheduled after a couple of days.
You can never really say if the system has changed. But just to be really really sure and to avoid inconveniences in the future, better push yourself to do the final step. Report to the Bureau of Immigration and clear your name.
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i recently experienced this last May 25, 2012. I've been working for two years so I haven't really payed back yet DOST for the service.. But I have been on travel to US twice for a company initiated trip. now this time last 25 I was supposed to board my flight for Europe still company initiated, when the immigration officer asked me, she said I need to get the ADO from their main office. :/
TumugonBurahinnow I need to get that ADO in Intramuros. what do I need to submit and how long will it take them to process it?
TumugonBurahinHello po, thanks for visiting. Did you go to DOST for clearance on any of these US trips? As for going to BI, if you get a clearance from DOST and present it to them, you can get it approved on the same day you submitted it to BI. I have no experience about getting an ADO otherwise. But if you were successful, hope you could drop by again in this site to get us informed. Thanks and good luck!
BurahinYou can proceed to the BI after you secured your DOST clearance. They will just mark it as "No Derogatory Records", then you're free to go.
Burahinhi, thank you for your posts. just wanna ask if we can just go to BI and ask if our name's on the watch list? how and what to say? my friend told me i cant go to BI. i was planning to do this same thing.. im travelling this month and i havent asked for any clearance from dost. thanks
TumugonBurahinHi Erica. I had a friend who went to Singapore and he told me that he also checked his name in BI before opting to apply for a clearance. He said to tell them that you want to know if your have any Derogatory Records. If I remember it right, the office is in the second floor. Hoping for the best. ^_^
BurahinNaalis ng may-ari ang komentong ito.
BurahinHello Ibyang,
TumugonBurahinsorry I was not able to provide a response. For the US trips, yes I was able to get a DOST Clearance since I'm in cebu and did not go to Immigration on Manila for the Allow Departure Order. it was ok, but now Immigration in cebu was just informed that the new policy of having an ADO should be strictly implemented, thus the reason I was not able to go out for my third trip to Europe.
For this I had to rebook my flight schedule and went to Manila to process my documents both clearance and ADO. The problem is that if your from outside Manila, you need to have a person to ask favor to since they will release the ADO only on the next day and not on the same day you process it even if you were early.
and additional info, I was able to go to my Euro trip smoothly just with the ADO and without showing the dost clearance. Immigration doesn't need the dost clearance, only the ADO, but that is for the Mactan Internation Airport. not sure how it is practiced in NAIA
TumugonBurahinWhat is ADO?
TumugonBurahinI think it's the Allow Departure Order issued by the BI.
Burahinhello, i would like to know if how much you have to pay to get an ADO or just a mere clearance.
TumugonBurahinThanks.
Hello, there are some question I would like to ask you. Is there any email address I can contact you? Thanks
TumugonBurahinThis post was dated March 28, 2012. By June 30, 2012, mukhang pwede na lahat dumiretso ng airport:
TumugonBurahinhttp://www.dostscholars.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=932&sid=70afd9547ae3f130e388e6e7a4f8d33d
"Pursuant to the legal opinion of the Honorable Department of Justice Secretary particularly disapproving the Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Science and Technology and the Bureau of Immigration, the Chief of the Information and Communications Technology Section is directed to remove the names of ANY and ALL scholars in the Watchlist (DOST/CHED/SUC Scholars) within five (5) days from receipt of this Order."
May memo na to remove all names of DOST scholars from the BI watch list. So no need to get an ADO from BI. Pero if you want to be 100% sure, you can proceed to the BI near the Manila post office.
Will it be possible to work abroad even without finishing your service obligations as a scholar?
TumugonBurahin