Speaking of
Customs and Immigration, there are a couple of items to get the page
going with.
 Firstly,
yachting visitors returning to Bequia in the Grenadines, Southern
Caribbean, after an absence of more than a very few months, will be pleased
(as are, indeed the officials whose job it is to process their
documents) to find that the new Revenue Building is now open,
housing Customs and Immigration in a style of which staff must
have dreamed when working in the tiny cramped building, in front of
which their palatial new offices now stand opposite the ferry dock in Port
Elizabeth.
It says much for the officials, now so amply housed, that they managed
to remain patient and cheerful in the old building, even when 'yachties'
anxious to check in, or out, were three deep at the counter. They
deserve their magnificent new premises and we are delighted for them.
And for our fellow travellers too!
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Which brings us to the second item...In certain places, the officials whose job it is to clear individuals
and their vessels into, and out of, a country, can be quite rude and
unpleasant. Keeping people waiting until overtime can be charged for is
another known practice, in certain places, which upsets visitors,
understandably.
This gives a very poor first, or last, impression of the country and can
do much more harm to tourism than those officials may realise, thus
putting their own jobs at risk, in the long term - people give
unpleasant officials as a reason for not wishing to return to certain
countries. Less visitors equals less employment for civil servants whose
job it is to process visitors' documents.
Whilst we have no wish to defend the actions of any civil servant who
thus contributes to the problems of his country and colleagues, we would
like to point out that it must be hard to deal with some of the
incredibly rude and unpleasant behaviour from visitors that we have
witnessed, whilst waiting to have our documents processed, without
developing an antipathy towards the community those visitors appear to
represent.
Apart from presenting oneself at the relevant offices at an early hour
in order to avoid the overtime scam, it also makes sense to allow enough
time, when planning to arrive at or depart from a given place, for
paperwork and questions to be dealt with at the pace favoured by
officials. Whether that pace is to your liking or not.
Visitors let the
whole community of visitors down when they are rude and impatient
towards officials. Anyone who thinks that a display of bad manners will
elicit the desired response from officials cannot have had dealings with
many of them! Apart from the fact that rudeness is likely to get you
nowhere and sour the attitude of officials towards everyone else in the
queue, it is making your own experience of arriving or departing more
unpleasant than it need be.
Whether you see the relevance of questions on a form, or not, if you
want to visit a country, then its laws and regulations form part of the
package.
It is up to you to make sure that you produce the right documents. If
you have left one aboard because it was not required in the last country
you visited, that is your problem. Go back and get it, without making a
fuss and, in future, bring all the documents you may be required to
show, just in case you are asked for one!
If you do not speak the language of the country you are visiting, and
the official has a poor grasp of English, which is still accepted as the
international common language for such purposes, (or your own grasp of
spoken English, the official's accent or other details is poor) do not
be irritable with the official. If you stay calm, polite and friendly,
all should be resolved with the minimum of discomfort on either side of
the counter. Often you will find someone else present can help with
language or explanations if asked nicely.
If you really feel that an official has behaved badly, without apparent
provocation, do make a note of the time
and date, jot down a brief description of the individual officer, if
he/she refuses to give you his/her name, and
make a formal, written complaint to his, or her, superiors.
If you like,
send us your complaint and we will see to it that it is forwarded to the
appropriate person. We are well aware that some countries' government
services are burdened
with one or two individuals who let the side down. Complaining to each
other in a bar in the next country we visit isn't going to change
anything. If you are going to complain, do it properly! Just make sure
you are not part of the problem in the first place.
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