so true to form, as i get to the check-in counter at changi airport, the clerk hits a speed bump.
turns out our travel agent was right. and i am indeed an overstayer and illegal immigrant.
the immigration muppet who let me out of australia almost 10 years ago failed to update the system. while i'd gotten an exit stamp, it was not reflected in the records and i became a statistic, one of the millions who entered the country and never left.
no amount of explanation would get me through, despite having a passport circa 2007 that was almost filled with stamps. i was faulted for not having a photocopy of my old passport. um, how'd i have known i was a immigration law flouting alien??? it was really quite ridiculous.
thankfully, i managed to talk my way through to the australian customs officer and over the phone we located my brother in their system who had entered and left australia the same time as i had, and with that piece of the puzzle solved, they must have retroactively registered my exit. some 10 years later, no less!
so much drama, so little time.
it didn't help that we got to the airport mere minutes before the check-in closed. most definitely not for the faint hearted!
will have daily posts on perth every morning for the next four days. stay tuned :)
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