Pinoy HK travelers warned vs fake visa stamps

MANILA - Filipino tourists planning to visit Hong Kong are warned against using fake entry and exit immigration stamps following the arrest of another Pinoy traveler who used bogus travel documents.

The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong issued the warning after immigration authorities nabbed a Filipino woman at the Hong Kong international airport on October 28.

The woman from Batangas province was on her way back to the Philippines with her family. It was her first visit to Hong Kong.

The Consulate said the woman’s passport bore fake entry and exit stamps “to falsely show that she had previously traveled to Hong Kong.”

Two days after her arrest, the woman was brought to Shatin Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to the offense of possession of a false instrument. She was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.

The Consulate added that the immigration entry/exit stamps were allegedly forged by a company that peddles the service as a way of bolstering a visa applicant’s chances at getting a visa from certain embassies in Manila.

However, mere possession of a false instrument is an offence under Section 75 of Hong Kong’s Crimes Ordinance and carries with it a maximum penalty of 3 years’ imprisonment, the Consulate warned. - abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/05/2009 1:13 PM