Immigration fast-track services

[Mattg]

Arriving in Dushanbe very early this morning, there was a man at the bottom of the stairs as you walked off the plane holding a sign that said "CIP $30". If you took up the offer, you were taken to a private minivan (instead of the crowded bus with everyone else) and got to wait in a private room with tea & coffee provided while someone fast-tracked your immigration processing.

I didn't take it up, but I could see the value if there was a really long line at passport control and you just wanted to get to your hotel.

This is probably the most blatant and direct offer of "VIP processing" I've seen for a while, but I'm sure similar services must exist at other airports. Have you used them and did you think it was worth it?

 

[AuSammy]

I booked two private tours in Egypt and Jordan where the tour agency promised "personalised" service.

At each airport there was someone waiting at the end of the aerobridge with a sign with our names, asked for our passports and said follow me. We tagged along as they slipped a piece of paper in the passports, guessed it might have been our visa details - unsure and went to the immigration desk got them stamped and waived us through while the other passengers were lining up in long queues.

We went directly to luggage retrieval and he got our bags off the belt and followed him outside the terminal and a car and driver were waiting outside not far from the terminal exit doors.

We were from plane to car in very short order with the longest delay waiting for luggage and not personally interacted with immigration or customs at either airport

 

[sudoer]

Have you used them and did you think it was worth it?

Back in 2018, my wife and I arrived at DPS in the late evening to a jam packed arrival hall. If I had to guess, there were 2500-3000 people (far too many angry bogans)

I approached one of the immigration officers managing the queue to discretely ask if there was a business class/priority line. He said "no, VIP processing is $50pp". We were absolutely exhausted and naively took him up on the offer.

The cash went straight into his shirt pocket, he showed us into a side room where our passports were stamped without any scanning or looking at a computer, and off we went...

I was a little nervous about whether our lack of entry data would flag on departure, but it wasn't an issue at all. The time save was definitely worth the money, I am conflicted about the unintentional bribe though.

 

[RooFlyer]

Around 2000 I went to Switzerland on business. The company we were visiting - a very large international one - offered to meet us and drive us out to the Canton where their offices were. Very surprised to find the guy with a sign and our names at the end of the airbridge and he then walked us through the side of public immigration queue where there was a guy who gave us a personal stamp and then ditto through the rest of the airport.

Big black Mercedes with tinted windows driving very fast through the Swiss countryside to their offices, and then the same on return.

Didn’t do any business, but we felt pretty chuffed that day