Are there any countries where bribes routinely are part of the immigration or customs process?

Mostly in Africa... can be a real hassle to get into places like Angola and the Congo w/o greasing the wheels of the local officials at the airport.

A five or ten dollar bill (depending on the amount of baggage one has) inside the passport works wonders for returning Filipino overseas workers arriving at Manila airport customs. Most of those are contract workers working in the middle east, and only go home every 2 or 3 years. And you know how we Filipinos are, we have to have a gift for everyone, can't leave anybody off the list!! The "gift" inside the passport for the customs officer ensures that no hassels or taxes will incur.

You cant really bribe the immigration here, but if you want your drivers licence, it has been known to be easily obtained with a bucket of KFC.

Really? I've been to Angola about 6 times in the last year. It hasn't happened to me yet. Hasn't happened to me in Nigeria either. Is this first hand knowledge you have, or did you hear it thru the grapevine?

M8

I know literally hundereds of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) who regularly return to MNL, who do not pay anything of the sort. And a foreigner would be foolish to do so, risking prosecution for attempted bribery.

That is not to say that petty bribery has been eliminated from its pervasive influence in the lethargic and poorly paid bureaucracy, from passport applications to drivers licenses. Those coming from less than transparent countries in the Middle East might be more prone to make such payments.

Or, given the high duties on many items, perhaps they don't know the law on what or who (OFWs?) is exempt, or are trying to avoid those payments.

But when my [Filipina] wife's luggage was inspected more thoroughly than normal, and she responded, "I know why you are doing this," the customs inspector got very embarrassed. There are regularly stories in the Philippine press of corrupt lower officials getting caught, so there is heightened awareness of the issue, and no one should assume they have to pay a bribe.

India all the time.

The Gambia - Friends were told by their tour rep that if you didn't put money in your passport when flying home your luggage wouldn't make it, they did - some friends of theirs refused and their luggage never arrived. They also had boiled sweets taken from their luggage on arrival - no explanation why, customs just took them and waved them on .

Friend went to Angola and had some 'issues' with getting in, Pretty sure it was Luanda, said he slipped the guy some $$ and had no problem... Don't know the specifics.. was 2-3 years ago. Things may have changed naturally.

I'm really suprised that hasn't happened in Nigeria.. this was at LOS right? Place used to be notorious for stuff like that.

I guess you missed the plasma TVs above EVERY immigration counter and EVERY security checkpoint in Indian airports with the flashing red text that states: "DO NOT PAY BRIBE"

Luanda is the only entry port for outside air travel. Your friend may not have had the proper visa in order. Sounds like your friend offerred a bribe, and not that one was demanded. Different story in that case. In any case, the internal wars stopped about three years ago, so much has been cleaned up. The only issue I have had is that on my last trip one of the bag inspectors wanted to take my roll of toilet paper away. I told him to put it back because it is mine. He complied readily. It does help to speak Portuguese.

As for LOS in Nigeria, no problems there either with immigration/customs. The airport used to have a bunch of parasites outside the main building, but they have been cleared out by the government this last year.

M8

Vietnam. This year. Wouldn't release my dad's wallet until we pay the guy some money. They insist my dad's wallet has something metallic in it. Gees.

My regular trips to Lagos have completely vanished a couple of years ago, but I remember being asked (or even demanded) for money when passing through immigration and upon baggage collecting. Not to mention the amount of people walking away with your luggage, apologizing by saying "sorry, my bag is exactly like that!"...

I do remember one incident where I had a ticket in AZ biz class from ACC. I was told that C was overbooked as there were more passengers boarding in LOS (stopover) and the check-in lady said that if I wanted to sit up front all the way I would have to pay her a reasonable amount of Cedis. I really didn't expect this in Ghana (thank you mr Rawlings ) and I refused to give her anything. She wasn't very kind from then, but she did give me a BP in 1A and somehow there were only three pax in C all the way to Milan...

Thankfully, Russia has dropped off this list. It's been a long time coming but they are getting better. Still bribes in many other areas of the country but at customs and immigration.

Curious if others agree with my assessment here...

The only country where I've ever had to bribe an official is Pakistan, on the Pakistan-India border, where it was made pretty clear that if we didn't pay the 'expedition fee', our inspection would take longer than the half hour left while the border was still open... In the end, US$3 for 2 people wasn't a bad deal (and we got to see the lengthy inspection taking place as we walked through, as a couple were having their underwear gone through in minute detail.

I'm surprised at the mention of India there. I've never had the slightest hint of needing to bribe at immigration or customs. I was also pleasantly surprised in Uzbekistan, recently, which certainly has a reputation for it.