My wife and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Australia and Singapore. Entry into Australia was extremely easy. Prior to our departure, we applied for online visas; paid the fee online; and, about 30 minutes later, had confirmation the visas had been granted. At the Arrivals Hall at Sydney Airport, we went to one of the electronic entry gates, inserted our passport, looked at the camera and then a green arrow flashed on the screen and the gate opened. We had entered Australia.

Departure was similarly easy. From Australia we flew to Singapore. It had been a few years since we were in Singapore. I asked the flight attendant on our Singapore Airlines flight if we needed a landing card. She said no, it’s electronic. When we entered the Arrivals Hall at Singapore Changi Airport, we saw a series of about six iPads on either side of the room. Arriving passengers were lined up trying to fill in the required SG Arrival Card. The people ahead of us using the iPads were taking a long time, and they seemed extremely frustrated. When we were next on one of the lines, the iPad user quit in frustration. It was finally our turn.

I started to fill in the form, and I got frustrated, too. The error messages were, at times, not helpful. And errors were easy to make. For example, the answer to the birth date question required the information to be entered in the European format: dd/mm/yyyy.

There was a QR code to download the program to a smartphone. The information could then be entered on the phone. We found this option equally difficult and frustrating. Finally, my wife found one of the customs and border control agents and asked for his help. He must have done this many times because he took one of our phones and filled in the form quickly and effortlessly. It took us an hour to complete the whole process; and when we went to the automated gates, we again needed the officer’s help to make the gate open.

We were sure to write to his supervisor with our thanks and compliments at his lending a helping hand to alleviate our distress. On our way out of Singapore, I found a flyer explaining the SG Arrival Card requirement. The QR code in the Arrivals Hall was on the flyer. Had we known about this required procedure, we could have pulled up the form before our departure for Singapore and filled it in on our iPhone or computer at our leisure. It made me wonder why Singapore Airlines didn’t distribute the flyer on the flight before landing.

We didn’t need any help re-entering the United States at Washington Dulles. We’ve done that many times. But we did have a good look at the signs that confuse many arriving passengers, especially those whose first language is not English.

All passengers arriving on international flights must go through customs and immigration checks. The problem for non-English speakers begins during the last minutes of their flight. The flight attendants usually make an announcement about arrival procedures. They say something like, “If Washington is your final destination, keep to the left after deplaning; and if you are connecting to a domestic flight, keep to the right.”

Sometimes they mention the signs: “If your final destination is Washington, follow the yellow signs.” And, “If you are connecting to a domestic flight, follow the purple signs.”

Sometimes the message is a bit of a puzzle even to English speakers: “If you are terminating in Washington, follow the yellow signs.” That message sounds a bit ominous and so final! If English wasn’t your first language, would you know what “terminating in Washington” means?

When I work at the Travelers Aid desks near the Dulles International arrivals areas, I often have to help travelers who have not understood the signs and announcements and arrived at the wrong customs and immigration facility. What usually happens is their baggage arrives at the other facility and an airline person needs to retrieve it for them.

So listen carefully to the landing instructions during the final minutes of your flight as it prepares to land at Dulles, and ask the flight attendants for clarification if you have any questions.

— Marvin Singer, a volunteer with Travelers Aid and a member of GT’s Globility Board