One way from Canada to Netherlands

Fine aubo23, you buy return tickets every time you travel and I'll buy one way tickets. I have flown to various countries in Europe dozens of times and to various other places all over the world dozens of times and I honestly can't remember ever once being asked for anything other than my passport at Immigration anywhere. Sometimes they ask a few more than normal questions, obviously just making sure I'm a tourist, not an illegal worker but even then they've never asked for 'proof of onward travel'. I guess I don't look like a threat or act like a futitive and they pass me through. No doubt if I had dreadlocks, some non-mainstream passport and dressed like a bum they would treat me differently but they don't. Lucky me.

As an afterthought, I also can't remember ever having my baggage searched. Must be my innocent looking face. LOL

Having worked for an airline myself for several years in the past: from the airline's point of view it is totally irrelevant whether or not immigration actually checks+ the onward ticket requirement. The only thing that needs to be checked (by referring to the TIM/TIMATIC manual) is whether or not the requirement officially +exists+ for said nationality and destination, and if it does, the passenger is +not allowed onboard unless he buys an onward ticket out of the country or proof of residence/long-stay visa etc. Depending on the destination country, fines can amount to several thousand euros, an efficient way to motivate airlines to follow the TIM/TIMATIC to the letter.

That said, even though I'm quite sure that every once in a while a passenger slipped through even though he didn't comply with the onward ticket requirement, I've never heard about this being the main reason for a passenger to be refused entry and sent back - more often than not, people were refused entry because the immigration officer suspected they were planning to work illegally or otherwise behaved suspiciously.

"I've never heard about this being the main reason for a passenger to be refused entry and sent back - more often than not, people were refused entry because the immigration officer suspected they were planning to work illegally or otherwise behaved suspiciously."

That's what I keep trying to tell people Aribo. The 'onward ticket' is an easy rule to fall back on when the Immigration Officer has a gut feel about someone but can't find any direct evidence to refuse them entry on. By quoting the 'onward travel' rule they then have a reason to refuse entry.

As I wrote, some airlines now routinely sell one way tickets as part of their business plan and do not insist on a return ticket. I've never had or heard of an airline check-in employee asking for proof of 'onward travel' in the form of say a train/bus/ferry ticket out of the country someone is going to. The only proof of 'onward travel' I've ever heard of an airline check-in employee ask for was a return or onward airline ticket.

But if people want to go through inpractical contortions to have some kind of proof just in case they are asked, that's up to them. I've never worried about it and never will. Clear, honest answers to an Immigration Officer's questions work just fine.