Originally Posted by
Mark_T
Weirdest one of these I had recently was because the system was apparently showing a need to check the visa in my UK passport for a flight from the USA to the UK...
It wasn't; the agent was misreading the response. The travel document verification system was updated back in March with the idea of minimizing immigration fines, but the responses aren't always intuitive and it's confused many agents.
The system reads Timatic and then either says the passenger is good to go or asks the agent to confirm or override anything. In some cases, like the UK, where a visa is technically required for US citizens, if the requirements for visa exemption are met, instead of showing this:
Visa required, except for A max. stay of 6 months:
- for nationals of USA;
- Period of stay will be determined by Immigration Officer on
arrival.
It'll just show this, with an option to confirm:
It's completely counter intuitive unless the agent is familiar/comfortable with Timatic and knows how to read it. I've had (contracted) agents ask me if a Brazilian national needed a visa to go to Brazil, which took a lot of self-control to not respond to with an eye roll.