EsherFlyer

I was just behind an incident this evening at Paris Gare du Nord while boarding Eurostar to London. I'm piecing it together from what I was told afterwards so may have things a bit wrong but I thought worth relaying in case it makes anyone's Christmas trip easier...

Couple with son clearly having trouble getting past French border police checks under the "Motifs Imperieux" / "Compelling reasons" for departure (not arrival). AIUI, the problem was that the parents have worked in UK for ~20 years and so have post-Brexit settled status to live and work in UK, but there isn't anything in their passport to show that. Hence it's hard for police to distinguish between French traveller who wants to visit family in UK (not allowed to exit) someone with right of abode in UK (allowed to exit).

I don't know if they found a UK Home Office email during their increasingly frantic scrolling on phones, a different officer took a more lenient approach, the fact their son had a UK passport allowed them to fall into the "resident and family" tickbox, etc but may be worth thinking about if it's a journey you're making while current restrictions apply.