It's to do with (a) the different pull factors in place in the different countries; and (b) how effective the different countries can try to make their borders given their different geography.

.[/QUOTE]


Agreed.

I find it deeply ironic that other countries, particularly in Europe (albeit for an EU passport), are quite happy to look at the passport quickly before waving you through.

Yet the UK *insists* on scanning and glaring determinedly at its own nationals' passport every time upon re-entry.

It can only be described as stupidity.[/QUOTE]

Is this really the case ? Most EU countries now scan all European passports on arrival

I understood they were looking at the security features on the passport; some have a photo etched in as well as the printed one.
My experience is different. Ireland, Spain, and Poland have never done more than a brief glance at my (Irish) passport. France and Belgium have very rarely taken it behind the counter. Only Germany and the Netherlands have frequently taken it out of its cover or scanned it, and not always.

I think 90% of my immigration-queuing time must be in the US, and having clocked up what must be at least 50 F/J arrivals (with a similar number of Y arrivals prior to that) the fact they don't offer Fast-Track is deeply annoying. I did cheekily but very very politely ask at JFK recently (being the first off a 747 but behind quite a line of Cathay pax) "Is it the same line for First Class passengers?". I knew the answer of course, but the nice lady managing the queue who directed passengers to individual desks managed to direct the last 30 or 40 Cathay pax into neat lines of about 8 pax each then immediately direct me to a nice empty desk - definitely a case of same line for everyone, but some lines being more equal than others ^.

I agree that the treatment of F pax but some SE asian airlines at their home base is nothing short of stellar, with personal escorting through the diplomatic line - and I'm pretty sure they'd find a way around it if for some reason the diplomatic line was a trifle busy. But does BA manage this for its F pax arriving at these airports?

By the way, whereas use of the 'Diplomatic Aisle' is a great benefit, the notion of a 'Diplomatic Isle' is rather alarming. An island full of nothing but diplomats? Lots of people being most frightfully polite to each other until they realize there's no one left on the island to bring them a gin and tonic.

It's not just SE Asian airlines. All F pax can have this service from Air France too.

Does SFO have a separate lane for "green" card holders?

The problem isn't really the policy itself - the extra checks on your passport just take a few seconds - but the long queues resulting from the abject failure to have sufficient staff to adequately implement it. Whatever policy they choose to have, whether it be at immigration or security, making people wait in lines for ages serves no purpose whatsoever.

Even at TLV, where secondary screening can involve a detailed 20-minute search of your luggage by several people in parallel, it's hard to argue with a process which is so evidently professional and efficient. It's hard to see how they could carry out such a detailed examination in less time. But long queues are just indicative of poor planning or muddled thinking about what constitutes a thorough screening process, whether it be on arrival or departure.

Sorry to agree
 

Agreed.

It can only be described as stupidity.[/QUOTE]

Is this really the case ? Most EU countries now scan all European passports on arrival[/QUOTE]

Sorry to agree. It is really the case if you arrive from or depart to non-Schengen countries.

Part of the humiliation theatre of many governments to humiliate the citizens which include also the fingerprinting and further humiliating measures.

More informations about the ongoing project (and what to expect in view of citizen´s freedom) can be found on the official project site:

http://www.indect-project.eu/

I was astonsihed to see (some time ago) that even German passports are scanned at a German hub when leaving Germany directed towards the Non-Schengen area. :td:

So this silly process is spreading throughout Europe.

Biometric identifiers can be found here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...01:0006:EN:PDF

So the process of bureaucratisation is ongoing :td:

Scary … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn8Pua5rhj4

Fly out of Brussels, they glance at your passport, but no scanning goes on.

Care to elaborate further? I get what you are trying to say, but the UK position on this seems so backward when compared to other countries, particularly Europe.

Even the rule-loving Germans were quite happy with just a glance on an inbound.

The only scan I have had on various trips recently in Europe was Copenhagen.

Unlike their UK counterparts, the Danish official did not then proceed to glare at the passport in an attempt to see if it would set itself alight.

I'm not sure how you managed to do that quote, but I didn't say that.

err ... most of the time they don't scan EU passports at ARN arrivals (Sweden) and at MUC they often don't bother either.

Border Force staff have x-ray eyes, you know...

Eleanor Roosevelt is credited with having said (or expressed the idea) that "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent".

Fingerprints are a way of reliably identifying an individual in a way that photographs cannot. So are iris scans.

If you choose to feel humiliated when someone checks your identity via fingerprints (yet, perhaps, not feel humiliated when someone checks via an iris scan), that's only because you are choosing to feel humiliated.

Great post. ^:-:@:-)