missdimeaner

Many thanks !

Palmer

What's the point in running all these checks when you've already supplied all your personal details and passport information well in advance?

Don't the airlines pass that on to the various agencies? I think I had about 5 or 6 passport checks getting on to a flight with QR recently, on top of supplying that information at the time of booking and verifying that when I checked in online. You'd think one of them would make a note of it and forward it to wherever I going to to let them know to expect me.

Palmer

Cymro

I think the idea is to stop someone from travelling on a forged passport with the details of someone who will come up 'clean'. It's much harder to make a forged passport e-readable and, in many cases, though the option is there, it hasn't been taken up (particularly for exit checks).

So if you can find a reasonable lookalike (just has to be someone who looks enough like a terrorist etc. that, with a different hairstyle, beard, etc. they could be the same person after five years of changes) you can issue a passport in the name of the clean identity, book the ticket in the clean person's name, and have the terrorist/person who wouldn't qualify for a visa travel.

orbitmic

Schengen is a common area of over 20countries without internal borders. Despite the claims of some tabloids, it is one of the most safely controlled areas in the world because to reassure all members of the Schengen area, most standards of immigration control, emigration control, distance between border checkpoints, and visa have been aligned to the most demanding existing standard. This includes systematic emigration checks to ensure no one is leaving with forged documents, prevent the escape of suspects under a warrant, child abduction, money laundering, and track people suspected of trying to join terror camps, with systematic Id document check and scan.

the vast majority of countries have such emigration checks too and in some cases they can feel stricter than immigration checks as fundamentally, your point about why having exit checks when airlines can be asked for all is credentials could be applied just as easily to entry checks.

LCY8737

+1

There is enough fact free reporting the British media already. People on this board are travelling enough to know that Brits are allowed to enter Schengen in the same line with all other EU citizens, to describe this as an unfriendly act against the Brits is completely missing the point. The real story here is that the Spanish (and a few others) forgot to hire enough border protection staff when the rules were tightened. That headline will of course sell a lot less papers.

Ldnn1

Actually it does make a very good story regardless, because it is affecting families at peak holiday time. Just like the BA IT fiasco was a good story, Brexit or no Brexit.

There is absolutely no need for people to take the story on a complete tangent by falsely linking it to Brexit, simply because they can't be bothered to read what the actual issue is.

schrodingerdog

I must disagree.

Yes, in theory it should work like you say, but in reality that was not the case even in the most 'strict' countries. I can count dozes of times I've cleared the Schengen border with just a quick glance of my passport / ID card. And more than once the cover of the passport was the only thing required to gain entry.

Calchas

This was formerly the official policy for EU citizens entering EU countries, it was called the "Bangemann wave". c-w-s knows more.

corporate-wage-slave

Named after the then Internal Market Commissioner, Martin Bangemann, it was the compromise hammered out between the various parties at about 3 am one Saturday morning in Brussels between the competing interest groups in the late 1980s. Or was it Luxembourg? Even the UK and Ireland adopted it for a bit, until the obvious difficulties arose a few years later. We have now gone full circle.

orbitmic

indeed, now the rules are formally tightened and in theory all passports and id cards have to be scanned. Of course, some staff still won't do this for some passengers, just like some police officers may choose not to issue a fine for some minor traffic offence even though they are supposed to, or just like many check in agents will turn a blind eye on a slightly overweight piece of luggage..

schrodingerdog

I know, my point is that I can hardly consider this previous policy 'safe' as @orbitmic suggest. The new policy is much better and safer, even if it causes delays due to staff shortage.

edi-traveller

Flew to PMI from EDI yesterday.

Best ever arrival in the notoriously congested airport.

First time in 8 visits we got an air jetty rather than a bus gate.

Through passport control in 30 seconds.

Hire car no queue and sorted in 3 minutes.

As I was expecting a 3 hour wait at passports thanks to media hype - I was dead chuffed.

Dan72

Yes. The chip, now contained in many passports, allows the original biodata and pic to be viewed, so they can spot if the passport has been tampered with.

Dan72

Forgive the pedantry... but I think the thread title should be 'border (or passport) control'. Emigration is something slightly different from what the majority of passengers will be doing when they pass border control.

Skyrocker

Lyon is nightmare! The queues reached as far as the metal detectors at the security. Staff would just walk away and close a security lane, while people are waiting and they would come 10min later. The immigration had just 2 staff to process everyone, took me just over 1 hour. And when finally I cleared immigration, I found the lounge is closing (closing time: 18:45) and flight is boarding in 20min. On my next visit to Lyon I will go to Marseille/Geneva instead.