orbitmic

NickB

OK. Not to worry if you don't have the time.

fatlasercat

Since OP has figured a solution, this is just a hypothetical idea, but I am curious what people think. Why not buy a BA ticket to home country (many suggest BA would let him board no problem). But this would entail a connection in LHR, where OP could just walk to immigration and plead his case. If it doesn't work he could just continue to home country if the connection is long enough. Would this work?

Dave Noble

He would need an authority to travel from his home country, that would allow the connecting route, before BA would allow him to board

Whether UK would allow a transit without documentation would need to be checked I believe

Andriyko

I am also not sure why this thread did not stop after the suggestions for the OP to contact his home Consulate or have his documents couriered to him. All these side discussions about the freedom of movement and case law are simply out of place here. Any airline's agent would not be versed in all these intricacies and would simply follow the official guidelines of the government of the destination country. It is not airlines' fault that different member states publish different entry rules depending upon one's nationality - some countries accept expired IDs, while some - don't. That it may be illegal does not concern check-in or gate agents. That an EU citizen should be allowed to prove that they actually are one applies to Member States, not airlines. If the Member States have not caught up and have not updated their guidelines for airlines 'to accept for travel anyone who claims to be an EU citizen for them to make their case at the border,' there is really nothing to discuss on an airline's forum. Suggesting that BA somehow denied the OP entry into the UK is beyond stretching it. BA does not deny entry by refusing carriage any more than BA allows entry by carrying anyone to a country. The OP was not going to travel on BA with the documents on hand, as was confirmed by the exchange between BA and UK immigration authorities. Discussing how the OP's rights were abridged by the UK was not going to help and was not going to convince the airline to carry him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatlasercat

Since OP has figured a solution, this is just a hypothetical idea, but I am curious what people think. Why not buy a BA ticket to home country (many suggest BA would let him board no problem). But this would entail a connection in LHR, where OP could just walk to immigration and plead his case. If it doesn't work he could just continue to home country if the connection is long enough. Would this work?

In theory, that should work as the airline would check the documents for the destination country rather that the UK (since the OP is clearly not a DATV national). But that would also depend upon the destination country - some specifically allow their citizens to arrive with expired documents, while some require a temporary doc/authorization. You'd be surprised but many people in other situations do just that.

simons1

Andriyko

Nor do they have any relevance here. (That being said, they do require that individuals have valid documents on them. They also require for an individual without valid documents not to be turned away immediately, but no guarantees of entry are given to an individual without valid documents).

simons1

We will never know what relevance there is here, since we don't know whether BA did actually contact immigration on the OP's behalf or whether they just made something up in the hope the OP would go away and sort it himself. As you know there have been plenty of examples of the latter over the years.

Andriyko

Whether or not BA contacted immigration authorities is of little relevance here as well. Guidelines published by the UK Government for airlines are pretty clear as to who should be accepted for travel. Contacting immigration is not one of the requirements. many airlines simply would not. That these guidelines may go contrary to the Directives is not a discussion for this forum. It simply won't help anyone because airline agents will continue to rely upon what's written on their screens rather than someone's interpretation of the EU law. It is up to the individual member states to implement these directives and give airlines clear instructions as to who should be allowed to be carried to the border. Engaging in such a discussion with airline agents would be a waste of time. They are simply doing their jobs. Debating governmental policy should be reserved for a different forum.

simons1

I'm not suggesting it is BA's job. However with reference to the OP (which we are discussing) I am questioning if BA's comment that UK Border were contacted and refusing to give a 'code' was a truthful statement.

If it was a true statement then they were obviously happy to contact UK Border and clearly there was a purpose in engaging in discussion.

On the othed hand if as you say it is not the airline's job then it would have surely been easier just to say so rather than indulge in some game of subterfuge.

Andriyko

I don't see why we should not believe that BA did contact the UKBA, especially since several posters confirmed that such codes exist.

SonTech

Just a little point on UK airlines checking documentation when boarding flights... It is almost always firstly to make sure the person whose name is on the ticket is the person trying to board the flight then to make sure the airline doesn't get fined for passengers denied entry. Its all about revenue protection.

orbitmic

Actually, I disagree with that. The OP has a case as to why the documentations he had should be considered valid and sufficient to allow entry, and I would certainly expect BA to use the facility they have to contact the relevant authorities to put the case to them rather than deny boarding because they 'think' it would not be enough. However, I agree with your subsequent post that I find the op's apparent certainty that they did not do so unconvincing. I find it more likely that they did but may not have asked the best question, and I don't think the op's strategy seemed best here as from the op, he seemed to dismiss their worry off hand rather than help them frame the case.

HWGeeks

Reminds me when I went to the wrong football game, but somehow the ticket taker let me in by mistake. I get to my seat and someone else showed up. I was asked to leave.

Not the ticket takers fault, but my own.

Ancient Observer

When I used to travel frequently, I had 2 UK passports.
It was still possible to end up in one country with one passport, whilst the other was somewhere else getting a visa.
The answer then, and now, is that is exactly what couriers do remarkably well. DHL was founded to send documents around the world, (for the shipping trade), and it excels at it still.

All the fine theory in this thread was not going to work. Only couriers could fix the issue.