Passport never works at eGates?
Jul 2, 2022, 1:28 pm
#211
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: UK (currently)
Programs: BA Gold (and many other greater and lesser distinctions)
Posts: 7,202
Jul 2, 2022, 2:27 pm
#212
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 1,271
Jul 6, 2022, 12:23 am
#213
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: BA, AA, Lufthansa
Posts: 26
St Pancras
Me too: I’m in the lounge now. Failed at the gate but I am pretty sure the gate wasn’t fully “awake” yet (no camera lights and the line had just been switched on).
No FOIA response yet b(5weeks must be close).
AU passport due mid-August
No FOIA response yet b(5weeks must be close).
AU passport due mid-August
Jul 6, 2022, 5:25 am
#214
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Sussex, UK
Programs: BA:Gold Amex:Green :IC Platinum Elite Amb
Posts: 660
Reading https://assets.publishing.service.go...nuary_2021.pdf
So the watchlist rejection looks to be false information as generally the 'seek assistance' is during the initial machine readable information.
Facial recognition is only attempted after (1) successful read of ePassport chip (b) camera photo of face. In most cases I never get to a framed face shot at UK gates.
So is anybody reading the reports and benchmarking? Last week the referral queues at LHR T5 were long
but
Oh dear - I wonder if the aged gates have problems with the Gemalto chips in the new Blue passports. Most of the rereferral queues I experienced at LHR T5 has Blue passports in their hands
Oh dear
7.10 The e-Passport gates check to see whether a passenger is subject to a watchlist match and will flag the details of the match to the Border Force Officers performing e-Passport gate roles for appropriate follow up action depending on the nature of watchlist entry, including informing the watchlist data owner of the encounter at the border
7.17 You may not be aware of the exact reason for referral but as up to 75% of rejections are for facial recognition failure, this should be borne in mind when comparing the passport image with the passenger presenting it.
10.2 Fujitsu provides both a weekly and monthly report on the gates’ performance in relation to the WI. These reports detail total passengers, exit forward (where a passenger is allowed through the gates), referrals, and the referrals percentage on a port-by-port basis.
10.11 Officers assured inspectors that they encouraged eligible passengers to use the gates where they could, stating that “we try to get people to use the gates, but we can’t force them”.
10.16 The inconsistencies meant that it was difficult to identify trends in incidents within and across ports. In some cases, the records were of poor quality and were handwritten, with little information recorded in relation to outcomes. Where record keeping was clearer and in digital form, it was still difficult to pick out patterns as incidents were recorded in free text, making filtering to identify trends impossible
10.18 One officer told inspectors that the most common reason for gates breaking down at their port was “software bugs” caused by the “age of the equipment”. Another told inspectors that the gates were “well past their lifespan” and that this caused incidents to occur more regularly
10.28 Inspectors asked to see records of complaints received about the gates from passengers who use them. The Home Office was not able to provide these records.
Jul 6, 2022, 5:54 am
#215
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: London (née Melbourne)
Programs: Qantas Platinum (Oneworld Emerald)
Posts: 976
On the referrals desk you must always assume that a passenger has been referred because they may be an impostor.
Jul 6, 2022, 6:44 am
#216
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC Gold-GGL
Posts: 1,181
This was for a joint project with BF at the time to better understand flow rates rather than delve into why some passports work and others don't.
Some interesting stats: It takes just under 14 seconds to read the passport and return a decision. That can feel like an age so don't go wriggling the passport about! Success rate is about 92% so failures are less likely than the FT sample size might suggest. These figures are based on a sample size of about 14m reads over 8 months (pre covid, obvs)
My old passport (EU version) was very unreliable. My new British passport is much the same but does seem to be more hit than miss.
Jul 6, 2022, 7:26 am
#217
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Sussex, UK
Programs: BA:Gold Amex:Green :IC Platinum Elite Amb
Posts: 660
I saw some reports when I was last working at Heathrow. I was allowed to see a few months' worth of data that was summarised to really only show the transaction times and 'pass rates' so to speak. No detail on reason for rejections/failures.
This was for a joint project with BF at the time to better understand flow rates rather than delve into why some passports work and others don't.
Some interesting stats: It takes just under 14 seconds to read the passport and return a decision. That can feel like an age so don't go wriggling the passport about! Success rate is about 92% so failures are less likely than the FT sample size might suggest. These figures are based on a sample size of about 14m reads over 8 months (pre covid, obvs)
My old passport (EU version) was very unreliable. My new British passport is much the same but does seem to be more hit than miss.
This was for a joint project with BF at the time to better understand flow rates rather than delve into why some passports work and others don't.
Some interesting stats: It takes just under 14 seconds to read the passport and return a decision. That can feel like an age so don't go wriggling the passport about! Success rate is about 92% so failures are less likely than the FT sample size might suggest. These figures are based on a sample size of about 14m reads over 8 months (pre covid, obvs)
My old passport (EU version) was very unreliable. My new British passport is much the same but does seem to be more hit than miss.
Jul 6, 2022, 7:48 am
#219
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,343
Also I very slightly damaged my passport at the start of covid, but it still works in the gates (and worked in the EU gates during 2020). I've been through the manual line a few times when with my child or when the egates were off and no UK immigration officer has picked up on this damage; neither did any Schengen officer in 2020, although since stamping has become required I've used another passport in Schengen.
Jul 7, 2022, 1:12 am
#220
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: BA, AA, Lufthansa
Posts: 26
Gare du Nord update
French egates fine. France seems to have joined the crowd allowing Brexity Brits to join their citoyens in the egates.
Then the fun: and this may help orhers. Using more “face” than I usually have I squeezed narrowly down the UK egate queues and off to the “reject pile” on the right. I drew a couple of French-language grumbles but no doubt that was OK as I disappeared (dodging a not-particularly threatening “guard”). The rejects were being interlaced quite quickly with the large number of Americans and a few others not using the egates. Good outcome and the train leaving on time. Result.
Then the fun: and this may help orhers. Using more “face” than I usually have I squeezed narrowly down the UK egate queues and off to the “reject pile” on the right. I drew a couple of French-language grumbles but no doubt that was OK as I disappeared (dodging a not-particularly threatening “guard”). The rejects were being interlaced quite quickly with the large number of Americans and a few others not using the egates. Good outcome and the train leaving on time. Result.
Jul 7, 2022, 2:30 am
#221
Join Date: Feb 2018
Programs: BA EC
Posts: 110
After queuing for 90 minutes at the Border at LTN in late March, wife on her Romanian passport sailed through the e-gates, my UK passport was rejected.
When I eventually got to the BF Officer after another long wait, he told me " Oh, we have huge problems with the e-gates"
When I eventually got to the BF Officer after another long wait, he told me " Oh, we have huge problems with the e-gates"