oceanscape

No, there was still a "rejects" line with 3-4 dedicated desks but they.extended the line into the main hall as it was so long. I'd say c. 30-40% of eGate users were getting rejected. All rejects were having PLF's and negative tests scrutinised so it took time to process each person. I overheard a number of people who seemingly hadn't booked their day 2/day 8 tests but it seemed the officers didn't really care and just asked them to book them asap ...

ChemicalWoody

Interesting - yes, I’d say it was at least a quarter getting rejected last year too.
Raises the question of which queue to go for for those who know they’ll be rejected if queues are long - the manual or e-gates? (If it’s the same as before you can’t really get straight to Option 3 - the “reject” gates until you’re already at the front of the e-gates queue)

Saltire74

During my last encounter with the T5 e-gates last December, 2 out of 3 people were getting rejected. Was kind of hoping things would have got better for my next trip home.

seattle29

Can only add to the sentiments here... I'm on my 4th biometric passport and I've never had one, not a single one that works at the e-gates in the UK. No matter what airport, I've been through 6 airports with international arrivals (LHR, LGW, MAN, CWL, BHX, EDI) and e-gates have never, ever worked.

It's so frustrating when you're pushed into the line for them, I once had an argument with a member of staff saying I didn't want to use the e-gate lane as I knew it wouldn't work, but was forced into it despite my protests and hey presto, didn't work and had to be redirected.

On the contrary I've used my biometric passports at e-gates for entering CDG, FRA, SIN, HKG, SEA, YYZ and many other foreign countries... and they've always worked first time

UTFB

2016 UK biometric passport holder here also. Never works at e-gates.

jsdickinson

Yep same experience as this. It's clearly the name issue that others have had explained to them. But surely once you go through a manned desk they could whitelist the document. It's such a timewaster. They always make you go through the egates even though I know it will never work at our border

simonsmith

Snap

Mine have never worked for the same given reason as above . I also escalated it without success

seattle29

It's particularly strange because my first name is old Scottish Gaelic (very rare) and I took my wife's maiden surname, which is Thai, so my name is highly unusual. So the argument of common names not working on e-Gates doesn't add up.

jbfield

I also have the same problem as others report here - however have also used an e-gate in an Australia airport that 'sucked' the passport in (more of a glass plate that recoiled into the machine). The problem with it though was that each time it sucked the passport in it would cause the photopage to ruffle up (unlike the old passports where the photopage was a bit thicker and tougher, the newer passport is a thin paper) so ended up having a LHR e-gate experience...

Fortunately it was a smaller Australian city and the early morning car rental wasn't open for another while yet anyway.

I have found there to be two types on e-gates in Singapore - the pinky purple and orange ones in SIN T1-3 work out, but have found the newer white ones at T4 and those at sea and land borders are less reliable.

ajamieson

Sounds like the OP's 'technique' is perfectly okay everywhere else, which would suggest it isn't the reason in this case.

I had a similar issue with a brand new 2017 extra-pages passport. From day one, it worked flawlessy in every e-gate except LHR because the thicker booklet and the alignment of the photo info close to the fold made it impossible to satisfy the machines. The UKBA staff at Heathrow kept telling me to get it replaced by HMPO as faulty, warning it could be deemed invalid (they had trouble using it in their own manual scanners, too). HMPO insisted there was nothing wrong with the passport. Caught between two agencies, I ended up forking about for a second new passport, which worked perfectly. It would help if Britain did the same as many other countries and put the important page on stronger paper; the current flimsy paper is not suitable for being shoved in and out of passport gates.

BerksFlyer

My passport does not work the LHR e-gates. I always ask the person at the desk why and I got a different answer every time (being robbed off?) until one of them told me what I believe to be the real reason - my name is very similar to someone who is ‘wanted’ and until that person is caught my passport won’t work the e-gates.

This was only a minor inconvenience pre-Covid but I suspect it might be very bad news for me in future if queues are longer.

sigh!

corporate-wage-slave

If the Border Force were stuggling to get a full data screen from your passport they would normally advise you to get a replacement. They know they can't deny entrance to UK residents so this is a conversation about their end of the process rather than the traveller. I think the Passport Agency did used to replace dud chips in passports a few years back, they were supplied externally anyway with some sort of guarantee on them. But I think they won't do that now. Or rather they will when - as is sometimes the case there is a clear data error in the chip (e.g. massively wrong date of birth) - it's by exception and essentially where it suits the agency rather than the, well, customer.

Oaxaca

Can relate to your situation, also a 2017 extra pages passport. Don’t keep exact count, but would say mine works at T5 eGates roughly 50% of the time. No issues at T2/3/4, albeit fewer data points in each than T5, but still a fair few (pre-pandemic). No problems in LGW or LCY machines (maybe they are different tech), Also had occasional issues at LTN.

Did also have some issues at T5 and LTN with the staff struggling in the manual scanner, but since the failures were intermittent, I have so far ignored any advice to get a new passport. The guy at LTN was very suspicious, even asked if I had any other ID. Never thought about the passport thickness being the potential problem. The picture page in this passport is definitely less robust than the previous one.

Rarely any issue in eGate machines in other countries, though again possibly different tech.

1Aturnleft

IRIS was definitely a marked step up in terms of user success over the current system. Once you mastered the correct stance ("Please look up a little, Please look down a little, Please step a little closer, Please step back a little) and you got the pause while the little red square around your face on the screen did it's thing, you knew the glass doors were about to part and you could be on your way.... with a thank you. The fact you actively had to register your biometrics before you could use the service probably had a lot to do with it. Registering with IRIS was the best 30 minutes I ever spent at Heathrow Terminal 1 during a delay. It was a very sad day when the system was dispanded. It actually worked.

ChemicalWoody

We’re describing 2 different issues here.

I agree that for people whose passport works 50% of the time it’s a chip/ technique/ dud passport issue.

But I’m sure the problem that affects more people is the duplicate name thing. They just don’t know it.

That’s because Border Force at LHR are told to give a fake excuse like “maybe your chip is faulty” or just say that everything is fine and you should try it again next time.

At LCY they are far more candid and they admit it’s because they need to check your face against someone with the same name.

My wife has even seen someone else’s face - who was clearly not me - pop up on the screen of the agent who processed me while she was waiting for me to get through. And yet they still denied it to me! At LHR I always tell them this is why it rejected, and they either deny it or say I wasn’t supposed to have been told that.