Bubbles09

I feel your pain! I had to endure this from about 2014 up until last year when it suddenly started working again. Fine abroad but no joy in the UK!

Daveoc64

The Home Office published several reports today about various border related topics, and there is a specific section on the eGates:

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...passport-gates

ExpatExp

Interesting. I suppose there could be something in Recommendation 6 that could be helpful, at least with recognition of the problem:

corporate-wage-slave

The source report does not go into the reason for e-gate issues either, other than to report some anecdotal observations (where at STN there were gate mechanical failures):

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...gates-may-2023

The overall narrative specific to this area is that the e-gates are hampered by poor quality Home Office data, notably for anyone who applied for EU Settled Status, which leads to unnecessary workload. Particularly since old information is hindering efficient operations. I gather it's not just EUSS, it's in fact any complications such as historic visa queries, nationality challenges, even if they are now irrelevant. Overall I would the message is that efficient operations are hindered by a number of challenges - such as lack of communication processes, poor data and Border Force staff having to run things that presenters (airport staff) should be managing. In addition there is a recognition that e-gates are failing and no-one actually knows for sure why it happens, beyond the EUSS specific issue.

wportre

Fascinating: thank you both of you. I think the evidence is accumulating that for most of us this was a matter of interface between different HO systems. The tone of the thread has definitely changed over what seems to be the relevant time horizon.

Views welcome: see you in the manual queue! :-/ (On the jinx basis, in case not obvious)

W

zoemaestra

I have a UK and French passport, with my UK one being older and having a less recent photo of me. It's never worked at the eGates in the UK for me before with the exception of the last time I passed through T5 - it caught me so off guard when I was already turning around on autopilot after expecting the usual seek assistance message. My French one on the other hand has always worked when entering European Schengen eGates.

Hopefully my recent luck sticks, it's such a pain to have to play the silly little game of trying the gates each time, lest I have the staff yell at me for jumping straight into the assistance queue.

LondonAussie

This sign was on display at my most recent entry.

binman

Does your French passport work in the U.K. Egates?

binman

That is such an unwelcoming and unpleasant sign and I’d be interested to know if such signs are in place at any other European nation or where egates are used. I cannot recall ever seeing one. Even the name Border force is aggressive! Surely it could be much better than this. After-all most other countries manage to protect their border without the overt hostile tone.

Countries which, until recently had landing cards with “death to drug traffickers” written on them still managed to provide a welcoming yet thorough service at their border.

Last year friends were refused entry to Singapore on their honeymoon as one of the party had a passport with less than 6 months validity! They were returned to Germany via Helsinki. Devastating and stressful as that was for them, they had not a bad word to say about the Singaporean authorities. They were always polite, courteous and empathetic. But they were not getting in!!

So many nations have upped their game at Border Control, the American’s have global entry - for a fee - and entry to Australia is very different today than it was in 2010.

corporate-wage-slave

It used to be the Border Agency, and yes the change to Border Force (and moving to a uniform) was part of a "get tough" rebranding. That sign does actually give some explanations, indeed it's really a summary of the posts in this thread, though I would put the last one first. Still I suspect you have led a sheltered life here, the Irish have the "Guards" (though it's actually a mis-translation) and many countries have Gendarmerie = "men at arms". The Dutch have the Coastguard. The post war German agency was originally called the Bundespasskontrolldienst, which fulfills a number stereotypes.

IThink

My U.K. passports haven’t worked for ages and I got in the habit of going directly to the desk. Last time a couple of weeks ago the officer said to give it another go next time. So today I did at T4 and probably put about 70kg of pressure through my hand too. And bingo it worked. I wonder if it has something to do with the laminate across the photo page. It is very reflective and might cause problems with the camera or scanner if it isn’t totally against the glass.

corporate-wage-slave

The new Brexit passports, with the heavy laminate, can cause a reflection glare. That's why there is a shield over the paten, which on the one hand shields the scan from sunshine and overhead lights but on the other hand makes it trickier to see (on the last series of EU passports) whether the page has curled up. 70kgs of pressure may be a little too much though. You just need to keep it still and totally flat, with the chip close to the paten.

binman

Very far from sheltered.
Over the last 40 years have travelled extensively and faced all manner of immigration officers in that time. Every Arab nation, much of west Africa and many more. Hours in queues waiting to be processed and wanting it to be easier.

Many countries have upped their game, some have gone backwards (Entry to EU following Brexit) but on the whole it’s getting better. However as a citizen of the U.K. I rarely find the process to be welcoming courteous or helpful. That sign is now typical of most aspects of public life in the U.K. today. The system doesn’t work as it should and it’s always someone else’s fault.

EDIflyer

I wonder if it's more they could see a flag had cleared on your record? I used to have issues with my old passport sometimes not reading properly, but that was due to the page getting rumpled. It would seem to fail at an earlier stage though - my new one seems to be read OK but then has a failure. It always reads OK elsewhere and on their scanners.

Saladman

I disagree. The mere fact that the U.K. has opened their eGates for use by more nationalities than any other country in the world is pretty welcoming in my book. The vast majority of people use the eGates quite successfully and without issue. Compared to a lot of other countries where immigration officers are at best indifferent and at worst, surly and rude (USA) I consider the U.K. to be a step above most other countries.

There has been a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about why people can’t get through the eGates and considerable ire (on this thread at least) has been directed to Border Force for being uncommunicative about it. When they do provide some answers and an explanation as to some of the reasons, seemingly that’s wrong also! Go figure!