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Originally Posted by bafan
(Post 37001948)
Thanks for the replies, all.
He’s a dual UK/Australian citizen (white and ginger) and was travelling on his UK passport. And, yes, he was stuck in the airport terminal with a vending machine, and apparently a few other people, for company. |
Originally Posted by PAL62V
(Post 37002448)
But if that really is the reason, then having a nice looong queue for EU travellers entering the UK should go a little to beginning the talks on reciprocity. I don't see US immigration adding extra staff for non-US passport holders (not that it matters atm!) and I don't see EU border staff being added either.
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Originally Posted by kingstontoon
(Post 37002223)
Except on my most recent trip - Prague the weekend before last, just a normal tourism visit - where the officer both entering and exiting spent well over five minutes looking carefully at every single stamp in my passport (there are lots, I visit the EU for the weekend around once a month) clearly trying to reconcile entry and exit dates to work out whether I was over 90 days. I stick a post-it note in my passport and ask officers to stamp where indicated to try and keep my entry and exit stamps together and in sequence but even so this was clearly a struggle for these officers who eventually gave up and stamped me without so much as a smile. So perhaps something has changed recently, or was I just really unlucky this happened both entering and leaving Prague? |
I had similar at BUD last week - they typically haven’t looked all that closely in the past, but the officer had a close look at all my stamps. No questions, though.
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Originally Posted by OGG flyer
(Post 37002218)
How did I miss the point? I said exactly that. The fact that there are not enough resources is meaningless and unrelated to my post, they will just join the manual queues which would be longer and take even longer with the current number of immigration staff.
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Originally Posted by NickB
(Post 37002497)
It would be a colossal example of inanely stupid policy of the cutting-your-nose-to-spite-your-face kind.
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Originally Posted by OGG flyer
(Post 37002146)
lack of reciprocity annoys me, EU travelers can breeze through automated gates at LHR, whereas us Brits have to typically use manual desks. Heathrow should disable automated gates for EU passports until reciprocity is established. I don't have skin in the game , as I also have EU citizenship though need to renew my second passport and am EU born, so can criticise from certain degree of objectivity here
Sorry Honey - I have certainly seen gates for Uk passport holders at Alicante when arriving BA, and certainly at Roissy (CDG). I confess myself amazed at what happened to him. However, I always enter Europe (Schengen on my French passport and Him Indoors on his Irish passports. Maybe it is to do with EU entry post Brexit. I now use my French passport to give to the French or wherever police when leaving Schengen and my UK passport when I arrive in the UK. If I missed thei BAfan Love - did they offer him any explanation for this extraordinary behaviour? I have known the Swedish police waiting on the jetway when we flew in from Madrid. As this has happened to corporate-wage-slave who was coming from the same location. Maybe Spanish arrivals have their antennae twitching.? |
Originally Posted by andrelux
(Post 37002506)
Cough.... eight and a half years' experience of that...
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I was in Gothenburg recently and immigration were asking all passengers from my BA flight about the purpose of their trip, evidence of funds and return bookings, hotel stays and so on. For such a relatively small airport, it took ages to get through, mainly as people had to find emails or booking confirmations on their phones. On a trip to Madrid and Nice a few weeks later, no questions were asked.
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I don't think this is an EU/Schengen thing as such but more so down to the individual airport/country on how they process non-Schengen passengers.
It would be quicker to allow UK passengers to use e-gates, followed by a stamp by a passport officer at a booth - I've seen this done in Lisbon and Alicante for UK passport holders and it works well |
Originally Posted by traveller5
(Post 37002535)
I was in Gothenburg recently and immigration were asking all passengers from my BA flight about the purpose of their trip, evidence of funds and return bookings, hotel stays and so on. For such a relatively small airport, it took ages to get through, mainly as people had to find emails or booking confirmations on their phones.
Where I'm staying, how long, proof of return ticket etc. Have had to show tickets, booking emails etc. one one or two occasions. One reason why I avoid the short connections at HEL. A few minutes of questioning and you can miss a flight. |
The question still remains if he had valid travel documents, a confirmed hotel stay and a return ticket out of the country, why was he denied entry?
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Last time I went to Oslo the lady at border control flipped through my almost full passport full of stamps and just said “You must watch your days in Europe my friend. You must watch. Are you counting? I hope you are counting”
All with no time to respond. Stamped and through I went. |
I was given a piece of knowledge that may prove useful and it has proved correct on several occasions.
If you are able to choose who you go to...be it an immigration officer or a customs officer...always choose the oldest ones. The younger ones have everything to prove to their bosses and are keen to make an impression.The older ones couldn't give a toss as they are relatively senior in their role and don't have anything to prove. The older ones in my experience won't interrogate as much, if at all. |
Originally Posted by fluffymitten
(Post 37002486)
I had similar in Prague last month. On entry the officer was definitely flicking back and forth seemingly trying to reconcile the dates. Can't remember the same on the way out, I think they just stamped and waved me on.
When I was leaving HEL, the office could not find the entry stamp and asked me when it was. However, he was still struggling to find it and I roughly remembered where the stamp was. He finally found it and happily stamped. It's not only me, but I cannot explain why the particular stamp was not easily found! |
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