pjscott

I live outside the UK but have a British passport and will be visiting the UK arriving Heathrow with other British family members and a non-EU citizen spouse. Can we use the EU citizen line with said spouse or must we either split up or all use the noncitizen line?

Ocn Vw 1K

pjscott, welcome to FlyerTalk. Please follow the thread as it moves to the Travel->U.K./ Ireland forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator.

jbcarioca

If the spouse has permanent residency in the EU said spouse joins you in the excellent queue. If not, not!

emma69

Have used both the EU line together and the non EU line together when 2 x passengers were travelling, 1 EU (Brit) and one not. Was told by guy at the front of the line that they prefer people travelling together to be together (saying 'I am here with my husband' when hubby has already gone through another line and is waiting for the suitcases probably makes it harder for them to assess I am guessing!), and told me I could pick which line I liked. I have NO idea if this is policy or not.

ajax

You're not correct.

First of all, there is no such thing as "permanent residency in the EU". There are 27 EU member states, all with different residency regulations. There are also several EEA member states not in the EU (e.g., Switzerland, Iceland and Norway) whose citizens can generally live in other EEA countries without restriction. In theory, all EU citizens, spouses and family members enjoy free, unrestricted movement throughout all EU member states, but this can vary widely in practice.

There is "permanent residency" in the UK, also referred to as Indefinite Leave to Remain. Being in possession of Indefinite Leave to Remain but not being in possession of a UK or EEA passport does not entitle one to join the immigration queue for these passportholders.

I remember reading somewhere on FT that non-UK/EEA passportholders cannot actually be turned away from the UK/EEA desks when passing through immigration controls (this was several years ago), but they can be asked to wait for all entitled passportholders to be cleared before them. Before becoming a UK citizen, I actually passed through the UK/EEA desk more than once without incident (but there were no UK/EEA passportholders behind me).

pjscott, you should probably have nothing to worry about. It is highly, highly unlikely that your spouse will not be processed at the same time as you if you both go through the UK/EEA queue. However, your spouse is by no means guaranteed entry to the UK and if your spouse is not currently resident in the UK (and thus in possession of a residence permit) then I recommend having proof of onward journey to ensure that your spouse is not denied entry on suspicion of not planning to leave the UK.

Unlike other countries, if your spouse is granted entry to the UK as a tourist, then he/she cannot "convert" to a residency visa whilst here (this must be applied for from outside of the UK). Thus, if you cannot produce proof of impending departure from the UK, there is a chance that an immigration agent might think that he/she is planning to stay and work illegally in the country, especially if you are a UK citizen and have ties to the country.

jbcarioca

Read up on EU rules. Each country must abide by them. They specify a number of things and I am too lazy to look up the reference for you. People with "permanent residency" the EU term, not the UK one, are treated as if they were citizens (subjects, since you want the UK term). I held Indefinite Leave to Remain for many years, but never naturalized.

ajax

Cobblers. I'm not going to read up on a rule that doesn't exist, especially when you're too lazy to cite it. No EEA passport (or spouse), no EEA queue. Simple as.

And we're not called British Subjects anymore; we're called British Citizens.

With respect, it would appear that you need to read up on your rules. I suggest the British Nationality Act 1981 to get you started.

pjscott

[
pjscott, you should probably have nothing to worry about. It is highly, highly unlikely that your spouse will not be processed at the same time as you if you both go through the UK/EEA queue. However, your spouse is by no means guaranteed entry to the UK and if your spouse is not currently resident in the UK (and thus in possession of a residence permit) then I recommend having proof of onward journey to ensure that your spouse is not denied entry on suspicion of not planning to leave the UK.

Unlike other countries, if your spouse is granted entry to the UK as a tourist, then he/she cannot "convert" to a residency visa whilst here (this must be applied for from outside of the UK). Thus, if you cannot produce proof of impending departure from the UK, there is a chance that an immigration agent might think that he/she is planning to stay and work illegally in the country, especially if you are a UK citizen and have ties to the country.[/QUOTE]

That part won't be a problem, we're coming for a couple of weeks as tourists and have return tickets. Just wanted to make sure they won't send her to another line because I assume she will get fingerprinted/photographed? Didn't know whether they had the equipment for that in the EU citizen line.

britenbsas

This is the UK, not the US There is no routine fingerprinting or photographing of tourists entering the UK. Prints are normally taken when a visa holder enters the country to check that the person presenting themselves at the border is the same person to whom the visa was issued

Christopher

There won't be any fingerprinting or photographing. (I am assuming that your spouse does not need a visa to enter the UK as a tourist? Some visas require "biometric data" before they can be issued, but that is done when the visa is applied for, i.e. before travelling to the UK, though they may be checked on arrival. But this does not apply to non-visa holders.)

As to the question of which passport queue, practice seems to vary from airport to airport and from time to time. Ironically, the spouse of a non-British EU/EEA citizen has rights under EU rules to enter the UK that the spouse of a British citizen does not have (because they fall under the British immigration laws and regulations – which, as an aside, does carry significant advantages if a person wants to settle in the UK, but that's a different point). None of this should affect you though, and there shouldn't be any problems at all.

Back to the queues: I'd suggest that you play it by ear, and if in doubt ask. In any case, the worst that can happen is that your spouse would be turned back, which might be unpleasant and a waste of time, but not, I guess, a disaster.

Incidentally, in response to another post above, for people in the UK under EU immigration regulations (including EU/EEA citizens), the status is "permanent residency". For people in the UK under British immigration regulations, the status is "indefinite leave to remain".

And the people of the UK have not been primarily British Subjects since 1949, when they became Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (with the Right of Abode in the United Kingdom). Since 1983, the terminology has been simpler: British Citizen. British Subject status is something else altogether, and entirely irrelevant to most people in the UK, British Subject status being a residual status that is separate from British Citizenship.

pjscott

Weird, I was sure I'd read that the UK was adding the same biometric collection as the US. Good to know.

Christopher

Biometric data are being collected for people applying for tourist visas from some countries, and for most long-term entry permits and visas. This doesn't affect non-visa nationals travelling to the UK for short visits (<6 months) who don't intend to work or study.

trueblu

My wife is an American citizen and we are confronted by this issue every time we fly back to UK to visit family etc. I always ask if we can both join the EU/EEA queue and nine times out of ten, they say yes. Very occasionally, they say no, and we just go together to the non-EU queue. If you have checked baggage, it doesn't really make much odds unless you have a tight connection. Unlike the US, there is no obligation to join different lines.

tb

star_world

Slightly OT, but this isn't true - you just can't use the US Citizens line. If you're married you have to go through immigration together when entering the US since you will only have one customs form between you.

britenbsas

Unless you have different surnames then they insist on processing you individually with separate customs forms as if you were two strangers - a pointless exercise considering that couples don't normally have a dedicated case each and are both responsible for the contents of the luggage in its entirety