Sep 24, 2013, 7:39 am
Last edit by: BotB
The Registered Traveller Scheme is intended to allow easier entry for regular visitors to the UK.
The scheme is available for regular travelers to the UK who have a passport issued by
Africa
Botswana, Namibia, Seychelles.
Asia
Brunei, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region passports only), Japan, Macao Special Administrative Region, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan (if your passport has a personal ID number on the photo page)
Europe
Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City State.
Middle East
Israel.
North America
Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, USA.
Oceania
Australia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga.
South and Central America
Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay.
* Visited the UK 4 times in the previous 24 months as a Business visitor, General visitor, Member of a diplomatic mission, Academic visitor, Entertainment or sports visitor, In transit - passing through the UK, Parent of a child in a UK school or Medical visitor. This generally includes tourists.
* Hold a valid visa in the categories Tiers 1, 2, 4 or 5 (excluding Creative/Sporting concession), Indefinite Leave to Remain, Naturalisation, UK Ancestry, Family member or spouse/partner. Note that EEA family permits, discretionary leave and leave outside the rules are excluded.
The application cost is £70 of which £50 is refunded if the application is rejected. Renewal costs £50 each year and changes of document details cost £20.
Registered Travellers are able to use the faster entry lanes (generally EU lines) when going through the UK Border at Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick (special registered traveller line), Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Southend and Stansted airports (or, alternatively, the ePassport gates if they have a biometric passport; while the ePassport gates at LHR T3 & T4 are being renovated the FastTrak lines can be used or the EU lines can be used). You will not have to fill in a landing card. (you do still need to carry your visa or BRP (biometric residence permit))
In addition, Registered Travellers are able to go through the UK Border at the Brussels, Lille and Paris Eurostar terminals without having to fill in a landing card.
Registered Travellers who hold a UK visa will not have their fingerprints checked at the UK Border.
Registration link: https://www.gov.uk/registered-traveller
The scheme is available for regular travelers to the UK who have a passport issued by
Africa
Botswana, Namibia, Seychelles.
Asia
Brunei, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region passports only), Japan, Macao Special Administrative Region, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan (if your passport has a personal ID number on the photo page)
Europe
Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City State.
Middle East
Israel.
North America
Bahamas, Canada, Mexico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, USA.
Oceania
Australia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga.
South and Central America
Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay.
* Visited the UK 4 times in the previous 24 months as a Business visitor, General visitor, Member of a diplomatic mission, Academic visitor, Entertainment or sports visitor, In transit - passing through the UK, Parent of a child in a UK school or Medical visitor. This generally includes tourists.
* Hold a valid visa in the categories Tiers 1, 2, 4 or 5 (excluding Creative/Sporting concession), Indefinite Leave to Remain, Naturalisation, UK Ancestry, Family member or spouse/partner. Note that EEA family permits, discretionary leave and leave outside the rules are excluded.
The application cost is £70 of which £50 is refunded if the application is rejected. Renewal costs £50 each year and changes of document details cost £20.
Registered Travellers are able to use the faster entry lanes (generally EU lines) when going through the UK Border at Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick (special registered traveller line), Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Southend and Stansted airports (or, alternatively, the ePassport gates if they have a biometric passport; while the ePassport gates at LHR T3 & T4 are being renovated the FastTrak lines can be used or the EU lines can be used). You will not have to fill in a landing card. (you do still need to carry your visa or BRP (biometric residence permit))
In addition, Registered Travellers are able to go through the UK Border at the Brussels, Lille and Paris Eurostar terminals without having to fill in a landing card.
Registered Travellers who hold a UK visa will not have their fingerprints checked at the UK Border.
Registration link: https://www.gov.uk/registered-traveller
Some extra information from Gatwick Airport is here.
Older terms and conditions of the initial trial are recorded in post 78.
Registered Traveller Scheme - easier entry for regular visitors to the UK
Sep 19, 2016, 4:31 am
#557
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: TLV
Programs: UA Platinum, Avis Chairman, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, GA Pilot
Posts: 3,225
Note for users of this - I got an email about a month before my "subscription" expired (which I missed) and then another one saying it had expired. I had to reapply and now have to wait 10 days to get approved again. I don't have any trips planned to the UK in the next 10 days, but it's rather annoying that they didn't send another reminder email 10-11 days before the deadline so that there wouldn't be an interruption of service from missing one email.
Sep 19, 2016, 6:51 am
#558
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Cayman, San Diego, London
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold, AA 4MM Lifetime Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb, Bonvoy Lifetime Gold
Posts: 1,054
When your registration was first activated, they will have sent you a confirmation Email in which it specified an expiration date. Then you had a one month reminder. How much babysitting do you need?
Sep 19, 2016, 10:40 am
#559
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: TLV
Programs: UA Platinum, Avis Chairman, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, GA Pilot
Posts: 3,225
I subscribe to a number of services that need renewing throughout the year - from domain names, to other internet based services. Without exception, they all provide more than one reminder before expiration - it's just a "best practice" that one would expect from a service that wants you to renew with them.
Sep 25, 2016, 10:06 am
#560
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: San Jose, CA USA
Posts: 1,791
My empathy is with NYTA here. It's not "babysitting". It's just keeping a standard for good business practice.
Wife and I just got approved for UK Registered Traveller. They were pretty picky about our showing use of LHR 4X in the past 2 yrs, but we sent in enough stuff to get it done. Will get our final approval on our next visit to LHR in Nov. If it works like US global entry, we'll be pleased.
Wife and I just got approved for UK Registered Traveller. They were pretty picky about our showing use of LHR 4X in the past 2 yrs, but we sent in enough stuff to get it done. Will get our final approval on our next visit to LHR in Nov. If it works like US global entry, we'll be pleased.
Sep 25, 2016, 12:36 pm
#561
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
5 years of fees for this program cost more than the fee(s) I would have to pay to acquire citizenship in some EU countries. It may even have higher fees than it would cost to acquire an EU citizenship and EU passport.
Sep 25, 2016, 1:12 pm
#562
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,265
For the rest of us, I would say it's a good value for money in terms of time saved.
Sep 27, 2016, 10:17 pm
#563
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
I was putting the fees into perspective. The fee being annual in the same amount each year is but a greeedy money grab by the government. Activity-based-costing as the basis of the fee expenses for multi-year-users of the program would perhaps be something that the users of such program should want.
Sep 29, 2016, 3:28 pm
#565
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
Just curious but what made you believe the line for you would otherwise have been 2 hours long there that very morning?
Sep 29, 2016, 8:45 pm
#566
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORF
Programs: Amex Plat, AA, BA Silver, Marriott Plat, Choice Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 3,749
Perhaps the question for us on this side of the Atlantic is: which credit card will take on this fee as a perk of its card? I agree that the fee is pretty steep annually, especially if you only meet the minimum standards for qualification, but a CC willing to reimburse for this fee, as is done for Global Entry on several cards, might be a card I'd be willing to consider.
Sep 30, 2016, 5:54 am
#567
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: TLV
Programs: UA Platinum, Avis Chairman, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, GA Pilot
Posts: 3,225
Where can I acquire EU citizenship for less than 75 pounds a year? I'd be happy to do that.
Sep 30, 2016, 8:50 am
#568
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
The US DHS/CBP has been sending mass emailings today to GE members to get more Americans to enroll in the U.K. RT program with an indication that they don't qualify unless they have the four U.K. visits within two years.
Originally Posted by CBP email
You are receiving this message because you have been identified by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as a U.S. citizen or Canadian citizen enrolled in the GE/ NEXUS program. CBP would like to inform you that the United Kingdom now operates an expedited entry program called Registered Traveller and you may be eligible to apply.
Registered Traveller was launched by the UK Border Force to give faster and more convenient entry to the UK for eligible nationals from the United States and Canada. Membership of Registered Traveller costs £70 in the first year and £50 per year thereafter.
Membership of Registered Traveller includes the following benefits:
.Access to ePassport gates
.Use of the UK / EEA queue
.No requirement to complete a landing card on arrival in the UK
.No routine credibility interview with a Border Force officer.
Visitor eligibility criteria have changed and you now may apply to join if you have made at least 4 journeys to the United Kingdom in the previous two years. Complete details of Registered Traveller eligibility and availability can be found online at www.gov.uk/registered-traveller.
Registered Traveller is proving extremely popular with members and to date there have been over 275,000 crossings of the border by members with extremely positive feedback such as,
“I think it is fantastic! It has made a major difference to my experience travelling as it gives me a great deal of time back.”
“Time saving and improved experience of clearing immigration.”
....
Registered Traveller was launched by the UK Border Force to give faster and more convenient entry to the UK for eligible nationals from the United States and Canada. Membership of Registered Traveller costs £70 in the first year and £50 per year thereafter.
Membership of Registered Traveller includes the following benefits:
.Access to ePassport gates
.Use of the UK / EEA queue
.No requirement to complete a landing card on arrival in the UK
.No routine credibility interview with a Border Force officer.
Visitor eligibility criteria have changed and you now may apply to join if you have made at least 4 journeys to the United Kingdom in the previous two years. Complete details of Registered Traveller eligibility and availability can be found online at www.gov.uk/registered-traveller.
Registered Traveller is proving extremely popular with members and to date there have been over 275,000 crossings of the border by members with extremely positive feedback such as,
“I think it is fantastic! It has made a major difference to my experience travelling as it gives me a great deal of time back.”
“Time saving and improved experience of clearing immigration.”
....
Oct 25, 2016, 10:59 am
#569
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Seattle, Wash. USA
Posts: 1,531
It works for me - my last couple of trips before RT, even Fast Track was backed up and took about 45 minutes.
Jan 3, 2017, 2:48 pm
#570
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold (and other non-status plastic)
Posts: 1,889
Good news / bad news
After queuing at T5 for over an hour as per usual the other day (Fast Track, naturally), the officer suggested I sign up for Registered Traveller. And indeed it seems to have been extended to many more countries. The current list (Jan 2017) is now:
Bad news is that I just looked at the fees, and, sweet mother of God, £70 for 12 months?! This, after the Home Office gouged me a couple of months ago for £800 because they just declared my "indefinite" visa invalid, because of the risk of a fraudulent visa stamp (which THEY themselves issued). On the plus side, it's tax deductible if you're a limited company, but, still...
After queuing at T5 for over an hour as per usual the other day (Fast Track, naturally), the officer suggested I sign up for Registered Traveller. And indeed it seems to have been extended to many more countries. The current list (Jan 2017) is now:
- Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan
- Australia, New Zealand
- Israel
- Canada, Mexico, USA
- Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay
Bad news is that I just looked at the fees, and, sweet mother of God, £70 for 12 months?! This, after the Home Office gouged me a couple of months ago for £800 because they just declared my "indefinite" visa invalid, because of the risk of a fraudulent visa stamp (which THEY themselves issued). On the plus side, it's tax deductible if you're a limited company, but, still...
Last edited by kt74; Jan 3, 2017 at 2:56 pm