enthusiastic flier

My bad - should've been clearer. She was travelling on her Indian passport soon after naturalising as a British citizen. OCI hadn't been applied for at that point. I personally wouldn't have travelled like that but what was impressive/ shocking was that the Indian govt knew a citizen had recently relinquished their nationality and shouldn't have been travelling on the Indian passport. The only reason she was let in was that she fell in the 3-month grace period I mentioned earlier.

SteelCityBoy

Good for you. ^

Personally I think Landing Cards for anyone with no time limit on their stay in the UK (RoA, ILR, Permanent Residence derived from EU Family Member) should be abolished...I'm not sure what purpose they serve; and the information they contain would almost certainly either be known by UK Border Force already in relation to people in these categories or gleaned from the passport scan...

Would surely reduce the administrative burden on pax and immigration officers alike, allowing them to focus time and resource to areas where it is perhaps better spent... I remember in the good old days of I94/I94W for US travel Green Card Holders were always exempted from these. Makes sense to me...

But I guess in this current climate of anti-immigration sentiment fuelled by tabloid newspapers anything seen remotely like "softening" border controls would probably go down like a lead balloon, especially less than 12 months from a General Election...

Just my 2 cents...

mandolino

Do you mean "taken a UK passport" ? If they have officially renounced their nationality then of course the Indian database would have it. If they just know that the person has taken UK citizenship, then it means that the UK is sharing its database with Indian Immigration/Passport offices. Perhaps through some agreement that they will share details of any Indian citizen that applies for UK citizenship.

ajax

Well technically according to Indian law, the moment you are naturalised in another country, you have automatically nullified your Indian citizenship and thus de facto renounced it (Malaysia is the same and so are several other countries that I can think of off the top of my head). Being naturalised in the UK will accomplish this.

I believe that the poster was expressing surprise that the UK and Indian authorities shared this data with one another so freely. It certainly surprises me. It is not the norm for two sovereign nations to be so open about their respective citizens.

NB: many people in this country use 'taking a British passport' as shorthand for becoming naturalised, and substitute the term 'passport' for citizenship. They really are two separate things.

ajax

Well done ^

mandolino

I think my attitude would depend on whether I was hand-luggage only or was going to have to wait for hold luggage anyway.

SteelCityBoy

In response to the issue my wife experienced recently at MAN T1, I received an e-mail response to my query this afternoon:

I was rather hoping they might raise the question themselves with Border Force command at MAN; I'm not sure it would be worth pursuing with UKBF central enquiries as a) this probably concerns a local arrangement rather than general policy and b) the enquiry will probably disappear into the ether.

Disappointing that the availability of a feature advertised openly on their website cannot be actually confirmed!

Crazydre

Hello, I've heard that the non-EU lanes at British Immigration are often shorter than the EU lines.

Is it allowed for me as an EU national to use the non-EU line?

Crazydre

Not true, I am a Swedish national and have been asked about Point of origin as well as Duration and Motive of my stay (yes, in the EU line). In fact, on one occasion, in Addition to my ID Card the (female) officer wanted to see another ID doc - I then showed my UBS bank card. She asked why I had a Swiss bank account. I explained that I live and study in Switzerland. She asked what I study and after replying "computer science" I was let through.

Been to the UK 10 times (entering at Gatwick each time), and was asked about Point of origin 5 times, and 3 times I was asked about Duration and Motive of my stay.

WomBatt

Form an answer using part of your pseudonym and idea and disgraceful - but please advise how you are received when you try this.

NYTA

I think it depends on what airport and what flight you are coming from. Most of my flights to LHR have dramatically longer lines in the non-EU section. As a non EU national I have spent up to an hour in line at LHR which is why I went out and paid extra for the "trusted traveler" program. The only place I have ever seen shorter lines in the non-EU section is at STN when coming off a flight from Germany that was 95% EU nationals. That said if you have the chip enabled passport, you can just use the automatic e-gates and then there's almost no line. Nothing disgraceful about trying, although I have been turned away at the EU line with my US passport when I tried.

JFSV

As mentioned above, it is very rare (in my experience) for the non-EU lines to be emptier than the EU lines. But if they are indeed emptier, then there is no rule or otherwise that I am aware of that would enable the immigration officer to turn you away or make you go to the EU line. If that happens, I would seriously raise this with the chief immigration officer.

hope this helps

ajax

That is extremely surprising and I'm not sure entirely legal. According to the law, as long as you are traveling on a valid Swedish passport/ID card, you are entitled to exercise your rights as an EU citizen and enter the country, full stop. She cannot question your reason for wanting to do so and denying you entry is very difficult and certainly not the whim of a UKBA agent. It is not up to her discretion whether you meet the criteria for entry; unless there is a very strong legal case to be made for keeping you out (a la Geert Wilders; it is usually very rare), she must let you in.

It is, frankly, none of her business why you have a Swiss bank account and, although it is never a good idea to become arsey with a UKBA officer, you are well within your right to tell her it was none of her business.

I think in the case of querying your holding of a Swiss bank account, a word with the Chief Immigration Officer would be in order.

NYTA

I don't remember how it is in the UK, but at least in many European countries the lanes are marked "EU Only" and "All Passports" - which would lead me to believe that it's ok to go to the non EU line if you're an EU national.

stut

Threads merged, to keep it all in one place. As the more active thread is on the UK & Ireland forum, I've moved it here. Please note that we don't permit cross-posting of the same topic on different forums.

stut
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