Post
by veejay » Thu Jan 16, 2014 10:49 am
Ok. We successfully reached UK but it was a huge ordeal. I strongly advise anyone contemplating this to never try it.
We went to the airport early as I was fully expecting issues in immigration. At the check in counter (BA), we did not have any problems. Just produced my child's Indian and UK passport and they were fine.
Then went to immigration. Problem started. The officer point blank said that the child cannot travel as Exit permit is needed on UK passport. He maintained that the Indian passport is no longer valid. The officer was extremely professional and courteous and repeatedly mentioned that he was just doing his job by following the directions that he need to follow. He was never rude and was very polite, but still the answer was a firm No. (A part of me was proud that such professionals exist in our govt sector!)
Then we asked to speak to the officer in charge. After a lot of back and forth, finally we got to meet the chief (I think). I showed the citizenship registration certificate, birth certificate, address proof in UK etc., and also the communication from VFS UK that I have 3 month grace period to travel on Indian passport. I believe this made him think a bit - he then mentioned to me that he will check with FRRO and his superiors. He took all of our documents and asked us to wait in a small area near immigration. Again, he was very courteous - offered water etc. to my child. Then came the agonizing wait..........
We waited for close to an hour and he came back with a negative answer. During this one hour, I frantically called VFS UK, High commission of India in London etc. but they were all closed at that time. Then I pleaded with him to talk to FRRO and we kinda got on a conf. call (speaker phone). After that the immigration officer spoke to someone else (no idea who) in private for 5-10 minutes and then came back and told us that he is going to make an exception and allow us to fly out!! He mentioned that he is only doing it because the person-in-question was a minor and we had a strong reason to be in UK (child had a confirmed medical appointment with NHS for a chronic condition the following day).
In summary, the rules are against this type of travel and it was really an ordeal for us to get out of India. This is no fault of Indian immigration authorities but the rules. They are just following rules. In UK immigration, we did not have any issues.
Thanks for people who viewed this post. Also thanks to the one poster who replied.
