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Moderators: Casa, archigabe, CR001, push, JAJ, ca.funke, Amber, zimba, vinny, Obie, EUsmileWEallsmile, batleykhan, meself2, geriatrix, John, ChetanOjha
Avoid Heathrow if you want to have a short queue. Where you queue is not really at issue - it's the stamping and the landing cards.presido007 wrote:You know guys, any time I am coming back to UK, I prefer to use lines meant for "other passports" than using eea line at the port of entry (airport). the reason is because, it is faster and I didn't need to wait on a very long queue with eea nationals. in some cases I am the only person in that line and am the first to get to luggage area, and I dont care if they stamp my passport even though I have RC on my passport. maybe, because I dont use the major airports when travelling. because the last thing I want to do when I travel is to argue with any officer or anybody for that matter, I just want to go home and sleep.
That is exactly my point, I have never travelled through Heathrow, maybe that is why I didn't care about which line I queue in. about stamping my passport, the officers have always used the same page on my passport any time they stamp my passport.EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:Avoid Heathrow if you want to have a short queue. Where you queue is not really at issue - it's the stamping and the landing cards.presido007 wrote:You know guys, any time I am coming back to UK, I prefer to use lines meant for "other passports" than using eea line at the port of entry (airport). the reason is because, it is faster and I didn't need to wait on a very long queue with eea nationals. in some cases I am the only person in that line and am the first to get to luggage area, and I dont care if they stamp my passport even though I have RC on my passport. maybe, because I dont use the major airports when travelling. because the last thing I want to do when I travel is to argue with any officer or anybody for that matter, I just want to go home and sleep.
Enjoy your sleep, you're entitled to your opinion, but with attitudes like that nothing will change.
...which they are not allowed to do!presido007 wrote:That is exactly my point, I have never travelled through Heathrow, maybe that is why I didn't care about which line I queue in. about stamping my passport, the officers have always used the same page on my passport any time they stamp my passport.EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:Avoid Heathrow if you want to have a short queue. Where you queue is not really at issue - it's the stamping and the landing cards.presido007 wrote:You know guys, any time I am coming back to UK, I prefer to use lines meant for "other passports" than using eea line at the port of entry (airport). the reason is because, it is faster and I didn't need to wait on a very long queue with eea nationals. in some cases I am the only person in that line and am the first to get to luggage area, and I dont care if they stamp my passport even though I have RC on my passport. maybe, because I dont use the major airports when travelling. because the last thing I want to do when I travel is to argue with any officer or anybody for that matter, I just want to go home and sleep.
Enjoy your sleep, you're entitled to your opinion, but with attitudes like that nothing will change.
I agree - complain and things (slowly) improve; say nothing and things stay same or get worse.maviesk wrote:It may seem like nit picking but when you consider how inept the Ukba ca be as an organization (they messed up our residence application and it took 8 months to get the rc/passport back because they demanded documents which were already in the application!) I feel like its our duty to come down on them like a ton of bricks, otherwise the incompetence will not continue.
Well done for complaining. Yes, it might seem to be trivial to some, but it's the law.maviesk wrote:Last year my partner and I travelled to Bruseels via the Eurostar. On the way back we had an officer who seemed to be particularly miserable, asking stupid questions (which one of you is the Turkish one?), most of which I can't remember now but she then stamped my partner's passport.. When I confronted her telling her that it's against the regulations she was totally dismissive, saying things like what difference will it make? Se then demanded I tell her the reason I was so irate about it.. I told her that I didn't have to give a reason at which point she called over the chief immigration officer who seemed quite sympathetic but basically gave me a bs reply saying that although my partner doesn't fill in a landing card, the stamp can be placed in the passport at the discretion of the officer... I didm't agree with that, it either is or isn't! When I got back to the UK I sent an email of complaint and within a few weeks we got an apology and £25 compensation.
It may seem like nit picking but when you consider how inept the Ukba ca be as an organization (they messed up our residence application and it took 8 months to get the rc/passport back because they demanded documents which were already in the application!) I feel like its our duty to come down on them like a ton of bricks, otherwise the incompetence will not continue.
Good good good for you!maviesk wrote:Last year my partner and I travelled to Bruseels via the Eurostar. On the way back we had an officer who seemed to be particularly miserable, asking stupid questions (which one of you is the Turkish one?), most of which I can't remember now but she then stamped my partner's passport.. When I confronted her telling her that it's against the regulations she was totally dismissive, saying things like what difference will it make? Se then demanded I tell her the reason I was so irate about it.. I told her that I didn't have to give a reason at which point she called over the chief immigration officer who seemed quite sympathetic but basically gave me a bs reply saying that although my partner doesn't fill in a landing card, the stamp can be placed in the passport at the discretion of the officer... I didm't agree with that, it either is or isn't! When I got back to the UK I sent an email of complaint and within a few weeks we got an apology and £25 compensation.
£25 makes sense. If it happens 3 or 4 times, you have the price for a new passport covered. If it happens 10 or 15 times, then you have the trip to the embassy covered.maviesk wrote:it would be appropriate to offer such a payment and I propose to offer £25...
After all, the UK-internal complaint procedure at least works (if they consider the law on your side), unlike my experience from the Commission so far, where nothing ever happens...I wonder was the lady you mentioned insisting that a landing card was required actually working for UKBA. The reason I suggest this is that BAA often hire queue helpers who are not necessarily familiar with the rules.flames wrote:I came back from Graz, Austria yesterday and landed at Stanstead. The flight was already delayed and i had a National Express coach funfare ticket thus i could not afford to miss the coach to central London.
I then joined the ''other passports queue'' as it was far much shorter. Just before i got to the IO a UKBA lady who was sitting on a chair in front of the queue asked and insisted for a landing card. I politely told her that i do not need one as i hold an EU residence card as a family member but she was saying if you are using this queue you need to complete a landing card. Luckily my turn to see an IO came before i could continue the pointless conversation with the lady.
This time around the IO knew what he was doing. I presented my passport with the Residence card page open and initially he said where is your landing card? then he quickly realised i do not need to complete one. He just checked the authenticity of the passport and did not ask me any questions. He even went on to say that next time you can join the EU queue but just remember to present your passport to the IO with the Residence card page open. I was pleased to deal with someone who knew what he was doing but it also makes me wonder why some IO's know and apply the law correctly and why some IO's do not?.
On a different note; In Graz at exit passport checks i encountered an IO who spent 15 minutes in total examining my UK issued EU residence card and French issued Schengen visa. He even took out some magnifying glass and thoroughly scanned the scengen visa and residence card. He repeatedly inserted my passport into a machine to check it's authenticity. All this happened without him even asking me any question until i asked him ''what the problem was?'' and he mumbled in half German, half English about doing his job and then he quickly stamped the passport and gave it back to me with a hardly disguised annoyed look on his face......
Great. It's not all bad. The message is perhaps getting through.Ikonkar wrote:Hi All,
Thought I should share my short story, arrived at Heathrow last night, wasn't travelling with my EU Wife, at UK Border Control I stood in other passports Que., didn't filled in landing card either. Upon showing my passport she(Immigration Officer) asked me few questions about my wife (where she's working, what nationality, etc etc. I answered all the questions confidently, she smiled and said welcome back!!!
No Stamp on passport either.
GOD BLESS
Ikonkar
On the other hand, your passport should not have been stamped in Gratz.flames wrote:I came back from Graz, Austria yesterday and landed at Stanstead. The flight was already delayed and i had a National Express coach funfare ticket thus i could not afford to miss the coach to central London.
I then joined the ''other passports queue'' as it was far much shorter. Just before i got to the IO a UKBA lady who was sitting on a chair in front of the queue asked and insisted for a landing card. I politely told her that i do not need one as i hold an EU residence card as a family member but she was saying if you are using this queue you need to complete a landing card. Luckily my turn to see an IO came before i could continue the pointless conversation with the lady.
This time around the IO knew what he was doing. I presented my passport with the Residence card page open and initially he said where is your landing card? then he quickly realised i do not need to complete one. He just checked the authenticity of the passport and did not ask me any questions. He even went on to say that next time you can join the EU queue but just remember to present your passport to the IO with the Residence card page open. I was pleased to deal with someone who knew what he was doing but it also makes me wonder why some IO's know and apply the law correctly and why some IO's do not?.
On a different note; In Graz at exit passport checks i encountered an IO who spent 15 minutes in total examining my UK issued EU residence card and French issued Schengen visa. He even took out some magnifying glass and thoroughly scanned the scengen visa and residence card. He repeatedly inserted my passport into a machine to check it's authenticity. All this happened without him even asking me any question until i asked him ''what the problem was?'' and he mumbled in half German, half English about doing his job and then he quickly stamped the passport and gave it back to me with a hardly disguised annoyed look on his face......
That is indeed the case; the jobtitle of this lady is presenter and she is not a UKBA employee. My wife recently had a collision with one of them in Manchester, which triggered a complaint from me to both the airport and UKBA (as I think UKBA should have overall responsibility for the entire passport checking process). The response from the airport follows:EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:I wonder was the lady you mentioned insisting that a landing card was required actually working for UKBA. The reason I suggest this is that BAA often hire queue helpers who are not necessarily familiar with the rules.
Manchester Airport wrote:I am sorry to hear about your experience in immigration. As you are aware, the presenters are employed to present passengers to immigration on the airline's behalf and the company that does this in Manchester is OCS. I have passed your feedback on to OCS and they have replied informing me that general guidance from immigration is to ensure that passengers join the correct queue which means EU passport holders join the EU queue and non-EU passengers fill out landing cards. Unfortunately, where passengers have been granted a special dispensation from the Home Office the presenters have not been trained to verify the authenticity of such documents as this is the role of the Immigration Officer.
I apologise for the inconvenience when you were processing through immigration and OCS have assured me that they will use your feedback to liase with Immigration to try and resolve the issue in future and ensure that passengers travel through the airport as smoothly as possible.
You pointed that to me last time but not having carried documentary evidence to that effect( in case of an arguement), i just let it slide. There was also the language barrier issue and the fact that i carry 2 passports and the IO did not look at the old passport with the reidence card.EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:On the other hand, your passport should not have been stamped in Gratz.flames wrote:I came back from Graz, Austria yesterday and landed at Stanstead. The flight was already delayed and i had a National Express coach funfare ticket thus i could not afford to miss the coach to central London.
I then joined the ''other passports queue'' as it was far much shorter. Just before i got to the IO a UKBA lady who was sitting on a chair in front of the queue asked and insisted for a landing card. I politely told her that i do not need one as i hold an EU residence card as a family member but she was saying if you are using this queue you need to complete a landing card. Luckily my turn to see an IO came before i could continue the pointless conversation with the lady.
This time around the IO knew what he was doing. I presented my passport with the Residence card page open and initially he said where is your landing card? then he quickly realised i do not need to complete one. He just checked the authenticity of the passport and did not ask me any questions. He even went on to say that next time you can join the EU queue but just remember to present your passport to the IO with the Residence card page open. I was pleased to deal with someone who knew what he was doing but it also makes me wonder why some IO's know and apply the law correctly and why some IO's do not?.
On a different note; In Graz at exit passport checks i encountered an IO who spent 15 minutes in total examining my UK issued EU residence card and French issued Schengen visa. He even took out some magnifying glass and thoroughly scanned the scengen visa and residence card. He repeatedly inserted my passport into a machine to check it's authenticity. All this happened without him even asking me any question until i asked him ''what the problem was?'' and he mumbled in half German, half English about doing his job and then he quickly stamped the passport and gave it back to me with a hardly disguised annoyed look on his face......
Presenter - what a delightful job title!fysicus wrote:That is indeed the case; the jobtitle of this lady is presenter and she is not a UKBA employee. My wife recently had a collision with one of them in Manchester, which triggered a complaint from me to both the airport and UKBA (as I think UKBA should have overall responsibility for the entire passport checking process). The response from the airport follows:EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:I wonder was the lady you mentioned insisting that a landing card was required actually working for UKBA. The reason I suggest this is that BAA often hire queue helpers who are not necessarily familiar with the rules.Manchester Airport wrote:I am sorry to hear about your experience in immigration. As you are aware, the presenters are employed to present passengers to immigration on the airline's behalf and the company that does this in Manchester is OCS. I have passed your feedback on to OCS and they have replied informing me that general guidance from immigration is to ensure that passengers join the correct queue which means EU passport holders join the EU queue and non-EU passengers fill out landing cards. Unfortunately, where passengers have been granted a special dispensation from the Home Office the presenters have not been trained to verify the authenticity of such documents as this is the role of the Immigration Officer.
I apologise for the inconvenience when you were processing through immigration and OCS have assured me that they will use your feedback to liase with Immigration to try and resolve the issue in future and ensure that passengers travel through the airport as smoothly as possible.
I suspect it would be treated as a fresh application, but I'm really not sure.flames wrote:
You pointed that to me last time but not having carried documentary evidence to that effect( in case of an arguement), i just let it slide. There was also the language barrier issue and the fact that i carry 2 passports and the IO did not look at the old passport with the reidence card.
I made a fresh application today for them to put the residence card in my new passport as i don't want the hassle of carrying 2 passports all the time. I hope it won't take the usual 3-4 months this time around.
Do you know if UKBA backdate the residence card in the new passport or they put the date they made a decision on the fresh application?. I know it doesn't matter at the end of the day but am just curious.....
A delightful job title, indeed, for an IMHO totally redundant job! At all (non-UK) European airports that I remember, there are simply just signs: EU passports - other passports, or something like that, and passengers read these signs (or ignore them) and choose the correct queue themselves. And usually there is no penalty for choosing the wrong queue!EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:Presenter - what a delightful job title!
Your complaint is important. A more meek person would perhaps just do what they are told.
