Stopped at Airport

prana72009 · Post by **prana72009** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 7:25 am

Hi,

I am not sure which part of the forum where can I post this question. Please move/delete if this is not the right place to post.

In the past my visa application was refused (before 2017); in 2017(T2G) I was granted the visa. Now each time I am coming to the UK I have stopped every time by immigration officers taking too long to done some checks not sure what they are checking. Sometimes I have to wait in the area for more than hrs which is frustrating and feeling some time done something wrong. Maybe footprint from my refused application. After checking my immigration file they allow me to enter into the UK.

I am not sure when they will be stopping me or anything I can do so in the future they don't stop me at the airport.

Anyone have any similar experience.

Thanks

Post by **CULLINAN** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 10:57 am

I am stopped twice too. I was on Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa. One time they made me wait for 1 hour. No doubt it is frustrating but not much you can do. I did not have any issues since I had ILR. So hopefully once you have ILR, you will be relieved too.

You may try coming through different airports. Some airports like Heathrow are more strict.

Post by **CULLINAN** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 11:03 am

Maybe you can request your SAR and that might help find the cause?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... mmigration

Post by **vinny** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 11:49 am

It happens. Ask them to explain, if repeated.

Post by **CULLINAN** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 1:00 pm

Not all but some immigration officers are bully too.

I was stopped when I was initially on my Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa back in 2014. The lady officer asked me multiple questions about my business etc. She said why I do not have 2 employees?

I said I am only 6 months through my visa and as per the immigration rules, I must have 2 employees for at least 12 months to be eligible for extension plus I was in early stages to setup my business.

She insisted that I am wrong and I should have two employees from day 1 as per the immigration rules.

I told her I know the immigration rules but she persisted that she knows better. Anyways, she made me wait in that area for 1 hour and then came back and gave me my passport and let me go. Sometimes they are bully too.

When I left, I told her she made me wait unnecessarily and I missed my dinner time because of her!!

They did not stop me after that again.

Post by **secret.simon** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:15 pm

Border officials are, in a sense, one layer of security for the country that they work for. It is their job to look at the documentation presented to them critically. And it is possible that a past interaction with them with you may be on record with them suggesting that they need to carry out a more detailed or more critical examination of your circumstances and documentation. Perhaps something in your travel history got flagged up, which is why the Immigration Officer may have pulled you aside.

It may be worth applying for a SAR with the UKVI/Home Office to see what they have on record for you.

I have had my fair share of being "randomly" selected for baggage checks, but that is life and from my point of view, I am thankful that the world is open enough that not only can I migrate, but I can also travel the world. This October, I was pulled aside from the queue at a German airport and had to wait while my UK passport was checked more thoroughly (other British citizens in the queue were not so treated). But that is the way of the world. In that context, sitting in the airport for some time while my documents are being checked is small inconvenience. I have been more hassled at Istanbul airport (which I transit often) than I have been at UK airports. But at the end of the day, I am thankful that I can travel to all these places.

One can't go through life taking offence at every misstep of somebody else. Life is too short, and the only person who will end up upset and miserable is that person themselves. Let go and move on.

As an aside, it is not just British border officials who can be pernickety and precise about checking documentation. And I have heard stories of US immigration officers being quite brusque not only with foreigners, but also with US citizens.

EDIT: Much of my post is aimed at some users of these forums who are too quick to take offence and who may be tempted to post in this thread more in a whinging tone than a helpful one.

prana72009 · Post by **prana72009** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:59 pm

Thanks all for your experience on this.

I am glad I am not alone in the boat.

Post by **vinny** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 6:21 am

secret.simon wrote: ↑
Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:15 pm
One can't go through life taking offence at every misstep of somebody else. Life is too short, and the only person who will end up upset and miserable is that person themselves. Let go and move on.

Excellent advice!

Every time you think about a “bad” incident, you repeat your misery. Change the “bad” adjective into something more positive?

I remember an “bad amusing” incident at a US airport. Officials also pulled me aside from the queue. They asked me to go into a small windowless empty room. They asked me to stand facing a wall, with both hands up against it. They then padded me down for something. As far as I remember, they never spoke anything else. Then they let me rejoin the queue. I was neither angry nor upset, just startled. It was all really kind of exciting, like from a scene from an action film. It amuses me every time I think about it.

Post by **vinny** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:50 am

A Buddhist monk recalls one of his airport experiences.

No worries

Letting go of ‘the controller’, staying more with this moment and being open to the uncertainty of our future, releases us from the prison of fear. It allows us to respond to life’s challenges with our own original wisdom, and gets us out safely from many a sticky situation.

I was standing in one of the six queues at the immigration barrier at Perth airport, returning from a wonderful trip to Sri Lanka via Singapore. The queues were moving slowly; they were obviously doing a thorough check. A customs officer emerged from a side door in the lobby, leading a small sniffer- dog trained to detect drugs. The incoming travellers smiled nervously as the customs officer led the sniffer dog up and down each line. Even though they were not carrying any drugs, you could detect a release of tension after the dog sniffed them and moved away to someone else.

When the cute little dog reached me and sniffed, it stopped. It buried its little muzzle in my robe at the waist and wagged its tail in rapid, wide arcs. The customs officer had to yank at the leash to pull the dog away. The passenger in line ahead of me, who had been quite friendly before, had now moved a step further away from me. And I was sure that the couple behind had moved a step backwards.

After five minutes, I was much closer to the counter, when they brought the sniffer dog around again. Up and down the lines the dog went, giving each traveller a little sniff and then moving on. When it came to me it stopped again. Its head went in my robe and its tail went crazy. Again, the customs officer had to forcefully pull the dog away. I felt all eyes on me now. Even though many people might become a little worried at this point, I was completely relaxed. If I went to jail, well, I had many friends there and they feed you much better than they do in a monastery!

When I reached the customs check, they gave me a thorough search. I had no drugs: monks don’t even take alcohol. They didn’t strip-search me; I think this was because I showed no fear. All they did was ask me why I thought the sniffer-dog had stopped only at me. I said that monks have great compassion for animals, and maybe that was what the dog sniffed; or maybe the dog was a monk in one of its past lives. They let me go through after that.

Post by **alterhase58** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:25 pm

In mid 2003 I went to the US on a business trip for some systems work at my employers' facility based in a small town near the Canadian border. On the way back first thing in the morning I was the first person in the queue with a foreign passport and was pulled out by a heavily armed police guy (it was post 9/11). Did the usual exercise with belt, shoes and pockets, patting down. Guy then started a sort of conversation, i.e. "there's anti-US sentiment and demonstrations" in my home country (staunch US ally!) - replied "I live in the UK so not familiar", that confused him and then it was last boarding call and he let me go. I would have been annoyed if I missed the flight and onward connection because of that. That's travellers' life!

Post by **vinny** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:06 am

Another experience.

Post by **vinny** » Mon Aug 01, 2022 3:11 am

British citizen stopped.

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