Landing Cards & Arrival Stamps-EEA Resident Card Holders

AKDK wrote:how did you get this

Ben wrote:

AKDK wrote:how did you get this

yeah...i just said because im married to polish national who is exercising treaty rights here

my friend who had her british passport for like...5-6 years was asked once - how did you get this?

AKDK wrote:

Ben wrote:

AKDK wrote:how did you get this

yeah...i just said because im married to polish national who is exercising treaty rights here

my friend who had her british passport for like...5-6 years was asked once - how did you get this?

Should have said you bought in on eBay. I mean really, what a stupid question.

Ben wrote:

AKDK wrote:

Ben wrote:

AKDK wrote:how did you get this

yeah...i just said because im married to polish national who is exercising treaty rights here

my friend who had her british passport for like...5-6 years was asked once - how did you get this?

Should have said you bought in on eBay. I mean really, what a stupid question.

Ha ha ha LOL. Will do next time

I would like to recommend everyone with an UK Residence Card, to enrol in IRIS. I did so, and since then (over 2 years), I haven't seen an IO face to face, or had my passport stamped, or had to queue, and I travelled quite a lot. Sole exception was arriving at London City, where there are no Iris machines (and they did stamp my passport and I've filled a landing card).
Another exception would be of course Eurostar.

Just a quick q, was departing from Brux on Eurostar yesterday, ALONE. IO asked qs:
1) alone?
Yes
2) why?
Irrelevant
3) how long in Brux?
I'm coming from Moscow
4) is ur eea working?
Yes
5) job title?
In government
6) r YOU working
Irrelevant refuse to answer
7) eea dob?
03/05/79
ur address
London etc, any more questions?
9) u can go now
I was shocked, she never smiled once and kept SCANNING MY passport BACK PAGE and wrote down all my answers!i didnt ask her at the time but what info EXACTLY has she got access to? I'd asked before in Heathrow amd the guy said they cant check my eea's nationality. I could've sold her porkies there all day, did she write it all down to check later? Just pissed off big time. Why she kept scanning my back page, what does this tell, if it's fake? Any ideas thx

86ti wrote:We submitted a complaint to them about two weeks ago because of a stamp in my wife's passport. She got a telephone call from the head of the Border Forces at Manchester airport today apologizing for the incident. He asked for any further information regarding the IO because the stamp doesn't have any number that would identify that person (the stamp on the EEA FP for instance, also from Manchester airport, does have one). My wife should have asked for the name and the identifying number of that IO on that day but she didn't. We will get a letter from them which we can show to IOs in the future.

I do not know if they will put much effort in rectifying this issue but at least the complaint was dealt with and did cause a reaction.

hi 86ti, you replied me in another topic, what shall i write in the email to complain? the problem was i didnt know when i arrived at the airport i can go though the ea gate and passport not stamped. so i went to the non ea gate got landing card and been checked and passport stamped. i dont think i can really complain about this , no? also can i get a letter to show in the future that we shouldnt get passport stamped as not all the IO knows. thanks

Of course, you can complain! The EEA regulations are clear in Section 11(3) that no stamp may be placed in a passport with a residence card meaning the IO has simply broken the law on that day. Not having to fill out a landing card is because non-EEA family members must be treated the same as EEA nationals (Article 24 of Directive 2004/38/EC). Not being in the EEA queue does not excuse IOs to be ignorant of the law and thus the choice of queue irrelevant.

Summarise this in the complaint and include a copy/scan of the passport with the RC, the stamp and the bio page. I do not know if you will get a letter. We didn't but somebody else did (read above).

Hi! I'm travelling for the first time since getting my EEA Residence permit. I will be flying alone to Amsterdam and then will be returning my Eurostar alone. I will be meeting my partner there, but she has business after the holiday, so it'll just be me.


Questions:
When I arrive at Amsterdam-Schipol airport alone, do I use the EEA or non-EEA queue?
When leaving Brussels Eurostar terminal I will go through immigration, they should not stamp my passport for re-ntry to the UK, right? Even when travelling alone?

I'm just looking to clarify this because I had issues in Ireland when I had an EU4FAM permit there, and I really don't want any hassle whilst travelling.

Thanks!

kabuki wrote:Questions:
When I arrive at Amsterdam-Schipol airport alone, do I use the EEA or non-EEA queue?
When leaving Brussels Eurostar terminal I will go through immigration, they should not stamp my passport for re-ntry to the UK, right? Even when travelling alone?

If you have a Residence Card, they should not stamp the passport. Does not matter who you are traveling with (or not), or which queue you use.

Line up at the EEA queue. If they have a problem with that they can always ask you to move to the other queue...

kabuki wrote:Hi! I'm travelling for the first time since getting my EEA Residence permit. I will be flying alone to Amsterdam and then will be returning my Eurostar alone. I will be meeting my partner there, but she has business after the holiday, so it'll just be me.


Questions:
When I arrive at Amsterdam-Schipol airport alone, do I use the EEA or non-EEA queue?
When leaving Brussels Eurostar terminal I will go through immigration, they should not stamp my passport for re-ntry to the UK, right? Even when travelling alone?

I'm just looking to clarify this because I had issues in Ireland when I had an EU4FAM permit there, and I really don't want any hassle whilst travelling.

Thanks!

Arriving alone in Amsterdam with a UK-issued Residence Card instead of a visa can be tricky. Make sure that your partner is waiting for you at the airport and can be contacted by the Dutch Immigration Service if necessary (to verify that you are indeed joining your partner as it is called in EU law).

Returning to the UK alone, by whatever means of transport, should be without hassle. Your partner must be exercising treaty rights in the UK, but that can include temporary absence from the UK (for up to six months in a year!). You do not need to fill in a landing card (the word Landing Card does not even occur anywhere in the EEA Immigration Regulations) and the UK IO should not stamp your passport. Your passport may (and probably will) be stamped by the Schengen border guards both on entering and leaving the Schengen zone.

On all occasions you are entitled to use the line for EU/EEA passports.

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote: If you have a Residence Card, they should not stamp the passport. Does not matter who you are traveling with (or not), or which queue you use.

Line up at the EEA queue. If they have a problem with that they can always ask you to move to the other queue...

fysicus wrote:Arriving alone in Amsterdam with a UK-issued Residence Card instead of a visa can be tricky. Make sure that your partner is waiting for you at the airport and can be contacted by the Dutch Immigration Service if necessary (to verify that you are indeed joining your partner as it is called in EU law).

Returning to the UK alone, by whatever means of transport, should be without hassle. Your partner must be exercising treaty rights in the UK, but that can include temporary absence from the UK (for up to six months in a year!). You do not need to fill in a landing card (the word Landing Card does not even occur anywhere in the EEA Immigration Regulations) and the UK IO should not stamp your passport. Your passport may (and probably will) be stamped by the Schengen border guards both on entering and leaving the Schengen zone.

On all occasions you are entitled to use the line for EU/EEA passports.

Thank you both. It's a bit nerve racking the first time you travel with the RC. You'd think that by now it would all be squared away.

My partner will probably be on the train there when I arrive, so she won't be at the airport. She's coming from Belgium as she's been contracted to a company there for 3 months. However, I've travelled a lot to the Netherlands, and my passport shows I've always left on time. Plus, I have a US passport, so I can still travel visa free.

Thanks again. Here's hoping it all goes smoothly!

Well, if you have a US passport the whereabouts of your wife don't matter at all (for the border guards at least) and your travel should be hassle-free.
Your RC does give you the advantage that you can simply choose the queue with the shortest waiting time at passport control.

I wonder how 'popular' this UK RC has become on mainland Europe? That is, is there increased confidence amongst RC holders to regularly travel visa free within the EU? And has front line border knowledge improved in reality as a result of this (as well as complaints/petitions to the EC)?

As I have a Schengen visa I can't really test this whenever I travel.

Perhaps RC holders who frequently travel within the EU visa-free can comment?

Plum70 wrote:As I have a Schengen visa I can't really test this whenever I travel.

Well, you could explain on a particular occasion that you are travelling within the framework of the EEA regulations and not the Schengen regime and thus test the reaction.

The official guidance on the website of the Dutch Embassy explains it all: http://www.dutchembassyuk.org/consular/index.php?i=261
Only when you travel together (or join your partner in the Netherlands) they accept RC instead of visa. Far more restrictive than directive 2004/38 allows, in my opinion. And I think many Schengen countries share this policy. Furthermore they do not seem to accept a Residence Card issued on a A4 Immigration Status Document, for which I also see no justification in European law.

86ti wrote:Well, you could explain on a particular occasion that you are travelling within the framework of the EEA regulations and not the Schengen regime and thus test the reaction.

Unfortunately my schengen visa is a few pages before my RC and is usually the first to be inspected, so doesn't really set the scene for this.

fysicus wrote:The official guidance on the website of the Dutch Embassy explains it all: http://www.dutchembassyuk.org/consular/index.php?i=261
Only when you travel together (or join your partner in the Netherlands) they accept RC instead of visa. Far more restrictive than directive 2004/38 allows, in my opinion. And I think many Schengen countries share this policy.

In regards to the link above, it states that "When travelling to the Netherlands without the EU/EEA family member, regular Schengen visa procedures apply."

This is what I thought the procedures were. I've always been told that when travelling outside of the member state in which you reside that the non-EEA partner/spouse needs to be travelling with his/her EEA partner/spouse in order to be exercising treaty rights. But apparently for some, they have been able to travel using the EEA queues even when they weren't travelling with their EEA partner.

Anyway, thanks for the link. I swear I looked, but I must have been in a rush and overlooked it. Unfortunately, it doesn't state anything about meeting your EEA national partner there for travelling purposes, only when you're planning to reside there.

Furthermore they do not seem to accept a Residence Card issued on a A4 Immigration Status Document, for which I also see no justification in European law.

Honestly, I don't believe that the document should be issued on an A4 sheet of paper. I do believe that there needs to be another provision made to ensure that once the RC is granted, that the person should either be able to return their passport for endorsement or come in person with the letter to have the endorsement placed in their passport, unless the UK can bring begin issuing the majority of their permit within a months time. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it seems to have been shortened to a 3 month wait, but the UK and Ireland are still two countries that seem to take the longest in issuing the RC with loads of steps in between.

hi.. IRIS a a hassle free ... there is lots of confusion wth RC n IO
wht kind of quiestion u been ask whn u enrol IRIS...
and wht kind of document they wnt 2 look...
how 2 enrol...

kool145 wrote:hi.. IRIS a a hassle free ... there is lots of confusion wth RC n IO
wht kind of quiestion u been ask whn u enrol IRIS...
and wht kind of document they wnt 2 look...
how 2 enrol...

Sorry, but what exactly are you trying to say? I suspect you are talking about the biometric system. Bear in mind that it is not available on all airports.

Enrolling into IRIS is easy, the most difficult part is to find an open IRIS office when you're departing from one of the airports that have IRIS.
But once you find one, you just show the IO your passport with the residence card on it, and then they will scan your eyes to save the image in the database. Done. And you can use IRIS when you return.
The expiration date for IRIS will be when your RC expires.

However, I heard rumour that IRIS will be phased out soon, being replaced by the e-passport machines. Which is bad for me because my passport is not biometric, and it's not going to be in the foreseeable future.

In 2006 I got my Right of Residence "stamp" not "sticker" as a family member of an EEA national (valid 5 years).

Is this the same as the "sticker"?

Since then I always had my passport stamped (Heathrow, Gatwich, Stanstead, Luton) and landing card requested. Was not aware of EU directives.

Although I did go through EU line when together with my spouse.

The "stamp" looks so cheap and dirty anyway. I WANTED A PRETTY STICKER!

andrej wrote:In 2006 I got my Right of Residence "stamp" not "sticker" as a family member of an EEA national (valid 5 years).

Is this the same as the "sticker"?

Yes.

Since then I always had my passport stamped (Heathrow, Gatwich, Stanstead, Luton) and landing card requested. Was not aware of EU directives.

No stamps or landing cards rqd as you should be treated same as an EU national, whether travelling alone or with your EU spouse.

Although I did go through EU line when together with my spouse.

Quite right, and even when travelling alone.

The "stamp" looks so cheap and dirty anyway. I WANTED A PRETTY STICKER!

You'll get a "pretty stamp" when you receive confirmation of PR soon.

Plum70 wrote:

andrej wrote:

The "stamp" looks so cheap and dirty anyway. I WANTED A PRETTY STICKER!

You'll get a "pretty stamp" when you receive confirmation of PR soon.

Thanks Plum70... you know the one I am talking about, with a pretty little picture and a shiny bit to it as well. Makes your passport heavier and seem more important...