Trouble-free entry for immigrants and terrorists?

NFH

Biggles wrote: »

It was the cabin crew that passed though and anyone not resident in the EU was told to ask for landing cards to fill out.

No, it's not based on residency, but on nationality. For example, an Afghan citizen resident in the UK would have to fill out a landing card, but a British citizen resident in Afghanistan would not have to.

Biggles

NFH wrote: »

No, it's not based on residency, but on nationality. For example, an Afghan citizen resident in the UK would have to fill out a landing card, but a British citizen resident in Afghanistan would not have to.

The crew member used the word 'resident' but I am aware that, when you do get to Passport Control, it's the nationality/passport that matters, not where you live, hence my anecdote above.

NFH

Gloomendoom wrote: »

There is no point in immigration control at airports because anyone from Eire can wander across the border and catch a domestic flight or a boat from Northern Ireland.

This is a very good point. It is well known that Ireland is a route into the UK by illegal immigrants who require a visa for the UK but not for Ireland. This happens because the two countries do not have a common visa policy. Compare the visa policies of the two countries:

• UK: policy / map
• Ireland: policy / map

Citizens of Bolivia, Guyana, South Africa and Malawi require a visa to enter the UK, but not to enter Ireland. Therefore they can fly to Ireland without a visa and then cross the border to the UK, whereby they become an undetected illegal immigrant. Then they can easily travel on to other parts of the UK.

Look at Google Street View at the border between the UK and Ireland, and you'll see that there's nothing marking the border except for a change of speed limits (most notably mph vs km/h), road markings and road surface. Sometimes there is a sign showing the county being entered, but never the country being entered. There are definitely none of the usual blue EU signs saying "United Kingdom" or "Ireland", which are lacking for political reasons.

Blue264

Biggles wrote: »

Is this a common experience at Stansted?

The same happened to me last November when we got back from Lanzarote, and I've had the same experience flying into Barcelona from Naples in March.

callum9999

Blue264 wrote: »

The same happened to me last November when we got back from Lanzarote, and I've had the same experience flying into Barcelona from Naples in March.

Assuming you mean flying from Lanzarote to the UK, I assume that was just an error by the airport.

It's perfectly normal to not go through immigration when flying between Spain and Italy as they are both in the Schengen area - there is no passport control within that area (which is most of the EU).

phatbear

Voyager2002 wrote: »

True, but since the flight was within the Common Travel Area it had the same status as a domestic flight.

not strictly true as despite a cta flight not being subject to immigration control its certainly subject to customs control.

however a domestic flight is not subject to immigration or customs control, any offences would be dealt with by the police

NFH

phatbear wrote: »

not strictly true as despite a cta flight not being subject to immigration control its certainly subject to customs control.

Flights within the EU VAT area and EU customs area are not subject to customs control. Both the UK and Ireland are within both areas. The only intra-CTA flights subject to customs control are those between the Channel Islands and the rest of the CTA, because the Channel Islands are outside the EU VAT area. The Isle of Man is within the EU VAT area. The whole CTA is within the EU customs area.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_member_state_territories_and_the_European_Union for further details.

phatbear

NFH wrote: »

Flights within the EU VAT area and EU customs area are not subject to customs control. Both the UK and Ireland are within both areas. The only intra-CTA flights subject to customs control are those between the Channel Islands and the rest of the CTA, because the Channel Islands are outside the EU VAT area. The Isle of Man is within the EU VAT area. The whole CTA is within the EU customs area.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_member_state_territories_and_the_European_Union for further details.

ermmm nope.

if dublin flights were'nt subject to customs controls they would arrive as a domestic flight, which in the case of STN, would mean pax would collect their baggage from belt 5, which is the only baggage belt located in the domestic area, international being 1,2,3,4,6 & 9 but they don't because they have to walk through customs prior to departure from the airport.

all flights from a international destination are subject to customs control, sect 78 of cema 79 for prohibitions and restrictions and 163a of cema 79 for dutyable goods

for more info please see:

https://www.gov.uk/duty-free-goods/arrivals-from-eu-countries

https://www.gov.uk/eu-eea

NFH

phatbear wrote: »

if dublin flights were'nt subject to customs controls they would arrive as a domestic flight, which in the case of STN, would mean pax would collect their baggage from belt 5, which is the only baggage belt located in the domestic area, international being 1,2,3,4,6 & 9 but they don't because they have to walk through customs prior to departure from the airport.

They don't have to walk through customs; they walk through the blue channel, which has no customs controls. The only checks carried out on those passing through the blue channel are to verify eligibility to use the blue channel.

The European Union is a customs union. There are no routine customs controls between EU member states (except for parts of the EU that are outside the EU VAT area).

eDicky

NFH wrote: »

They don't have to walk through customs; they walk through the blue channel, which has no customs controls. The only checks carried out on those passing through the blue channel are to verify eligibility to use the blue channel.

The European Union is a customs union. There are no routine customs controls between EU member states (except for parts of the EU that are outside the EU VAT area).

This afternoon I walked through the blue channel at Stansted, having been directed there by an officer outside the entrances to the blue and green channels who asked me where I was arriving from (Germany). So the several officers who were stationed inside the blue channel were not there just to check eligibility to use the blue channel, they were ready to stop and perform a customs check on any suitable candidate. They are not always there, but this is customs control, is it not?