Border Control

DullGreyGuy

tightauldgit said:

DullGreyGuy said:

daveyjp said:

Join the queue you are asked to.

Having just been through an EU border which queue goes quickest is down to how many passengers in each queue and number of staff, not the passport you have.

Its certainly not solely the passport you have but the reality is queuing with many others that need visas and document checks etc is likely to be longer than the EU queue unless they have a really unbalanced number of staff on each queue. Normally its considered acceptable that those from RoW have a longer queue than nationals.

Really depends on the flight though - a flight to the UK from say Spain is going to have hundreds of UK/EU passport holders and probably 2 or 3 ROW. Thats when I would just chance the non-EU line and never had an issue

Ultimately to assess the queue as you see it and take a punt... you may plan to use the non-EU queue because being on a small UK to Spain flight but then get to the hall and see a large flight from South America or Africa arrived before you then you are more likely to switch to the EU queue (if you can).

You can always be out of luck though, went on the Eurotunnel before the Mrs passport change. Long queues for the EU line but we had to drive into the one non-EU point which had no queue at all. Immediately after a few other cars dropped out of their lines and came behind us clearly thinking we were doing something clever but they then regretted it after the French immigration officer had to leave her cabin and go off to ask for advice given my wife's passport at that point was still hand written  and had a hand written extension in it. A few regretted their decision but couldnt get back out the line. 

tightauldgit

DullGreyGuy said:

tightauldgit said:

DullGreyGuy said:

daveyjp said:

Join the queue you are asked to.

Having just been through an EU border which queue goes quickest is down to how many passengers in each queue and number of staff, not the passport you have.

Its certainly not solely the passport you have but the reality is queuing with many others that need visas and document checks etc is likely to be longer than the EU queue unless they have a really unbalanced number of staff on each queue. Normally its considered acceptable that those from RoW have a longer queue than nationals.

Really depends on the flight though - a flight to the UK from say Spain is going to have hundreds of UK/EU passport holders and probably 2 or 3 ROW. Thats when I would just chance the non-EU line and never had an issue

Ultimately to assess the queue as you see it and take a punt... you may plan to use the non-EU queue because being on a small UK to Spain flight but then get to the hall and see a large flight from South America or Africa arrived before you then you are more likely to switch to the EU queue (if you can).

You can always be out of luck though, went on the Eurotunnel before the Mrs passport change. Long queues for the EU line but we had to drive into the one non-EU point which had no queue at all. Immediately after a few other cars dropped out of their lines and came behind us clearly thinking we were doing something clever but they then regretted it after the French immigration officer had to leave her cabin and go off to ask for advice given my wife's passport at that point was still hand written  and had a hand written extension in it. A few regretted their decision but couldnt get back out the line. 

Oh yes, you've always got to factor in that you might be stuck behind someone who ends up getting the might of the Home Office thrown at them - I was just pointing out that there's nothing magically about the signs in immigration and if you turn up at the 'wrong' one then generally the officer will just process you. I think once or twice they've said to me that I should use the other line but they've never actually refused to process me. 

The only issue I ever had was with my daughter who had both UK and non-EU passports and we used her foreign one because her UK passport had expired. Got dragged over the coals for that one, but they still let us in. 

DullGreyGuy

I've done the wrong queue intentionally but that was not taking the priority queue and going into the slower one and so not surprised that they didnt have an issue with the processing. 

Havent ever tried going into the accelerated queue (like the old UK/EU channel) when not being entitled to. Have seen plenty of others being sent to the back of the non-EEA queue though. Clearly cant say how many infront didnt have an appropriate passport for the queue but were processed anyway.

In theory there could be differences in kiosks with some countries capturing photos and finger prints for non-residents but not for its citizens though for operational efficiency and ability to change kiosks you'd imagine most will have the kit even if normally designated own citizens. 

TELLIT01

I was reading earlier today that some EU countries are allowing UK passport holders to use the electronic passport gates.  I can't remember which countries and can't find the article either.  The same article also stated that the Government are in discussion with EU to formalise the process throughout the EU.

DullGreyGuy

TELLIT01 said:

I was reading earlier today that some EU countries are allowing UK passport holders to use the electronic passport gates.  I can't remember which countries and can't find the article either.  The same article also stated that the Government are in discussion with EU to formalise the process throughout the EU.

There was an individual (unconfirmed) story posted the other day of some going through Athens, ignored the signs, went through the egates which let them through but they were then caught by an officer and instructed to go to the back of the queue for the rest of the world line

sheramber

As UK os not in Schengen area the passport needs to be stamped and arriving  and on leaving to avoid complications with needing a visa if spending more that 90 days in a rolling 180 days in a Schengen area.

powerful_Rogue

sheramber said:

As UK os not in Schengen area the passport needs to be stamped and arriving  and on leaving to avoid complications with needing a visa if spending more that 90 days in a rolling 180 days in a Schengen area.

The UK has never been part of the Schengen area.

DullGreyGuy

powerful_Rogue said:

sheramber said:

As UK os not in Schengen area the passport needs to be stamped and arriving  and on leaving to avoid complications with needing a visa if spending more that 90 days in a rolling 180 days in a Schengen area.

The UK has never been part of the Schengen area.

But we were part of the EEA which has exemption from the Schengen requirements due to free movement rules

powerful_Rogue

DullGreyGuy said:

powerful_Rogue said:

sheramber said:

As UK os not in Schengen area the passport needs to be stamped and arriving  and on leaving to avoid complications with needing a visa if spending more that 90 days in a rolling 180 days in a Schengen area.

The UK has never been part of the Schengen area.

But we were part of the EEA which has exemption from the Schengen requirements due to free movement rules

Exactly, we had the freedom of movement, but were not part of Schengen.

tightauldgit

powerful_Rogue said:

sheramber said:

As UK os not in Schengen area the passport needs to be stamped and arriving  and on leaving to avoid complications with needing a visa if spending more that 90 days in a rolling 180 days in a Schengen area.

The UK has never been part of the Schengen area.

True, but now the rules are as stated and not getting your passport stamped on entry and exit could lead to issues.