IRIS to be closed Sept 2011

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Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 46 total)

  • DisgustedofSwieqi
    Participant

    Hi Rich

    Neither of my passports are chipped, both have 4 years to run and are 48 pages long.

    They cost about 200€ to renew, in Paris of all places.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    Well at least you get a good meal and in a Shengen country 😉 I envy you getting yor passports to last so long, probably as they don’t get used ot much in Schengen area. I only seem to get 4-5 years out of mine before I run out of pages.


    DisgustedofSwieqi
    Participant

    I am mainly a European traveller, as you say.

    No EU country should stamp your passport, if you are from another EU country (and I believe Switzerland, too.)

    Also, I try to get long term visas, as I visit the same countries several times each year, so a 180 day or longer visa is helpful, as I might get 5-6 trips out of it, using only 2/3 pages.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    That’s what it will be. I do very little travel to Europe, mainly North and Latin America, Africa and Asia (Japan and China) and they are all stamp crazy. At least US only check you in adn not out as well, I really hate queueing up to leave as well as to get in… Why do Schengen countries do that? Are they counting me out?


    jprice5
    Participant

    The best solution would of course be to have no borders with the EU, ie to do what we should have done from the beginning and join Schengen. The whole concept of a border is pretty meaningless in the 21st century and we should wake up to the fact that all necessary controls should be internal, at least for EU citizens.


    MarcusUK
    Participant

    Take your issues up with The Duty Senior Immigration Officer who told many people at the time that IRIS was being phased out.
    I have only relayed what has been said by him at the time.
    I am sure BT could use its contacts and ask for a statement on the issue to help us all.

    I sincerely hope they have not or do not close it, but it was turned off when over 500 people were waiting to go through Immigration for EU holders only.

    Having had a new readable passport issued on the Premium Service at the London passport office, a Manager there also confirmed to be that the IRIS was due to be phased out, and was in a written policy to them.

    The facts are as i have stated, so maybe BT can establish what is happening?


    RichHI1
    Participant

    I think that there has been a bit of a backlash. I look forward to the new version with international links to NL, USA and Canada which is finally being trialled.
    The one good thing about the Epass gates is they do not accommodate EEA citizens travelling to the UK without a proper secure passport.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    UPDATE – just got reply from UKBA why IRIS was down. No mention of IRIS closing. Usual PR for Epass gates, they did not take kindly I think to my reference to European Things (I was unimpressed as they were switched off in LIsbon and broken in London). So the fact that no mention was made of IRIS closing must be good news.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    Came in trhough T3 last night. IRIS working fine, Epass closed, very short delays for pax using lines. Nice job UKBA wish it was always like this. (Only negative wa guy in front trying to use IRIS with glasses on, took him 3 attempts before he took them off….)


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    seen many people use IRIS with glasses on and it worked, eventually.


    ChrisBuda82
    Participant

    IRIS is ment to work with glasses just make sure they are clean! I dont get why they are removing seems a waste of Tax payers money. The Photo ones are always down at T5.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    I believe it was originally part of the administration’s back door europeanization policy. Following the complaints from travelers about it going and the subsequent ball drop by Theresa May, there is some back pedaling. I have not doubt the Government will use the UKBA strike next week as another excuse to give powers to Brussels through the back door. Also do not forget we have no long term transportation strategy plan in the UK and air transport is not understood to be a vote winner.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    Just seen on BBC news site that UKBA have started the drip feed to kill IRIS again. It says BHX and MAN are closed and says they will stay open until after Olympics at LHR and LGW. Doesn’t say they will close ofr ever though. They do mention they are looking at replacement and then there is the usual commerical for the e-pass stuff. Unclear from article whether we will get a new better version linked to other countries as the UK Government signed up or whether it will be scrapped and just left with the second rate (based on personal operatioal experience) Fortress Europe E-Pass system.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17058448


    DisgustedofSwieqi
    Participant

    I used Iris last week, arriving at T3 from Dubai.

    As usual, I got through in seconds, what a shame this excellent UK technology is in danger of being replaced.

    It works so well, most of the time.

    Has anyone heard anymore about the replacement that Rich mentions?


    RichHI1
    Participant

    I rewrote to my MP two weeks ago to get an update. I am afraid that the spin trying to smear IRIS coudl succeed if not enough people complain. Whether the references to a global system are a sop to divert those who do not have an exclusively EU agenda but I still hope that the UK will honour its obligations. Certainly these epass gates are a disaster. They are so slow with long lines and more prone to be out of order than IRIS.

Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 46 total)
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