UK Immigration & Custom Delays
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at 13:08 by StephenJohnAvalyanNewton.
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MartynSinclairParticipantBollocks to that Rich (and excuse my French, not often I use such profanity!) – I would create a line for UK passport holders and then make every other national wait in single line. Ensuring we photograph and finger print each and every one. If it takes 4 hours to pass through TOUGH!
We all complain about the American system, but we still go back. People want to come into the UK, well, like a good west end club thats popular, there are lines to join!
How our borders are controlled should be down to Westminster, not the EU and not Brussels.
5 Nov 2011
at 16:21
RichHI1ParticipantMartyn I fear you misunderstand. I agree borders should be run by Westminster. I agree there should be a UK line. I thin everyone should be required to identify themselves with a passport and foreigners shoudl be asked why they are coming. In replying to a previous post I think more resource should be used on finding out why some EU citizens are coming rather than harrassing ciizens of our historic friends simply because their countries are not in the EU.
But surely you want a third line for CBP officers who live in the Dallas Fort Worth metro area?5 Nov 2011
at 16:35
MartynSinclairParticipantHi Rich, I understasnd your post perfectly, but the one above gave me the opening…………………
The fact remains “some” problems in the UK are caused by people entering illegally and it cascades down from there, to end up by perhaps increasing the amount of benefits and housing being given to the illegals, even if they have gym membership or own a cat.
The UK borders MUST be tightened. Europeans, Americans, Africans, Middle East and down from the Pacific, the world and their mother in law are trying to get into the land where money apparently grows on trees and houses and medical are given for free.
The only way to nip this in the bud is to tighten our borders, no excuses, no exceptions and deny entry to those who should not be here.
This is not harrassment, its called only allowing those into the UK who have just cause to be here.
THis is why more money needs to be spent on our border control and for FULL CONTROL to revert to Westminster.
5 Nov 2011
at 16:55
SimonS1ParticipantI came through LGW on Wednesday am and the UK Border service at the South Terminal was a joke. The queue (without exaggeration) stretched 100 yards out of the immigration hall and down two corridors. A complete mix of people, domestic, international, biometric and non-bio passports etc. and a couple of token lackeys from the airport trying to stop queue jumping and point irate passengers in the right direction.
There were more desks dealing with non-EU people, presumably as we are scared of infringing someone’s rights.
Perhaps the decision to omit some checks was to try and avoid staffing the border controls properly and also avoid the chaos and queues that happen on a daily basis. The whole situation is a total embarrassment to the UK.
I saw Brodie Clark was offered the chance to ‘retire’ before being suspended, the usual way of mollycoddling incompetent civil servants, if the allegations are correct he should be fired in disgrace.
5 Nov 2011
at 17:11
DisgustedofSwieqiParticipantAnyone who thinks that Schengen threatens the UK should read this extracts from the Independent, this morning.
“The new scandal emerged on the day that UKBA was revealed to have lost contact with more than 124,000 asylum and migration applicants in Britain and follows a turbulent five years since it was famously declared “not fit for purpose” by John Reid when he was home secretary.”
In reality, I am so pleased that the Schengen border protects us from the incompetent UK, who has allowed all kinds of people from all over into the country and then lost track of them.
Not for nothing, is the capital known as ‘Londonistan’ in some quarters.
5 Nov 2011
at 17:30
Binman62ParticipantWhatever the politics of immigration the simple fact is that there is no need either for the queues nor for the often rude, unhelpful and frankly aggressive approach taken by many of those working in the front line.
I visit the USA and whilst there are occasional hideous queues they have generally adopted Disney style queuing systems rather than individuals queues for each agent. I have never in 25 years of visiting the states had a rude agent, never. Yet as British citizen I have frequently felt that I am unwelcome in my own country and find the staff ungracious to say the least.
There is a desperate need for better queue management, higher standards of personal appearance and uniform standards as well a more customer service orientated approach. We would not tolerate this from an airline and should not from unaccountable bureaucrats.
BA often do not people travel unless they have complied with tickets rules and a myriad of other issues ranging from visa to overbookings. Yet they say no and deny access without resorting to rudeness orI was once deported from a country following a visa infringement whilst working for a large corporation. They could,not have been nicer about it despite the fact that I and my employer had tried to circumvent their rules. I have been back several times since and never once without difficulty.
We have seen from various fly on the wall documentaries just how difficult the job of immigration can be, but we have also seen pretty awful behaviour from immigration officers which in part led to the parody recently seen in the programme “come fly with me”
We can protect our borders better but we can also do so without resorting to some banana republic approach.
5 Nov 2011
at 17:33
RichHI1ParticipantSad but true,
The UKBA has been the lowest priority for British Governments of all political persuasions and the pigeons are coming home to roost.
Shout loudly about dirty foreigners taking our jobs at party conference and elections and then do as little as possible.5 Nov 2011
at 17:49
MartynSinclairParticipantSadly Binman, a polite, well dressed border control officer along with shorter q’s will not stop the illegals entering the UK.
It needs an entire overhaul including bringing an American style robustness of taking everyones picture, finger prints and a more serious career approach and training.
As for the length of time it takes to get through the process, I agree there needs to be an efficient flow, but if q’s happen, they happen!
5 Nov 2011
at 18:00
AlanReynolds1ParticipantYes, Capetonian. Most of my travel these days is between the 25 countries signed up to Schengen. It works well – just as free travel between England, Wales and Scotland. All countries attract unwelcome visitors if their social and economic situations look better than where they are living. Look at the USA and failed attempts to stop Mexicans crossing borders. Our systems dont work. Lets admit it and make life easier for US UK citizens
5 Nov 2011
at 18:53
CapetonianParticipantThe flaw in that argument is that by making life easier for you and me, decent law abiding folk (at least I assume you are!), we are also making it easier for the criminals and therein lies the problem.
5 Nov 2011
at 19:08
MartynSinclairParticipantRich, the US / Mexico issue does not compare to UK border control problems. The major difference is that the UK are letting illegals in whom they have had an opportunity to speak to one on one!
In the US, at least illegals are sent straight back and I believe the airline in question is fined.
Here, if someone presents a sound enough story, they hop onto a gravy train of benefits and medical care!
5 Nov 2011
at 19:43
RichHI1ParticipantYes Martyn, all you say is true. I was simply observing to the previous poster that the issue the US faces is a very long land barrier which is hard to administer securely due to its length and remote location. The UK onyl has one land barrier with ROI and there is no issue there as no passport is required to cross it. The frontier with all other countries is the sea and as such if properly pursued in a professional manner should be much easier to enforce.
In the US they match the political rhetoric with investment in the enforcement agencies. They fine airlines bringing in people without entry clearance. They also have amnesties however every few years enabling those in the country illegally to legalize their status though this was popular in the good years as it allowed a ready source of cheap labour. More recently they have employed technology to force employers to validate employee’s legal residence and fine them for breach. Ariz has also made it legal to check immigration status when stopped for any reason. Whereas the UK courts just awarded a stowaway damages…
If proof were needed of the dubious nature of Schengen, the camps in Northern France of illgeals trying to sneak into the UK.5 Nov 2011
at 20:04 -
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