UK Customs checks

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Yes, I've heard of it. And know how it works.

Doesn't change the fact he was banging on about being a British citizen while travelling and an Irish national.

[GT03ROB]

CarlosSainz100 said:

donkmeister said:

OP, Google your name and see if there is any mention of crims of a similar name and age on the run. It can be as simple as that.

From 2006-2019 I was stopped every time I returned from the continent. Pulled into the shed, car handles all swabbed, all compartments of the car emptied and inspected, questionned about where I'd been.

I'm not dodgy, however I had some dodgy relatives (long deceased) so I've wondered if it was something to do with that. My shoes always got swabbed at airports too, to the extent I never wore smart shoes when flying as I knew I'd have to take them off. Hasn't happened since 2019 so perhaps something changed.

I used to work for Border Force. It was almost certainly your link to dodgy relatives. If you start getting stopped all the time it will be because your name has pinged on their system.

There's lots of reasons why it might be on the system in the first place and links (perceived or otherwise) to dodgy relatives would certainly be one of them. Although it would have been the police who stuck it on the system unless your relatives did their crime at the border.

This is a problem I get in Turkey. My name pings their system everytime I enter or leave & has done for the last 20yrs. I even know their routine now....& give them my fathers name before they have a chance to ask, then things are ok!

[Wings]

I was once a heavy smoker, and often a frequent traveller to Belgium, travelling with a NI citizen, who had a very strong Irish. UK customs do profile travellers, a frequent day traveller, on a Irish passport invites UK customs attention. We were frequently stopped, questioned and search, making the point never to conceal excise goods etc.

I recall once travelling via Hovercraft to Dover, and being approached by a male traveller with an Irish accent. This person wanted to know if I was interested in buying any cigarettes, I declined his offer. He then went on to say that he expected to be pulled over by customs, but his van contained no excise goods. When we arrived at Dover, both myself and the male traveller were pulled over and our vehicles searched by customs.

Later that same day I saw the above van parked on the A20, with goods being loaded from another vehicle into his van. Whilst customs build up a profile on travellers, travellers also build up a profile on how customs work.

Under the Customs and Excise Management Act, UK customs have draconian powers that allow them to strip naked a traveller, and/or to both strip a vehicle right down, or to seize a vehicle and the travellers effects, excise goods etc.

[ArmaghMan]

Jordie Barretts sock said:

Hol said:

Jordie Barretts sock said:

If you don't want to be treated as a foreign national at UK Immigration, don't travel on a foreign passport.

You were an Irish citizen travelling alone attempting to enter the UK.

And.. that isn’t just automatically an anti Irish vibe, it’s more likely be cause the OP fit the approximate description of an alert subject that day.


There’s many a time that I have walked into the customs area of an airport to see the staff immediately look over my shoulder, because I don’t match the person(s) they are looking for.

The idiot was trying to be Mr Big Balls and was failing the attitude test. Then trying to claim he's British when using an Irish passport. In the eyes of Border Force, he's Irish. If he wants to be British, use his British passport. Don't get arsey with people doing their job.

Thanks to the GFA, and no matter what border force may think, there are people who are both British and Irish.
I have both passports and use both depending on where I'm travelling.
Borders Force/ Customs may not like it, but the British govt. are co-signarories to the agreement so it is what it is.

[Biker9090]

Forester1965 said:

ou're a British citizen. You can enter the UK by proving it, using your British passport. How could this look dodgy?

Dual citizenship isn't uncommon. A decent chunk of MPs in the House of Commons have EU passports.

I was told previously that you had to travel on just one. If that's not the case then so be it. I also didn't really see the point considering the CTA effectively negating the need to even renew my UK one when it expires

[Ken Figenus]

Are you obliged to answer any questions especially if not under caution - esp ones designed to trip you up?

Obvs best to just politely comply if you have nothing to hide as they are just doing their job based in UK law.

[CABC]

Biker9090 said:

Forester1965 said:

ou're a British citizen. You can enter the UK by proving it, using your British passport. How could this look dodgy?

Dual citizenship isn't uncommon. A decent chunk of MPs in the House of Commons have EU passports.

I was told previously that you had to travel on just one.

I thought this too. As with pre-boarding checks and the likes of ESTA, you declare the passport you'll be arriving with at check in, and this can be checked at the departure gate.

[119]

We travel to Europe every couple of years on holiday and we’ve never been stopped in the car at border control.

I feel I am missing out on all the excitement.

[bloomen]

My last stoppage was at Calais in a Alfa 75 Evoluzione.

The petrol pump before boarding was bust and spilt petrol all down my trousers. Despite changing them the fumes had me feeling a little unusual so they may have wondered what was going on.

For some reason they fixated on the car's value and wouldn't let anything proceed until it had been established. I'm glad they cared so much. I don't really know why.

I knew a geezer who was bringing back his newly acquired Lancia Thema 8.32 with hand stitched leather interior. Customs lovingly unstitched it. Including the dash.

Anyone know why they always call out your first name after looking at your passport? Or they do for me at least. I assume if I were an evil infiltrant I would be sharp enough to respond to it.

Edited by bloomen on Friday 29th March 11:20

[craigjm]

CABC said:

Biker9090 said:

Forester1965 said:

ou're a British citizen. You can enter the UK by proving it, using your British passport. How could this look dodgy?

Dual citizenship isn't uncommon. A decent chunk of MPs in the House of Commons have EU passports.

I was told previously that you had to travel on just one.

I thought this too. As with pre-boarding checks and the likes of ESTA, you declare the passport you'll be arriving with at check in, and this can be checked at the departure gate.

The UK does not have an embarkation process where you are checked out on your way out so when you return the system has no idea what passport you used to show at the gate. In other countries they do and you would need to go back on the same passport you came out on. Any British citizen not showing their UK passport when entering the UK is being a bit silly.

[Biker9090]

craigjm said:

The UK does not have an embarkation process where you are checked out on your way out so when you return the system has no idea what passport you used to show at the gate. In other countries they do and you would need to go back on the same passport you came out on. Any British citizen not showing their UK passport when entering the UK is being a bit silly.

What are they doing when they take my passport and scan it on the way out then?

[Jordie Barretts sock]

That's the commercial airline/ferry checking you are eligible to travel. They get into all sorts of bother if they allow someone to travel who shouldn't. See the latest in the news about passport expiry dates.

If you are randomly pulled for a check on the way out, they presumably scan your passport as a way of logging the event, that's all.

[nute]

My wife and kids have dual nationality ( US), when they go to the US they need to go in/ out on the US passport, the UK doesn’t seem to care though.

[Export56]

I used to travel to France once or twice a month, I would say about 50% of the time my car got diverted, mirror underneath and open the boot. I used to say why me? they said it just random. Occasionally they would take the luggage out and x ray it. Once I got asked for evidence like a meeting invitation, , said dont have one, I work for a french company. Returning once questioned, when I left, how long was I there, I was tired and told them, not sure probably Monday, in the end they lost interest at my indifference and waved me on.

[frisbee]

nute said:

My wife and kids have dual nationality ( US), when they go to the US they need to go in/ out on the US passport, the UK doesn’t seem to care though.

Same with Canada. If you are a citizen you need to enter on a Canadian passport they introduced this rule a few years ago.

[Biker9090]

Jordie Barretts sock said:

That's the commercial airline/ferry checking you are eligible to travel. They get into all sorts of bother if they allow someone to travel who shouldn't. See the latest in the news about passport expiry dates.

If you are randomly pulled for a check on the way out, they presumably scan your passport as a way of logging the event, that's all.

Nope, that was UK customs/border staff

[Biker9090]

nute said:

My wife and kids have dual nationality ( US), when they go to the US they need to go in/ out on the US passport, the UK doesn’t seem to care though.

Do they use the UK passport at all in this instance? Or is it just US at the US checkpoint?

[dabofoppo]

carlo996 said:

OP, you’re dealing with people who probably don’t travel frequently and just want to vent spurious bks. The reality is that people have good and bad days, you were unlucky. Customs seem generally ok to me, Border Force, at T5 specifically for some reason seem to harbour some of the worst angry self important types. I managed to incur the wrath of a particularly obnoxious woman who accused me of taking her picture! Whilst it cost me an extra 15 mins or so I made sure to call her senior officer and told him what a stty example she was setting for the service. Whilst authority is to be respected, general manners cost nothing. If you don’t flag these things it’ll never get better.

I worked for border force for a while and done a couple of summers at Heathrow and Heathrow are generally the sttest officers in the country IMO. I had a far better time in Belfast.

[dabofoppo]

Biker9090 said:

Just returned from my first European Motorcycle journey (solo). Didn't have any issues outbound last Friday and everyone was fine.

On the way back at Calais I get a snotty UK passport guy dealing with me when a woman over his shoulder tells me to go to a booth for checks.

Here they take my luggage all apart. I'm asked when I left, if I have proof of the outbound journey, what date the outbound ticket was issued, proof of where I stayed, where I work, who I met, what I bought, that I know importation of drugs and guns is illegal etc etc etc. Whilst I was polite to begin with I admit to getting pretty bloody angry at this point considering I'd rushed to get there on time yet had to put up with this.

Is this really what you have to go through now? I've been all over and even USA customs/border isn't this invasive. Do these questions really need to be answered?

For clarity here I was travelling on my Irish passport but also have a UK one (born in the UK to British Father and British/Irish Mother).

What's the actual process if you declined to say what you did - considering I'm a British citizen.

This is as much curiosity as it is being treated like a bloody criminal trying to reenter my own country. They also had several other cars they were pulling apart Inc an old guy having his range rover stripped.

If you declined to say what you were doing your passport would be examined to see what stamps you had and all of your baggage etc would be searched. Depending on their reason for stopping you this could extend all the way to you being held in custody if they believed you had swallowed drugs.
It's your own country but there are laws that everyone has to follow and one of the way these laws are enforced is by stopping people at the border from bringing in excess cigarettes and alcohol and drugs etc.

[CarlosSainz100]

Biker9090 said:

Nope, that was UK customs/border staff

In all my time working for UK customs and then the Border Agency which became Border Force there were no permanent outbound controls. There may be the odd team on that looks for large amounts of undeclared cash predominantly, however this is not the norm and would depend on resources. They also didn't scan a person's passport going outbound either. Apart from anything else they didn't have mobile technology to enable that.

It didn't help that the Home Office decided to do away with years and years of tradition and made Border Force officers dress exactly like airport security.