New passport procedures

[cja]

(also posted on Club Arnage)

Have been hearing one or two horror stories in respect of new passport checking changes being imposed.......with one guy spending 1 1/2 hrs in a queue!

It seems that there could be 3 separate checks - UK border agency, French Customs & the ferry operator - with all biometric passports being scanned. Whether this means they are scanned on 3 separate occasions, I really don't know.

Has anyone else heard similar? I know these aren't due to come into force until after Easter, but I can see the need to allow for a lot of extra time to get through the gates, as I fear that any excuse to hold us all up will be welcomed by our French allies.........

[sahajesh]

cja said:

(also posted on Club Arnage)

Have been hearing one or two horror stories in respect of new passport checking changes being imposed.......with one guy spending 1 1/2 hrs in a queue!

It seems that there could be 3 separate checks - UK border agency, French Customs & the ferry operator - with all biometric passports being scanned. Whether this means they are scanned on 3 separate occasions, I really don't know.

Has anyone else heard similar? I know these aren't due to come into force until after Easter, but I can see the need to allow for a lot of extra time to get through the gates, as I fear that any excuse to hold us all up will be welcomed by our French allies.........

Group of us are off to Bruges for the weekend on 16 April so will post after then. API details also needed when booking tunnel and I expect ferry as well.

[jamiebae]

UK gov has reintroduced exit checks, so where previously you'd just have a French official look at the outside of your passport as you drove past you'll now have a UK Border Force person scan each one. As I underst it they haven't yet worked out how to deal with coaches, but it is expected to cause carnage and to gridlock the whole of Dover on a daily basis for the whole of summer, and every Saturday.

This year I'm very glad I live on the other side of the channel!

[GDub44]

And what's worse is the task is being contracted out so you'll have staff who won't have a clue.

[a.christie]

So................you want to stop the b******S coming in, you want to stop them getting out and then getting back. The only way of stopping illegal immigration is to stop them in the first country they get to and send them back, but we have no control over that!
I for one will be happy to get to the terminal a little earlier if it stops those that should not be here, being here.

Anyone got any other ideas??

Rant over

[GDub44]

[quote=a.christie] The only way of stopping illegal immigration is to stop them in the first country they get to and send them back, but we have no control over that!
I for one will be happy to get to the terminal a little earlier if it stops those that should not be here, being here.

The problem is it isn't and it doesn't. It's not quite as simple as that. In respect of your first point, you have to look at the push/pull factors. What's pushing them away from their home country (pretty obvious in most cases) and, more importantly, what's pulling them to another country - a safe place to be, good benefits, ability to work, etc, etc. Sending them back is a barrier but doesn't stop someone who really wants to from getting anywhere. And yes, you have to have a Control. But it has to be a quality one. One that is effective and not just bums on seats.

[a.christie]

I do realise that there is no quick fix to the illegal immigration "problem". My intention is not to hijack this thread and discuss the matters, it is just to point out that if we are travelling abroad we will all have to be prepared for the passport checks and inevitable delays.
Of course it will take time but hopefully improve our future. Even one less is an improvement to our failed border control.

[jamiebae]

Erm, this is nothing to do with immigration, It's to stop wanted criminals slipping out of the country undetected into mainland Europe.

[SEE YA]

jamiebae said:

Erm, this is nothing to do with immigration, It's to stop wanted criminals slipping out of the country undetected into mainland Europe.

+1 Also a visual of border staff being seen in the public eye.

Checking passports and being seen doing there job.

All these measures are twenty years too late anyway.

[OvalOwl]

These checks are due to come in next week on the 8th of April. There will be two Bank Holiday weekends before the Le Mans week so we shall see what the delays are and how they handle it before we travel.

I suspect the truth will lie between the two extremes of the newspaper's and government's predictions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-ra...

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/17/fer...

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/operators-ready...

[Storer]

On the way back from a trip to Paris earlier this year we had to disembark the coach and go through passport control. Took about 5 mins.

I am only too glad to see more monitoring of movement in and out of the country.

If you have nothing to hide then you should have no issues other than a delay over the initial period while they get into a routine.

[Some Gump]

To be fair, it's about time they made it more rigurous.

In 2011, i managed to go to Le Mans, then come back again without a passport both ways. Although i was chuffed as hell to manage it, i was completely shocked it was doable.

[a.christie]

jamiebae said:

Erm, this is nothing to do with immigration, It's to stop wanted criminals slipping out of the country undetected into mainland Europe.

May I suggest that you read the Government statements before posting inaccurate drivel.

[a.christie]

Some Gump said:

To be fair, it's about time they made it more rigurous.

In 2011, i managed to go to Le Mans, then come back again without a passport both ways. Although i was chuffed as hell to manage it, i was completely shocked it was doable.

I have travelled to Le Mans eighteen times in different types of vehicle and can honestly sat that there has never been a time that my passport has not been checked and that`s on both sides. Newhaven -Dieppe,Portsmouth-Le Havre,Portsmouth- Caen, Dover-Calais and the Tunnel. Perhaps I just look dodgy

[SEE YA]

a.christie said:

Some Gump said:

To be fair, it's about time they made it more rigurous.

In 2011, i managed to go to Le Mans, then come back again without a passport both ways. Although i was chuffed as hell to manage it, i was completely shocked it was doable.

I have travelled to Le Mans eighteen times in different types of vehicle and can honestly sat that there has never been a time that my passport has not been checked and that`s on both sides. Newhaven -Dieppe,Portsmouth-Le Havre,Portsmouth- Caen, Dover-Calais and the Tunnel. Perhaps I just look dodgy

Its potluck unless they have intel.

[Some Gump]

Oh, it was checked - i simply didn't have it with me. The border people were just kind and let me through after a bit of a lecture...

[HoHoHo]

I travel on Eurotunnel frequently and am also doing so to LM.

I'll report back over the next week or so, I have two trips to make.

[aw51 121565]

a.christie said:

jamiebae said:

Erm, this is nothing to do with immigration, It's to stop wanted criminals slipping out of the country undetected into mainland Europe.

May I suggest that you read the Government statements before posting inaccurate drivel.

Government propoganda...

jamiebae may or may not be insightfully wrong ( ), but the stuff - any stuff, nowadays - stated by Government as justification for changes in policy (or generally, whatever... ) is twaddle to anyone with an open mind.

I sailed Newhaven-Dieppe & return in 2007 and 2008, and the checks as described in a link upthread were carried out thoroughly at Newhaven - and only slightly less thoroughly between the Dieppe and Newhaven staff on our return .

Back to what jamiebae said, a neighbour who works for HMRC tells tales of English citizens being arrested upon entry from their holiday for unpaid fines or arrest warrants.

As such, the "changes" on April 8th are merely a very old pot reheated - period... Catching 'em on the way out is an, ahem, novel way of doing it, though!

[Output Flange]

FWIW, my folks just phoned from France. They went out on the Tunnel this morning, and it was empty. No queues, got on an earlier train and no drama at all.

[The Leaper]

No surprise there. The government introduced the new API requirements on 1 April 2015 but deferred the start to 8 April because of the Easter rush putting pressure on the system....in other words, as there's an election coming up, the government didn't want bad publicity over the Easter break. Let's see what's in the media on the 9th!

R.