Arrivals In Uk

[Boxer]

Any information please for arrivals at Airports in UK for Thai National on Tourist Visa.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Boxer

[2long]

Not many posts of reply or help, eh Boxer?!

I have always entered with my wife through the queue for non EU passports. The problem that I found was the language the immigration staff speak! No, I'm not being rascist, althought here are a few dark coloured people. It''s the long words and idioms they use. Two years ago I was with my wife, our daughter, my mate's wife, their son and some Thai bird we'd met on the plane. I had to translate from the immigration staff's English in to understandable (not pigeon) English for the two girls (not my wife as it wasn't her first trip). Why oh why would they want to speak anything but the most understandable language? You know, get the message across and move onto the next tourist/immigrant. Maybe they have bets on how long they can make the queue.

Boxer, if you're not going to be with your partner at this stage of her'his journey, warn him/her about it.

[the scouser]

Once you've got the visa, you've a presumptive right of entry and the I.O. can only refuse in limited circumstances. It's likely that your friend will be asked no more than two or three questions and then allowed in. Don't forget that the landing cards are dished out on the aeroplane and, ideally, should be completed before getting to the front of the immigration queue. If s/he doesn't know how to fill in the card, ask a neighbour on the aircraft to assist.

Scouse.

[Mossfinn]

Boxer, Is she coming through alone?

If so, I assume you are meeting her in Arrivals, it is a good idea to have your address written on an easily accessible card for easy access, with of course your mobile, just in case.

When my wife first came through, she was asked a couple of questions, but as I was already waiting at the end of the queues, I just stepped in, but normally it is fine.

I think she will need her TB cert available too?

A poster has stated before on a previous thread that if you are coming through together you can actually go through the same line, easier for the stress point of view, never done it but apparently it got confirmed, by I don't know for sure!

Good Luck

Moss

[TBWG]

Boxer, Is she coming through alone?

If so, I assume you are meeting her in Arrivals, it is a good idea to have your address written on an easily accessible card for easy access, with of course your mobile, just in case.

When my wife first came through, she was asked a couple of questions, but as I was already waiting at the end of the queues, I just stepped in, but normally it is fine.

I think she will need her TB cert available too?

A poster has stated before on a previous thread that if you are coming through together you can actually go through the same line, easier for the stress point of view, never done it but apparently it got confirmed, by I don't know for sure!

Good Luck

Moss

Hi Boxer

Before my wife had a UK passport I used to go through immigration with her, be it UK or Thailand. Shortest queue was always the deciding factor!

First time she came to UK (LHR) on fiancee visa they subjected her to a medical, she had no TB certificate not that anyone ever said it was a requirement. Not sure whether or not it is needed.

Good Luck

TBWG

[Maizefarmer]

Once you've got the visa, you've a presumptive right of entry and the I.O. can only refuse in limited circumstances. It's likely that your friend will be asked no more than two or three questions and then allowed in. Don't forget that the landing cards are dished out on the aeroplane and, ideally, should be completed before getting to the front of the immigration queue. If s/he doesn't know how to fill in the card, ask a neighbour on the aircraft to assist.

Scouse.

Intersting point, the small print says a visa is no garuntee of entry, and that the final decision is up to the immigration officer on arrival - or words to that effect.

Question: is the decision made at the point of entry - just what authority can the immigration officers exercise (aside from obvious violations aside e.g. drugs ect ...)?

MF

[vinny]

See also 1.9 What happens on arrival in the UK

[the scouser]

Question: is the decision made at the point of entry - just what authority can the immigration officers exercise (aside from obvious violations aside e.g. drugs ect ...)?

A visa now confers leave to enter the U.K. whereas in the "old days" the leave to enter would be conferred by the I.O. on arrival. Consequently, there is a presumption that the visa holder has already demonstrated their case in order to get the visa in the first place. An I.O. can only refuse entry to a visa holder where either material facts were not disclosed for the purposes of getting the visa, or the holder's circumstances have changed to such an extent that the basis for entry has since been removed, or the holder's exclusion is conducive to the public good.

Paragraph 321 of the Immigration Rules refers.

Scouse.

[gino12]

My girlfriend was asked some basic questions about her stay, who she would be staying with, where she would be staying so it woudl be an idea to for her to have your address and contact number to hand. Should be fine and straight forward. Good Luck.

Edited May 25, 2007 by gino12

[connor]

Hi

My Mrs came through in tears. She still talks about it now. She had all docs etc etc my son was only 6 months (UK Passport) & breast feeding. Came through & was taken aside. Subjected to numerous questions in English & as i understand no attempt by anybody to speak slowly or simple pigeon English. They only pushed her through because my son was screaming for over an hour & they got cheesed off with listening. There attitude was an embarassment to me & i cannot justify it to her.

Warn her most working there are not Farang & i know myself some dont speak great English. Unfortunately they are obviously poorly trained. Why the hel_l would you pick on a married Thai lady with a 50/50 baby?

My advice would be to send a UK sim card to her, dont take any crap & if she gets any tell them to call u & hand over the number phone with sim card in.

Good Luck

[sumrit]

From reading some of the answers here does it mean that I as a UK citizen/passport holder am allowed to go though the non EU passport checking desk with my Thai girlfriend? We've just applied for her second visit visa for July and I don't want last years experience to be repeated. Last year we arrived at Birmingham just before a load of tourist flights from Europe. I left my girlfriend in the 'non EU' queue while I went through EU queue, which was much quicker. After waiting the other side of passport checking desk for about 5 minutes I, and two other men waiting for their wives/gf were told we couldn't wait there and had to go through to the baggage hall. We stood the other side of the doors looking through for them but after another 15/20 minutes one of the I.O's came over, told us to move away and shut the doors. There were plenty of people coming through but not our girlfriends and nobody would tell us what was happening so after waiting another half hour we went back into the 'passport hall' to see if we could see them, only to be told by the same I.O. that she had spoken to us before and if we didn't leave immediately she would have us arrested. My gf finally came through 45 minutes later. I had been waiting for her for over one and a half hours and during that time nobody would tell me what the problem was. My gf said there was no real problem,they just seemed short staffed, and when all the tourist flights arrived they took the I.O. off the 'non EU' desk to help process the tourists. All the non EU passport holders were left standing in the queue for an hour and a half. Simple explanation, why the hel_l couldn't they just tell us!!! To add insult to injury when we finally got our bags my girlfriends was damaged. At least Emirates were very good, they promised her a new suitcase and one was delivered to our home within a few days.

[Governor]

The staff at the Immigration desks are instructed not to split up families so they are entitled to enter with you via the EU national desk.

I can understand the staff not wishing for a build up of cleared passengers hanging about behind them.

[Mahout Angrit]

From reading some of the answers here does it mean that I as a UK citizen/passport holder am allowed to go though the non EU passport checking desk with my Thai girlfriend?.

Yes, as you found out they wont have you loitering on the other side (not just in Birmingham) which is annoying as you really want to collect your baggage together,so it's the best way if you are worried but as it's her second visit there really shouldn't be any problem, she should be able to answer the simple questions they will ask.

Edited May 26, 2007 by Mahout Angrit

[sumrit]

The staff at the Immigration desks are instructed not to split up families so they are entitled to enter with you via the EU national desk.

I can understand the staff not wishing for a build up of cleared passengers hanging about behind them.

So can I, but when, after waiting patiently in the baggage hall for over 45 minutes, I go back through and politely ask how long she is likely to be I do not expect to be told "I've spoken to you once already, now piss off before I call the police and have you arrested" pointing to the door as she said it. Now I don't care how harrassed she was because they were short staffed, politeness costs nothing and in the time it took to be offensive she could have said the I.O. had been temporarily moved and there would be about an hours delay. We would have known what was happening and just sat down and waited. Somebody from within the baggage dept. had already asked what was wrong because we'd been hanging around for so long then he went to ask but came back without an explanation, saying he couldn't find out why there was a delay. She was just a typical British Jobsworth.

edited just to add that when I came through passprt control my girlfriend was about tenth in the queue and one of the other guy's wife was fourth. We should have only been waiting a few minutes and thats why, after more than three quarters of an hour we were getting concerned and went back through to ask. And we were polite when doing so.

Edited May 26, 2007 by sumrit

[cleverD]

My GF arrived at LHR for her 2nd visit and was issued a IS 81 which is a notice to submit to further examination. She had a phone with her but was not able to tell me why she was detained. After about half an hour she phoned to say she was getting her baggage and when she came out of arrivals was able to explain that because in feb we applied for a visit visa but was refused because of lack of funds in my account even though I had provided other docs which seem to have been discarded by UK Visa's,there was a refusal stamp in her passport even though we applied again in march after transfering some dosh into my account and were successful in getting the visa.They wanted to check the validity of the visa and wanted to know why she was refused in feb.She wasn't too upset more annoyed that she had to sit and wait like an illegal immigrant while others went through.

[Lucifer]

It's amazing isn't it, that hundreds of thousands of worthless eastern Europeans can come to the UK without any problems, and yet, when a Thai woman, married or a girl friend, who has demonstrated, she has enough money for the trip, is treated so badly.

I can only think this is a colour issue.

[BIGJIMMY]

The Mrs arrived at LHR last Sunday, I got back here on the Friday so I was in arrivals waiting for her, when she finally got through and met us she said she was asked how long she would be in the UK and if she had a return ticket, she produced a letter that I had given her which explained where Mon would be staying etc and she also showed the return ticket - all good, what did make me laugh was that Mon said the immagration person was black and didn't speak very good English - ha ha!!

Good to be back in the UK, even better knowing its only for 3 more weeks!!

Jimmy and Lemon

[all4one]

Guys, my missus will be coming to the uk on her first visit via Gatwick - should I send her some money to stick in her wallet and also whats this business with TB - does she need a cert?

[sumrit]

Guys, my missus will be coming to the uk on her first visit via Gatwick - should I send her some money to stick in her wallet and also whats this business with TB - does she need a cert?

Not if she's on a visit/tourist visa, or any visa for less than 6 months for that matter.

[Boxer]

Guys, my missus will be coming to the uk on her first visit via Gatwick - should I send her some money to stick in her wallet and also whats this business with TB - does she need a cert?

Not if she's on a visit/tourist visa, or any visa for less than 6 months for that matter.

I am glad I started this thread to highlight the treatment Thai's get on arrival, it's shocking after they have gone through the selection process in Bangkok. I hope the Embassy ARE reading it!

I will be going through arrivals in Birmingham also with the boy friend and have had bad experieces with Custom Officers there myself, including searching fruitlessly the Laptop twice, with lots of questions on how I can afford to go Business to Thailand so often??? "What do I do there?" Answer first time was "I saved my retirement money." If asked again it will be "My parents left me a fortune!" a fortune in Thailand is not same England!

Plan to go through non-EU lines with him going first, they can send me to back of line OK if not allowed to be with him. Telephones on roaming. He will have all the paperwork of his Visa with him and photo-cards for me and my home address's in UK and Thailand were we live. English pounds in his pocket and Bank Cards ATM. TB info not required but he will know about it to say so if asked with a briefing that they are b*****ds but have great power so full respect and maybe a Wai as he goes!

[Mahout Angrit]

I am glad I started this thread to highlight the treatment Thai's get on arrival, it's shocking after they have gone through the selection process in Bangkok. I hope the Embassy ARE reading it!

What a paranoiac statement. I do not know any Thai who has been singled out and questioned any more than any other nationality. Immigration departments worldwide are renowned for making life a little difficult, it's a factor of travelling whether you are entering Thailand, Zambia or UK.

Lighten up and your friend will mince through any UK immigration dont fill him with fear.

[Governor]

The staff at the Immigration desks are instructed not to split up families so they are entitled to enter with you via the EU national desk.

I can understand the staff not wishing for a build up of cleared passengers hanging about behind them.

So can I, but when, after waiting patiently in the baggage hall for over 45 minutes, I go back through and politely ask how long she is likely to be I do not expect to be told "I've spoken to you once already, now piss off before I call the police and have you arrested" pointing to the door as she said it. Now I don't care how harrassed she was because they were short staffed, politeness costs nothing and in the time it took to be offensive she could have said the I.O. had been temporarily moved and there would be about an hours delay. We would have known what was happening and just sat down and waited. Somebody from within the baggage dept. had already asked what was wrong because we'd been hanging around for so long then he went to ask but came back without an explanation, saying he couldn't find out why there was a delay. She was just a typical British Jobsworth.

edited just to add that when I came through passprt control my girlfriend was about tenth in the queue and one of the other guy's wife was fourth. We should have only been waiting a few minutes and thats why, after more than three quarters of an hour we were getting concerned and went back through to ask. And we were polite when doing so.

There is really no excuse for an Immigration Officer telling you to "piss off" however short staffed they are, and they rarely are. If they do you should ask for their warrant number and speak to the CIO, stay polite and cool and let it be known that if your concerns are not addressed to will raise it at a higher level, don't let them intimidate you.

[the scouser]

Reminds me of an incident at Gatwick when an American complained to the CIO that the IO had just told him to <deleted> off. The CIO, who was a rather gruff individual at the best of times, summoned the IO and asked whether he had, indeed, told this gentleman to <deleted> off. The IO replied that he had, whereupon the CIO turned to the complainant and enquired, "Why are you still here, then?"

Scouse.

[Mossfinn]

and also whats this business with TB - does she need a cert?

TB Certs

TB Certificate Requirements, I really do need to read the questions more thoroughly

Good Luck

Moss

[CbrLad]

I am glad I started this thread to highlight the treatment Thai's get on arrival, it's shocking after they have gone through the selection process in Bangkok. I hope the Embassy ARE reading it!

I know what you are getting at, but what happens when someone arrives has nothing at all to do with the embassy, so it doesn't matter if they are reading it or not.

[Krub]

After reading these arrival in Farangland stories, how smooth and gentle arrivals in Bangkok feels !

[CbrLad]

Actually I should point something else out it is not just Thai's that get questioning at the airport, come to think of it everytime I come into the UK I get questioned too, despite having a valid visa which states quite clearly what I am there for. I am Aussie with a visa to live and work in the UK, but everytime I come and go, which in my job is about once every 6 weeks I get questioned. The issue is the same as the jist of this thread, I have a valid visa, but must play 5 questions everytime I enter. If I didn't have the visa then I can understand but with it why? Well I don't need to worry anymore as one nice immigration person told me, upon seeing half a dozen entry stamps that as someone is is allowed to live in the UK I could register for the iris system and not have to face them again, unless of course you come on the Eurostar, the place where I have found the worst UK immigration people.

[the gent]

For many folk who have been away from Blighty over the past few years it is probably quite likely that upon their return they will discover that the quality of public services has deteriorated. This is in marked contrast to the public image projected which invariably seeks to persuade the consumer to believe otherwise. The result is an ever widening reality gap and reading some of the anecdotes here it is evident that the Immigration Service is no exception.

As Governor has already mentioned, there is no justification for rudeness and shoddy behaviour. Sponsors accompanying their wives or partners may elect to remain at the immigration control pending examination and cannot be told to bugger off just because it is convenient for the immigration officer at the time. Should anyone experience similar treatment to that reported by Sumrit then simply stand your ground, ask for the attendance of the Chief Immigration Officer and make it quite clear that you will pursue a complaint vigorously. The police must act in accordance with the law and are not there to act as ' minders ' for bolshy immigration staff unless there is a risk of a public order offence. Therefore, it is imperative that you remain reasonable and polite at all times.

My own experience of immigration control in the Uk involving my wife has been somewhat mixed but it is becoming clear that the quality of interviewing staff is patchy and communication often leaves a lot to be desired. I recall one incident when the officer asked her to tell him my full name. Since I have 3, comprising 20 letters running into 6 syllables, this would represent a challenge to most Thai but she manfully rose to the task and acquitted herself quite well I thought. However, the officer detecting a hesitation leapt upon this as possible evidence of a bogus relationship and declared " So, you don't even know your husband's name". The unfairness of this stupid comment irritated me considerably not least because the idiot by the very nature of his job must have been aware that people from differing ethnic backgrounds speak English, if they have any, to varying degrees of competency. Anyway, I soon gave the dolt short shrift but I suspect that his own ethnicity, W.African, may have had something to do with his clumsy, inept technique.

[scooty]

Sawasdee Sumrit,

Last April, 2006 i came through LHR airport with my then Thai fiancee. I went through the EU passport control and she went through the non EU passport control. She was then asked questions by the IO and i was waiting behing the IO The IO realised that i was waiting and the IO called me over to ask a few questions . The IO officer told me that i could have come through the non EU passport control with my fiancee to make things easier.I said that the signs had pointed me to the EU desk, but i was told it was ok to come through the non EU desk.

good luck

Scooty

[sumrit]

Sawasdee Sumrit,

Last April, 2006 i came through LHR airport with my then Thai fiancee. I went through the EU passport control and she went through the non EU passport control. She was then asked questions by the IO and i was waiting behing the IO The IO realised that i was waiting and the IO called me over to ask a few questions . The IO officer told me that i could have come through the non EU passport control with my fiancee to make things easier.I said that the signs had pointed me to the EU desk, but i was told it was ok to come through the non EU desk.

good luck

Scooty

Hi Scooty, glad to hear you had no problems at LHR. Itoo have been through LHR in the past (with a previous partner) without any problems and was able to stand behind the I.O.'s deck to wait, although this was several years ago. I'm sure most I.O.'s are very good I just happened to get a difficult one on a bad day. To those who suggest that in my situation I should have stood my ground, complained,etc, I am the sort of person that would do just that but my gf had already been waiting along time, I didn't know why, and the thought of me being taken off to a room somewhere to pursue the matter leaving my gf, when she did eventually get though, in the baggage hall with me nowhere to be found and her not knowing what to do made me bite my tongue and walk away. I think most people would have done the same.

I'll certainly go through the non EU queue with her next time we travel though.