Immigration At Heathrow

[kunash]

My Thai Gf is coming to the UK in April ( visa permitting ). If I fly to the UK with her from Thailand, would i be able to accompany her through the non UK passport immigration control ( i am a UK passport holder ). I would feel more comfortable if I was with her, and if I explained this to the immigration person I hope they would understand. Anyone done this before?

[morphious]

I always go through non uk passport holders with my wife never any problems.

[wileycoyote]

Yes ,please go together ,it will assist the Immigration Officer & facilitate her visa.

[msg362]

I don't know about Heathrow, but I suspect it will be the same as Manchester airport. There I and my Thai wife always go together through the UK/EU line. The staff there told us to do it, so I would think they like to see both of you together rather than separately if they can, confirms all sorts of things in their minds

[PattayaParent]

My wife was stopped from going through the EU/UK immigration counter with me at Manchester 2 times, the second with a baby in arms.

[barryFunk]

My wife was stopped from going through the EU/UK immigration counter with me at Manchester 2 times, the second with a baby in arms.

Strange. My Aussie wife and I (British passport holder) used to go through the UK/EU queue at LHR T3 together without any troubles. She was told she should shortly after we got married though this may have been partly because she was a resident of the UK at the time.

The problem has now been solved by her gaining UK citizenship before our move to Thailand! The queue for non-EU immigration at Heathrow makes BKK's look like child's play. Before she switched to the UK/EU channel it wasn't uncommon for it to take 1.5 hours or more to get through non-EU immigration.

Back to the OP's question though you should be able to go through non-EU with your girlfriend since all the immigration officer will do is take a quick look at your passport and scan it. He/she may appreciate having you there to vouch for your girl's trip to the UK.

[bubba]

I once flew over to LHR with an American friend and his Thai wife (both "respectable" and in their 40s, if that matters), who was a US permanent resident and also had a UK visa in her passport. I was directly behind them in the queue and it must have taken 15 minutes to clear the immigration officer. I learned that they were given more or less a "third degree" interrogation. They were actually going to visit a friend in Richmond, Surrey and were asked for the friend's complete contact details (which were entered into a computer) and asked over and over what their purpose was and how long they would stay. He was asked why he resided in Thailand and what company he worked for (he is the company director for a large foreign-owned Thai company). "How long have you known your friend in Richmond? What is his job? Do you plan to seek employment in the UK?" Etc., etc, etc. I didn't actually hear the interrogation, but the immigration officer, female and in full muslim head-gear, was doing some serious scowling. I could see that the process didn't exactly look friendly. Interestingly, there was another queue composed of a mainland Chinese tour group who looked and dressed as though they had never been outside of Wuhan, and they were just streaming through.

I have no idea if it's the same way for all Thai visitors to the UK, or if perhaps this was just an immigration officer having a bad day, but be prepared.

[elliss]

My wife was stopped from going through the EU/UK immigration counter with me at Manchester 2 times, the second with a baby in arms.

i have noticed some people have cleard UK IMMIGRATION ,

and are then pulled up by UK officials ,

checking their passport and documents .

any idea why ?.

[clinique]

Random checking.

It happens in many places, not only UK.