Problems At Uk Immigration

[alaninlamphun]

My wife has been granted many tourist visas to Uk but every time she enters UK she seems to get hassle from immigration officers,we have been together for about 11 years now and have submitted application for settlement as i need to stay in england for buisness,im leaving for Uk in july if she gets the visa she will travel later,but she is concerned about flying to uk on her own as she has never done before,has anyone had problems with there partners entering the UK after a settlement visa has been granted?

thank you

[bobrussell]

Sadly my wife has had hassle on several occasions (H/row Terminal 3 only) when entering with visit visas. All I can suggest is you do all you can to reduce her stress (explain landing cards etc if she has not dealt with these before).

If she has a settlement visa she is unlikely to have quite the same problems as with visit visas but make sure you are on the end of a phone if she is worried.

My wife struggled with the strong accents of some of the IO's!! Just tell her to stand her ground and she will be fine and if she does not understand anything to keep asking until she can or they get someone who can speak without such a strong accent.

Sadly I have a very jaundiced view of IO's so hopefully others will not be so negative!

Remember she has a right to enter and it is unlikely that there will be a problem.

[jessicanguyenself]

I am Asian and I never had any problem at heathrow terminal 3 when arriving on my own with visit visa ( I have been entered the uk many times on uk visit visa since 2002) . I had a pleasant arrival last week on my settlement visa they even let me jumped the queue because I have a young kid with me . So far the uk immigration treated me better than my own country immigration at my local airport

[sheba]

What do you mean by hassle? My wife went to the uk on a family visit visa and the guy at Heathrow immigration was very friendly and just asked her a few questions. It seemed the questions were mainly for her own safety, to check that she wasn't being trafficked etc.

[alaninlamphun]

the last two or three times the hassle was them being concerned about travelling to uk on tourist visa and us as a couple not going for the settlement option,he was making out it was setting off alarm bells using tourist visit visas every year

What do you mean by hassle? My wife went to the uk on a family visit visa and the guy at Heathrow immigration was very friendly and just asked her a few questions. It seemed the questions were mainly for her own safety, to check that she wasn't being trafficked etc.

[sheba]

ok, I take it she has had quite a few visit visas then! Surely it's up to her whether she visits or lives there.

[overherebc]

Friend of mine, his story, a couple of years ago noticed his GF was being asked a lot of questions so went over and said to the IO, What's the problem, why so long, she already has a visa. Reckons he was told, The visa gets her as far as here, I can decide if she goes further.

He shut up and left. three minutes later he was getting a mouthful from the GF and told next time just let me wait and talk to the guy.

[theoldgit]

Friend of mine, his story, a couple of years ago noticed his GF was being asked a lot of questions so went over and said to the IO, What's the problem, why so long, she already has a visa. Reckons he was told, The visa gets her as far as here, I can decide if she goes further.

He shut up and left. three minutes later he was getting a mouthful from the GF and told next time just let me wait and talk to the guy.

Certainly the visa only allows the holder to present themselves to the Border and the IO will then decide if the visa holder will be cleared or subject to further examination.

An IO certainly cannot refuse to land a person with Entry Clearance on a whim, they will need to satisfy their CIO that there had been a material change or that there was misrepresentation in the application.

I have to say that most Immigration Officers are ok in carrying out a pretty thankless task, in all my time travelling into the UK I have only ever encountered one IO who really pi**ed me off with his attitude.

[overherebc]

I only ever had one who had- the attitude -, a welsh guy. Could tell he was Welsh because of the leek in his Turban

[LucidLucifer]

My wife came into the UK numerous times on tourist visas, every time through Heathrow T3. Apart from some routine questions, she never met with any hassle, even when travelling alone. I think it all depends on the IO you get on the day, but if everything is legit, remain polite, calm and answer questions truthfuly. If you do those things all will be fine. The worst thing you can do is try to BS your way through, that will set bells ringing and red flags flying!

Edited June 27, 2012 by LucidLucifer

[SantiSuk]

IO asked my wife what my line of work was and who did I work for when she first came on a visit. That got her flustered because she could speak enough english and knew roughly what I did, but found it difficult to explain and did not know the company name. Luckily I had come through the EU immigration line and spotted that she was starting to panic, so I was able to help her out.

Doesn't help with the OP's circumstances, but obviously if you are travelling together it makes sense to go through the foreign passport line with your Thai partner, even if you are busting for a pee and can see a quicker route to the loo!

If you do go through separately it was clear that you are able to approach the immi desk from behind their backs to help out as long as you are really really polite and deferential. i.e. - don't get pissed up on the flight over and do leave your ego behind when dealing with officials, even though they clearly have a much lower status and intellect than ones good self.

Edit: Illustration - a couple of months ago I saw Manchester immi give a Chinese family a mostly unwarranted right old mauling because the son was being arrogant. Did not make me proud to be Brit. We've all seen how bad IOs can be with their backs up.

Edited June 27, 2012 by SantiSuk

[jessicanguyenself]

IO asked my wife what my line of work was and who did I work for when she first came on a visit. That got her flustered because she could speak enough english and knew roughly what I did, but found it difficult to explain and did not know the company name. Luckily I had come through the EU immigration line and spotted that she was starting to panic, so I was able to help her out.

Doesn't help with the OP's circumstances, but obviously if you are travelling together it makes sense to go through the foreign passport line with your Thai partner, even if you are busting for a pee and can see a quicker route to the loo!

If you do go through separately it was clear that you are able to approach the immi desk from behind their backs to help out as long as you are really really polite and deferential. i.e. - don't get pissed up on the flight over and do leave your ego behind when dealing with officials, even though they clearly have a much lower status and intellect than ones good self.

Edit: Illustration - a couple of months ago I saw Manchester immi give a Chinese family a mostly unwarranted right old mauling because the son was being arrogant. Did not make me proud to be Brit. We've all seen how bad IOs can be with their backs up.

Ur wife can go to the UK/EU passport line with you , I did that everytime i travelled with my husband and there was no question ever been asked .

[Guest jonzboy]

Just so everyone knows their rights, if a husband and wife enter UK together, with one of them being UK passport holder, the other not, they are entitled to use the UK/EU channel and present their passports for examination together. This will prevent situations described above.

[Guest jonzboy]

Sorry, seems Jessica and I posted at same time

[Soutpeel]

Just so everyone knows their rights, if a husband and wife enter UK together, with one of them being UK passport holder, the other not, they are entitled to use the UK/EU channel and present their passports for examination together. This will prevent situations described above.

Actually its a courtesy extended not a right...and they can if they wish, the IO can make a non-uk PP holder use the "other" line, irrespective of their married status....so I would be careful trying to invoke this right or the IO might just p*ss you around because they can

[tw25rw]

When I flew in with the gf a couple of months ago, she was sent to the non-EU queue.. I got through first and waited behind the IOs. When she got to the IO (incidentally, the same one I saw), I was called back and the IO was somewhat surprised we were separated.

As said, it's a courtesy, but one which benefits all.

[7by7]

On their first ever entry I joined my wife and step-daughter in the non EU queue. What pee'd us off was being sent for chest X-rays. (This was in 2001, before TB certs were required.) After a nearly two hour wait at the medical centre we eventually saw the one doctor on duty. She took one look at the vaccination scars on wife and daughter's arms and sent us on our way!

That was the only time we had any problems.

After that, until they received their British passports, they always joined the non EU queue while I went to the EU desk to ask. The IO there always said 'yes' so I called them over.