Welcome To Heathorw?

[Jersey_UK]

Recently came back from another trip to Thailand (No marriage or visa application yet, long boring story - but should be next trip!).

Usually I fly into London Gatwick (and Historically Zurich, before we lost the Crossair link ), so first time for a long time that I had been through Heathrow.

Arrived at Terminal 3 Immigration. Perhaps 20 or so immigration desks (I am sure Scouse knows the EXACT number!). Half were open for "Foreign Passport holders" and with Q's 5 or 6 deep. The rest were closed, apart from TWO for "processing" Brits and EU nationals.......and consequently their was a Q a mile long. I could see that I was not the only person looking between the "Foreign national Q's" which were being processed quite quickly and the "British Q" which was moving very slowly.................and perhaps I was not the only one who was wishing at that point that they in fact had a Somali Passport............ I dunno if this is fairly normal in The Uk / Heathrow nowadays, but to say I was "dissappointed" would be an understatement.

Although as my name shows I am not English, so what you guys get up to in your country is of course not really a matter for me, and notwithstanding the "problems" folk have in getting a visa to the UK - I do get the feeling that England is one f#cked up place when it comes to dealing with "Foreigners" and "Locals".

Of course this is perhaps good news for when (if?) the other half makes it to Jersey............

[samran]

Jesrsey,

Trust me it is usually the other way around. Us foreigners (ie me) standing in line waiting to be grilled be a grumpy UK immigration officer assuming that you'll be an overstayer while the EU'ers whiz straight past with hardly a glance at the PP.

[lamonster]

Jersey,

I experienced much the same last time I went through Heathrow at Christmas - about 4 flights all landed at once and there must have been 500-1000 people all trying to get throught the EU and UK only desks. They did eventually open more counters - but I think this may have been down to the time of day - it was very early in the morning - so I assume we all got there just as the new shift was due on.

You should have seen all the indians trying to get through the VIP doors and told to s0d off and get in the q with everyone else. Felt sorry for those with Children though as the kids really wanted to escape after 12 hours on a plane...

[Jersey_UK]

Fair enough, I suppose.

I know being British I should LIKE being in a Q, but sometimes.................

[GuestHouse]

You can in fact present your British Passport at any desk, you have the right under Magna Carter to come and go "Without Let or Hindrance'.

[Thaicoon]

HEATHROW, it's a joke, worst b l o o d y airport in the world, i fly out of there on thai airways very often, no problem, the problem is the return, a right damm shambles, whem getting off the plane, thats if they have a gate available, 4 times now have to sit on the tarmac for over half hour, eventually get off, no trolleys, got to walk about half mile, get to fast track and immigration, h e l l have i got to London or Calcutta, pick up bagage then get told the lift is out of order, manhandle cases to level two, pay for the parking, then up another level to level three, the parking is a shambles, best thing last month was on level two by the parking ticket machine, there was a coke machine, my two daughters wanted 1 bottle water and 1 coke, put 3 quid in, nothing came out, i was not surprised seeing how all the other services are run, pressed coin eject, no refund so gave the machine a b l o o d y good kick, 12 quid came out, so the parking was on the house. it is a great pity Thai Airways do not fly from Gatwick, Manchester or Birmingham, as these three are quite well run.

When Thai nationals come to the UK, they must think which is the third world country, Thailand or the UK, i know what i would say after landing here, LHR, fairplay to Don Muang, it's a superb airport and quick, i have never had a problem, after flying to Thailand more than 50 times.

Edited May 5, 2006 by Thaicoon

[falangaman]

Had exactly the same problem at T3 Heathrow but the que did move fairly quickly, despite being about 300 people long!!

By the way, checking in at Terminal 3 Heathrow... what a nightmare! What a horrible, badly designed dump of a place that is!!

FM

[Thaicoon]

Had exactly the same problem at T3 Heathrow but the que did move fairly quickly, despite being about 300 people long!!

By the way, checking in at Terminal 3 Heathrow... what a nightmare! What a horrible, badly designed dump of a place that is!!

FM

I agree, checking in and parking is a nightmare, but not as bad as the return trip, it,s just another concrete jungle, a right blot on the landscape and a dump.

If i could fly with Thai from another airport i would.

[Jersey_UK]

My venting does seem to have hit a nerve!!

On the way out of Heathrow I did arrive in the middle of the night (it was either that or rely on me waking up early in the AM!) and so had plenty of time to explore. I agree it IS like the 3rd world, except in the 3rd world the national airport is regarded as some sort of national symbol with pride, even if the rest of the country is sh#te.

Plenty of Dossers at the airport (albeit cleared out in the AM). But what struck me both on the way out and way back in was how DIRTY and unkept the place was.

I did however meet a chap who was off to India, the only problem was he need to dispose of the last of his drugs before going which required him asking everyone (including staff) for Rizzlas. He ended finding some and then sitting outside "smoking" for several hours (not my "cup of tea"). But he was a good laugh and company for several hours.

[britmaveric]

Odd normally Euro/UK passport holder have max staff and foreigners get the 1/2 cue line. Interesting have to assume this was a one off, normally not like that.

[taxexile]

Odd normally Euro/UK passport holder have max staff and foreigners get the 1/2 cue line.

these days it is an offence punishable by amputation of the left hand for an immigration official to keep a foreigner waiting at immigration at any point of entry into the uk .

a wait of more than 60 seconds may be seen as offensive by a foreigner. legal aid is to be made available to those who choose to sue.

those with criminal records are given priority and must be processed extra quickly without any problems and fast tracked through to the free limousine service.

welcome to britain.

[lamonster]

Odd normally Euro/UK passport holder have max staff and foreigners get the 1/2 cue line.

these days it is an offence punishable by amputation of the left hand for an immigration official to keep a foreigner waiting at immigration at any point of entry into the uk .

...

welcome to britain.

Don't get me started on this one! The fact that we appear to have criminals running around the country that should have been deported is enough to make me mad when I can't get my gf a visa to come to the uk full stop...and it does annoy me that if I had an EEA/EU passsport or whatever they are calling themselves this week (and we were married obviously) would get the family permit for free with little hassle at all.

I realise that the above is off topic, and that there are good legal reasons for it - but none the less it still annoys me - I must be getting old.

And I must agree that Gatwick is a much nicer airport and I have had much less hassles with LGW checking in etc than Heathrow.

[GuestHouse]

I think it is fair to say that anyone of the LHR terminals deals with more passangers than all the passangers going in and out of all Thailand's airports.

Terminal 5 is under construction and, since 9/11, there has been significant progress in redistributing flights to other airports around Britain. My home town has had a nearby RAF airport transferred to Civil usage for that purpose providing me with a huge increase in the value of property I own there.

[samran]

welcome to britain.

home of the whinging pom......

[GuestHouse]

Brtish people living in Thailand, perhaps moving to the UK with Thai wives complaining about foreigners coming to live in Britain.... Surely a joke.

As for worries about foreign criminals in the UK... Not been to Pattaya then?! Thailand, and Pattaya in particular is fast gaining a reputation as the replacement Costa Del Crime.

[game4shame]

those with criminal records are given priority and must be processed extra quickly without any problems and fast tracked through to the free limousine service.

...........inside the limo they will find their welcome to UK pack - everything they'll need from tax credit and benefit applications to housing priority and council tax exemption forms.

[taxexile]

Brtish people living in Thailand, perhaps moving to the UK with Thai wives complaining about foreigners coming to live in Britain.... Surely a joke.

no joke guest house.

as far as i know , any brit wishing to take a thai woman home as a wife must guarantee the authorities that that lady will not be a burden in any way on the benefit system for at least 2 years.

my "whinge" , and the "whinge" of most other poms who "whinge " about immigration , is the seemingly open door available to those who wish to enter the country and immediately become dependant on state benefits for survival , and the ease with which benefits can be claimed without proper checks into the claimants.

and the presence of british criminals in pattaya does not mean that the presence of foreign criminals in the uk should go unmentioned. one has nothing to do with the other.

should the british authorities want the return of those on the run in thailand , then all they have to do is ask , i'm sure the thais would be only too happy to get rid of them.

but the british authorities dont have the will to do it.

[samran]

It is a vicious circle. Common everywhere which has 1) a booming economy and 2) an in principal humane refugee policy.

You have one school of thought which states that we should protect our own workers and jobs before letting others in. Sounds fine in theory. So a government, any government, goes about protecting them with things like work permits for foreigners, and not allowing work permits for low skilled jobs.

And then you have a booming economy, which needs people to do those low skilled jobs. You don't have enough UK'ers to do those jobs, but someone has to do them. So you have people, who can't via formal channels get a 'low skilled work permit', litterally come to the UK/Australia/US on a boat, through a desert, or in the back of a lorry to do those jobs no-one wants.

The only way they can stay legally, is to apply for refugee status, so that they can maximise their time in the UK, as the governemnt isn't willing to risk the wrath of the electorate and let them come via other means.

An illustrative tale on all of this is the plight of the Polish workers in the UK. Since the expansion of the EU, tens of thousands have come over to work, a right they have as EU citizens. How many have applied for benefits since 2004? Sweet F---All.

[taxexile]

then the laws should be changed to make these people legal , let them work and contribute taxes , and only claim benefits when they are entitled.

the way things are now just leads to trouble , resentment , alienation and worse....

......look at the gains made by the national front in yesterdays council elections. who wants to see more of that.

[Nignoy]

welcome to britain.

home of the whinging pom......

While not wishing to wake up our colonial readers used to think getting through Lhr immigration was the pits too, please come to sunny Brisbane and guaranteed spend the first 4 hours of your journey trying to get through immigration, does not matter what passport you have, and if they forget to plug the luggage scanning system in like they did in january you may spend the first 17 hours trying to get through, lets face it in this day and age does not matter which country you go to, the security has been beefed up so delays are a neccessary evil , Nignoy

[thai3]

An illustrative tale on all of this is the plight of the Polish workers in the UK. Since the expansion of the EU, tens of thousands have come over to work, a right they have as EU citizens. How many have applied for benefits since 2004? Sweet F---All.

Most of the poles seem to have skills and have not turned up with half a dozen brats in tow for the UK taxpayer to feed and house. Poles are the sort on immigrant workers we need, somalis for another example coming with 0 skills, no language and a few kids who then do not work are the kind we should not be letting in. One of the big myths is that immigrants do jobs we don't want to do. If you go to areas of the UK where there are few immigrants you don't find many jobs going a begging. Immigrants work for pay levels that we will not work for and so force down pay levels. The minimum wage levels are another myth where immigrants are concerned.

[GU22]

To bring this back on topic:-

Heathrow T3 is the pits. An old building, not enough room for the number of passengers passing through.

T4, on the other hand, is new (ish), roomy and actually feels welcoming.

Moral, if flying BKK to LHR, go with BA/Quantas so you arrive at T4.

Wonder what T5 will be like when it's finished?

[GuestHouse]

Like I say, the anti immigration brigade ranting again and doing so from the country they chose to emigrate to. A Joke.

Britain needs, and has for a long time needed immigrants. Any job center you visit in the UK right now has lists of unfilled jobs. And it’s not just low skilled work, doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers any and all of the professions, need and are accepting immigrants.

The company I work for would collapse if the immigrant staff left overnight, as would our local hospital.

[the gent]

The last time I returned to the UK, arriving at Gatwick, I too noticed that the queues for the EU channel were significantly longer than those for other nationals. Instead of the usual process where one simply filed through in a steady flow showing the passport photo page, we all were presented individually to the immigration officer who scrutinised the passport at length.

In reply to my query as to why the change in procedure, she told me it was in response to the trend that the abuse of EU documents now constituted the greatest challenge to the immigration on entry control. Detecting forgeries etc is obviously time consuming hence the inevitable delay. Still, I have waited longer in a queue at Sainsbury's without complaint so I don't think it too much of an imposition to do likewise for something most would agree to be more important.However, she did acknowledge that their processing could be improved but this was dependent upon re- configuring the arrivals hall to account for the change in how the passenger flow was to be managed.

Gatwick pales into insignificance compared to Heathrow whose myriad problems can only be addressed with the opening of T5

[game4shame]

Like I say, the anti immigration brigade ranting again and doing so from the country they chose to emigrate to. A Joke.

Britain needs, and has for a long time needed immigrants. Any job center you visit in the UK right now has lists of unfilled jobs. And it’s not just low skilled work, doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers any and all of the professions, need and are accepting immigrants.

The company I work for would collapse if the immigrant staff left overnight, as would our local hospital.

skilled migration isn't the issue here. bring as many medical and professional migrants as you want.

it's the 'let's go to the UK and milk the rich b*stards benefit system dry' attitude that grinds.

but it's not only foreigners that are guilty. British nationals take the piss with benefits too.

migration and benefits are 2 areas I don't think the current government have handled particularly well.

Edited May 6, 2006 by game4shame

[Rinrada]

To bring this back on topic:-

Heathrow T3 is the pits. An old building, not enough room for the number of passengers passing through.

T4, on the other hand, is new (ish), roomy and actually feels welcoming.

Moral, if flying BKK to LHR, go with BA/Quantas so you arrive at T4.

Wonder what T5 will be like when it's finished?

Project Overview....should be nice

A new landmark for London, Terminal 5 will be one of the world’s most exciting airport terminals, visually stunning and easy to use; a fitting gateway to the UK.

Due to open on 30 March 2008, BAA’s £4.2 billion investment will cater for around 30 million passengers annually and provide much needed terminal and airfield capacity to ease congestion and enable Heathrow to maximise use of its existing runways.

On completion, British Airways will transfer its entire operation, currently split between Terminals 1 and 4, to T5. As a result BAA will be able to address the investment and refurbishment needs of the four remaining terminals and complete the transformation of Heathrow.

A highly complex programme of works

T5 is one of Europe’s largest construction projects.With 16 major projects and over 147 sub-projects, it encompasses a vast and hugely complex programme of works. Set to be a template for major construction projects of the future, T5 is pushing the boundaries of traditional construction, harnessing innovation and best practice from other industries and translating it into mainstream construction management.

In addition to the main terminal building, T5 also consists of two satellite buildings (the second of which will be completed by 2011), 60 aircraft stands, a new air traffic control tower, a 4,000 space multi-storey car park, the creation of a new spur road from the M25, a 600-bed hotel, the diversion of two rivers and over 13km of bored tunnel, including extensions to the Heathrow Express and Piccadilly Line services.....more....

http://www.baa.com/portal/site/default/men...b42410c02865a0/

[taxexile]

guesthouse

Like I say, the anti immigration brigade ranting again and doing so from the country they chose to emigrate to. A Joke.

Britain needs, and has for a long time needed immigrants. Any job center you visit in the UK right now has lists of unfilled jobs. And it’s not just low skilled work, doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers any and all of the professions, need and are accepting immigrants.

well guesthouse , there is immigration of those with skills and responsibility , and then there is immigration of scumbag trash.

the uk government , and yourself , will not differentiate between the two , (perhaps in case someone might accuse them of racism) , just open the door for all.

Foreign killers and rapists can gain British passports

By Ben Leapman, Home Affairs Correspondent

(Filed: 07/05/2006)

Foreign ex-convicts can gain British citizenship - even if they have served time for rape or murder, government papers reveal.

No offence, however grave, is an automatic barrier to obtaining a British passport. But despite this, the Home Office has no idea how many former prisoners have gone on to become British citizens. Nor can it say how many of the 1,023 foreign prisoners freed without being considered for deportation - in the fiasco that led to Charles Clarke's sacking as Home Secretary last week - have since received British passports.

The revelations come after it emerged that a foreign national who served time for robbery in the 1990s was granted citizenship in 2004, before going on to commit an alleged terrorist act.

According to an Immigration Service rulebook, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, even life-sentence prisoners "may be granted" citizenship, provided they have been out of jail for 20 years and have "contributed positively to society". "Persistent offenders" may be rejected, but "a decision to refuse in these circumstances should only be taken after careful consideration".

While those who have just been freed from jail cannot be granted citizenship immediately, the rulebook says they "may be invited to re-apply after a suitable interval", typically five years after release for serious offenders.

Critics pointed out that while a criminal record was no bar to a passport, applicants could be rejected if they simply failed a "Britishness" test, which includes questions on the benefits system. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "I don't see why anybody should get citizenship if they have committed an offence in Britain warranting more than 12 months in prison." Sir Andrew Green, of the Migration Watch pressure group, said: "There should be a clear presumption against granting citizenship for serious or persistent offenders."

Suleman Nagdi, of the Federation of Muslim Organisations in Leicestershire, who helps Somali and Iraqi immigrants to apply for passports, said the lax policy was "giving oxygen to the extreme Right". He added: "We need a more robust vetting system."

even immigrant associations in the uk are calling for a tightening up of procedures , to keep out the trash.

[The Real Mandrake]

Last time I arrived at LHR (on SQ) the flight was held over the SE of England, probably because something broke. After landing, we had to endure another 45 minutes sat on the tarmac before getting off the plane, probably because something broke. When we were issuesd a gate, it took a lifetime to get off the aircraft, because the magic walkway that docks with the aircraft broke, so we had to wait for an engineer, who was probably on his tea break and couldn't be disturbed. In the end, an old fasioned one was used and we took a bus from the aircraft to the terminal building. En route, the way was blocked because a baggage vehicle was parked in our way. I heard the bus driver ask a groundsman to move it but the groundsman said it wasn't his job and he'd 'have the union onto him' if he moved it without authorisation.

On my way to immigration, a very long escalator I was using broke down when I was half way up it, so I had to walk, not that walking is a problem for me, I just thought to myself 'How typical'.

My bags took ages to come to the carousel and after an hour or so, a guy with a walkie talkie told us that they were having trouble with a coupling on a baggage buggy, no doubt it had broken.

You know that underground walkway that gets you to the bus station in LHR?... well, the moving walkways were closed for repairs and the lift up to ground level was... broken.

Heathrow airport... a shining example of British efficiency and pride.

Edited May 7, 2006 by The Real Mandrake

[markuk]

Recently came back from another trip to Thailand (No marriage or visa application yet, long boring story - but should be next trip!).

Usually I fly into London Gatwick (and Historically Zurich, before we lost the Crossair link ), so first time for a long time that I had been through Heathrow.

Arrived at Terminal 3 Immigration. Perhaps 20 or so immigration desks (I am sure Scouse knows the EXACT number!). Half were open for "Foreign Passport holders" and with Q's 5 or 6 deep. The rest were closed, apart from TWO for "processing" Brits and EU nationals.......and consequently their was a Q a mile long. I could see that I was not the only person looking between the "Foreign national Q's" which were being processed quite quickly and the "British Q" which was moving very slowly.................and perhaps I was not the only one who was wishing at that point that they in fact had a Somali Passport............ I dunno if this is fairly normal in The Uk / Heathrow nowadays, but to say I was "dissappointed" would be an understatement.

Although as my name shows I am not English, so what you guys get up to in your country is of course not really a matter for me, and notwithstanding the "problems" folk have in getting a visa to the UK - I do get the feeling that England is one f#cked up place when it comes to dealing with "Foreigners" and "Locals".

Of course this is perhaps good news for when (if?) the other half makes it to Jersey............

I have seen the same on many occasions, i go with my wife through the foreigner desk, much quicker and they cannot tell you to use the other q.

[samran]

I wonder how many of the knockers here would qualify to emigrate to the UK if they weren't born with UK nationality in the first place. Probably very few.

As I have said before, you guys have set the bar waaaaay too high for people to enter, so they'll enter through via other means, either pretending to be refugees, or just coming illegally.

And no matter now much the Sun or the Telegraph try and beat up a story, I'd suspect that it is just that...a beat up. If you chose to read the morninic press of a morning and nothing else, then I guess that is your problem.

I'll say one thing, I always felt much more safe walking through immigrant areas of London and other UK cities where immigrants had settled than suburbs which were populated by shaved headed white yobs roaming around in the white 'En-ger-land' football jerseys.