Passport exit checks begin at UK ports and borders

[Basil B]

Data on all passengers leaving the UK is to be collected and handed to the Home Office under a scheme being phased in at ports and border crossings.

Transport staff will record details of all travellers leaving by commercial air, sea and rail transport.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32205970

Long time overdue...

Scheme starts today, initially only 25% passenger details verified raising to 100% by June.

[durhamboy]

Totally agree Basil. You may recall I started a thread about this a few months ago when my wife legitimately left the UK on a totally blank Thai passport.

Isn't it amazing that with all the hoops and BRPs that visa applicants have to obtain get into the country (settlement, student, tourist and visit) there is no proper procedure in place up to now to check that they leave within the period of their visa! Apparently it's been like that for 2 years and now the reimposition of exit checks is causing quite a few logistical problems to ports of exit e.g. Eurostar.

[Eff1n2ret]

Totally agree Basil. You may recall I started a thread about this a few months ago when my wife legitimately left the UK on a totally blank Thai passport.

Isn't it amazing that with all the hoops and BRPs that visa applicants have to obtain get into the country (settlement, student, tourist and visit) there is no proper procedure in place up to now to check that they leave within the period of their visa! Apparently it's been like that for 2 years and now the reimposition of exit checks is causing quite a few logistical problems to ports of exit e.g. Eurostar.

A typo perhaps? 20 years is nearer the mark, although there was a brief period a few years back when they re-instituted embarkation checks at some of the major airports so that they could boost their asylum and enforcement removal statistics by serving papers on failed asylum seekers and overstayers who were leaving voluntarily anyway.

When they originally abandoned the checks around 1993-95 we were told that the money saved would be put towards reducing the backlog of asylum applications. That went well.

[theoldgit]

As I understand it these checks are actually being carried out by the carriers own staff staff rather than Border Force Officers, and they are calling these checks Passport Verification checks rather than the old Embarkation Controls.

A assume this new checks will count people out and they have said that they be checking if a person has overstayed their visa or right to remain in the UK, I'm not quite sure what these staff would do if they come across a passenger who has overstayed, they can certainly prevent them from travelling but I doubt if they could detain.

As for the cost of this new procedure, I hope the Government are covering the costs, on TV this morning the guy from Eurotunnel indicated that it has cost his company £2m to implement.

[paz]

As I understand it these checks are actually being carried out by the carriers own staff staff rather than Border Force Officers, and they are calling these checks Passport Verification checks rather than the old Embarkation Controls.

A assume this new checks will count people out and they have said that they be checking if a person has overstayed their visa or right to remain in the UK, I'm not quite sure what these staff would do if they come across a passenger who has overstayed, they can certainly prevent them from travelling but I doubt if they could detain.

As for the cost of this new procedure, I hope the Government are covering the costs, on TV this morning the guy from Eurotunnel indicated that it has cost his company £2m to implement.

Seems identical to what the US does.

[durhamboy]

Funny that they start introducing this in the run up to a general election! Cynical old me!