Heathrow Passport controls

[wildwoods]

In which case, I shall apologise and withdraw with "glasses houses" comment.

 

Mind you, I've been 6 times to the States ( 5 by plane, once by ship ) and never really had too much of a delay now I think about it.

 

We did !! Twice now at Miami we have waited an hour or so in the immigration ques :( and then we are not made to feel very welcome ( it's not their job I know but we spend two trips a year in Florida spending our money in the local economy) however we always love to see them squirm when they ask our daughter for her finger prints ........shes an amputee ! So they are not exactly observant!

[ToadOfToadHall]

We did !! Twice now at Miami we have waited an hour or so in the immigration ques :( and then we are not made to feel very welcome ( it's not their job I know but we spend two trips a year in Florida spending our money in the local economy) however we always love to see them squirm when they ask our daughter for her finger prints ........shes an amputee ! So they are not exactly observant!

 

I think Florida is well known for being very poor indeed. But I've not been myself so I've no first hand knowledge. I've only landed at New York ( both JFK and Newark ) and once onwards to Chicago. Also to Denver and Minneapolis-St Paul.

 

That's staggering regarding fingerprints from an amputee.

 

And some ( well, most ) of the US female immigration officers would frighten a police horse !!

[bazzaw]

Re Heathrow

 

After reading many newspaper articles regarding the latest delays through immigration , I have gotten the impression that the worst terminal is terminal 5???

 

I have to add that it took us 2 hours to get through Immigration in 2008 - arriving from Australia at terminal 3.

 

 

Barry

[ToadOfToadHall]

I have to add that it took us 2 hours to get through Immigration in 2008 - arriving from Australia at terminal 3.

 

Barry

 

Yes, but that was just you Barry ! :D

[Lake Barcroft Sailor]

I could not agree with you more. My relatives will not come over any more due to the extreme treatment of foreign visitors. I feel that the US immigration/TSA, etc. are completely out of control. We are all treated as criminals. Frisking Granny, searching 7 year olds and other absurdities. In the history of aviation, terrorist acts have been performed by a very small, well defined group of young males. In fact, we recently flew domestically from Florida to Phoenix, Arizona. TSA treated us terribly and we make the same trip 6 times a year. Believe me, I was not in any way trashing Britain. As I stated, I was partially raised there and have much family there. It is also my home in mind if not by citizenship.

 

Even before I got to this series of posts, my thought was "They must be getting back at the "Americans" (US) for our poor immigration processing." It is terrible for non-citizens to get processed into the US, and, sometimes, not that much better for US Citizens, which we are. My husband and I have been very poorly treated, including being told that we could not go through immigration when we were just partners because we were not "related." A few years ago, on our cruise to Alaska, we met a number of couples from the UK who all said that they would never come to the US because of the poor treatment they received. On that particular voyage, Vancouver to Alaska, the immigration was done pre-departure and took so long that the sail away was delayed by 2 hours. It took us about 1 and 1/2 hours to get through and at least 3 hours for all others. Alas, I hold out little hope for improvement, at least on this side of the pond, as TSA and the Immigration service seem to be staffed entirely by those who are required to leave all common sense, to say nothing of common courtesy, at the door before they report to work.

[QuarryMan72]

Yes, but that was just you Barry ! :D

 

Took me about three hours to get through immigration at Perth once. The guy on the desk asked me if I had a criminal record. I told him I didn't think you needed one any more. From there on in it was all downhill :cool:

[ToadOfToadHall]

Took me about three hours to get through immigration at Perth once. The guy on the desk asked me if I had a criminal record. I told him I didn't think you needed one any more. From there on in it was all downhill :cool:

 

I'm always telling my wife the only reason I'd go to Australia is to say that line !

[QuarryMan72]

I'm always telling my wife the only reason I'd go to Australia is to say that line !

 

The old ones are often the best ones :)

[david,Mississauga]

In the 1970s – and perhaps later – before the Common Market became the EU, there was a priority queue at Heathrow for citizens of the British Commonwealth – those countries whose parliaments supported Britain in Sept. 1939. A while later, that priority was given to citizens of the EU and Commonwealth people were treated as foreigners. In the 1980s my late father made the comment: “Canadian soldiers weren’t treated as foreigners in 1939 to 1945 when we came over to support the mother country.” Our English relatives agreed with that comment.

 

It’s been over 20 years since I have landed at a UK airport. If I fly one way it is westbound. When I did fly to the UK after the consideration for the Commonwealth was eliminated, I was lucky the queues for foreigners weren’t too bad at either Heathrow or Gatwick. I’m not sure when Cunard started its arrangement with HM’s immigration service for the eastbound crossings, but it’s one valuable advantage for crossing by sea.

[Scrapnana]

The wait was so bad at Heathrow that it made the NBC nightly news last night. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47227971

 

I've always found the process to go very quickly at Heathrow except for the time I flew in from Sydney. By the time we walked down endless corridors and stood in line it seemed almost as long as the flight from Sydney!

[hansol1966]

On transatlantics the immigration checks are conducted onboard (eastbound)

admittedly with queues...... why not westbound...so much better.

[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]

On transatlantics the immigration checks are conducted onboard (eastbound)

admittedly with queues...... why not westbound...so much better.

They used to be done Westbound in the days of the five night crossing. Probably impractical now due to the desire to fingerprint and photograph the victims.

 

To avoid the queues on the Eastbound, wait until late afternoon and you can usually walk straight up and be processed. They don't mind even if you turn up in advance of your designated day when it's quiet, as everyone must be dealt with at some stage.

 

M-AR

[Sauer-kraut]

On transatlantics the immigration checks are conducted onboard (eastbound)

admittedly with queues...... why not westbound...so much better.

 

I wish that they'd list a job on USAjobs.gov for an Immigration Officer for transatlantic voyages. I'd be there in a heart beat! (Of course I'd have to change government agencies because I'm not affiliated with ICE at the moment).

 

I'd just go back and forth on board, with my rubber stamp only working on the Westbound portion!

[ToadOfToadHall]

They used to be done Westbound in the days of the five night crossing. Probably impractical now due to the desire to fingerprint and photograph the victims.

 

To avoid the queues on the Eastbound, wait until late afternoon and you can usually walk straight up and be processed. They don't mind even if you turn up in advance of your designated day when it's quiet, as everyone must be dealt with at some stage.

 

M-AR

 

We did that last time. I forgot all about it and missed out "slot". So we just trotted along the next day. There was no queue and nothing was said.

 

And, it's got to be the world's cushiest job !

[safarigal]

The proposed strike on May 10th is not likely to help Heathrow's image much. Maybe if there are significant delays they will try to blame it on the weather again!

[RCNslr]

:D Having been born in Scotland and lived there for 11 years, I do enjoy traipsing back to the UK and have yet to be seriously slowed by the entry gatekeepers. The best way to arrive is definitely by Cunard, but LHR is not all that bad - I do it twice a year from Canada. My concern is leaving, or connecting to Ireland which seems to take an unusual amount of ceremony (body tapping) bag searching and time.

Given the new lad on the job (former Wiltshire police Chief) for the UK form of the TSA, it appears that we will all be subjected to queues, and time delays. Perhaps they should bring back rationing for arrivals so that only those with ration tickets can go through (just kidding!).

Anyway, I do hope it resolves itself before long, as the wonderful people in UK deserve to be presented in the best of lights for new arrivals especially since it is the Queen's diamond Jubilee and there is the Olympic thing.

Now, if only I had taken the QM2 for my June trip.....silly me.