How does the UK know you left?

[Dave_Was]

Hello Everyone,

My question is, if you come in on a visitors visa and leave at the correct time how do the authorities know that you came in and left on time?

My situation is that I live in the US with my wife. I am a UK Citizen and my wife an Indian citizen. Somewhere down the line we will move to the UK. About a year ago, we applied for a two year multiple entry visitors visa, so we could go and visit my parents and generally visit London, where I grew up.

We have been back twice, both about 10 day stays and both times flying into and out of Heathrow.

Were we supposed to do anything special when we left? We basically just got on the plane and flew back to the US. As we are permanent residents in the US we don't get stamps in our passports on entry to the US.

I'm a bit of a worrier, and this just popped into my head.

Thanks,

Dave.

[Dawie]

They don't know. There are no regular exit controls at British airports.

[Administrator]

.

Were your passports scanned at any point? If yes, there is an electronic record. There are also the flight records.

Physical stamps are rapidly becoming anachronistic, so don't go by that without more information.

In the future, if this concerns you, you can request that stamps be placed in your passports. You might get an odd look, but you can explain you need the record of it (in your opinion).

the Admin

[Christophe]

Dawie is right - the Home Office doesn't know, since there are no regular exit controls at UK ports and airports: they are, it is said, being re-introduced, but they are sporadic, and when they do exist no record is kept of who has left.

I imagine, though, from what you say, that you won't have too much trouble proving that you have been in the US (rather than overstaying in the UK) if you should have to do that. Things such as pay statements, credit card bills, automatic teller machine receipts, as well as the balance of probabilities, will all point to your being in the US.

[Dawie]

.

Were your passports scanned at any point? If yes, there is an electronic record. There are also the flight records.

Physical stamps are rapidly becoming anachronistic, so don't go by that without more information.

In the future, if this concerns you, you can request that stamps be placed in your passports. You might get an odd look, but you can explain you need the record of it (in your opinion).

the Admin

Flight records are not used for immigration control, nor does the Home Office have regular access to them, at least not publicly. Furthermore, when getting on a plane in the UK, your passport is not even required to get through to airside. They will always ask to see your boarding card though as you go through security. The only time your passport is normally looked at is when you are checking in, and again at the boarding gate as you board the plane.

You cannot request an exit stamp at a UK airport, because they do not exist.

[INSIDER]

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Were your passports scanned at any point? If yes, there is an electronic record. There are also the flight records.

Even when passports are scanned there is no electric record kept by immigration. A passport can be scanned at the airport for any number of
reasons making any such record unreliable as proof of travel. In addition flight records are not checked as a matter of course, a special request to comply with the data protection act must be submitted. Even then since there are often several airlines serving the same route how many such requests will need to be submitted?

[Dave_Was]

So what is the official way of doing it?

No one asked or told us to do anything different to what we did. When we arrived my wife told the immigration official that we were staying for two weeks and then leaving back for the US. We also showed our Green Cards and the flight e-ticket.

My wife and I stayed for the holiday and then left. Everything is in my name in the US so she doesn't have any bills, atm receipts, etc. I was living in the US before we got married and so everything was in my name and we didn't see the need to change it.

She did just get her learners permit for her driving licence, and that has a photograph and date and is issued by the state, so I'll scan a copy of that for our records.

I also have copies of phone calls to her family from our home phone number and will make copies of that too.

Just that I'm hearing horror stories about overstayers and I want to make sure that she doesn't get classed as one.

Any comments?

[Wanderer]

So, not wanting to highjack this thread, but my gf was in germany for the middle year of our three years together.

She has a german WP in her passport, but still has all her post for that year here at our address, how would HO know she hadnt lived here with me and had frequent hops to germany on her WP, ie not LIVED in germany?

Clutching at straws for my ruined UPV plans here!

[Christophe]

Dave, I think you're worrying about nothing. I still think that when, or if, you decide to live in the UK and therefore come to apply for a spouse visa for your wife, you won't have any problem proving that your wife has been in the USA with you.

The British officials are fully aware that there are no routine exit controls at UK ports: it is a situation that they face every day. They are therefore not going to be looking for proof from passports or (non-existent) records of departures.

People who are found to have overstayed have overstayed. This is not the case with your wife, and I don't think you have anything to worry about on that score - I realise that it is easy for me to sit here and say that, but I really don't.

[johnboy096]

.

Were your passports scanned at any point? If yes, there is an electronic record. There are also the flight records.

Physical stamps are rapidly becoming anachronistic, so don't go by that without more information.

In the future, if this concerns you, you can request that stamps be placed in your passports. You might get an odd look, but you can explain you need the record of it (in your opinion).

the Admin

So what would be a valid reason?

As once my younger brother asked for his passport to be stamped because he wanted to prove he had been to a certain country - the IO just gave him a quizzical look and didn't stamp it. lol

[Dave_Was]

-[SNIP]-

The British officials are fully aware that there are no routine exit controls at UK ports: it is a situation that they face every day. They are therefore not going to be looking for proof from passports or (non-existent) records of departures.

-[SNIP]-

I think that this is the thing I wasn't sure of.

Still it just seems that the systems a mess, it's open to abuse. Someone could overstay, but keep their nose clean and then just leave.

In the US you have to return a portion of your landing immigration card when you leave and they tally it up that way.

I think that next time my wife and I land in the UK we'll ask the immigration official what the exit procedure is.

[Christophe]

...Still it just seems that the systems a mess, it's open to abuse...

You're not wrong there!

...I think that next time my wife and I land in the UK we'll ask the immigration official what the exit procedure is...

That's fine if there is an immigration official to ask. And even if there is, they might not be in a position to stamp your wife's passport anyway, because when immigration officials are in place to check departing passengers, they're not necessarily fully equipped with stamps and so on...

[thirdwave]

Hello Everyone,

My question is, if you come in on a visitors visa and leave at the correct time how do the authorities know that you came in and left on time?

My situation is that I live in the US with my wife. I am a UK Citizen and my wife an Indian citizen. Somewhere down the line we will move to the UK. About a year ago, we applied for a two year multiple entry visitors visa, so we could go and visit my parents and generally visit London, where I grew up.

We have been back twice, both about 10 day stays and both times flying into and out of Heathrow.

Were we supposed to do anything special when we left? We basically just got on the plane and flew back to the US. As we are permanent residents in the US we don't get stamps in our passports on entry to the US.

I'm a bit of a worrier, and this just popped into my head.

Thanks,

Dave.

Dave,are u trying to tell us tht u've visited London twice recently & still want to move there???

[Dave_Was]

...Still it just seems that the systems a mess, it's open to abuse...

You're not wrong there!

...I think that next time my wife and I land in the UK we'll ask the immigration official what the exit procedure is...

That's fine if there is an immigration official to ask. And even if there is, they might not be in a position to stamp your wife's passport anyway, because when immigration officials are in place to check departing passengers, they're not necessarily fully equipped with stamps and so on...

Christophe,

I meant that when we land and are grilled by the incoming immigration officer we'll ask him/her what we should do on the way out.

Thanks,

Dave.

[Dave_Was]

Hello Everyone,

My question is, if you come in on a visitors visa and leave at the correct time how do the authorities know that you came in and left on time?

My situation is that I live in the US with my wife. I am a UK Citizen and my wife an Indian citizen. Somewhere down the line we will move to the UK. About a year ago, we applied for a two year multiple entry visitors visa, so we could go and visit my parents and generally visit London, where I grew up.

We have been back twice, both about 10 day stays and both times flying into and out of Heathrow.

Were we supposed to do anything special when we left? We basically just got on the plane and flew back to the US. As we are permanent residents in the US we don't get stamps in our passports on entry to the US.

I'm a bit of a worrier, and this just popped into my head.

Thanks,

Dave.

Dave,are u trying to tell us tht u've visited London twice recently & still want to move there???

I was born and raised just outside of London. I'm closer to Heathrow, but nowadays anything inside the M25 is classed as the outskirts of London.

I love the day to day living in the US, but I have a lot of family still in the UK my parents, siblings, neices, nephews, aunts, uncles, etc. My wife has some distant family there too. In the US neither my wife or I have anyone apart from each other. For now that's fine but we are beginning to feel that when we are blessed with children, we'll want them to have good ties to the rest of the family. 10 days holiday is not enough.

Of course there are things that I won't like, like the cost of living, traffic, etc, but life is a comprimise and I know I wont be able to get my family over to the US so we will probably have to go back to the UK.