Airline agent confused--travelling from US to UK

[ElizabethApricot]

Hello, I travelled from the US to the UK with my two daughters (4 year old and 2 year old) on Friday, after visiting family in the US for two weeks. My husband is Polish (couldn't get holiday to travel with us), I'm American, 4 year old is American+ Polish, 2 year old is British+American+ Polish. After trying to check in to the flight to UK in the Delta app, there was a note that myself and 4 year old needed to see an airline agent because we don't have a return ticket. When we got to the airport I showed the agent my US passport+ EU Exit settlement scheme residence card. I then gave the agent my daughter's US passport plus her Polish ID card which has her settled status linked to it. I also gave him a share code which I had generated. The agent looked really confused, then said he'd put us down as staying for 6 months and let them deal with it at the other end. I'm glad he didn't refuse to let us board the flight, but I'm afraid of it was my husband travelling on only his Polish passport he might have been refused. Is there anything we should do differently when travelling to prove our right to live in the UK to the airline agents? We had no trouble at the UK border and the UK border guard even said that my daughter's settled status is linked to her US passport as well as her Polish ID.

[alterhase58]

It is unfortunate - foreign airport agents don't have access to Home Office systems and frequently demand a "visa" or a "card" - looks like a problem with UK immigration going all digital. These stories are quite frequent here and in other forums. Can't really suggest much apart from carrying UKVI paperwork that states one has status, and persist in challenging difficult agents.

[meself2]

Since your family members have passports that allow traveling to UK without visa, you should be fine regardless, but the whole situation is a mess indeed. Can't do anything about it, though.

[vinny]

If wrongly refused boarding, then ask the airline to contact a Chief Immigration Officer directly.

[ElizabethApricot]

If wrongly refused boarding, then ask the airline to contact a Chief Immigration Officer directly.

Noted--thank you for the advice.

[ElizabethApricot]

It is unfortunate - foreign airport agents don't have access to Home Office systems and frequently demand a "visa" or a "card" - looks like a problem with UK immigration going all digital. These stories are quite frequent here and in other forums. Can't really suggest much apart from carrying UKVI paperwork that states one has status, and persist in challenging difficult agents.

Thanks, I will do for future trips. For some reason my husband and I received a confirmation letter for our status, but our 4 year old never did. However, I suppose we could print the information that is displayed when using a share code.

[kamoe]

I also gave him a share code which I had generated.

This is useless outside of the UK. Share codes are not meant for airlines, but for landlords and employers, and other UK authorities, to check your status.

Airlines will always want a physical document, so it's usually best to travel on the strength of your passport and accept the 6-month allowance, since the UK border will get it right, anyway. But I agree this should not be this way, since other less fortunate nationalities can't relay on their passports, and this is just unfair and a big mess.

[Ticktack]

You overwhelmed the airline staff with too much paperwork. You could have just said that you're resident in the UK and show the cards you showed.

Your husband wouldn't have has any problems coming to the UK because they know about European passports.

I recently travelled from the UK to Canada, Canada to the US, US to Canada then Canada to the UK. There were 2 different tickets. One to Canada and back to the UK and the other from Canada to the US and back to Canada.

I got questioned at YYZ when I explained that I was in Canada for 3 days and 3 days (USA in between). IO just asked if it was on the same airline and I replied NO, reason was it was cheaper to fly that way.
Entry to US and back, no problems. But when I got back to Canada, I was simply asked why I was here. I replied that I fly back to the UK from here and was only here for 3 days.

So, the most important thing is the strength of your passport and what it allows you to do.

Oh, on my way out of the UK, I met some overzealous airline staff when I tried to print my boarding pass. She asked for my reason for visiting Canada, and I simply just said vacation. Then she asked how long I was travelling for, at this point I got vexed and said "what's with the many questions"? Are you immigration?
She said the Canadian government empowered them to ask such questions and it was a general thing.
I wasn't my first time travelling to Canada, never heard that before. But she stopped asking questions after that and directed me to who could help print my boarding pass.

[birkeneve]

How were you able to link both the US and Polish passports to the settlement status?

[ElizabethApricot]

How were you able to link both the US and Polish passports to the settlement status?

Honestly I haven't no idea. I wasn't even aware her passport was linked until the border guard in the UK told me. I guess the Home Office did it on their own at some point? I can't remember if we input her US passport along with her Polish ID information when we applied for her settled status.

[birkeneve]

Did you come to the UK based on the EU settlement scheme?

For some reason, only my son's Norwegian passport is linked even though I did state he has Canadian as well.

I was hoping to find a way to link his Canadian one along with his Norwegian one because the Norwegian Embassy is as useless as boobs on a bull at this point.

[ElizabethApricot]

How were you able to link both the US and Polish passports to the settlement status?

Also to clarify she doesn't have a Polish passport yet, just a Polish ID which we picked up in Poland back in 2019 while she was still a baby. I know technically she should have entered Poland on a Polish passport but they don't seem to be strict about that, and we live 5 hours from London and it was enough of a pain just going to the US embassy to get the American ones. (It was so hard to even book an appointment at the US embassy--hopefully it's not as bad for the Polish embassy.) We are planning to get Polish passports for both our girls this autumn though because of the visa waiver thing rolling out in the EU

[ElizabethApricot]

Did you come to the UK based on the EU settlement scheme?

For some reason, only my son's Norwegian passport is linked even though I did state he has Canadian as well.

I was hoping to find a way to link his Canadian one along with his Norwegian one because the Norwegian Embassy is as useless as boobs on a bull at this point.

Pure speculation -- maybe they can only link one passport and one ID card? She doesn't have a Polish passport but has a Polish national ID card

Husband and I came to UK based on free movement prior to Brexit (but as a third country national I had to apply for family permit, then residence card). Both daughters were born in the UK. Youngest has British citizenship due to husband having settled status before she was born in 2021. For the oldest (born 2019) we were finding it too difficult to prove she's British due to my husband never previously applying for permanent residence under the old system and being in and out of the UK. Therefore we are in the process of registering her as British and she has settled status in the meantime