UK Travel news! Urgent!

[British]

Hi All,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4778615.stm?ls

This the news i ahve seen now.

It looks like nothing can be taken and brought in to the UK, except passport and a wallet.

I was having a hand baggage full of documents like council tax, joint bank statements etc, when brining my wife back to UK on her spouse visa.

Now if we are not allowed these things, what do we do?

Would it be just OK for me to bring my wife to UK with just her passport, valid settlement visa stamp and her wallet?

Please comment.

[JAJ]

It looks like nothing can be taken and brought in to the UK, except passport and a wallet.

FWIW, I can't see a hand luggage ban being sustainable for more than a short period of time. (the aviation business model is built around hand luggage).

[Christophe]

You can bring all of those things - at the moment though the items that you can take as carry-on luggage are strictly limited (to, e.g., wallet, essential medicines, travel document), so these other items would have to be checked in to the hold, at least on outbound flights from the UK.

The visa in your wife's passport ought to be sufficient to allow entry into the UK in any case. Should anything else be required at the point of entry you will have to explain the situation - this would cause delays, certainly, but the problem would not be insurmountable. But with the visa it is not likely that anything else would be asked for.

But two other points:
(a) When are you travelling? This arrangement is (presumably) not a permanent one. The Home Secretary said earlier today that it would pertain only as long as necessary (vague, I know, but there was, at that time, no question that it was going to go on for ever).
(b) Do the restrictions on carry-on luggage apply to inbound flights to the UK, or only to outbound flights from the UK?

[British]

Cheers Chris.

But two other points:
(a) When are you travelling? This arrangement is (presumably) not a permanent one. The Home Secretary said earlier today that it would pertain only as long as necessary (vague, I know, but there was, at that
time, no question that it was going to go on for ever).


I am flying out tomorrow morning and brining in my family on Sunday (13th August) evening to UK.

(b) Do the restrictions on carry-on luggage apply to inbound flights to the UK, or only to outbound flights from the UK?

I am not sure about hte inbound flights, but the point is all of the documentary evidence i am talking about here, are with me in the UK - so i will first need to tkae them to India and then bring it back to UK when coming back.

These are evidence to prove our marriage still exists etc. (Just in case they ask for it ot be proved - just like as for ILR application) so that she is allowed in without any issues. She is coming back to UK after 5.5 months. She went out there to have our baby delivered there in India.

[Christophe]

It seems that the carry-on restrictions are affecting in-bound flights (see, e.g. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/20 ... 712148.htm).

I take your point about wanting to take the documentation with you. The risk, of course, is that it will get lost in transit; on that basis I'd be inclined not to take it. My very strong suspicion is that with the visa in the passport there should be little problem, and of course with the new babe-in-arms, there would seem to be little doubt that the marriage is still in existence.

Others might have more expert advice, either on the luggage situation or the visa situation. I hope the trip goes well and you all arrive safely home in the UK next Sunday.

[ppron747]

I'm not sure whether that's a question or not, British.

If it is, the answer is put the documents in your suitcase, and check it in. You certainly won't need them on the way out. And you'll find out what the situation is when you get to the airport for the return journey - if not before.

The chances of your needing the additional documents when you get back to UK seem pretty remote, to me. If by some mischance they are needed, then Immigration will know about the security situation, and are sure to make appropriate arrangements.

[Christophe]

FWIW, I can't see a hand luggage ban being sustainable for more than a short period of time. (the aviation business model is built around hand luggage).

That is certainly true. Airlines, and airports, will obviously be keen to return what has hitherto been regarded as normal as soon as possible.

And there is no doubt a degree of over-reaction in all of this - the "until-we-know-what-we're-doing-let's-do-everything" mentality. Common sense, for example, would suggest that things such as books, many children's toys (not all), simple documents and so on pose little security risk provided that they can be X-rayed and possibly examined by eye and by hand.

[British]

Cheers ppron.

"If it is, the answer is put the documents in your suitcase, and check it in. You certainly won't need them on the way out. And you'll find out what the situation is when you get to the airport for the return journey - if not before. "

Well, oh no. These are original one time documents and it will be a nightmare if they are lost with checked-in baggage. I have lost my checked-in baggage 2 or 3 times when flying to India.

These crucial documents are needed for my wife's ILR next year, so i won't risk them by taking them in the check-in baggage.

[ppron747]

Airlines, and airports, will obviously be keen to return what has hitherto been regarded as normal as soon as possible.

Absolutely - think of that huge shopping mall at Heathrow that won't be able to sell anything apart from clear polythene bags and pocket-size wallets!

[Dawie]

After the Forestgate sage, the shooting dead of an innocent man on his way to work, the lies of the Irag War and the joke that is the "War on Terror", who knows what to believe?

No doubt the people arrested for this plot will all be released in a few days time after yet another embarassing police bungle. Hopefully that will finally put an end to Sir Ian Blair's career.

[Miss Oceania]

I would probably recommend leaving the documents behind, after eight years working for an airline in the lost baggage department, I know all too well what happens when luggage goes missing, it's quite frankly not worth the risk. And sods law states that it will be on that flight, and that bag, that is the one that goes missing!

I'd suggest you leave them with a friend or relative who will have them in a safe but easily accessable place, and have that person on standby to be available to bring them to you at the airport when you arrive (if this is feasable, you may not have friends/relatives in your city of arrival), in the unlikely event that they need to be seen by immigration. I'm pretty sure in this particular high security situation the immigration officials will be understanding, as long as you are able to supply the required docs fairly swiftly.

Another alternative may be to take copies of the docs rather than the originals. Again, as long as you can supply the originals fairly swiftly after arriving I think they should accept them under the circumstances.

[ppron747]

Good thinking, Miss O!

[British]

Hi All,

I flew out of UK last friday (no hand baggage, just my passport + Indian PIO card + e-ticket) and came back this evening to UK, with my wife who has her spouse/settlement visa) and our daughter (who is a British citizen with British passport).

On our return back to UK, we went through the "Other passports" line and explained myself and my daughter were British citizens and my wife was returning to UK to resume her marraige visa residency and i wanted to queue up in Other passports line so i can be with my wife and daughter.

The Officer said it was OK, looked at her current visa (which runs upto next April) and said she was fine to get into the country. No additional questions asked. She put the regular stamp detailing the date of her return to UK to resume her residency.

We explained she (my wife) was out of the UK for about 5.5 months for our baby delivery in India and upon that explanation, she said that was fine and my wife was OK to get into the country :-)

I did have ample documentation though in hand which we brought from India, like letter from doctor advising my new born daughter to travel after 3 months of her brith, my detailed covering letter and my wife's too, when we applied for our daughter's British passport in India, and other documents to prove my wife was in constatnt contact with me and vice-versa, plus documents like all of my 4 recent visits to India in the past 5.5 months (my boarding pass during all these Indian visits, stamps of Indian immigration in my British passport etc, when i visited my wife and family, family photographs taken during these vists, etc, which would adequately prove our marraige and constant touch between us and our family.

The Officer just wanted to confirm our daughter's face with her British passport ID page photo and she said she was happy and that's all to it! :-)

Now we will accumulate all of these documents and the ones i have documented and collected here in the UK for these 5.5 months of her reisdence in India, plus all of the items of evidence that SET (M) requires (joint biils, bank statements etc - i have detailed these in one other thread when i replied to John's question about the evidence i was accumulating for ILR for my wife next year).

I guess armed with all these evidence docuemnts, the next year's ILR for my wife should be a breeze!

regards.

[Christophe]

I'm glad you all arrived back without any additional problems on entering the UK. It has all, no doubt, been something you wouldn't want to repeat, but it has turned out all right in the end. Well done, and all the best!

[Miss Oceania]

I'm glad to hear your return went without a hitch. It's good to hear positive stories like this.

[timefactor]

again miserable time for all tan skinned people :)