Passport check at STN, flight coming from DUB

[LuasPassenger]

Hello,

On Sat 30 May I flew to Stansted airport on a flight coming from Dublin. I was quite surprised that when we arrived, we were asked to show our passports and our boarding pass. Normally, the authorities in UK airports ask for the boarding card only since there is a Free Travel Area operating between the ROI and the UK.

As we approached immigration, we were asked to go to the queue for passangers from ROI flights. However, the officer directing people said "TODAY we're checking boarding passes and passports". I assume from this that they were probably doing a pilot test.

When I got to the officer (who didn't look like the regular UK Immigration officer) he compared my name in the boarding pass with my name in the passport. Then he asked me if I had a visa for Ireland. I said that I didn't need a visa for Ireland and that I was a resident in Ireland. He gave me my documents and let me go through. They didn't stamp my passport or asked me the reason for my travel to the UK.

Has anybody experienced something similar? This is new as they normally only ask for the boarding pass and that's it.

I think this might be a pilot test as the UK will start introducing full passport checks from flights coming from the ROI in the near future.

Thanks,
LP

[Ben]

Interesting stuff LuasPassenger.

What nationality are you, and what residence permit / card do you hold, for Ireland?

[LuasPassenger]

Interesting stuff LuasPassenger.

What nationality are you, and what residence permit / card do you hold, for Ireland?

I'm Mexican and I have a "without condition as to time endorsement" in my passport and a Stamp 6 in my GNIB card. However, they didn't even check my passport thoroughly (to check for a visa or stamps) and they didn't ask for the GNIB card.

Please note: they were checking passports for all passengers: EU and Non-EU. Also, there was no separate queue for EU and Non-EU.

[Ben]

What I find interesting is that, from what you have said, UK IO's were not concerned with establishing a valid reason for a non-EEA national to be entering the UK, nor even in endorsing his passport with a 6 month stamp.

However they were interested in your residency status in Ireland - which isn't really any of their concern!

How very topsy-turvy.

[Obie]

They only need to check whether or not you entered one of the CTA zones legally or whether or not he have a legal resident there.

It is a bit of a complicated area. On the one hand they said once you entered one area of the CTA and has undergone checks you are allowed to move around it. On the other hand they sometimes advise people to apply for a visa if they are a visa national.

It is only Ireland that is not respecting the full spirit of the CTA.

The British will love to end it though if they can, but they are facing lots of resistance from Unionist and Conservatives in the UK parliament.

Some form of control is due to be implemented around 2014.

[Ben]

They only need to check whether or not you entered one of the CTA zones legally or whether or not he have a legal resident there.

It is a bit of a complicated area. On the one hand they said once you entered one area of the CTA and has undergone checks you are allowed to move around it. On the other hand they sometimes advise people to apply for a visa if they are a visa national.

It is only Ireland that is not respecting the full spirit of the CTA.

The British will love to end it though if they can, but they are facing lots of resistance from Unionist and Conservatives in the UK parliament.

Some form of control is due to be implemented around 2014.

Hi Obie.

You're forgetting one crucial point - the provisions of the CTA agreement apply to British / Irish citizens only.

All other nationals require a passport (+ visa if required), or EEA national ID card, for movement between Ireland and the UK.

Ireland is acting appropriately, by checking every person entering Ireland from the UK. The UK should do the same, but they don't (usually). UK airports usually allow all persons arriving from Ireland to enter the UK un-checked. Perhaps the Home Office accepts that there simply isn't any point in monitoring such flights, on account of the open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

[Obie]

Hi Benifa,

I fully understand where you are coming from. Since 1922 and after the Irish free state was established up until 1997 it was possible for one to enter Ireland from the UK without a passport, as is the spirit of the CTA. A drivers licence issued from one of the participating states suffices for traveling between Ireland and the UK.

Ireland has seizes to accept drivers license from UK visitors since 1997, who at the most restricted it to certain sets of people.

When my sister (a British National) returned a month ago after visiting UK, she and her baby were detained for almost 4 hours by the Irish authority, even though she showed them her naturalisation certificate, her British drivers licence and her marriage certificate to answer question as to change of name. She even showed he birth certificate. He baby was left unfed during this racially motivated checks as she spend more than anticipated with them. They did not even allow her to take her food from her bag. She told them her passport is with DOJ as she has supported our EU1 application and they didn't budge.

If this is the spirit of the CTA, then it certainly isn't worth the piece of paper it is written on.

There should not be any immigration checks at all. The identification is for Airlines purpose as far as what i have read.

[Ben]

I'm sorry to hear of what happened to your sister. If she's a British Citizen, she is entitled to enter Ireland from the UK without having to carry a passport.

Every British / Irish citizen has the right to move among the CTA without the need to carry a passport.

However - and this is key - the onus is on the passenger to satisfy immigration officers that he or she is indeed a British / Irish citizen.

A caucasian person with a strong regional British / Irish accent may find that he or she is able to satisfy an immigration officer that he or she is a British / Irish citizen much easier than, say, a non-white naturalised British / Irish citizen. The latter may find that he or she has little choice but to carry a passport in order to prove he is a British / Irish citizen, and thus entitled to move among the CTA without the need to carry a passport! Ironic, but I suppose this wasn't an issue hundreds of years ago.

To reiterate:

A British or Irish citizen may move among the CTA without the need to carry a passport, provided he or she can satisfy immigration officers that he or she is indeed a British / Irish citizen.

All other nationals require a passport (+ visa if required), or EEA national ID card, for movement between Ireland and the UK.

[sovtek]

What I find interesting is that, from what you have said, UK IO's were not concerned with establishing a valid reason for a non-EEA national to be entering the UK, nor even in endorsing his passport with a 6 month stamp.

However they were interested in your residency status in Ireland - which isn't really any of their concern!

How very topsy-turvy.

My experience is that UK immigration always ask questions about your status in Ireland for anyone traveling to Ireland via UK airports.
I was detained for hours one time by UK immigration and questioned about my travel plans for Ireland. I asked the officer if we were in Ireland. He didn't like that question too much. Needless to say I paid for it.

[Ben]

My experience is that UK immigration always ask questions about your status in Ireland for anyone traveling to Ireland via UK airports.
I was detained for hours one time by UK immigration and questioned about my travel plans for Ireland. I asked the officer if we were in Ireland. He didn't like that question too much. Needless to say I paid for it.

This is because, as part of the Common Travel Area agreement, Ireland and the UK have agreed to "accept back" a non-national who transits through one country on the way to the other, but is subsequently refused entry by the latter.

A very old, yet interesting document can be found here (the CTA is a very old and interesting agreement!).