SheffieldOG

Hello.

After months of waiting my wife's spouse visa application all got sorted and she is due to fly to the UK very soon (Hooray! The community and information available here really helped during the application process)

I was just wondering if anyone would know what exactly my wife will have to do at UK border control?

She holds a Japanese passport, which would mean she could usually use the e-Passport gates, if she was coming as a tourist (see here). However, as she is coming with an entry clearance document in her passport, does she need to see a person at border control and get a stamp in her passport?

Thank you in advance to anyone with experience who could advise!

BritInParis

She can still use the eGates however that would mean no stamp in her passport and no evidence of when she arrived. As such it would be worth keeping her flight reservation details on file for future reference.

SheffieldOG

Thank you for the reply.

So she doesn’t necessarily need the stamp in her passport, but it’s important to have some record of when she arrived - either a stamp or evidence of the flight booking. Is that right?

BritInParis

Yes, it would worth doing to ensure you have a record when applying for FLR/ILR.

SheffieldOG

Got it. Thanks again, much appreciated.