dougal03

I have no idea why they stamped my passport but they did.Who was I to argue. I just was glad I had managed to get a flight after several cancellations.

Joppa

So they stamped your UK passport on arrival in UK? What kind of stamp? What does it say?

bobd22

I'm sure you were. No criticism intended towards yourself, it just doesn't make any sense why your passport needed stamping on return. Maybe its some obscure way of the UK having taken back control of its borders.

DLC

The only two things I can think of are:
1. Used to mark the Covid-19 isolation period start date.
2. Something pointless to please the Blue Passport fan club.

Notdunroamin

A thought. A passport scan on arrival in UK, and/or questioning, would determine it's holder to be non UK resident and a stamp therefore applied in order to mark their date of arrival and subsequent departure within 183 days exceeding which, for tax purposes at least, would automatically make them UK resident again. It would certainly be interesting to hear what it actually says though and what, if any, conversation there was with the border guard before the stamp was applied. I'm sure this cannot have become standard procedure for all arrivals as without a doubt we'd have all heard about it by now - even if it was through the Daily Express!

Joppa

There is no mutual collaboration between UK Border Agency and HMRC about your tax residency, even though both bodies come under Home Office, i.e. scanning of passport and/or reading the information on your passport chip is only for ID and immigration purpose, though if you are a wanted criminal or fugitive from justice, it will be flagged up.

bobd22

Passport is about citizenship not residency. There is no reason whatsoever why ant British citizen should need a passport stamp to enter their home country. As has been said flagging up for criminal matters is another matter but then you get cautioned and arrested not your passport stamp.

dougal03

The person who stamped my passport was wearing the uniform of Border Agency & we had a short chat about me returning after so many years in Spain.She told me she had been chatting to a lady returning from S.Africa after living there for a long time & how difficult it must feel to come back in January to a much colder climate.Tomorrow I shall have completed my isolation period & no authority has yet checked up on that,perhaps they don´t like the Scottish weather.In another scenario ,trying to open a British Bank account is a nightmare.I have to be investigated to make sure that my funds coming from abroad are not from money laundering .That I appreciate although I certainly wouldn´t be buying a modest apartment if I could afford a mansion in Mayfair.That said,I needed to give 3 previous addresses which,for me covered over 30 years. I was told that the Spanish addresses were too long to fit on their equipment !! However it seems that they have given up on such a complicated issue & I have been granted permission.

bobd22

One reason for myself to retain a UK Bank account while resident in Spain. Something made more difficult since 1 January. When I started getting vague messages from Barclays re the fact that any UK address you give must in fact be where you live (even though that's not what branch staff say), I decided to look into my options as apart from wanting a UK current account I need one for a number of reasons. It's not very easy to find a UK bank that doesn't say you must be a UK resident. Many of the searches I did brought up plenty but looking at the detail most stated UK residency. I went for HSBC could apply online and provide ID information etc which I got signed and sealed by the local Notrary. Its not a difficult process made a little lengthier with living in Spain and Covid situation. I had to contact them once by phone to ensure my application remained open due to postal times, the operator was excellent and helpful. I have now received confirmation that I have a current account with them registered to my Spanish address and cards etc are on the way. Worth considering for those in a similar situation.

Barriej

I have HSBC accounts and have had notification that they will not be closing accounts. In fact my Debit card runs out in March and the new one is already on its way.

SanNico

Not related to the recent posts but related to the original post; my son returned on Friday and they didn;t stamp his passport. He had a bit of hassle at the UK airports as they hadn't seen the new ID cards before but I believe that had a lot to do with other passengers trying to blag their way through claiming to be residents. The group in front of him were denied boarding.

Lou71

I'm going to travel using my Irish passport card. They can't wet stamp that!