feelbritish

I know this is not related to bad treatment, but I have never had any rudeness. Last time I came through customs & immigration with my UK husband he accompanied me through non-EU line and the officer told us that we can in the future go through the UK/EU line as I am with a UK citizen, does anyone know anything about this or have they tried it?

Mummy in the foothills

I always used the UK/EU line when I traveled with my kids, me on a UK passport them on a US passport, no one ever said not to. Then we got them UK passports so again used the EU/UK passport line.

Beedubya

I agree entirely Dunroving, these people are just doing their jobs. And if we are a visitor to another country then we have to keep our opinions to ourselves.

I watched quite a few of those fly on the wall progs yesterday by co-incidence and I tell you the attitude they have to put up with some of these passengers is unbelievable and the amount of people coming here on a tourist visa and then having the evidence in their bags that says they will be looking for work is quite staggering, I wonder how many "over-stayers" are here right now?

In comparison to other countries I think the staff in the UK are remarkably polite. The last time I came through LAX, a few years ago albeit, it was chaos with lines stretching up the passageways and waits of hours.

The last time I came through Bangkok, we were all made to stand on a little step while the female officer scanned our bodies with some kind of device, when it was finished she prodded you in the hip to say it was over!! What was I going to do, complain to her superior than I don't like being prodded like cattle? Or shut up and say nothing and get on my way?

OP how often does your Canadian wife fly in and out to vist you and what kind of visa is she entering on?

That might have some bearing on her treatment and of course we don't know what her attitude to these officers was either............

shaman

Beedubya , why do you assume my wife was rude, or answered incorrectly. She is typical of a lot of Canadians polite, well spoken, keeps to the rules, allways goes back to Canada on Time. You are incorrect "These poeple are doing their jobs" no they are not. It costs nothing to be polite, when a passenger is riddiculed by a so called official, and made to look inferior, talked down to, then its wrong. I was employed at GCHQ, in Cheltenham for a number of years and was treated very fairly by all, and treated all the same i used to go around, Gov sites, never a problem with security. We are all aware there are loads of people coming here to cheat milk the system, move here by any means, don,t associate my wife with them, she comes from a commonwealth country who i might add share the same monarchy, and contribute to this country from before during and after the war, perhaps you are unaware of this. Why is this piece posted its silly as b she has not voiced an opinion that caused dislike, at all........agree entirely Dunroving, these people are just doing their jobs. And if we are a visitor to another country then we have to keep our opinions to ourselves..................another answer gone off the orrigional post......Alan.

Beedubya

Surely you would be far better expanding your energy into reporting this to a senior officer rather than to an anonymous internet blog. It is no use getting angry at me. If it was me I would have complained there and then, if not later, in writing.

Have you done so yet?

dunroving

To bring it back on-topic, perhaps you could give an idea of what happened during your wife's experience? I think people sometimes jump to conclusions when the detail is missing from a post of this kind. Was she manhandled? Shouted at? Or was she upset by the tone they were using with her?

I don't think some of the generalisations were aimed personally at your wife, just people trying in their own way to understand what might explain the situation.

I do think officials in these positions have to be suspicious, or they wouldn't succeed in their job. Unlike the justice system, I think with immigration, customs, etc., it sometimes has to be a case of possibly guilty, until you can demonstrate otherwise. If they are nicey-nicey with everyone, all sorts of people would blag their way in. When I'm going through US immigration, I often think "Would it hurt you to smile back?" - but they are trained in psychological methods and sometimes it takes a serious, or harsh, or unfriendly attitude to determine whether someone is entering for legal purposes or not.

kampaicharger

I have been a Customs Officer for 22 years and in that time I have had to deal with a considerable ammount of human dregs including intolerant fellow Officers who believe that by wearing a uniform they are entitled to behave like total prats..
I would NEVER use that as an excuse for being rude or intolerant to the 99% of people who are nothing more than honest travellers.
In answer to your question. YES you should extend a warm welcome to ANYBODY who visits your country and continue thanking them up until the time they prove to be anything other than a welcome guest in your country.

As for your "Get over it" attitude, it is not all right to simply cop it sweet.

shaman

kampaicharger, at last a polite answer from a person who knows how to treat people, thanks very much, some of the replies were i think rude, and uncalled for. In answer to one post i walked around the airport to find a complaints office, but like most things these days, it has to be done on line, via website related to this airport. Once again thanks.....Alan.

Lothianlad

It's quite gobsmackingly astonishing to what lengths some potential entrants into the UK will go to by means of lies and misrepresentation of facts in the hope of fooling UK Border Agecny immigration personnel into granting them entry rights.

Recent years has seen a huge rise in such situations so little wonder there has been a tightenting up of the rules and procedures at points of entry to this country, more especially at airports. The risk of any possible terrorist attacks in this Olympc year are very much at the forefront of the minds of UK Security agents.....we cannot afford to take ANY chances.

With squillions of visitors pouring into the UK in the coming months due mainly to the London Twenty Twelve Olympic Games the queues at the UK Border Agency controls can only get longer and delays more protracted, especially for non UK/non EU passport holders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtieH19Ei50

paranoidandroid

A post with a modicum of common sense.

dunroving

Getting into any country's airport is not much fun these days:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17988650

- Interesting comment from one flyer that the experience is made less pleasant by other flyers complaining to the airport staff, instead of just getting on with things.

I guess we'll never get to hear the complete story.