kodokan

Now that my son has got his shiny new passport, he's going to be using it later this year to travel to Europe on a school trip. He will be the only non-US citizen in the group, so the others will be entering the EU (France) via the standard immigration control for non-natives.

Is my son obliged to use the 'EU passports this way' channel at the airport, or can he stay with his all-American group if he prefers?

(At the moment, he's enormously keen on airily swanning through the EU citizens entry point, and saying he'll get a coffee and meet them all later at baggage pick-up 😁)

Twinkle0927

Probably better that the school group stays together.

In my experience the non-EU line is often quicker. The EU seems to get bigger all the time.

kimilseung

Stick together. I go through with my family in the non EU line on my British passport.

audio

I second that

tom169

Some airports have the automated machines to clear immigration and certainly for that country citizens (perhaps EU too) then you don't need to see an officer. It can literally take a minute to clear the border.

However, I'm not sure how old your son is, but I can't see the teachers being too happy with him splitting up from the group. It must be pretty stressful to be responsible for them all as it is.

tom169

Also, remember he needs to pack his US passport (if he's a US citizen) as all US citizens need to enter the USA on that passport.

kodokan

He'll be 17, and already accustomed to independent Euro travel so happy to beetle through and do his own thing, but I agree it's likely the teachers will want them all to stay together. I was just wondering since he's now traveling for the first time on an adult passport, if he was actually obliged to use the EU line, whether the teachers preferred it or not. Sounds like it's fairly flexible for families and groups, though.

He's a PR, so will take his green card along with his passport.

Thanks, all!

Twinkle0927

He doesn't have to use the EU line so no worries about breaking any rules. The other line usually says "all passports". Anyone can use that line. The other line is provided as a courtesy for EU passport-holders as a way to bypass the main queue.

What does annoy me is when a group of people join the EU line because one of them has an EU passport. Instead of the one EU passport holder going with the rest of the group through the main queue. I once got stuck behind some bloke at Heathrow who had brought his Thai bride and what appeared to be her parents into the EU line with him. They had to call an interpreter and it slowed everyone down.

lizzyq

The UK automated gates cannot be used by people under 18, they have to be admitted by a real live person. I am not sure what the rules are in France.

Rete

Have him make a photocopy of the green card and keep it separate on himself from his actual green card. If his wallet is stolen, the copy will come in handy when reporting the theft/loss and for re-entry or at the US Consulate.

kodokan

Maybe it's changed recently, but they could last summer - me, my 16 and my 12 all went through them when we arrived at Heathrow. There was some young age cut off which I don't exactly recall, but I remember we were pleased to discover that my youngest qualified. It seemed to be intended to allow for maturity and ability to use the gate independently, or perhaps being tall enough for the biometric scanner or some such.

kodokan

Good tip - the organizing teacher will have a photocopy of everyone's passport, but I shall ensure his GC is included too.

Hopefully he'll be ok - he's pretty street savvy and I shall send him off with a hidden moneybelt to keep his documents in when out in cities. Plus he won't look very rich