Just out of interest, do you have any experience of being a European non-EU/EEA citizen dealing with the UK immigration system?
Or indeed being a UK national dealing with a European non-EU/EEA country and their immigration system?
Let's have another EU referendum cos we don't like the results !
- Thread starter gasbanni
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Or indeed being a UK national dealing with a European non-EU/EEA country and their immigration system?
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Interestingly...
Linky
"Passengers with British passports will be full EU citizens when they board the flights from Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Doncaster and Liverpool, but by the time they arrive they could be classed as “third country nationals” – with no automatic right of admission to the European Union and the prospect of strict customs checks."
And vice versa of course...
What those 'checks' will entail are of course unknown!
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Do not forget the ferries, and the goods in transit.
There was a reason I asked this earlier
When my partner first came to the UK, her country wasn't in the EU/EEA yet.
She had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get a study visa.
(And me vice versa to get a work visa to her country).
We decided to take my car to France for a short break, and it almost ended in disaster.
On our return, at the French end they questioned why she hadn't got a stamp in her passport when leaving the UK. I hadn't thought about this as we (UK) had 'free movement'.
All sorts of discussions went on and one option was to refuse boarding and return her to her 'country of origin', which was her own country due to no stamp in her passport when leaving the UK!
Luckily there was a human in the border post, and what with my poor attempt at French we got the following ferry, as by that time the original one had sailed.
When we got to the UK we had the same problem - you can't come in because we have no proof you left. Again there was a human behind the uniform, and she was let in. However they must have alerted immigration, as a week later we had to explain it to an official who turned up at her place of study.
They asked if we planned to go to abroad again during her study visa period, and we had a flight booked the next month. The advice we were given was to always get the passport stamped on exit. Fair enough. The hassle we had getting that stamp at the airport was unbelievable - "we don't do stamps for European countries anymore"...
Wtf...they didn't even know the difference at 'border control'!
And this was many years before a 'hostile environment for immigrants' was thought of.
After a couple of decades of not worrying about this again, I guess it'll soon be back to the 'good old days' when travelling between our countries!
Edit: That was just a minor problem when compared to getting the full 'indefinite leave to remain' - which is apparently about to become invalid!
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Hi Ellal,
I am very sorry to hear the way your partner has been treated.
This hostile, toxic environment that has developed towards immigration in this country is disgusting. The UK used to have a reputation for being a tolerant society (at least in comparison to say the US) but politicians have used immigration as a scapegoat for their failings in the economy and other areas. What is appalling is that successive governments have not even dealt with the root issues relating to immigration: ie control of overstayers etc.
Lets hope the Windrush scandal brings a real change. It probably wont.....
D
durhamplumber
It does..And it is...many of them
Thanks for that post...
There won't be a change - EU citizens will merely become a much larger group than the 'Windrush generation' with the same problems eventually.
And that's the thing that quitters just don't seem to get - the human element!
(And why I get so worked up about the ignorance surrounding 'getting our country back')
Imagine spending your entire adult working life in the UK, raising a family, having made for yourself an amazing career helping others (from the very bottom level), never taken any benefits (save universal child benefits), never been unemployed, never once been in debt....Only to be told that the words 'indefinite leave to remain' in your original passport and Home Office letters are no longer valid. And that in order to remain in the country you have made your life in, you have to 're-register' yourself, and even pay for it yourself!
If there is no agreement I guess I may have to do the same in reverse, although I have heard unofficially that since I am still 'registered' there and because we have children they will unilaterally keep the 'status quo' whatever happens. A much more civilised approach!
I agree with your point about 'overstayers', and that of course means that appropriate controls have to be put in place - but also administered fairly.
When we moved back to the UK from her country, we had to pay for an initial visa (fair enough), and then sign a declaration not to claim benefits for two years (not only her but me).
We had to prove we had a certain amount of savings, and that at that time I had an income sufficient to support us. Again fair enough, but the respective monetary levels were much more in line with the real world than they are now.
Governments go for the 'easy targets' - those that play by the rules. They can't be bothered with the tricky ones!
Btw, I hope this has changed...Because after two years, in order to get 'indefinite leave to remain', I had to write two letters saying that I was 'happy with my partner' and that should that situation change at any time in the future I would inform them... B ollox to the last bit!
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Do you know, I wake up every morning and think to myself. Oh no what new european rules have I got to follow. They make my life such a misery.
Actually, I don't.
Give us some examples that you refer to, please.
You know what...
I'm really p issed off at the new 'rule' about to come into force that won't allow me to buy inefficient halogen bulbs instead of more efficient LED ones...
It's my 'right' to waste my money and use more energy - f uck the EU!
There are none that you would notice.
That's similar to me coming here.
So, as there do appear to be more deportations than people think, do you think that the UK actually does apply similar rules to everyone?
Notwithstanding -
As I have said before, if someone enters the country and stays under the radar, obviously no one will know - but they will be illegal immigrants and be unable to claim benefits which seems to be what most people moan about.
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