Passport 'Control'

emmagean

hi all

i was passing through dublin airport last week and upon reaching passport control there was an old couple up ahead in the queue. the woman was showing her passport while the man bent down to pick up the case he had dropped. At that point the Guard told him to 'get back'. when the man said he was just picking up his case from the ground, the guard then said in a gruff manner something along the lines of 'this is more important'.

i personally thought that was very rude on the part of the guard. the man was clearly picking up his case and had his passport in hand.

At this particular time, passport control was empty so I couldnt put it down to him having a busy period.

What a lovely warm 'cead mile failte' welcome to our visitors, when the first person you meet upon entering the country speaks to you like that!

US immigration, whilst it can be very annoying, they have always been extremely courteous.

Oh well. Rant over!

Jimbo

Most countries Ive visited the passport control people are generally never really friendly. I guess its just a very boring thankless job. Its probably quickly forgotten once you get out of the airport anyway with all the excitment of being in a foreign country anyway

AckwelFoley

US immigration, whilst it can be very annoying, they have always been extremely courteous.

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!! NO

timmywex

Immigration is ireland rocks!! Just when they see the cover of the passport is all you need, dont even have to open it, god bless the irish!

Karoma

timmywex wrote: »

Immigration is ireland rocks!! Just when they see the cover of the passport is all you need, dont even have to open it, god bless the irish!

As long as you're white; aye.

AckwelFoley

timmywex wrote: »

Immigration is ireland rocks!! Just when they see the cover of the passport is all you need, dont even have to open it, god bless the irish!

lol..exactly!! Happens all the time!

Jimbo

timmywex wrote: »

Immigration is ireland rocks!! Just when they see the cover of the passport is all you need, dont even have to open it, god bless the irish!

Yea, thats how this guy got in..

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0121/coughlans.html

Overheal

Bull****. Irish passport control is weird and stupid. They let people like that guy ^ in: and when I come back from holidays I get the full grill.

Seriously: what makes a student more dangerous to let in than a murderer? I can never re-enter this damn country without someone sticking their nose at me.

seamus

Overheal wrote: »

Seriously: what makes a student more dangerous to let in than a murderer?

Probably a fake passport. Get a polish passport, put on a remotely eastern european accent and you'll walk straight in.

It is a pretty thankless job. You're not providing any particular service that people want and most people you're seeing are tired and irritable after flying.

AckwelFoley

Overheal wrote: »

Bull****. Irish passport control is weird and stupid. They let people like that guy ^ in: and when I come back from holidays I get the full grill.

Seriously: what makes a student more dangerous to let in than a murderer? I can never re-enter this damn country without someone sticking their nose at me.

unless ur name is Musfaffa al Jihad and you have 20kgs of Explosives strapped very clearly to the outside of your jacket, i dont think ive ever seen nor have i been questioned comming into the country.

Naos

timmywex wrote: »

Immigration is ireland rocks!! Just when they see the cover of the passport is all you need, dont even have to open it, god bless the irish!

+1

A casual "How's it going" as you hand in your passport gets you through faster. Then they don't have to look at the cover of your passport. Brilliance.

Terry

Karoma wrote: »

As long as you're white; aye.

Poor Karoma.
Always getting stick for being black and ginger. Although, he used to be able to bunk on the old Iarnrod Eireann trains without being noticed, which was nice.

Overheal wrote: »

Bull****. Irish passport control is weird and stupid. They let people like that guy ^ in: and when I come back from holidays I get the full grill.

Seriously: what makes a student more dangerous to let in than a murderer? I can never re-enter this damn country without someone sticking their nose at me.

You're American, and according to all news reports, America is full of terrorists. Passport control are just being safe, don't you know.

DJ_Spider

I didn't have a passport and wanted to come live here. I saw that the particular airline I was travelling with allowed you to travel to Ireland without a passport. Just some form of Photo I.D. About 5 yrs ago I went from Newcastle to London and got a Citizen card. This was one of the photo I.D.s they accepted. So as I went through passport control I just held up my wallet and showed it, felt like Interpol coming for someone! LOL

Also when I came over I had 2 very large bags, one was too heavy for hand luggage so they booked it into the hold. (and didn't charge me any extra which was nice!) so I went up the steps with no luggae, felt like a rock star, in fact I think I waved to anyone who was watching as I got to the top!

unreggd

Yeah its pants!

feels like yer showin your ID to a prick of a bouncer!

randylonghorn

Passport Control in Airports around the Med region always amuses me. If you're a guy, you and your passport tend to get a fairly dismissive glance. Good looking women, however, are obviously highly suspicious characters, to judge by the intense scrutiny they are subjected to, even from neighbouring booths.

One guy even motioned me to get out of the way one day so he could get a good luck at the stunner at the top of the next line. I found it very hard not to laugh in his face, but given that he was at least six inches taller than me, wearing a baton and a gun, and his muscles had muscles, I reckoned it would be wiser not to ...

Neamhshuntasach

i travel in and out of ireland at least once every 2 weeks or so. and the fella hardly even looks up at times. i've don't remember ever been asked a question at all. actually one fella asked me if i got to see the Dublin vs Meath match last year cause i was wearing the Jersey.

other countries can be crazy. in the 3 weeks i was in Venezuela i was asked for my passport about 20 times by armed guards. and similar circumstances in other latin american countries. over here it seems anyone can waltz in

Buzz Buzz

I have often walked through passport control with my two fingers covering my passport photo.. I think the guard just looks at me and assumes cause I have red hair and green eyes I'm definitely Irish!!

monument

Naos wrote: »

A casual "How's it going" as you hand in your passport gets you through faster. Then they don't have to look at the cover of your passport. Brilliance.

Yeah, a garda at Dublin Port was about to ask me some questions a few months ago on my way back from London, I quickly said "how'yeah" or something close and walked right on.

(Yes, I know, coming from the UK so no requirement to have a passport, but they were about to ask questions).

snyper wrote: »

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!! NO

Heard some horror stories here, but I've always been treated well by US Immigration... Have visited the US about five times the first being when, I think, I was 19. Couldn't really say a bad word about the staff, most could even be called friendly. Here's hoping that does not change on any possible future trips!

emmagean

monument wrote: »

Yeah, a garda at Dublin Port was about to ask me some questions a few months ago on my way back from London, I quickly said "how'yeah" or something close and walked right on.

hah one time travelling back on a ferry from Holyhead as a foot passenger, at passport control in Dublin Port I was asked the question 'are you Irish?' to which I replied 'yeah' and then I got a 'grand so'. No passport, no further questions!

Manic Moran

Naos wrote: »

+1

A casual "How's it going" as you hand in your passport gets you through faster. Then they don't have to look at the cover of your passport. Brilliance.

In fairness, it's about standard for all countries to be a lot more cursory with home-nation passports than foreign ones. I'm usually through US Passport control in about 30-60 seconds, whilst Irish people get a grilling. I go through Irish (or worse, UK) control with a US passport, and I get a grilling.

NTM

The Hill Billy

emmagean wrote: »

i was passing through dublin airport last week and upon reaching passport control there was an old couple up ahead in the queue. the woman was showing her passport while the man bent down to pick up the case he had dropped. At that point the Guard told him to 'get back'. when the man said he was just picking up his case from the ground, the guard then said in a gruff manner something along the lines of 'this is more important'.

i personally thought that was very rude on the part of the guard. the man was clearly picking up his case and had his passport in hand.

At this particular time, passport control was empty so I couldnt put it down to him having a busy period.

What a lovely warm 'cead mile failte' welcome to our visitors, when the first person you meet upon entering the country speaks to you like that!

If I was the Guard I'd probablly have shot him for not obeying me. The only 'lovely warm' welcome he would have gotten would have been from a hail of hot lead.

Let's face it - elderly tourists are a liability. They don't spend wads of cash on drink in Temple Bar or private dances in lap-dancing clubs. The come over here all incontinent & stuff, wee on the hotel beds causing extra laundry to be done thus significantly increasing Ireland's carbon footprint. I could go on...

Now that you can see the truth - that 'lovely warm' 9mms-of-hot-lead-Hello! doesn't seem so silly now does it?



* All of the above may or may not be complete bo11ocks.

Mitch Connor

emmagean wrote: »

hi all

i was passing through dublin airport last week and upon reaching passport control there was an old couple up ahead in the queue. the woman was showing her passport while the man bent down to pick up the case he had dropped. At that point the Guard told him to 'get back'. when the man said he was just picking up his case from the ground, the guard then said in a gruff manner something along the lines of 'this is more important'.

i personally thought that was very rude on the part of the guard. the man was clearly picking up his case and had his passport in hand.

At this particular time, passport control was empty so I couldnt put it down to him having a busy period.

What a lovely warm 'cead mile failte' welcome to our visitors, when the first person you meet upon entering the country speaks to you like that!

US immigration, whilst it can be very annoying, they have always been extremely courteous.

Oh well. Rant over!

When i was heading to Vegas, we stopped in Phili - was going through passport control and the guy was asking me a few questions.

Where are you going? Vegas
How long are you staying there? a week.
Have you visted America before? Yes.
Who is your favourite Thundercat? Um......Liono?

Brightened up my day!

seamus

Tauren wrote: »

When i was heading to Vegas, we stopped in Phili - was going through passport control and the guy was asking me a few questions.

Where are you going? Vegas
How long are you staying there? a week.
Have you visted America before? Yes.
Who is your favourite Thundercat? Um......Liono?

Brightened up my day!

And there was me thinking they had no sense of humour.

When I went to NY, we were chatting away (he had been asking my girlfriend why we weren't married/engaged yet, the irony, and was apologising for dropping me in it). He looked at my passport with its empty pages and said, "Oh, you've never been anywhere".
I said, "Well, I've never been outside the EU"
"Don't you mean the UK?".
"No...like the European Union...?"
"Oh".

Cue any friendliness gone from his face, passport stamped and "have a nice day".

baztard

I remember passing through US Security check in Boston in 2002. A black guy, a Muslim and myself (skin head) all got pulled out of the queue for some extra attention. Another time I remember getting pulled aside over a bottle of buckfast in my bag. (Before all this 100ml craic)

Stephen

A black guy, a muslim and a skinhead - sounds like the start of a great joke

I've always found passport control in Irish airports to be very lax as well. Only once have I actually been asked to open my passport and show them the photo. I find the US immigration officers very polite but serious. The only experience I have of UK passport control is when transiting through Heathrow. I don't think any of those bastards have ever smiled in their lives.

biko

My Tunisian co-worker always gets pulled aside for a "random" check whenever we fly to the US. Never happens to me.
Funny that.

robinph

Never even slowed down as walking past the passsport control in Dublin, just wave a reddish passport type object at them and on you go. Used to get stopped and breifely quizzed on boarding flights to Ireland from the UK though but they stopped doing that several years ago, never cared who was coming into the country, just who was leaving to go to Ireland. My brother and his kid never have any trouble getting between the US and EU either as they have two passports and can get straight through, his missus always gets quizzed on entering the EU with a US passport though.

I've never had any trouble with the US immigration either, but as that has mostly been done in Ireland they are probably a bit more chilled out anyway, but on my last trip over there I was pulled aside for extra "random" security checks on every one of the other 4 internal flights I was taking which got to be a bit annoying by the end of it all.

Wacker

When I flew into Boston on my J1 I encountered some very prickish guys - I was wearing a very colourful shirt though. That sets them off.

They were grand all the other times.

JCDUB

Ah they're great lads really.
One of my neighbours does it and he has seen me coming before and while I was flutin around in my hand luggage looking for my passport he was waving me up to him with a dismisssive "don't bother with the passport" type of look, so I just strolled past him and said "Howaya S*****n."
In fairness he knows me though and obviously knows I'm Irish, he was just being a sound chap, which he is.

Agreed though, terribly boring job, almost as bad as a toll booth..

Mossy Monk

I have never had my passport checked coming through an Irish airport.

JCDUB wrote: »

"Howaya S*****n."

Was his name Stephen?

AnonoBoy

Passport control? In Dublin airport?

Nope. Never noticed that one!