Are Passports needed to travel to Britian ?

Belfast

Do Irish people need a passport to travel to Britain by ferry ?

Victor McDade

No, just some form of ID, like driving licence.

I've been over a few times and never been asked for any ID, but I wouldn't advise going without anything

Richard

Belfast wrote: »

Do Irish people need a passport to travel to Britain by ferry ?

No, but the ferry company may ask for ID such as a driving licence - ask them.

Belfast

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/15/uk-irish-republic-border-passports
"UK-Irish travellers to face passport checks

* Alan Travis, home affairs editor
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 January 2009 17.24 GMT

Tighter border controls on air and sea routes to end 80 years' free movement
Fifteen million a people a year who travel by air or sea between Britain and the Irish Republic will face formal passport checks for the first time in more than 80 years, under immigration legislation published today .

But no compulsory passport checks are to be imposed on the 224-mile land border between the republic and Northern Ireland, although ad hoc "intelligence-led" immigration checks will be carried out by mobile teams of Border Agency staff.

Ministers say the proposal in the citizenship and immigration bill will "plug a critical gap" in Britain's border security as they introduce the multibillion pound "electronic border" over the next five years. The programme will enable travellers to be checked against watch lists before they get on the plane or ferry.

The legislation will bring to an end the common travel area between the republic and Britain, which dates back to the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. Apart from limited attempts to control the land border during and after the second world war the common travel area has been a free movement zone for more than 80 years.

A Home Office impact assessment published alongside the bill acknowledged the possibility of large queues building up as a result of the introduction of the passport checks, particularly at Welsh ferry ports for those coming from Ireland. Officials hope to minimise such delays.

At the same time as the legislation was published in London yesterday, the Irish government announced that it will introduce its own new border control system from next year. The Irish justice minister, Dermot Ahern, said the Irish border information system would also screen for illegal migrants by checking travel data collected by airlines and ferry companies before departure and checking it against watch lists.

A British proposal to introduce passport checks for those who fly from Belfast to the rest of the UK was dropped after strong opposition from Conservatives and Ulster Unionists. The imposition of border controls will however also apply to those who travel between Britain and the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.

The citizenship and immigration bill introduces radical reforms to British citizenship, including the introduction of a requirement for migrants to speak English and obey the law if they want to get a British passport."

It does not say when it come in to force.

robinph

British and Irish citizens do not need any form of ID to travel between the two countries. You may need certain forms of ID depending on who you are crossing the border with and their own requirements though.

Belfast

Looks like the new rules have not come in yet.

Ireland/Britain Routes

Irish Ferries recommend all passengers bring a passport with them. Irish and British citizens do not strictly require a passport to travel between the two countries - some form of identification is however required.

Photo ID, Bank Cards or bills for house utilities addressed to you are all acceptable and useful means of identification.

Please note that all nationalities except Irish or British require passports. Non-EU nationals should check with the British or Irish embassy before travelling as they may also need a visa. Passengers who turn up at our ports without valid documentation may not be allowed to enter either Ireland or Britain.
http://www2.irishferries.com/system/webtest/view/selfservice/controller.jsp?CONFIGURATION=1008&PARTITION_ID=1&CMD=STARTPAGE&USERTYPE=1&ARTICLEID=1446

robinph

Yep, you don't require any form of ID at all ... but, it might be an idea to have some form of ID on you so that you can prove that you do not need any.

me-skywalker

robinph wrote: »

Yep, you don't require any form of ID at all ... but, it might be an idea to have some form of ID on you so that you can prove that you do not need any.

i lost my passport. my dirvers licence is out of dat about 4months. im flying with ryanair on firday to bournmouth and back on sunday. am i screwed? ive no criminal record or shoudlnt be on the watchlist for any reason.

robinph

You DO need ID of some description to get on a Ryanair plane, details on their website.

But basically if your doing online checkin you need your passport, if getting checked in at the airport then a valid driving license may do instead.

lynchie

me-skywalker wrote: »

i lost my passport. my dirvers licence is out of dat about 4months. im flying with ryanair on firday to bournmouth and back on sunday. am i screwed? ive no criminal record or shoudlnt be on the watchlist for any reason.

Yup.. ur screwed.. unless you go and get ur driver's licence renewed asap. You should be able to get it done in 24 hours if you go in person and plead your case.

me-skywalker

shize! im workin mon-fri 9-5... ha damN!! but will they definitly 100% ask for ID? and if they do they wont accept an out of date drivers licence under any circumstances?

Dodge

robinph wrote: »

British and Irish citizens do not need any form of ID to travel between the two countries. You may need certain forms of ID depending on who you are crossing the border with and their own requirements though.

The catch is though that you need something to prove you're an Irish or British citizen...

me-skywalker

wat about a birth cert and out of date drivers licence?

MaxFlower

What about children. I been told that Under 18's do not need any form of ID. Their parents do.
I find this difficult to believe in this day and age what with trafficing and all. Would you need a birth cert/passport (if you had one) or more importantly, could you be asked to produce.

robinph

Dodge wrote: »

The catch is though that you need something to prove you're an Irish or British citizen...

True, I think I'd be able to convince the immigration guys at either UK or Irish airports of my rights to enter without any ID on my person though, the tricky bit is convincing the airlines. I have a friend who has done that with a call to the copper in the UK airport who then looked their name up in the local phone book before. The copper then faxed KLM to confirm that they would be let into the country, and that KLM would not get fined for transporting the person, and so they then traveled back from Holland without any ID/ passport.

robinph

me-skywalker wrote: »

wat about a birth cert and out of date drivers licence?

Nope. The photo ID needs to be in date.

robinph

MaxFlower wrote: »

What about children. I been told that Under 18's do not need any form of ID. Their parents do.
I find this difficult to believe in this day and age what with trafficing and all. Would you need a birth cert/passport (if you had one) or more importantly, could you be asked to produce.

Birth cert is of no use to you for travel at all, other than using it to get your passport.

Ryanair wrote:

Children under 16 years (including infants) travelling with an adult are required to have photo-ID when travelling on flights between EEA countries. Acceptable photo-ID for children under 16 is either a valid passport or a valid National Identity Card issued by an EEA country. Children must always be travelling with the adult named on a visa vignette, if visa is applicable.

lynchie

me-skywalker wrote: »

shize! im workin mon-fri 9-5... ha damN!! but will they definitly 100% ask for ID? and if they do they wont accept an out of date drivers licence under any circumstances?

Ryanair will ask for your ID and require it to be both valid and in date 1000000000000000% of the time.. So not a chance without it

me-skywalker

lynchie wrote: »

Ryanair will ask for your ID and require it to be both valid and in date 1000000000000000% of the time.. So not a chance without it

well ive no option now. im going to take a chance, hopefully get a lazy person working cause its 6in the morning. im going to go and try with my out of date drivers licence. do you want me to tell you how i get on?

robinph

me-skywalker wrote: »

do you want me to tell you how i get on?

You won't.

me-skywalker

me-skywalker wrote: »

i lost my passport. my dirvers licence is out of dat about 4months. im flying with ryanair on firday to bournmouth and back on sunday. am i screwed? ive no criminal record or shoudlnt be on the watchlist for any reason.

haha! my husband is probably going on that stag you'd better behave yourself

yes, you are screwed, if you're checking in online you need a passport. If you are checking in at the desk you need a valid form of photo id.

settergirl

Myself and my 3yr old son travel regularly through the ferry ports backwards and forwards to wales (as thats where im from,but live in Ireland) and have NEVER been asked for ID be it passport or drivers licence and my son has a different surname to me and i have never been asked for Identification for him either.

However, I always take my passport, drivers licence and my sons birth cert with me just in case i am ever asked for it.

me-skywalker

robinph wrote: »

You won't.

its worth a try! do u work for ryanair?

Deleted User wrote: »

haha! my husband is probably going on that stag you'd better behave yourself

yes, you are screwed, if you're checking in online you need a passport. If you are checking in at the desk you need a valid form of photo id.

bournmouth friday yea? crazy!! well i wont be able to behave myself if i dont get over there haha!!

ah i figure its early in the morning the girl at the desk might be sleepy and just pass me on through. these thigns havea a habit of always workign out!

mickoneill30

robinph wrote: »

Nope. The photo ID needs to be in date.

That reminds me of a comedian (I think) travelling in the US. All he had was his out of date drivers license. When the girl at the counter said it was out of date he replied that he didn't want to drive the plane

me-skywalker

me-skywalker wrote: »

bournmouth friday yea? crazy!! well i wont be able to behave myself if i dont get over there haha!!

yep, it's a two in one stag, I assume there aren't many stags going to Bournemouth on Friday from Dublin but hey I could be wrong!!!

Wouldn't fancy being you on the flight back Sunday though.

It is definitely worth a try if you have no other options but you are able to go to the tax office with your expired license and proof of travel and they will issue you with a new license within 24hours. Or you could get an emergency passport. Or you could stay in the airport drinking on your tod til sunday!

robinph

You have plenty of time to get a passport sorted before Friday, although you have lost a day today wondering if your out of date driving license would do instead. You will have at least 2 people to try and get past with your invalid ID in each direction, and the people in Bournmouth are probably not actual Ryanair employees, they will be ServiceAir I expect and are very picky on anything they can find for extracting extra charges from passengers in my experience so unlikely you'd be able to get and out of date license past them 4 times.

If the cops are out on arrival then you'll not have a problem getting past them, but anyone to do with the airline itself is much more likely to notice.

me-skywalker

Deleted User wrote: »

yep, it's a two in one stag, I assume there aren't many stags going to Bournemouth on Friday from Dublin but hey I could be wrong!!!

Wouldn't fancy being you on the flight back Sunday though.

It is definitely worth a try if you have no other options but you are able to go to the tax office with your expired license and proof of travel and they will issue you with a new license within 24hours. Or you could get an emergency passport. Or you could stay in the airport drinking on your tod til sunday!

yea thats the one! yea bournemouth?! never even heard of the place!

well im gonna take off thursday head out to the passport office and demand one!! tell them to put cheung lee murphy and umbaga o'connor at the bottom and ill slip them a fiver ;-) ah no just kiddin thats bold! ha!

my mates's friends brother(if that makes sense) apprantly went to the office in the mornign and showed them the travel plans and they gave him a passport that day he had to wait about 5hours apparantly. so thats my hope!

If not im still gonna go in with the out of date one. hey i figure im still the same person as i was then!

flikflak

me-skywalker wrote: »

well ive no option now. im going to take a chance, hopefully get a lazy person working cause its 6in the morning. im going to go and try with my out of date drivers licence. do you want me to tell you how i get on?

There is no point in going - you wont get on. You need in date photo ID simple as.

Be it 6am or 6pm they wont let you on without it. Go and get a passport tomorrow or forget the trip. Just saw you are going to get one - good stuff at least you wont miss the trip now.

me-skywalker

flikflak wrote: »

There is no point in going - you wont get on. You need in date photo ID simple as.

Be it 6am or 6pm they wont let you on without it. Go and get a passport tomorrow or forget the trip. Just saw you are going to get one - good stuff at least you wont miss the trip now.

Ha well your WRONG! I ve been speaking to laods of people regarding thsi obviously! and alst year my cousin and his friend went to glasgow. my cousins friend had an out of date drivers licence, the girl ath teh dsek briefly looked at it and sent them on their merry way onto the plane! So flikflak I do think the chances are ever so slightly increasing.....

Although on the way back from glasgow to dublin they checked his Id properly and wouldnt let him on the flight. He had to get the bus to stranrar?? and a baot to belfast and then train back down so the chacneas of coming home are looking slim now lol

flikflak

Well if you are willing to take the chance then you go for it. Personally going on the evidence of one Ryanair employee not looking hard enough at his ID I dont think I would chance it. Maybe that one Ryanair employee with bad eyesight no longer works for the company

Plus by letting him travel in the first place they actually ended up making him pay more and enduring more hassle to get home.

Just go and get your passport. Job done and no more what if`s and putting faith in year old stories of a friend of a friend to travel.

If you had gone and gotten your passport yesterday it would have cost you €75 but if you need it within 3 days they charge an extra €50! so €125 for the passport and the flights only cost €60! personally I'd go for the drivers license option, it's only €25 isn't it?

If you get stuck in Bournemouth Ryanair are the only ones who fly out of there to Dublin so would be a bit of a nightmare.

me-skywalker

flikflak wrote: »

Well if you are willing to take the chance then you go for it. Personally going on the evidence of one Ryanair employee not looking hard enough at his ID I dont think I would chance it. Maybe that one Ryanair employee with bad eyesight no longer works for the company

Plus by letting him travel in the first place they actually ended up making him pay more and enduring more hassle to get home.

Just go and get your passport. Job done and no more what if`s and putting faith in year old stories of a friend of a friend to travel.

im not putting my faith in that I just thought it was a funny side note and not to be taking serious which you seem to have done.

I am going to the office on Thrusday to try get it one the day. But if i dont get it which might be a possibility as they might see it as being bit cheeky arriving in the office asking for one that day and might not be something they offer as might take longer than a day to do all the checks and might be first come first served and the people that acutally posted in would get preference!

But my point is Im off work anyway Friday, if i dont get a new passport Thursday, there is no harm in me since i ve alraedy paid for the flight to go to the airport and check in. If they say no your ID is out of date, then fine ill go home no big deal my fault for losing it not theirs. But if they dont check properly and let me through then great im off the hook. Have to be optimistic about these things.

flikflak

Well good luck with getting it anyways.

Not really off the hook if you cant get home though??

Just trying to help you out really as I would not like to be stranded in Bournemouth if I had managed to get over but was not allowed to board to get home. That would cost a fortune and be a nightmare to arrange.

So hopefully you will get your passport and go and have a good time.

me-skywalker

flikflak wrote: »

Well good luck with getting it anyways.

Not really off the hook if you cant get home though??

Just trying to help you out really as I would not like to be stranded in Bournemouth if I had managed to get over but was not allowed to board to get home. That would cost a fortune and be a nightmare to arrange.

So hopefully you will get your passport and go and have a good time.

well if i cant get home then looks like ill jst become a travelling man and may someday wash back up on these shores with stories of my adventures and you will be in awe and want to get stranded in a foregin country yourself!

or maybe ill jst get thrown into the security room and rubber gloved :-(

flikflak

me-skywalker wrote: »

well if i cant get home then looks like ill jst become a travelling man and may someday wash back up on these shores with stories of my adventures and you will be in awe and want to get stranded in a foregin country yourself!

or maybe ill jst get thrown into the security room and rubber gloved :-(

Been there, done that.

Admit it you want to get gloved!

robinph

Just so that you are aware though, when you get refused boarding on the return flight from Bournmouth your looking at £105 and an 8 hour journey to get the train to Holyhead. The however long to wait for the next boat from there.

Sounds like your looking for an excuse to not go actually and I don't understand why your leaving it until the last moment to try and sort anything out. Could have all been solved on Monday.

Kotek Besar

Deleted User wrote: »

If you had gone and gotten your passport yesterday it would have cost you €75 but if you need it within 3 days they charge an extra €50! so €125 for the passport and the flights only cost €60! personally I'd go for the drivers license option, it's only €25 isn't it?

If you get stuck in Bournemouth Ryanair are the only ones who fly out of there to Dublin so would be a bit of a nightmare.

Why not go by bus? Cheaper and you won't need a passport.

cos the stag will be over by the time he gets there :pac:

actually, just for divelment (is that a word) even if you get your shiny new passport, you should hand in your license first and see if they accept it jsut to p*ss yourself off haha!

me-skywalker

flikflak wrote: »

Been there, done that.

Admit it you want to get gloved!

Ha really?

Noooo way!! Bad visions... ouch!!

robinph wrote: »

Just so that you are aware though, when you get refused boarding on the return flight from Bournmouth your looking at £105 and an 8 hour journey to get the train to Holyhead. The however long to wait for the next boat from there.

Sounds like your looking for an excuse to not go actually and I don't understand why your leaving it until the last moment to try and sort anything out. Could have all been solved on Monday.

No problem with the travelling im always up fpr travelling i dont mind an 8 hour train journey! try a 24hours train journey in India!

It sno t an excuse not to go excuse you.. I lost my passport. only looked for it over the weekend as never thougth about it until then just assumed it was were it always is but ive ransacked the house several times seachin for it but i think i left it in manchester in feb. Coudlnt have been solved monday either as i was working. As ive said im goign to the office on thursday. And if i get one great if i dont ill try get through with the out of date drivers licence and if i dont fair enough my own fault. plenty to do here on a bank holiday weekend.

biZrb

I've flown in and out of Bournemouth a good few times, its a really small Airport (at least it was when I was last there a few years ago) so you might think it'd be easy to get away with not having proper ID. But I don't think it will be.

I always flew from Dublin and when going through the Airport security they checked everyones passports and asked people questions about why they were in the UK. They would make a few people sit down while they walked off with their passports into one of those rooms with the see through glass as a window.

So if you get past Ryanair, you might not be so luck when you get to Bournemouth.

Kotek Besar

biZrb wrote: »

I've flown in and out of Bournemouth a good few times, its a really small Airport (at least it was when I was last there a few years ago) so you might think it'd be easy to get away with not having proper ID. But I don't think it will be.

I always flew from Dublin and when going through the Airport security they checked everyones passports and asked people questions about why they were in the UK. They would make a few people sit down while they walked off with their passports into one of those rooms with the see through glass as a window.

So if you get past Ryanair, you might not be so luck when you get to Bournemouth.

This is unusual. Flights landing in the UK from Ireland are usually treated as domestic. They shouldn't be, but they are. Passengers do not usually pass through security / Immigration. I certainly never have. Still, I suppose the UKBA accept the reality that Northern Ireland poses a huge illegal immigration loophole for the UK and Ireland, so - why bother? Well, the GNIB over here certainly bother. I digress..

If an Immigration Officer were to ask me why I was in the UK I'd tell him to mind his own business. It is the right of every EEA national to enter the UK, should he wish to. It is the right of every British / Irish citizen to move among the Common Travel Area without the need to carry a passport. Irish citizens in the UK are not treated as foreigners anyway, and are automatically deemed to have Indefinite Leave to Remain if they move there.

Note that even though British / Irish citizens do not need to carry a passport when moving among the CTA, they need to satisfy Immigration Officers that they are indeed a British / Irish citizen. A caucasian person with a strong regional British / Irish accent may find this a lot easier than, say, a non-white naturalised British / Irish citizen. The latter may find that he needs to carry a passport in order to prove he is a British / Irish citizen, and thus entitled to move among the CTA without the need to carry a passport. Ironic, but I suppose this wasn't an issue hundreds of years ago.

Nonetheless, while the provisions of the CTA remain in force, for all British / Irish citizens, the airlines or vessels that carry us among the CTA can make up their own conditions of carriage, often more restrictive than the provisions afforded by the CTA agreement.

dereko1969

if you've actually lost your passport you'll have to jump through a few more hoops before getting the new passport in a day!
you'll have to get a form stamped by the garda (and some garda won't stamp it unless they know you so that can cause extra problems) so if were you i'd go with the new drivers license.
see here for lost passport
http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=261

me-skywalker

dereko1969 wrote: »

if you've actually lost your passport you'll have to jump through a few more hoops before getting the new passport in a day!
you'll have to get a form stamped by the garda (and some garda won't stamp it unless they know you so that can cause extra problems) so if were you i'd go with the new drivers license.
see here for lost passport
http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=261

i knwo i have this sorted! know a garda fomr the local office sothats done and dusted. so hoepfully ill pull a few strings and charm the person at the counter. fingers crossed.

dereko1969

you'll be grand so, you won't need to charm them - happens all the time - but you will have to pay extra to get it done in the day, you should actually try and be in the queue in the morning for when the office opens as that should get it done a bit quicker. be very very careful with your photos too as they're much stricter with them now so no smiling!

did Skywalker make it to Bournemouth I wonder? I assume so seeing as I didn't hear of anyone being left behind