UK Customs questioning EU citizens

Raekwon

I've been all over Europe throughout the last 10 years and the only place that I've been stopped and questioned has been in the UK. So far I've been stop and questioned at Stansted, Bristol, Liverpool airports and at the ferry terminal in Holyhead.

Funnily enough I haven't been stopped in bigger airports such as Heathrow, Birmingham or Manchester.

I find this really strange as I've a valid Irish passport and no criminal record yet I seem to constantly get stopped and asked a combination of these sort of questions:

"Why are you travelling to a certain destination"
"Do I know anybody in the place that I'm travelling too and if so are they a citizen of that place"
"What do you do for a living"
"What company I work for and what sort of role do I work in the company"
"How much money am I carrying"
"How much money do I intend on spending"
"How long am I planning on staying at the destination"
"What date is my return flight"

I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced being questioned by UK custom officers while entering the UK?

endofrainbow

Are you sure they are Customs and not Immigration/Border Agency Officials?

munchkin_utd

are you a young(ish) male travelling alone?
And you say you have a valid irish passport. Were you born in Ireland/ have irish accent or is there something that makes you stand out from a normal irish person born and bred in the country?

By the way, a lot of those random questions are just to see if you get nervous and might have something to hide.
The mother got the same from the brits every day going across the border to work back during the troubles, even asking her once for the serial number of the car chasis - something you'd obviously have on the tip of your tongue learnt off by heart!!

keithclancy

Raekwon wrote: »

I've been all over Europe throughout the last 10 years and the only place that I've been stopped and questioned has been in the UK. So far I've been stop and questioned at Stansted, Bristol, Liverpool airports and at the ferry terminal in Holyhead.

Funnily enough I haven't been stopped in bigger airports such as Heathrow, Birmingham or Manchester.

I find this really strange as I've a valid Irish passport and no criminal record yet I seem to constantly get stopped and asked a combination of these sort of questions:

"Why are you travelling to a certain destination"
"Do I know anybody in the place that I'm travelling too and if so are they a citizen of that place"
"What do you do for a living"
"What company I work for and what sort of role do I work in the company"
"How much money am I carrying"
"How much money do I intend on spending"
"How long am I planning on staying at the destination"
"What date is my return flight"

I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced being questioned by UK custom officers while entering the UK?

That was UK Border Control.

I got the exact same line of questioning while at Birmingham Airport.

Totally random, I've found it more common in the UK, but once I got the same questions at Schiphol.

Lapin

Border crossings on mainland Europe are almost non existant since the Schengen agreement.

The UK as an island nation and not part of Schengen is also the top destination for illegal immegrants.

Having said that, I've only ever been stopped at Heathrow on flights from Belfast but that was during the troubles and nothing to do with customs as it is a domestic flight.

Raekwon wrote: »

So far I've been stop and questioned at Stansted, Bristol, Liverpool airports and at the ferry terminal in Holyhead.

Funnily enough I haven't been stopped in bigger airports such as Heathrow, Birmingham or Manchester.

Nit-picking point here but Stansted is a lot bigger than Birmingham. At least in terms of passenger numbers and runway length.

Raekwon

endofrainbow wrote: »

Are you sure they are Customs and not Immigration/Border Agency Officials?

They could well be, I can't really tell the difference. Most wear dark blue jumpers and slacks but some wear plain suits.

munchkin_utd wrote:

are you a young(ish) male travelling alone?
And you say you have a valid irish passport. Were you born in Ireland/ have irish accent or is there something that makes you stand out from a normal irish person born and bred in the country?

I am in my mid 30's, male and I was born and bred in Ireland to Irish parents.

Lapin wrote:

Nit-picking point here but Stansted is a lot bigger than Birmingham. At least in terms of passenger numbers and runway length.

True but Birmingham is an international airport that serves carriers from USA, Canada, UAE, India, Pakistan while Stansted is exclusively for European carriers.

I just find the whole experience and intrusive questions quite lethargic at this stage and, as ridiculous as it my sound, I feel it's because I hold an Irish passport

keithclancy

Raekwon wrote: »

I just find the whole experience and intrusive questions quite lethargic at this stage and, as ridiculous as it my sound, I feel it's because I hold an Irish passport

Naw, Dutch guy with me got he same questions.

Fratton Fred

Sounds like you've just got one of those faces!

I got pulled over about five times on the trot for a quota search, which gets a bit annoying, but it's just part of the joys of air travel.

do you get pulled over when you get off flights from Ireland? I've never seen immigration check those flights at stansted.

rainbow kirby

Nothing from flights from Ireland, but a few questions and dirty looks at Luton when arriving from Poznan last summer. Probably didn't help that I was hungover and hadn't slept...

aphex™

It's Customs, not immigration.

I got it when I was leaving London City Airport going to Dublin a few years back.

They wanted to know where I'd been. I said Devon. They said that's a long way from London. I said I'd been to a concert in Devon and went to see a friend in London afterwards. They were suspicious of this.

They asked if I pay tax in the UK after performing at the concert. I explained I was just attending the concert.

That's how it works, they question you until they ascertain you may have some business interest in the UK then they make a note of it and give it to Inland Revenue for more investigation if they think you go in and out frequently to avoid paying tax, AFAIK.

I've seen similar on UK Airport type shows. Mostly investigating non-EUs for running businesses in the UK and not paying tax.

bigar

To me the UK is one of the most paranoid countries for what border controls are concerned. This includes the security gates where they want to check every little thing almost as if they intentionally want to spoil your holiday mood. I found that the smaller the airport, the worse it gets.

coylemj

Well you guys must look like the classic international terrorist, I have been to most of the UK small and large airports and it's been over 20 years since I was asked to show my passport on arrival from Ireland to any UK airport. Prior to 9/11 you could fly with Aer Lingus and the only reason you needed any kind of identification was if you were stopped by the UK police because Aer Lingus never asked for any.

Nowadays the UK is not a signatory to the Schengen agreement so when arriving to the UK from any country other than Ireland, you will be asked to show your passport.

ToxicPaddy

Travel to the UK about 10 - 15 times a year with work and have never been stopped or questioned by customs or anyone else for that matter.

Kinda strange for the OP to be questioned so much but then again as someone has said, the UK border police and customs are a paranoid bunch so I suppose they are just doing their job, no point in making your life more difficult but not co operating with them.

channelsurfer2

got stopped at manchester once when going over to see utd play. that said I was the only person getting off the plane as it was an Air Luxembourg flight from dublin to luxembourg via manchester.
name, where you going, what your purpose( to see the match). forgive me sir but what match is that etc. etc.
I was in my mid 20's at the time on my own so yeah profiling seems right to be stopped.

April O Neill

I was stopped and questioned at Bristol Airport a few years back.

29 year old Irish female here. They were questioning everyone. What is your business here? Where are you staying? etc. etc.

Mint Sauce

Travel to London up to 3-4 times a year. Have only ever been questioned once, and was by British Transport Police on the way down to the gates. I was a lone male, travelling the week after 9/11. Maybe I just fitted the profile at the time.