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Customs and Immigration in Europe (and C+I where it is not published - how?)

There is a port of entry situation. The Immigration (Ports of Entry) Order 1987

I can't find any amendment to that Order, so I would presume that any airport not listed is subject to notice (GAR) if they say so. Interestingly, London City Airport isn't on that list.

The UKBA website directs us to three pieces of legislation regarding notice for entry. I haven't read those for TACT and Customs, but the Immigration one is Section 27 of Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971, It says:

27.-(1) The captain of a ship or aircraft arriving in the United Kingdom- (a) shall take such steps as may be necessary to secure that persons on board do not disembark there unless either they have been examined by an immigration officer, or they disembark in accordance with arrangements approved by an immigration officer, or they are members of the crew who may lawfully enter the United Kingdom without leave by virtue of section 8(1) of this Act ; and

(b) where the examination of persons on board is to be carried out on the ship or aircraft, shall take such steps as may be necessary to secure that those to be examined are presented for the purpose in an orderly manner.

(2) The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument make provision for requiring captains of ships or aircraft arriving in the United Kingdom, or of such of them as arrive from or by way of countries or places specified in the order, to furnish to immigration officers-

(a) a passenger list showing the names and nationality or citizenship of passengers arriving on board the ship or aircraft ;

(b) particulars of members of the crew of the ship or aircraft ; and for enabling an immigration officer to dispense with the furnishing of any such list or particulars.

Redhill, United Kingdom

wot Peter says - spot on !

it's a mess - I've been working on behalf of AOPA for nearly 3,5years now to develop better ways. I've focused on the detail of the GAR process making it electronic.

To be fair to the organisations, (Border Force which is NOT Border Agency - it was hived off last year and reports directly as part of the Home Office and is not one of those awful unaccountable Agencies) above all of the BF characters I have worked with, are incredibly fair and reasonable, they just ask that you also support the aims - (keeping drugs crime etc out) Some front line officers can be a bit more zealous (and probably use www.uniformdating.com !!!) But at least Border Force have now set up a national standardisation unit to address local interpretation. I cant claim credit for that but working with the department does help.

Re the 'designated airport' issue - this carries on - we have gone forward with a launch of an online GAR (operative from 0900 utc Monday 2013 8th April) but it was accepted that we could not sort out the absolute mess of legislation which drives all these inconsistencies. Therefore even the latest guidelines have a large foot in the past. But if you read them carefully they seem to say that if it's a customs airfield then it is also an immigration airfield.

But the message is if you use the online GAR you don't need to worry.

There is a lot more lobbying work to do - the challenge is - if you put in an online GAR then you should not have to give so much notice - 1 Hour like the FP would be good The CTA is another matter. Unfortunately the legislation not only set in stone procedures and airfields (section 7) and unlike customs and immigration cannot be changed without a change in legislation. At least the Police have bought in to the new online GAR and if travelling to or from the CTA it will be a one stop shop and you are clear

Note this does not apply if using an email to the NCU or any non authorised 'online GAR' websites or any paper based system. The only approved ones are AOPA.co.uk Goav8.net or use a smartphone app (currently search UK Border Force on google Playstore - iPhone app in a few weeks)

I appeal for you to use the online GAR submission and report any unnecessary bureaucracy to j o h n @ g o a v 8 . n e t (without the spaces) If this system works we are powerful in demanding 21st century sense to reduce notification times.

BTW my software ain't perfect but at least it wont bite you. I have put everything into the public domain - it's free - and if you don't like the look and feel I am sure, shortly, the big commercials will be in there providing an alternative. best regards John Murray

John, well done on the online GAR. FYI, the android app runs quite OK on a Nexus 4 phone but won't run on a Nexus7 tablet. The splash page just keeps flashing. Both running android 4.2.2.

EGTK Oxford

French Customs / Immigration notice required

So I need to go to Pontoise which has no customs any more. Never had to make a customs only stop before in France. Do you just land, pay the landing fee at say Calais and then go? Customs have never actually come when I have landed there before having filled out the declaration on their page.

EGTK Oxford

Go to LFAT and have your next plan already filed. Apparently you sometimes get lucky!

I have authentic reports of certain "interesting" arrangements, but basically you have to get out, walk in, you have to pay the landing fee anyway, and then Customs (who are almost never present) can choose whether to meet you.

That is how Customs work everywhere - except that at holiday-airline airports they really do tend to be there the whole time and you have to pass through a check.

So you waste say half an hour, plus a load of fuel, plus potentially some loss of weather certainty for the destination.

I don't think Paris is accessible by GA anyway, for a day trip, because Pontoise is a long trip to what one might call "Paris". It is as long as Biggin Hill to what one might call "London".

On the way back home, a tactic which has been historically often used by everybody including bizjets is to file for say LFAT and on the way to LFAT you divert to Lydd EGMD which is just a few miles up the road, and by the time you are talking to UK ATC nobody cares where you came from. It is something I have done on the way back from certain southern countries where I was being screwed around with Customs PNR even though the Customs man was standing right in front of me. I filed for a Schengen airport in another country, well beyond the intended destination which was non EU, and then just diverted. If anybody questioned it, it's due to unforecast headwind or whatever. The problem is that that exact excuse cannot be used for returning to the UK because there is no Schengen airport beyond the UK. I suppose you could file for some place in N Sweden and divert to somewhere in the UK

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Be careful with the “certain "interesting" arrangements”. A friend had it with LFAC lot, on the way back he called the tower and told them that he continue to the UK, he was told to land, kept talking about his “certain "interesting" arrangements” so he was told that he has to land, so he did. The 3 Dunaers jumped on him (they were waiting in the tower) and grilled him for 2h-3h before they let him go. Play by the rules, easer and safer.

Oh well. At least I will get some landing practice. LFAT it is...

EGTK Oxford

Whilst I'm fond of LFAT, I feel a residual resentment towards their landing fee policy as they are one of a small group of French airfields that have decided to charge pilots flying in from England twice what they charge pilots arriving from France.

Calais don't do this, neither do Caen, Cherbourg or St. Brieuc. LFAT, Dinard and Deauville do.

Unless LFAT is my destination or there is a pressing reason to use one of the airfields that have decided to pursue this policy, I don't visit. It's not the money (after all, in the global scheme of things what difference does 12€ make?) it's the principle of feeling that you've just been 'done' that gets me.

I had no idea they do this. What is their justification?

Redhill, United Kingdom
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