Eurostar’s impressive iProov.me scheme let me bypass UK passport control (and all queues)

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• Mouse says:

  14 Dec14 December 05:14

  Any bets on how long after this article they take to put someone at the entrance to ensure only business premier / carte blanche get through? I give it 3 weeks.

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

    14 Dec14 December 21:09

    Exactly 🙄

• May Lim says:

  14 Dec14 December 05:17

  So it is only for British passport holders. I am assuming it will not work for foreigners then

  • Charles Martel says:

    14 Dec14 December 05:53

    The iProov.me website implies it works on all NFC enabled passports.

• Nick says:

  14 Dec14 December 05:35

  Why are UK officials checking passports anyway? Is St Pancras the only port to have reintroduced exit checks? Or have I misunderstood something?

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    14 Dec14 December 06:15

    Exit checks at airports are done when your passport is swiped at check in etc so you don’t realise it’s done and the data is sent to Border Force / Home Office.

    At ports and Eurostar that doesn’t happen hence the presence of UKBF staff to check and scan passports for all passengers.

    • His Holyness says:

      14 Dec14 December 06:20

      Why can’t they just capture the details the same way airlines do? I can’t remember the last time my passport was swiped. I don’t check bags.

      • John says:

        14 Dec14 December 07:23

        You say that Ryanair doesn’t swipe your passport if you have no checked bags, even at the gate. So if you were willing to risk it you could potentially submit API of a passport you don’t have and then fly on a different passport.

        I’ve actually done this on BA – I left my British passport in a Schengen country by accident but as it’s the default in my BA profile I just checked in for a flight departing LHR with those details. Used my Australian passport at the gate and to enter Schengen, nobody knew I didn’t have the British passport on me.

        • Nick says:

          16 Dec16 December 08:36

          A sub set (I think the last 4) of the passport number entered during online check in is shown on the boarding pass that, in theory, Ryanair staff could check. Whether they do or not is another matter. In my experience they usually ask the customer to scan their own boarding pass on the scanner and then glance at the passport name vs the name on their screen.

    • riku says:

      14 Dec14 December 06:35

      I don’t understand these “exit checks” either. If you print your own boarding pass and don’t visit a checkin desk at Heathrow, who is scanning your passport? If it’s done when you do online check in then why can’t eurostar do the same thing.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        14 Dec14 December 06:44

        If it’s not swiped at check in then it gets swiped at the gate.

        • His Holyness says:

          14 Dec14 December 06:48

          You’ve never flown Ryanair have you?

        • Rui N. says:

          14 Dec14 December 07:49

          I haven’t had passports swiped at check in or gate in a very long time. Last month flew 2 round trips on BA and no swiipe.

    • TimM says:

      14 Dec14 December 06:52

      Same here. I always travel hand luggage only. Only my boarding pass is scanned at Manchester to enter security and at the gate, and then passport is manually checked against passport for ID.

      In essence, if the biometric information held by the UK Gov included a face scan, then a passport would only be required for those not automatically recognised and matched against the operator’s ticketing list. No app should be required.

      • TimM says:

        14 Dec14 December 06:54

        “and then manually checked against passport for ID”

        • His Holyness says:

          14 Dec14 December 07:02

          Yeah, makes no sense. Plenty of carriers don’t scan ex-UK. The data from the PNR and OLCI is enough. It’s a BA thing-perhaps HMG don’t trust them?
          As for Eurostar, after enjoying a 30 year monopoly you can hardly blame them for being stuck in the past.

    • NFH says:

      14 Dec14 December 07:09

      My passport is never swiped at bag drop or at boarding gates. Airline staff check only that the name matches between the passport and the boarding pass. I believe that only the travel document entered in advance passenger information is transmitted to UK Border Force.

      • Roy says:

        14 Dec14 December 09:12

        I think the swiping is ared herring. The fact is, someone looks at your passport.

        Basically, the airline needs to know who was actually on that fight – and submit the list to the government.

        • NFH says:

          14 Dec14 December 11:05

          Someone looking at a passport does not transmit it to UK Border Force, so it is not an exit control. At a boarding gate, a passport is checked to ascertain that it is valid for entry to the destination country, not for departure from the UK.

        • Rhys says:

          14 Dec14 December 11:11

          The UK Government receives all API data, so it knows who is leaving, and airport staff make sure that your ID is the same as the name on your ticket, so it’s a fairly close proxy.

        • Roy says:

          14 Dec14 December 12:40

          Exactly. HMG do not do routine exit checks per se. They do however require carriers to supply passenger lists of departing passengers, and to have appropriate security controls in place to know that the ticketed passenger actually travelled.

          Basically they don”t want it to be possible to avoid detection as a visa overstayer just by buying a ticket out of the UK and then paying someone else to travel in your stead.

        • NFH says:

          14 Dec14 December 19:59

          Although airlines check a travel document’s validity for entry to the destination country, they do not validate a travel document’s authenticity, either with advance passenger information or at the boarding gate. It would be very easy to present a forged passport to an airline, and present a real passport in a different name to immigration in the destination country. This lack of UK government exit controls can be exploited by criminals who want to leave the UK under the radar.

        • Nick says:

          16 Dec16 December 08:43

          I think the government just want the data – ie the number of the passport and the date they left. For airlines, you put the passport during online check in. If your boarding pass is scanned at the gate and you take the flight, it is sent. If you don’t turn up and never board, it is not. For Eurostar, for some reason they don’t collect the data during check in online or ticket sales and therefore pay someone from Mitie to collect it (by scanning) at the terminal.

• His Holyness says:

  14 Dec14 December 05:53

  I don’t understand why Border Force are checking passports here? Surely you mean there’s no check by France’s DCPAF?

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    14 Dec14 December 06:10

    Read the article again!

  • Roy says:

    14 Dec14 December 12:48

    Indeed, there isn’t a Border Force check on exit from the UK at St Pancras. It is a security check done by Eurostar personnel (or contractors) in order to comply with their obligation to supply verified passengers lists of departing passengers.

• x2000traveller says:

  14 Dec14 December 06:00

  The UK has been noting details of all those leaving the country for about 10 years now (thanks to Theresa May when Home Secretary) rather than checking passports. Prior to that, there were no checks at all on leaving the the UK, indeed no one knew who had left but this was a way of identifying who left when… In principle, anyone can leave, but they have to provide their passport details (for air travel, this is done through the PNR data you provide when you check-in).

  I-proov, I believe, is still on ‘soft launch’. It’s only being quietly advertised and is open to all ticket holders. If the system works en masse, I believe the idea is that Eurostar hope to persuade the French authorities to use it to speed up the Schengen check inside the terminal (although the stamping ritual for non-EU passpoort orders would remain……). This check is often the main constraint on throughput and hence the queues. Who knows? Maybe the French authorities can be persuaded? The world is a strange place!
  A couple of times I used it, the system got stuck because I had swapped seat assignments — this somehow seems to cause confusion with the PNR — and actual human beings had to intervene to assist. But maybe they’ve fixed that oddity now. The other time, it worked brilliantly!

  • John says:

    14 Dec14 December 07:25

    The UK did have exit checks but these were stopped around 1993. There have been random spot checks since then but generally just a visual sighting by an officer at the gate.

    When ETIAS is eventually started the stamping is supposed to end for eligible passports…

    • NFH says:

      14 Dec14 December 08:26

      Actually it was 1998, probably March or April 1998.

      • @mkcol says:

        14 Dec14 December 10:11

        @NFH Spot on as I was flying for Monarch at the time & remember the exit desks being left unmanned at Luton.

    • Roy says:

      14 Dec14 December 12:54

      It’s actually EES (the EU’s entry-exit system) that will end stamping, I believe. ETIAS is separate, and is expected to follow later after EES has bedded in (planned for six months after EES goes live, but I’d take that all published timelines with a huge pinch of salt).

  • lumma says:

    14 Dec14 December 09:40

    Ryanair asks for your passport details even when checking in for a domestic flight. (And also requires you to travel with your passport – no using driving licences or anything like you used to)

• Alex says:

  14 Dec14 December 06:08

  Was very interested until I saw it only replaces the UK exit check which is the bit that – especially if you have an EU passport – is super quick anyway.

  The main issue is the French check which is always incredibly chaotic (somehow even more so if you have an EU passport).

  • Alex says:

    14 Dec14 December 06:11

    I have a German passport and every single time at St. Pancras I’ve been pushed to the front of the UK queue and then had to queue for the one gate they’ve designated for EU passport holders which for some reason doesn’t work with a lot of other EU passports so it’s always taken me longer to get through than anyone with a UK passport I might be travelling with.

  • John says:

    14 Dec14 December 07:13

    The UK exit check takes the same time for everybody, because it’s just a Eurostar staff member scanning the MRZ of your passport.

    Even non-biometric passports have an MRZ.

  • jjoohhnn says:

    14 Dec14 December 10:30

    It sounds like “A member of staff lets you (makes you, actually) push in at the front of the queue for French passport control.” would be of use also then!

    • Alexander says:

      14 Dec14 December 13:46

      Not much use if everyone is pushed to the front and there is only one gate that barely works.

  • Roy says:

    14 Dec14 December 13:02

    The EES will result in far more automation to the EU immigration process, and should speed things up for travellers already known to the EES system. However, the first time you travel under the new system it will be more time consuming, as you will have to go through the EES registration process. There also seems to be a suggestion that if you don’t enter the EU for a three year period, the EES will delete your data and you will then be treated as a first-time traveller again the next time you enter the EU.

    Still, it should streamline the process significantly for regular travellers, and will hopefully eventually even allow the introduction of eGates.

• Alastair says:

  14 Dec14 December 06:59

  One of the oddities of Eurostar is that they don’t reconcile ticket details with passport details. It’s entirely possible to travel on a ticket in someone else’s name, or even check in a passenger with a ticket who ends up not travelling. That’s why the outbound check is needed.

  • NFH says:

    14 Dec14 December 07:12

    No, the exit controls are for the benefit of UK Border Force, not for the benefit of Eurostar. The same happens with Eurotunnel.

    • Alastair says:

      14 Dec14 December 12:19

      Yes, but if Eurostar ensured that the name on your ticket and name on your passport matched, and as a result collected API (like the airlines) then there’d be no need for UKBA to do anything at St Pancras (just as there’s no need for them to do anything for outbound travellers at any other UK airport).

      • Roy says:

        14 Dec14 December 13:06

        UKBF don’t do anything at St Pancras anyway. The check that everyone thinks is a UK Border Force check is actually a Eurostar security check.

  • John says:

    14 Dec14 December 07:26

    Eurostar doesn’t compare your ticket name to your passport name when they conduct this exit check.

    • Roy says:

      14 Dec14 December 13:08

      True. It does however means they can supply HMG with an accurate list of who has left the country. HMG will have approved the arrangements and are presumably satisfied with them.

  • riku says:

    14 Dec14 December 11:43

    but passports aren’t checked when travelling inside the schengen zone regardless of train/plane. Passport checking is something particular to the UK in Europe. I flew Helsinki – Munich last week and nobody looked at my passport. Online check in. boarding pass printed. No checks by border officials or airline staff to see that I was the person named on the boarding pass.

    • Roy says:

      14 Dec14 December 13:10

      Of course passports aren’t checked _within_ the Schengen zone – that’s the whole point of Schengen!

      All passports are checked when entering the Schengen zone (which we’ve never been a part of).

• NFH says:

  14 Dec14 December 07:00

  We tried to use iProov in October. We registered successfully, and we arrived at St Pancras two hours before our train to enjoy cocktails in the Eurostar lounge using our Amex Platinum cards. Unfortunately iProov wouldn’t let us go through because you can use it no more than 1½ hours before departure. The friendly staff nevertheless let us go through to the Business Premier lane. There was no queue for security or UK exit controls. However, there was a massive queue for French passport e-gates, a shorter queue for non-EU/EEA/CH nationals, but no manned lane for EU/EEA/CH nationals at all. We therefore had to join the queue for non-EU/EEA/CH nationals, despite having EU travel documents, which was very annoying.

  • Chas says:

    14 Dec14 December 09:58

    Check that you have received your points for that journey – see my comment on page 2 at 09:57

    • NFH says:

      14 Dec14 December 11:06

      Thanks for the tip. I’ve just double-checked and we did receive the points.

    • NFH says:

      14 Dec14 December 11:07

      Thanks for the tip. I’ve just double-checked and we did receive the points in both directions.

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