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Strickers, that was hilarious.
Seems I can’t get the quote button to work all of a sudden
When we were in the EU, Schengen border officers were not meant to ask any questions but they would occasionally ask where I arrived from too. Once I asked an officer why he wanted to know, and he answered that they wanted to get an idea of what flights had just arrived after a lull in passengers – as I’m HBO in Europe I’m often the first person to get to a particular officer.
When leaving Schengen they ask because they want to check your destination is actually outside Schengen. Again once I asked if I really had to answer and he said he didn’t care as long as I was sure I was going to the right gate – this was also when they weren’t even scanning passports
In Hong Kong, if you are a resident and can’t use the e-gate for any reason, 50% of the time the officers are stone-faced and 50% of the time they just go “Name??”
When we were in the EU, Schengen border officers were not meant to ask any questions but they would occasionally ask where I arrived from too. Once I asked an officer why he wanted to know, and he answered that they wanted to get an idea of what flights had just arrived after a lull in passengers – as I’m HBO in Europe I’m often the first person to get to a particular officer.
Yep, I’m often 1st at the desk and get that question almost always. Just so as they know which unwashed screaming horde is approaching
@NorthernLass I did once ask US Border how long they kept my fingerprints to which he said “no idea, that’s above my pay grade”…
They tried to take mine at JFK last month and failed multiple times. I think 5 goes on one hand and 3 the other.
Got told by the officer that I needed to mousturise.
Good debate, thanks for all the inputs.
I’d like to focus only on being questioned when coming back home.
Sure, I’m all aware of the scary and funny situations that can happen when you visit a foreign country. They can easily deny you, and I had my fair share of “fun” when I was young.And no I am not traumatised, simply angry. I have a soft spot when law enforcement crosses the moral and legal line. I’m getting more and more convinced that this situation is political.
I think it is a bit jealousy: whenever I travel to the US with player 2, who also has a US passport, the US CBP always say “welcome home” without asking silly questions.
Top tip when entering Australia, if you are asked if you have a criminal record answering that you didn’t realise you still needed one wouldn’t end well.
That really made me laugh!
A couple of months ago we reached the UK border at the Channel tunnel in France. We had had a long day of driving from just north of Bordeaux and a brief stop at Auchan in Calais. I handed passports over to the Border Force official who asked the usual question as to where we had come from. Without thinking, I said the supermarket and I then asked him if he wanted to see my receipt. He was not amused. He abruptly asked OH to remove his glasses and then continued questioning him.
UK passport holder here.
Most of the time I use the eGates and do not deal with the border force officers.
Recently when I was coming back with the family with a 6yo on tow, I was kinda bothered by the border officer asking where I travelled.What is the legal basis of such questions for British citizens?
Immigration Act 1971 Schedule 2 Para 2. I can’t see why you would be concerned about being asked such a simple question. It seems fairly self evident and appropriate that Border Force officers have fairly extensive powers necessary to execute their duties.
There is no legislation allowing a Border Force Officer to ask a question, they don’t need it. Anyone can ask anyone else a question as long as the question itself does not break any laws, e.g. is racist etc., but rather it is your legal right to not answer. Even if you were placed under caution you do not need to answer. The job of a Border Force Officer is to secure the UK border and, whilst you know you’re a UK citizen, the officer doesn’t initially and is trying to establish that you are who your passport says you are. As has been mentioned by another poster they don’t typically care what the answer is but they are looking for any signs of deceit. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that the person in front of them is travelling with a stolen, borrowed from a family member, doctored / forged UK passport to gain illegal entry.
Hopefully officers ask these questions politely and maybe even cheerily but they are not there to meet and greet you on your return, they are trying to protect us all so I’d rather they did their job first and foremost. If being asked a civil question allows an experienced officer to help identify a “bad actor” (in more ways than one) then I’ll try to take it with good grace.
Is this a bit like “you don’t HAVE to show your boarding pass at Boots”?!
I don’t think we’ve ever NOT been asked.
I do remember sweating slightly as they started directly addressing our son with his 2 dads from
a pretty young age (4-5?) and thinking he was going to come up
with a funny, FUNNY answer of “Nope! Never seen either of them before…”!this a bit like “you don’t HAVE to show your boarding pass at Boots”?!
I don’t think we’ve ever NOT been asked.
I haven’t been asked in boots for years! One of the benefits of self scan…
I do get asked at some other stores though, they usually ask the rather idiotic ‘do you have a boarding pass’ to which my answer is ‘no’. I’m not wearing an airport badge around my neck or a high-vis so obviously I have a boarding pass.
Only once have I had some comeback which resulted in me explaining how their company would keep the ‘tax’ instead of it being spent on public services…
And no I am not traumatised, simply angry. I have a soft spot when law enforcement crosses the moral and legal line. I’m getting more and more convinced that this situation is political.
Reading between the lines, are you suggesting this is something new related to the anti-immigrant sentiment in much of the media? Because I would call bluff on that in as much as I’ve been asked this randomly for as long as I can remember.
I think it is a bit jealousy: whenever I travel to the US with player 2, who also has a US passport, the US CBP always say “welcome home” without asking silly questions.
They say “Welcome, First Name” when you go through the Global Entry channel which is nice. But then you’ve had who knows what secret information passed from the UK government to the US government to get that approved so they don’t need to ask questions.
Thanks for all the answers.
But I think we should limit the focus to being questioned when one enters their own country.
Particularly the travel history.And yes I’m aware how crazy or funny it can get when you enter a foreign country. Because they can deny you. And yes I’ve experienced some crazy shite in the US post 9-11.
And I’m not traumatised. It flips me when law enforcement crosses the legal and moral line and abuse their power. Particularly, when all is easily be avoidable by eGates.
It always strikes me when I travel to the US with Player 2, who also has a US passport, border agents always say “welcome home” to her, no silly questions asked.
This makes me think the “hostile environment” policy seems to have got out of hand sometimes.
So it is political.
And it is odd that people tend to confuse the true legal practice with its traditional/historical way of practical interpretation.As mentioned above, they are not crossing any lines, any more than your aunty or a random stranger asking you where you’ve been would be. Where it gets legal would be if they were, for example, to detain you against your will in order to ask the question, or whether they had followed the correct procedures to be able to use anything you say in court.
It’s a common misconception that officials have to have a specific power to actually speak to members of the public about anything.
I used to tell trainee cops that there was nothing to stop them speaking to members of the public, but unless they were invoking a specific power, neither was there anything to stop that member of the public just walking away without answering if they didn’t feel like being helpful!
@PIL, “can” doesn’t mean it has a legal basis. Notice I’m talking about UK passport holders coming home.
Rather than welcoming back a citizen, they act as if they have the right to deny entry.
They don’t.Plus, ffs, you are holding my passport looking at the stamps.
Not all countries stamp. Israel deliberately doesn’t, prefering to use a chit of paper collected on exit. I’ve also not received a stamp when exiting Spain at Seville, an error on their part.
At the Serbia/Hungary boarder – Serbian Border Officer asked for Passport, Driving License, International Driving License, Hire Car Agreement, cross border hire car permit and details of Hotel is Serbia.
This was to leave Serbia and travel back to Hungary!
@NorthernLass I did once ask US Border how long they kept my fingerprints to which he said “no idea, that’s above my pay grade”…
A few years ago we flew into Seattle and after about five days crossed into Canada to get onto a cruise ship which required going through US immigration again. When I pointed out my very recent entry I was told that they did not keep the finger prints which may or may not be true.
Wow a lot of debate on this. I’ve always assumed that the border officer wants to know so that they can check if your passport has a matching exit stamp from the country you left.
That said since you don’t get your passport stamped on leaving the UK that couldn’t possibly apply when asked by a border officer in another country.
I am not bothered by the question as it’s obvious I have travelled from somewhere and it really doesn’t give much away to the officer if you do tell then the truth.
I think not answering or giving a false answer is asking for trouble. It’s best to be polite as I find that also elicits a more polite reaction from the border officer. Last time I asked if they were due a break soon and got the reply “God yes! I’ve been here ages and I’m hungry!”
Plus, ffs, you are holding my passport looking at the stamps.
I don’t believe its political as the UK is one of several countries where they don’t stamp your passport on departure and in fact they don’t stamp a UK passport on entry either.
Plus although I think they ask so they can check if there is an exit stamp from your departure country to match I think in reality they don’t as that would mean trolling through the entire 10 page passport to try and find it. They don’t spend that much time doing that.
They do however scan the passport to check the biometrics.
Wow a lot of debate on this. I’ve always assumed that the border officer wants to know so that they can check if your passport has a matching exit stamp from the country you left.
My answer to “where have you flown from” is frequently not the same as the answer to “which country did you last exit from”.
Anyway no officer has ever looked at anything other than my photo page when entering the UK.
I’ve entered the UK through immigration (as opposed to from the CTA) nearly 100 times in the past 10 years and the only exit stamps I have in my British passport of the country from where I flew to the UK, are Serbia, Thailand and some Schengen ones since we left the EU. However I have visited around 30 non-Schengen countries during this time.
UK passport holder here.
Most of the time I use the eGates and do not deal with the border force officers.
Recently when I was coming back with the family with a 6yo on tow, I was kinda bothered by the border officer asking where I travelled.What is the legal basis of such questions for British citizens?
Child protection. You say you were “with the family with a 6yo on tow”, what’s your connection to the 6yo.
Remember, UK gaols are bursting at the seams with British Citizens, your citizenship doesn’t stop you engaging in poor behaviours.
I think it would definitely improve the atmosphere if the border
officers broke into song and went:
“Where did you go toooo /
My lovelyyyyy?”@NorthernLass I did once ask US Border how long they kept my fingerprints to which he said “no idea, that’s above my pay grade”…
A few years ago we flew into Seattle and after about five days crossed into Canada to get onto a cruise ship which required going through US immigration again. When I pointed out my very recent entry I was told that they did not keep the finger prints which may or may not be true.
You can certainly check your entries/exits on the official DHS .gov website.
I think it would definitely improve the atmosphere if the border
officers broke into song and went:
“Where did you go toooo /
My lovelyyyyy?”If you say that you stole Picasso paintings that might get you in trouble!
Or offered to show them your sun tan from your carefully designed topless swimsuit! We thought that song was so risqué as children 😂
Questions from H.M. Customs are pretty normal and expected.
Questions from Border Force are less common. I remember they needed to ask questions at Calais when I showed up with no passport, having handed it in to a hotel in Italy and forgotten to collect it when I left. I filled out a form and, having missed one ferry, was able to the board the next. It was after midnight and they didn’t have too much else to do.Thanks for all the answers.
And I’m not traumatised. It flips me when law enforcement crosses the legal and moral line and abuse their power. Particularly, when all is easily be avoidable by eGates.I really can’t understand where you are coming from on this. No legal line has been crossed – the relevant powers were posted almost straight away to your original question. How can a moral line have been crossed? They’re just doing their job, ensuring you are who you say you are — it’s irrelevant whether it’s your home country or otherwise.
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