Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
By Lefty
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1882957
GrahamB wrote:I’m not sure I want to rock up to an airfield where there’s only a fallible machine* to decide whether or not I can go landside.

*On a couple of occasions I’ve had to be manually processed at Gatwick when Robbie the Robot fails to read my passport.

.


The electronic chip has failed on my passport, which means that the scanners at most airports can't read it automatically. Gave me quite a bit of grief going in / out of the USA and to South Africa - in both places the border guard examined the passport very carefully using a magnifying glass (presumably thinking it was a false document. I got in and out ok - just a little delay whilst they checked that it wasn't a forgery. My wife however was not please with the attention I was getting from onlookers.

I spoke to the passport office - and they won't replace it until it expires and I buy a new one.
By patowalker
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1882963
Customs notification is still PN only. So there is no reason to expect anyone to be present to stamp my passport.

I don't think a Brit having a problem crossing the border from Gibraltar to Spain has any bearing on my visits to Calais or Le Touquet.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1882964
The issue is that if someone stamps your passport on entry, you will need to find someone to stamp it on exit, otherwise you will be at risk of having to provide other info to demonstrate your travels.
By patowalker
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1882983
Not really. On re-entry, no-one is going to claim I exceeded 90 days on a previous trip.

A problem could arise if I was checked on departure of a subsequent trip more than 90 days after the first, with no arrival stamp, but I would have copies of the pertinent FPLs and notifications to Customs.
Ibra, johnm liked this
#1883011
johnm wrote:The issue is that if someone stamps your passport on entry, you will need to find someone to stamp it on exit, otherwise you will be at risk of having to provide other info to demonstrate your travels.


It’s on departures but it’s easy to prove you have no been around for 90days on few days trips :thumright:

As far as Calais & LeTouquet are concerned, they are pretty relaxed (going deep south may become more challenging, especially if some boss sends them at to stamp and the dead office does not have ink for stamps and by the time they found a stamp you already departed :lol: )
johnm liked this
#1883026
patowalker wrote:Customs notification is still PN only. So there is no reason to expect anyone to be present to stamp my passport.


And there's me thinking that the whole purpose of Notification was to give them a heads-up to be present. :scratch:

Rob P
User avatar
By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1883030
Why do people always try to complicate this stuff?

To UK : do the GAR.
To Europe : use Customs/Immigration Airfield as per AIP.

It hasnt changed with Brexit 'cause the UK was never in Shengen.

I admit that the whole C19 thing has indeed mudified this somewhat, but usually there is a Govt website you can look up what you need to do - I usually print out this or have it on my phone/laptop just in case anyone says something different but Ive only had to use this on commercial flights because airline staff sometimes initially get it wrong.

Regards, SD..
johnm liked this
User avatar
By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1883031
Ibra wrote:and the dead office does not have ink for stamps and by the time they found a stamp you already departed :lol: )


I was driving from Bosnia to Croatia one night on one of the back roads. I turned up at the very backwater customs post and of course, being British, I needed the exit stamp from Bosnia. I believe locals have some "intra Yugoslavia" thing where they don't need a stamp. The immigration officer laughed and said he had no idea where the stamp was. "Let me see if I can find it."

He had to walk over to a closed office, open it up and start rummaging around until he found it!

As it happened, the route I took kept me on the northern side of the Neum gap, so then in the space of half an hour I drove into Bosnia again and then back into Croatia. getting two more stamps to add to the first. Four stamps that day.
kanga, johnm, Ibra and 2 others liked this
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1883038
It hasnt changed with Brexit 'cause the UK was never in Shengen.


Actually that isn't quite true, although we weren't in Schengen we did have FoM rights so the issue of limitation on 90 days in any 180 did not apply and now it does. So there is a need to be able to demonstrate that you haven't exceeded that limit and the easiest way is in/out passport stamps, but other methods are possible.
By patowalker
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1883083
Yes, but if we start demanding stamps on our passport at Calais when Customs is not present, the next thing we'll know is that Calais has lost is Customs status.

If you can't live without a stamp don't use an airfield without a permanent Customs presence.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1883084
patowalker wrote:Yes, but if we start demanding stamps on our passport at Calais when Customs is not present, the next thing we'll know is that Calais has lost is Customs status.

If you can't live without a stamp don't use an airfield without a permanent Customs presence.


To be fair I don't care whether I get a stamp or not it's just another bit of potential hassle we could do without
User avatar
By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1883089
johnm wrote:To be fair I don't care whether I get a stamp or not it's just another bit of potential hassle we could do without


What hassle? This thread appears to be a classic example of people looking for problems that dont exist.
#1883092
Paul_Sengupta wrote:so then in the space of half an hour I drove into Bosnia again and then back into Croatia. getting two more stamps to add to the first. Four stamps that day.


Surely you could have stayed in the small village to make it worth it?

I think, I went through that gap driving once (not sure which passports we handed :lol: )

The biggest scam was the insurance waiver at car rental in Croatia, I paid 50£? to cover that crossing and get a dummy piece of paper written by someone with an ugly stamp, after we went away I did read the original insurance policy and it did explicitly cover that crossing on the way to/from Dubrovnik (but no further in ex-Yugoslavia ), I am still waiting for my refund :eye: