How does passport control work on exit from Heathrow?
Posted by manamara1@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 20 comments
Preface: I don’t travel much. And first international trip since pandemic.
I return from UK to my home country Canada yesterday. It occurred to me that aside from check-in desk, there wasn’t anyone who checked my passport.
Was there a step I missed? Or is the UK similar to Canada and doesn’t check passports on exit?
surgicalcoder@reddit
Airlines have to report 3 hours (iirc) before a flight with a full manifest of people, and border force run it through their system to see if anyone's wanted. If they are, then they'll be intercepted before boarding.
alex8339@reddit
Note to self - fly on standby if I'm on the run.
MrPogoUK@reddit
You forgot a “possibly”; I know a guy my local force wanted was flagged at Stansted but ultimately got on the flight and left as there were no officers available to apprehend him!
surgicalcoder@reddit
Should try to apprehended them ;)
Also a slight misspelling of name or dob can throw the system off. Not all airlines will 100 percent check your name is spelt correctly vs your passport, if you are Horatio Ignatious Cuthpert Englebert the IInd or even Dave vs David (everyone knows a Dave), or skipping (or adding) a middle name
techbear72@reddit
No, you didn’t miss anything. The UK doesn’t have exit checks so there’s no reason for the UK government to check your passport on exit; the only people who will really do that are the airlines, and they only do that to make sure that you are who you are, and because they get fined (depending on the country) if they allow somebody to travel who shouldn’t.
sk6895@reddit
Well, almost- the UK does have exit checks, they just don’t take the form of an official checking your passport. The data gets transmitted to Border Force by your airline so your departure can be noted.
techbear72@reddit
Of course it does, I was saying the UK doesn't have exit checks in the context of answering the question as asked and intended. I'm sure OP doesn't care about the workings, only whether they missed doing something.
quarky_uk@reddit
I think it works the same way that every country works. Your passport is checked by the airline during check-in.
I have done a lot of flying and don't think I remember having to have my passport checked again. Boarding card sure, but I don't remember having my passport checked again by some kind of border control.
veryblocky@reddit
EU countries certainly do an exit check
chartupdate@reddit
Only if leaving the Schengen zone.
veryblocky@reddit
Of course
OrganicPoet1823@reddit
Most countries do check on exit the UK and US not doing so is an exception
quarky_uk@reddit
Just checked my passport, and you might be right. Most of my recent flights have been to NA, so that is probably why.
LordAnchemis@reddit
Your airline submits who checked in (and got on) the flight out of the UK - and the home office computer system does the rest tbh
rohepey422@reddit
No passport control on exit. Only, airlines have to report to the Home Office all the passport details that you have provided at check-in (but they take them at face value without cross-checking with an actual passport). In general, UK does very poorly with border control.
thierry_ennui_@reddit
On the way out, sure. The queues for passport control when you're landing in the UK can be horrendous (Manchester Airport, I'm looking at you), even for UK citizens.
Foxtrot7888@reddit
No, you didn’t miss anything. There isn’t any government passport check on exit. They’re checking your passport at the check in desk to check you won’t be turned away at your destination but there’s no exit check by UK Border Force.
NeutralToLife@reddit
No passport checks on exit, only when you enter back into UK. Then depending on your passport origin you can either use e-gates or face border police who manually check.
6425@reddit
I had this same thing about a decade ago and thought I’d come across some unknown hack; I was coming home and then taking a connecting flight, followed the signs for domestic flights having landed and never went through customs or passport checks.
Always stuck with me a decade later what a potentially dangerous loophole it was.
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