Got pulled aside by police after passport control + passport scanned/photo taken - what does it mean?
Posted by mehnameisash@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 51 comments
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JobAnxious2005@reddit
Where were you coming from?
Where did you go to before, same location?
Why did you try and be clever by saying ‘corporate intelligence’
Single male travelling?
Any checked luggage?
Busy-Salt6884@reddit
These were the draft lyrics to Cotton Eye Joe I think
outsider247@reddit
Yea happened to me when I was single male travelling.. didn't happen when travelling with family
Paulstan67@reddit
Is your visa a work visa or a tourist visa? It could.be something to do with you potentially working.
BigReference1xx@reddit
"corporate intelligence" sound dodgy as fuck - it sound like you're a private investigator or deal with corporate espionage :).
He probably just highlighted you as a "hey let's do a quick double check on this guy", and once they understood more about your work, they let you go.
Specialist_-Berry@reddit
Also, those are two quite long words for some civil servants to process. He may have wanted a second opinion.
loaferuk123@reddit
I am huge cynic about the quality and productivity of the Civil Service, but this is unnecessarily insulting.
sihasihasi@reddit
Hark at Einstein over here.
Jezbod@reddit
The civil servants I know all have degrees, or similar qualifications...
Specialist_-Berry@reddit
Most of the unemployed people I know have degrees, what's your point?
Jezbod@reddit
Degrees in basket weaving and textile studies do not count.
Specialist_-Berry@reddit
Try telling that to student finance
BarnytheBrit@reddit
Could have the same name as someone they are looking for
MoraleCheck@reddit
It’s routine questioning by Counter Terrorism Policing’s ports officers.
They’ll either be there randomly for absolutely no reason, target specific flights based on intelligence, or sometimes seek specific individuals. Given you weren’t subject to Schedule 7 examination, it’s highly unlikely it’s the latter.
mehnameisash@reddit (OP)
Ah so you're telling me they're random inspections at best? And do they save the data they scan too or are they all just temporary?
MountainMuffin1980@reddit
Why are you worried about them saving data?
Drunkgummybear1@reddit
The abject horror of the Government (that issued it) having a copy of your passport.
ArmanPhotoshops@reddit
I mean it’s not the govt that issued it. Op said they have a weak passport so went through a different line.
MountainMuffin1980@reddit
Right? The Government that logs every time your passport is processed in an airport etc as well.
I guess they were worried they'd been added to a "suspicious flyers" list which would lead to enhanced searches in future?
JournalistMiddle527@reddit
Because in a few years it will be sold to a corporation like palantir, just like your medical records.
Expert_Ant_2767@reddit
Because OP is worried he ended up on some list? I would be worried as well.
LachsMahal@reddit
They "saved" your and every other arriving traveller's data the second you presented your passport at the border. This is routine procedure. What exactly is your concern?
clrthrn@reddit
Every time you cross the border (any border), they record all of your data plus you will be on about 40 cctv cameras. The guy who did the second check will have recorded the check, inc the photo they took. Why are you worried about them keeping the data? What exactly is your concern?
Thandoscovia@reddit
Yes of course data is saved - all of your scans are recorded at pots
Fit_General7058@reddit
Never random. You fit some profile of theirs.,
Veenkoira00@reddit
I seem to get extra attention at most border crossings. I wonder what profile I fit in – I thought I looked like the Earth (mostly harmless).
Thandoscovia@reddit
You could have the same name as someone on a watchlist
MoraleCheck@reddit
Yes. And yes, everyone’s details and entry/exit history is recorded by Border Force and available to police.
EdThePetrolHead@reddit
By weak passport do you mean you share a name with someone on a wanted list, and so never make if through the ID scanners?
txe4@reddit
Weak passport means one that doesn't have visa-free access to many countries. A place which is a major source of illegal migration, or one that is sanctioned/"bad".
The weakest passports are Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, etc.
EdThePetrolHead@reddit
!Thanks for explaining - that makes sense.
Dunno why I’ve been downvoted for asking a question though 😂😂
Apprehensive-Top3675@reddit
I think they just mean a passport from a country that can't use the egates.
EdThePetrolHead@reddit
Aah ok - just me with a perfectly functional passport chip that never goes through the egates successfully then 😂
James20985@reddit
They heard "intelligence" and thought you were a foreign agent or a diplomat.
smarmy_the_blade@reddit
dodo dilgence! no wonder they were suspicious
DeapVally@reddit
You're just a shifty foreigner. It happens. Answering the question the way you did would have you fit the bill of a spy by many definitions, maybe work on that wording a bit next time, but that suspicion warrants a little extra investigation. I'm sure they have quotas, you were an easy referral. Doesn't seem like it was a great deal of inconvenience to you.
Tonybham01@reddit
What is a weak passport?
theabhig@reddit
I assume in this case it means a nationality that can’t use the e-gates and needs to be manually checked.
Tonybham01@reddit
Assuming that you are correct and along with his responses, he’s answered his own questions.
Womjack@reddit
I once got pulled over by a guy in an airport in Malaysia. It wasn’t even an immigration person. It was a guy who looked like police and I was just walking through areas after check in - shops and stuff. He asked me where I was from while holding my British passport. So I said I was British. He then asked me where my father was from. I was so confused. My father is also British so I answered. He wasn’t happy. He said yes but where is your surname from - where was your father born. Now this is where it gets complicated. My father’s was born in Kenya but his name is Indian. So I answered truthfully he was born in Kenya. The guy was clearly not happy until I “admitted” to ancestry in India. He then explained that as Malaysia is a Muslim country and so is Pakistan, that an Indian name might be suspicious as an enemy of Islam. My mind was absolutely blown and in spite of me telling the technical truth I was basically coerced into telling him what he wanted to hear.
Bit of a pointless story. I guess I’m saying it could be random, it might be targeted, and they might just be way off the mark. Just don’t try and find sense in it.
N64Andysaurus92@reddit
Happens to me every time I fly in to the US, go to the standard immigration desk, get asked a load of questions and then they snap their fingers and I get dragged by armed people in to a back room where the same questions are asked again whilst the search me and my luggage. And then they obviously find nothing and let me go. I'm going again this summer and should it happen for a fourth time I will ask why does it keep happening.
Expensive_Time_7367@reddit
My grandfather used to have the same thing because his birthplace was USSR on a British passport “I spent a month there as a baby, my parents were posted there!” cut no ice. Every time it took about 4 hours.
Ap_30@reddit
I'm worried to ask too many questions in case they just decide to turn me away, as they unfortunately have the right to do that. do they also print the SSSS on your boarding passes? check
Feeling-Medium-7856@reddit
It means they were doing their jobs. So long as you’ve answered truthfully and you’re not concealing anything then I wouldn’t worry about it.
Total_Rules@reddit
Counter terrorism or drug trafficking police. They’re looking to see your reaction to being questioned to see if you’re acting suspiciously.
I’m a British citizen and it has happened to me.
ok2888@reddit
A lot of the time it's because you share a name with someone who is wanted. They scan your passport with the phone to confirm it isn't the same person.
I share an exact first, middle and surname with some drug dealer who fled the country in 2013 and it always happens to me. It never takes them longer than a couple of minutes to realise I'm 30 years younger than him and have a completely different face.
JobAnxious2005@reddit
BillWilberforce@reddit
Plastic surgery.
/s
eternalwonder1984@reddit
Possibly you were just randomly selected, it has happened to me a couple of times.
Possibly they were looking for someone that matched your description.
Possibly they were working on intelligence they had received. Something about the flight you were on etc.
If you weren’t detained for a search it doesn’t sound like you interested them that much in the end.
Spontanudity@reddit
They're likely just doing some extra spot checks and you were chosen. It could also be that you look particularly shifty or have a very sexy passport photo.
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