Passport Queue(s)

[Blink182]

Had a look online but couldn't find a definite answer so thought I'd check if anyone on here had done similar.

 

Heading to Portugal soon with wife and kids.

I'm traveling using my Irish (EU) passport. Wife doesn't have an Irish passport and kids are too young to apply for Irish Citizenship+ Passport (in time for this trip) so have UK passports as well.

 

So the question is can we travel in the EU Passport Queue coming and going to Portugal with the family travelling together? Or am I likely needing to wait in the Non-EU queue as some of us don't have EU passports? 

 

 

[Michael W]

No.

You can't 'guest' people into a passport queue. It's not an airport lounge. 

 

[Savage Henry]

2 hours ago, Blink182 said:

Had a look online but couldn't find a definite answer so thought I'd check if anyone on here had done similar.

 

Heading to Portugal soon with wife and kids.

I'm traveling using my Irish (EU) passport. Wife doesn't have an Irish passport and kids are too young to apply for Irish Citizenship+ Passport (in time for this trip) so have UK passports as well.

 

So the question is can we travel in the EU Passport Queue coming and going to Portugal with the family travelling together? Or am I likely needing to wait in the Non-EU queue as some of us don't have EU passports? 

 

 

You can whizz through and have a well deserved pint while the wife and kids wait in line for hours.  Think of it as a secondary benefit of Brexit. 

[Melanius Mullarkey]

I take it you still need to go through the horrible non EU queue with an old UK maroon passport?

 

[ArabGaz]

Last few times i’ve gone on holiday, the passport queues at all Johnny Foreigner airports have been really smooth and I can’t recall waiting longer than 5 minutes to get through. Only issues i’ve had have been on arrival back in Edinburgh. Just the other week I was about 45 minutes before getting through to baggage.

[Blink182]

Thanks folks. First trip abroad since Brexit and Covid. Also first trip abroad with kids so it's fun fun fun!

[welshbairn]

3 hours ago, Blink182 said:

Thanks folks. First trip abroad since Brexit and Covid. Also first trip abroad with kids so it's fun fun fun!

I went to Faro a couple of months ago and it took about 15 minutes to get through, they were strict about the EU and non EU exits though. Hope they've sorted out the current labour trouble before you fly.. 

https://www.portugalresident.com/bedlam-at-faro-airport-huge-queues-at-passport-control/

 

[German Jag]

6 hours ago, Blink182 said:

Thanks folks. First trip abroad since Brexit and Covid. Also first trip abroad with kids so it's fun fun fun!

Would echo the comments above.

After the Poland friendly last March I flew from Glasgow to Frankfurt with a German passport holder and a UK passport holder. EU lanes were very quiet and me and the other German through in seconds. The UK holder tried to tag along behind us. The border guard, took his passport, flicked through the pages for 7-8 minutes then eventually let him through, with a comment of "use the correct f'n lane next time".

Length of stay is also controlled. A friend of mine is a German citizen (has ID card, but no passport) British passport holder though. He's been asked a few times when exiting the Schengen region regarding how long he's been there.

[jimbaxters]

18 hours ago, ArabGaz said:

Last few times i’ve gone on holiday, the passport queues at all Johnny Foreigner airports have been really smooth and I can’t recall waiting longer than 5 minutes to get through. Only issues i’ve had have been on arrival back in Edinburgh. Just the other week I was about 45 minutes before getting through to baggage.

Aye it's great when the queue starts before you even reach the bottom of the stairs down to the immigration bit. 

[Blink182]

So the answer to this question was yes as an EU passport holder I can take wife and kids through the EU gates. 

Result. 

 

[welshbairn]

42 minutes ago, Blink182 said:

So the answer to this question was yes as an EU passport holder I can take wife and kids through the EU gates. 

Result. 

 

I think it probably depends on the airport and who's on duty, I doubt it's a hard and fast rule. Did your wife and kids get their passports stamped?

[Blink182]

6 hours ago, welshbairn said:

I think it probably depends on the airport and who's on duty, I doubt it's a hard and fast rule. Did your wife and kids get their passports stamped?

They did indeed. 

We actually ended up near front of queue the way it ended up and went through the all passports queue as it was so short. The woman at the desk said next time don't bother just use EU one as they are travelling with me it's fine. 

[Honest_Man#1]

On 23/03/2023 at 22:12, 54_and_counting said:

Just back from the canaries, when we got there everyone in the same queue, no different queues, took mins for them to stamp you through

Back in edinburgh if absolute fucktards knew how to use the e-gates the queue would have been less than 5 mins, again piece of piss both times at both airports

The chip in my passport has failed and means I always get rejected at these. Every single fucking time the person telling people where to go refuses to listen to me explain this because their trying to speed the queue up, which means every single time I have to stand and try the e-gate until it sends me to a desk, therefore clogging up the queue. Utterly infuriating. 

[54_and_counting]

9 minutes ago, Honest_Man#1 said:

The chip in my passport has failed and means I always get rejected at these. Every single fucking time the person telling people where to go refuses to listen to me explain this because their trying to speed the queue up, which means every single time I have to stand and try the e-gate until it sends me to a desk, therefore clogging up the queue. Utterly infuriating. 

Thats fair enough, instances like this are outwith your control, but when you get bangers that put their passport half in, or upside down, or better yet, put the passport in then turn back to talk to someone, fucking hell

[Thane of Cawdor]

There are much worse possible outcomes than delays at passport control. We are the Johnny Foreigners now. Getting a bit impatient waiting for my Brexit dividend. 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/apr/29/briton-valid-passport-barred-from-flight-brexit-rules-eu

Passengers may look at their passport, see that it does not expire until well after their return, and conclude that all is well. However, they need to check the date of issue. If the passport will be more than 10 years old on the day of entry, they will not be allowed in.

[Lurkst]

On 29/04/2023 at 13:12, Thane of Cawdor said:

There are much worse possible outcomes than delays at passport control. We are the Johnny Foreigners now. Getting a bit impatient waiting for my Brexit dividend. 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/apr/29/briton-valid-passport-barred-from-flight-brexit-rules-eu

Passengers may look at their passport, see that it does not expire until well after their return, and conclude that all is well. However, they need to check the date of issue. If the passport will be more than 10 years old on the day of entry, they will not be allowed in.

Discovered this by accident a few weeks back. My missus' passport expires next year but had almost 11 years validity on it.

So now having to wait on the strike ridden passport office to get a new one to us in time for the summer 

 

[TxRover]

On 30/04/2023 at 12:14, Lurkst said:

Discovered this by accident a few weeks back. My missus' passport expires next year but had almost 11 years validity on it.

So now having to wait on the strike ridden passport office to get a new one to us in time for the summer 

 

Crap, how bad are the delays now? The time frame isn’t deeply important, but just trying to get an idea of how much longer the delays are getting. The kiddo’s application for a first UK passport is in the mail…let me guess, they are striking too.

On 11/04/2023 at 03:08, Blink182 said:

So the answer to this question was yes as an EU passport holder I can take wife and kids through the EU gates. 

Result. 

 

Lucky b*****d, the UK arrivals used to allow that kind of guest access for families of UK passport holders, but the last visit they had changed policies and kicked me and company into the bowel of hell (non-UK/EU passports at that time).

[Lurkst]

1 hour ago, TxRover said:

Crap, how bad are the delays now? The time frame isn’t deeply important, but just trying to get an idea of how much longer the delays are getting. The kiddo’s application for a first UK passport is in the mail…let me guess, they are striking too.

 

They say allow 10 weeks but in reality it should take much less time.

If you've got the passport application reference number you should be able to check the status online.

We've been told the wife's application has been approved (took around a fortnight), so hopefully won't be too much longer to get it printed. 

This website gives you details on current expected waiting times...

https://www.passportwaitingtime.co.uk/

 

On a similar note I applied for the new GHIC cards at the same time and received them yesterday. Unlike the old EHIC cards they are plastered with Union Jacks so might not be everyone on here's cup of tea 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Lurkst

[Soapy FFC]

Flew into Lanzarote from Edinburgh yesterday and we were told to use the e-gates. No delays and straight through. 

[TxRover]

11 minutes ago, Lurkst said:

They say allow 10 weeks but in reality it should take much less time.

If you've got the passport application reference number you should be able to check the status online.

We've been told the wife's application has been approved (took around a fortnight), so hopefully won't be too much longer to get it printed. 

This website gives you details on current expected waiting times...

https://www.passportwaitingtime.co.uk/

 

On a similar note I applied for the new GHIC cards at the same time and received them yesterday. Unlike the old EHIC cards they are plastered with Union Jacks so might not be everyone on here's cup of tea 

 

 

Yea, I saw that while I applied. We were told 13-15 weeks due to overseas and need to verify identity…so who knows. The damn paperwork is taking forever to even get there as I wasn’t willing to spend $120 to get it delivered quick.