On Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:36:45 +0100, Recliner wrote:

They're going to have to revert for quicker checks for low risk
arrivals, just as they used to do before Theresa May went all macho on
the subject. It's funny how the Home Office seems to be fatal for the
reputation of previously successful politicians.

How quick can they do it? Every time I have arrived in the UK, the passport
check has taken about ten seconds.

--
jhk

In message , at 00:53:10
on Thu, 12 Jul 2012, Jarle H Knudsen remarked:
They're going to have to revert for quicker checks for low risk
arrivals, just as they used to do before Theresa May went all macho on
the subject. It's funny how the Home Office seems to be fatal for the
reputation of previously successful politicians.

How quick can they do it? Every time I have arrived in the UK, the passport
check has taken about ten seconds.

It was pretty quick (and no queues) when I got back to Stansted the
other week. The problem seems to be that one dodgy customer bungs the
system up. Perhaps more airports should have the single-queue multiple
server style (like Birmingham last time I saw it).

In the old days, at places like Gatwick they'd let people waving the
cover of a British passport through a "fast lane" at the rate of two or
three a second, in much the same way they still run the Green Channel
customs lane (no documents, no discussions) most of the time.
--
Roland Perry

On Jul 12, 6:56*am, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 00:53:10
on Thu, 12 Jul 2012, Jarle H Knudsen remarked:

They're going to have to revert for quicker checks for low risk
arrivals, just as they used to do before Theresa May went all macho on
the subject. It's funny how the Home Office seems to be fatal for the
reputation of previously successful politicians.

How quick can they do it? Every time I have arrived in the UK, the passport
check has taken about ten seconds.

It was pretty quick (and no queues) when I got back to Stansted the
other week. The problem seems to be that one dodgy customer bungs the
system up. Perhaps more airports should have the single-queue multiple
server style (like Birmingham last time I saw it).

In the old days, at places like Gatwick they'd let people waving the
cover of a British passport through a "fast lane" at the rate of two or
three a second, in much the same way they still run the Green Channel
customs lane (no documents, no discussions) most of the time.
--
Roland Perry

Last time I came through an airport, (Gatwick), there was someone
urging those with biometric passports to go to the front and use the
self service positions. Doesn't Heathrow have these facilities?

Neill

In message
, at
01:11:24 on Thu, 12 Jul 2012, neill remarked:
Last time I came through an airport, (Gatwick), there was someone
urging those with biometric passports to go to the front and use the
self service positions. Doesn't Heathrow have these facilities?

Yes, they do, and also the last few remaining IRIS gates. But from
observing the gates in action at Stansted, they don't seem to help very
much when it's very busy (but might be useful when the place is
half-manned at a quieter time).

And I'm sure Heathrow has relatively few EEA arrivals, compared to
somewhere like Stansted where almost all are. I avoid Heathrow when at
all possible, and it would be doubly so if travelling at the moment.
--
Roland Perry

On Thu, 12 Jul 2012 09:41:34 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message
, at
01:11:24 on Thu, 12 Jul 2012, neill remarked:
Last time I came through an airport, (Gatwick), there was someone
urging those with biometric passports to go to the front and use the
self service positions. Doesn't Heathrow have these facilities?

Yes, they do, and also the last few remaining IRIS gates. But from
observing the gates in action at Stansted, they don't seem to help very
much when it's very busy (but might be useful when the place is
half-manned at a quieter time).

I've found the self-service biometric passport gates to be slower and
less reliable than the human-powered ones. The problem seems to be
that the camera has to move up or down to be aligned with your face,
which can be slow, and it then has to think for a while before
deciding if it recognises you. Trained humans still seem to be a lot
better at face recognition. Plus, a lot of users (me included) forget
how to use them, which slows it down more. It's a bit like the
self-scanning supermarket checkouts.

On 12/07/2012 06:56, Roland Perry wrote:
[...]
In the old days, at places like Gatwick they'd let people waving the
cover of a British passport through a "fast lane" at the rate of two or
three a second, in much the same way they still run the Green Channel
customs lane (no documents, no discussions) most of the time.

You used to be able to wave the back (i.e. blank) side of a burgundy
passport and be waved through.

In message , Jarle H
Knudsen wrote:
They're going to have to revert for quicker checks for low risk
arrivals, just as they used to do before Theresa May went all macho on
the subject. It's funny how the Home Office seems to be fatal for the
reputation of previously successful politicians.

How quick can they do it? Every time I have arrived in the UK, the passport
check has taken about ten seconds.

On Sunday it took about 10 minutes to reach the front of the queue. The
check took about 20 seconds from memory.

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
Mobile: +44 7973 377646 | Web: http://www.davros.org
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is:

In message , at 23:05:55 on Sat, 14
Jul 2012, Clive D. W. Feather remarked:
How quick can they do it? Every time I have arrived in the UK, the passport
check has taken about ten seconds.

On Sunday it took about 10 minutes to reach the front of the queue. The
check took about 20 seconds from memory.

Ever since the check was automated (~2yrs ago) the processing time has
been much more consistent. Previously it wasn't unusual to have a
conversation with the person, now it's "hello - goodbye".
--
Roland Perry