Handguns in the UK are effectively illegal in the UK except for members of the security services.

There are a couple of exceptions, mainly to do with competitive shooting, but the requirements to bring them in temporarily require a few months of planning

&quot;<i> . . . . broke my nail-clippers</i>&quot; Don't feel paranoid Gertie :)

I've seen that several times -- In the UK, Ireland, Germany, elsewhere. Apparently nail clippers are allowed but the pointed nail files are not. In Cork I overheard the screener ask the passenger ahead of me if she wanted to give up her clippers - or the agent could just snap off the nail file. She opted to keep the clippers and lose the file . . . . .

At least the British Immigration officials don't finger print you and photograph you if you are visitng their country unlike some immigration officers I know....

I know this is the Europe thread, but since Australia has already been mentioned I thought I would add a bit about our Quarantine. To say our quarantine laws are STRICT is a real understatement. Remember we are an island and still have not &quot;caught&quot; many of the undesirable diseases etc. Do not try and smuggle any food stuffs into Australia, you will be caught, they XRAY every bag and you will be fined. Be warned.
Schnauzer

Last time I went to Australia there were restrictions on taking fruit inter-state. And I believe people have been made to eat up their sandwiches before they were allowed to leave the plane!

Going through UK immigration is nothing like as unpleasant or as time-consuming as US immigration IME. As for UK Customs; not only have I never had my bag searched, I've never even seen anyone else having their bag searched either.

Much as I dislike the inbuilt disorganisation of US Immigration, it's only fair to say that non-Europeans on this board seem to report waiting times at British airports broadly comparable with what we have to undergo in the US.

The BIG difference is that the UK typically allocates 80% or more of available immigration officers to dealing with non-Europeans - and expects us to share entry lines with 450 million non-Britons. The US not only allocates as many officials to Americans as to the rest of us - but won't re-allocate those officials till every single US citizen has been cleared.

Neither country provides enough officials to give arriving passengers a pleasant experience. But only the US goes out of its way to be gratuitously offensive to the 95% of the planet fortunate enough not to be lumbered with its citizenship.

<i>The BIG difference is that the UK typically allocates 80% or more of available immigration officers to dealing with non-Europeans - and expects us to share entry lines with 450 million non-Britons.</i>

This has not been my experience. I would think something like 50/50 or even a majority handling the Euro lines is more consistent with what I have seen.

I think the immigration processes in the US and UK are pretty comparable in rigor and unpleasantness. Both are significantly worse than the incredibly lax screening I get at places like AMS and CPH.

If only <b>flanner</b> knew what he's talking about.......

perhaps we should revisit the Australian immigration/customs procedure?

or are you just so comfortable about making stuff up?

Perhaps if you did travel, you may actually know how stuff works, perhaps....

But the way people make it sound now, I'm going to be strip searched and humilitated in order to pass HM Customs.

It won't be worse that what we Europeans have to endure when passing US immigration.

&gt;.But the way people make it sound now, I'm going to be strip searched and humilitated in order to pass HM Customs.&lt;&lt;

And they're wrong, for both Customs and Immigration, unless either agency has good reason to suspect you of trying to break the law in some way. And you would have to go out of your way to give them any such reason.

<i>And they're wrong, for both Customs and Immigration, unless either agency has good reason to suspect you of trying to break the law in some way.</i>

And wrong, also, are those that prattle on about how bad it is to enter the US. Entering the US and the UK can be an ordeal. But it isn't the end of the world in either place. However, it is a noticeably longer process in both countries than many others.

I think flanneruk is on the money once again.

Unless they are doing random searches, if you are pulled from the green line and stopped by UK Customs it is because they expect to find something, either because your bags have been x-rayed or searched further up the line or because they have intelligence to suggest that you may be carrying something illegal. I have never had it happen, but I know people who have had it happen, and they were there for quite a while.

Immigration is another story if you are not an EU resident. For &quot;normal&quot; delays, the worst thing is to arrive there at the same time as a couple of 747's from India or Pakistan and an African country. Best is to arrive from within the EU when relatively few people need to be screened.

As I understand it, and I am sure the details change from time to time, in addition to the questions you will be asked in the screening process, your name will be checked against a list of names at the kiosk, now computerized, formerly on paper.

One of the things it will check is how frequently you visit the UK. If you are a frequent visitor you may be asked questions to determine whether you are a business visitor coming in as a tourist, a drug mule, or someone in love with a terrorist who has given you &quot;a little something to carry&quot; (the Lockerbie bombing).

For a while, in the UK you were also photographed and the photo compared automatically with a computer database of undesirables of various kinds. I don't know if this was experimental or if it still continues.

Canada is paranoid about US citizens working there illegally. A sure way to have a long discussion with the border officers is to tell them that you are there to do a consulting job for a Canadian company.

When I enetered the UK a few weeks ago from the USA I was only asked &quot;Business or Holiday?&quot; and had my passport scanned. It only took a minute.It appeared to be same for all the pasengers on my flight.

Out of a group of 4 of us, my friend might not be able to go to London due to a family issue that has arisen. Should this prove to be a problem when 3 of us clear UK Customs? Obviously if he doesn't go he loses a $1200 non-transferable plane ticket.

I say this not because I'm worried for him losing the money, but because I was the one who purchased the ticket on my debit card (and whom he later repaid). Could this potentially flag me as being suspicious?

Have been to the UK at least 20 times - and have found a wide range of attitudes/practices among Immigration Officers.

Don;t know if it was related to a specific political situation or terror risk, or if sometimes I was just picked out for extra questions. Almost always it is

Are you here for business or pleasure?

How long will you be here?

Where are you staying?

Sometimes they also ask about a return ticket - and a couple of times asked to see it.

Twice they asked a bunch more questions. Both times I was an obvious adult going to London for business meetings. These included who do you work for? Do they do business in the UK? What business are you here for (once a medical congress, once market research), and both times they asked to see my business card.

Sorry - have never been stopped going through Customs.

I never had a problem with UK passport control. Sure, a few questions were asked of me. So?

I know last year at Edinburgh, the questions were straight forward, to the point, and asked politely. I responded with eye contact and gave honest answers.

No real delay.

Compared to the hassle of returning in Atlanta only to have to go through a full security exam before being allowed to go home, I have nothing to complain about at any European entry point that I have experienced.

I like the Swiss system. It is very thorough and complete. Last summer as we crossed the Rhine into Switzerland from Austria we could see a booth at the Swiss end of the bridge. As we slowed to stop, passports in hand, an arm came out of the window and waved us on. As we drove by, all I could see was one foot on the desk, the top of a hat, and the retracted arm.

My wife and I joked about going back to see if there was really a person inside.

Anselm's views notwithstanding, I think Canadian government officials in airports are the worst. Well, not worse than, say, Myanmar -- but pretty unreasonable.

As a country we are SOOOOO egalitarian and politically correct that we cannot even have different lines for Canadian passport holders and for others.

Obviously, my perspective differs from flanneruk, who resents the prioirty the US gives to its own citizens.

Imagine Schwengen countries not distinguishing between the treatment given to Europeans and others!

So: we wait in huge lineups while border officials grill the hapless folk ahead of us in line who speak neither English or French.

Then they grill us in turn. (Why?)

A couple of months ago, I got sent for customs &quot;interrogation&quot; after immigration.

Questions:
What work do you do? (I don't work)
What work did you use to do? (Same as you -- federal government, for 31 years)
Where are you going from the airport? (to Ottawa)
How are you travelling there? (Air France bus)

Finally, finally, a &quot;customs&quot; question:
What articles did you purchase within the amount you have declared?

Answer: Gucci, Armani and Prada (sotto voce: stuff YOU'll never own!) I have the articles and the receipts right here, in 1 place. Do you want to see them?

Customs officer: No. Goodbye.

You folks who return home to Canada seem to have a tougher time than I do when I visit Canada.

I have flown in and driven in.
I don't recall any real problems with passport control at any airport.

At highway crossings, I have never been asked to show any documents.

Other than the standard questions the only thing I have been asked to do was to remove my sunglasses.

The only time I ever saw a car searched was at at the Chief Mountain Station between Glacier NP and Waterton. Some wise guy in a funky VW van responsed to the alcohol and firearms questions by saying he had enough hootch in his car to get all the Indians drunk and enough boom-boom to blow up that end of Alberta.

As I drove away, four uniformed officers were rapidly making the insides of the van the outsides.

I did not hang around long enough to see if they took the spare tire off the rim.

The biggest problems with customs and passport control that I have had in Canada were caused by the American TSA jokers at the airport in Calgary.

The guys at the US border were pains in the rear as well. Nothing beats handing the man in the booth your passport and then have him ask, &quot;What's your name?&quot; Very clever way of establishing true identity.

After that question, you can be assured of a less than thrilling conversation.

Next we had to discuss my full name because my passport bears my birth certificate name that has Junior on the end. I usually abbreviate it Jr. The guy wanted to know what Jr. meant. I told him. That caused more questions because I suppose at age 70 I did not look to him like a junior. I tried to tell him that my father was Robert Brown, Sr. and he was the one who named me.

We finally decided afterwards that the guy could not read and that he seemed to have a general cognitive problem as well.

I really think he was not wanting to believe that an old geezer like me could be junior anything.

I wonder what he would have done had I acted like a really senile old geezer and, when he asked me my name, responded by saying, &quot;I don't remember. Could I see that little book again. It has it in there. I think the print is large enough that I can read it.&quot;