Hello UK! :)
 

So I arrived here in UK two days ago~ The only thing that went wrong on this trip was the delayed flight from Alaska to Seattle. I almost missed my flight to Incheon, South Korea! I had a 14-hour layover in South Korea. It was around 8 in the evening when the plane landed and immigration was a bit slow but it was alright .. I was in Dongdaemun the whole night. I shopped and ate everything I could.. okay moving on.. I stayed in the Philippines for two weeks and then to Qatar (9 hour layover which I enjoyed very much) I had a friend there so she met with me and toured me around (at night!) onto UK immigration.. I brought so much documents with me .__. the first thing the IO asked was why I was staying for five months (I put 5 months on the landing card) I told him I'm going to stay with my aunt and tour around and then he asked what about my school so I said I was doing homestudy. He then asked me how I'm going to support myself so I showed him my bank statement. After that, he asked me if I have a return ticket, I also showed him that. And then he asked one more time... "Why are you staying for so long?" I told him I wanted to travel before going to college and it kinda proved in my passport (lots of stamps due to previous travels) and then he gave me the green light :D he did not ask for my health insurance or anything like that, lol. I was also surprised he didn't look for an invitation letter from my aunt and a proof that I'm doing homestudy .__.

Overall, this trip was amazing!! Traveling alone at this age makes it all the more fun!! My aunt told me that she'll bring me to Paris and London during my stay here.. I can't waiiit!

The weather here is cold.. but it is incomparable in Alaska lol

Why would he want to know about your health insurance, we have a universal health service in the UK. If you fall ill you would be expected to pay but unless it is major the costs are way down on Alaska and often charges are just not levied.

Homestudy is just a concept so far out of the norm in the UK as to be thought as Martian so he probably didn't understand.

If you think he was crazy try visiting the US as a non-native, it is almost as strange as visiting/leaving Isreal .

Anyway, welcome to the UK.

yes, welcome.

I'm really pleased that you are staying with your aunt - no problems with the council tax for you. [sorry - reference to another thread also featuring a young person visiting these shores for the first time].

please come back here from time to time and let us know how you are getting on.

I'll also look forward to hearing what you get up to. I lived in Edinburgh for a long time and always enjoyed trips to Glasgow - very good for contemporary art and with several decent theatres (particularly the Citizens), concert halls etc. Also supposed to be good for shopping & clubbing, for those who are into such things.

Someone told me from my previous post that the UKBA is concerned about my medical insurance so it made me a bit more paranoid about getting denied entry to this place.

And thanks everyone ^_^

bilboburgler: To partly explain honja's post here is the background - http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nto-the-uk.cfm

janisj, thank you, its good to know that our resident "Expert" on all things just gets it wrong on an infrequent basis.

Anyway honja, enjoy the trip. From your previous thread I see that your homeschool was going to provide a note explaining that you were coming home etc. Must be a different sort of homeschool than I'm used to. Could you describe it?

bibloburger, the point is that UK immigration are wary of healthcare 'tourists' - coming here in the hope of free treatment - so bringing evidence of health insurance was a wise precaution.

Kate, I understand, not sure how valid this is but I understand the perception and the belief. I struggle to see UK borders being buried in people from US, Germany, France struggling to get to our NHS but I do understand the issue. Clearly this is a significant concern with Greece, Portugal, Cyprus being in trouble who may well hop on a ryanair.

I shall ponder..

I suspect that the reaction of any particular immigration officer is affected by who they have in front of them. A fit young american like the OP is likely to be a potential illegal overstayer who might be planning on working or just bumming around, hence the questions the OP faced.

an elderly russian who looks ill might well be quizzed about health/travel insurance.

horses for courses.