missbliss

Hi everybody,

i have plans to travel to UK and i want to hear from people who have experience travelling there especially Malaysians. I need advice on "requirements" needed when we are met by the immigration officer at the airport? Do they see our bank book or salary slip?
According to the site,
On arrival in the UK you must satisfy an immigration officer that you qualify for entry to the United Kingdom as a visitor under the Immigration Rules.

CotswoldScouser

There are rarely many Malaysians on this forum, but there are LOTS of Malaysians who regularly travel to Britain. So you'll get answers based on direct experience by asking around other Malaysians. This answer comes from talking to other people.

Citizens of virtually every other country with an average income as low as Malaysia need a visa to enter Britain, even as a tourist That means they will have been interviewed, before getting on the plane by an official who'll check that they're likely to return home.

You don't need a visa. So the immigration officer at the airport or railway station needs to believe there's no likelihood you'll overstay your 6 months, look for a job or fall destitute and need support from public funds. There are no hard and fast rules about what you need to show an him: most Malaysians simply show a valid passport and go off to see if their bags have arrived yet.

But if he suspects you might abuse the terms of your stay, he's entitled to require you to demonstrate you won't. You will certainly need to have a confirmed ticket for a subsequent journey to a destination outside Britain and Ireland: this doesn't need to be back home, and a train ticket to France is fine. It will help if you can show you've got a job or university course to return to. And, since these days we don't carry wads of travellers' cheques around and you're likely to be using your credit card, a bank statement showing you've got enough money to pay the inevitable bills for a few weeks in our overpriced hotels will help too - clear evidence your credit limit will cover things. If you're staying with friends, hard evidence of who they are.

If he's suspicious and you haven't got this evidence on you, you'll be detained for at least several hours while checks are made. This won't be horrible: but it will certainly foul up your plans for the day.

Most immigrattion officers these days are reasonably sophisticated. They know Malaysians have a stable, democratic, fast-growing economy to return to, that they overstay their visits less often than Australians and seek public handouts less often than Romanians. The likelihood is you'll be waved through. But bringing evidence you'll be on that plane back in three weeks' time will help.

CotswoldScouser

BTW: if you don't get any more advice on this forum, there's a fair amount about the experiences Commonwealth tourists have at London's airports on at Thorntree (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/). Just remember, though, that the site's heavily populated by people here as students or on working holiday visas - precisely the groups most likely to overstay or run out of money.

Heimdall

You can get visa information on http://www.britishhighcommission.gov...=1025627742166. Contact the British High Commission in KL by telephone if you have more questions.

sheila

To qualify under the rules you basically have to have enough money to live on, a return ticket and the intention to return. The last one can be difficult to prove, in the sense that it's hard to prove a negative, but you should be OK.

If you are questioned, take it seriously and don't joke around. Don't give up the day job before you leave.

Alec

To add to several helpful comments above, I'd say you should have at least an outline itinerary for your stay - where you are going to stay, where you are going to go and what you are going to do. Advanced reservation for some of the nights in UK would help, as are brochures and guidebooks on UK. There was a story about a group of Asian tourists who were supposed to be coming on a Beatles tour, but on being questioneed by an immigration officer, they didn't know a single Beatles song or even hum any of their tunes. Or another group was supposedly coming for tourism, but on being examined they had no guidebooks, brochures or even a camera between them. In both cases the officers were not convinced they were telling the truth and were refused entry. The morale is what you say and any evidence you provide must make sense - decision whether to admit you or not (which is never taken alone by an immigration officer you first meet but by a senior officer) is made by all those factors taken together. I'd add that being dressed neatly and speaking politely, and giving honest answers to questions (avoiding sarcasm) will help your passage as well.