passport control
 

i was a bit overstay in london, out of my allowed visa period. i will leave london at heathrow T3 next month via air newzealand.

as far as i know, i would be served removal notice if i was found to be overstayed, and this would definitely affect my future UK enterence. i know that T3 serves most long-haul flights, which has the highest chance to have a maned passport control; while others like T1 serves domestic/eu flight, which would be more likely to escape from the passport control.

do anyone know if it is possible to enter T1 departure gate with a T3 broading pass. also, how to transfer from T1 to T3 after i get thru all the custom and passport control? say if i check-in early enough would my broading pass showing no terminal / gate info, so that i can go straight into T1 without being noticed?

thanks in advance, and i am really worry, pls let me know anything that may help.

Oh, Lordy - I can hardly wait for the answers to this one! :D

There is no passport control leaving the UK.

Hi T,

is it possible to start you sentences with a capital letter. sounds like a troll to me. Now doesn't that look weird?

Once in a while I have seen passport control when leaving the UK but not usually. Could you not just have spent a weekend in France and get a fresh stamp in your passport or am I missing something?

Why have you overstayed

You may enter the secure area of T3 only at T3. You may do so only with a boarding pass specifically for a T3 departure in the next few hours. Heathrow takes security extraordinarily (for most of us, painfully) seriously, and I really wouldn't waste time trying to find ways round its rules. You won't.

Except during emergencies, there is no outgoing passport control at UK airports.

Your pasport will be examined by airline staff on checkin. I've no idea whether they shop overstayers to the Home Office: you'll find greater experts on this at the Thorntree site.

Trying to be "clever" at an airport is a guaranteed way of coming to the attention of the authorities.

Home Office rules state that if an outgoing passenger is found to have overstayed, the check-in staff are supposed to inform the immigration unit. They will then take down details, and without delaying the passenger's departure unduly, will arrange for the offence to be recorded on the warning index - computerised database of those who should not be admitted to UK, but only if the period of overstay is substantial. If the details do go on the W.I., next time the passenger arrives in UK, they will be refused entry, and the fact will come to light when they try to apply for any sort of visa abroad, as visa officers have access to W.I. and all applicants are screened against it.
The crunch question is - will the check-in staff spot the overstay, and if they do, will they follow procedure and report? I honestly don't know - I suppose it depends on the individuals on duty, and any specific guidelines from Home Office in force at that time.
BTW, overstay is very easy to spot. Even though there is no exit control, non-EU citizen's passport is stamped every time they enter UK. So if the last stamp allowing a six-month stay (normally) is dated more than 6 months previously, you have overstayed.
Here is a relevant section from immigration manual:

3.1. Overstayers who come to notice when embarking
Persons who have overstayed a limited leave to enter should not be detained for prosecution nor should their departure be delayed by the examination. If the period overstayed is considerable, a report, quoting details of any relevant arrival numbers, should be submitted to the Warnings Index Computerised Unit (WICU) without delay.
A copy of the form IS128a or, in appropriate cases, completed report should also be sent to the WICU in such cases.
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/doc...df?view=Binary

Is there an authority to report to? An authority that might grant an extension?

Dear T,

What a silly thing to do. But why can't you be honest and apply for an extension so that you won't be refused entry next time you visit.

P

You can't extend 6-month visitor's leave to enter. And once your leave is expired, you are liable for deportation when caught. There is a freephone number you can ring at Home Office offering to leave voluntarily. See http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/doc...df?view=Binary

To deal with Gavin's point:

Anyone leaving Britain and trying to re-enter may be refused re-entry. People hitting the Immigration people's buttons (like someone from a country that routinely needs visas, or a young Commonwealth citizen on a working holiday visa, nearing the end of their visa) almost certainly will either be refused or given leave to remain just a few days till they sort their affairs out.

You simply cannot try to get British visas extended by the back door. The best you can do is to go home and apply for a new visa there. If you've overstayed, you need to get out as fast as you can and hope the information gets lost in the system.

Most UK visas (and "waivers") aren't extendable. The main exceptions are working & SOME student visas as well Ancestry visas. You might also be able to convert a WHV into a working visa but that requires a lot of planning and time

For all others you have to get out of the country and if you need a visa reapply from your country of residence / nationality. If you don't need a visa then an immediate reentry into the UK is always looked on suspiciously.

In our Kiwi friend's case the safest thing to do is not to try and buck the system and leave the UK normally. If he gets barred then that's his fault for overstaying in the first place. As I've said trying to be "clever" almost always ends up with you being bitten.

Whoever wrote that passports were not checked when leaving the UK is incorrect. Every time I leave to go on holiday my passport is checked at the security gate after checking in with my boarding pass. I would suggest that the original poster does what has been suggested and contacts the authorities and arranges a voluntary departure.

Passports are checked for identification at security. Just like you need a government-issued picture ID for flying in the US. But there is no passport control for leaving the UK. Just like the US and Canada.