4 ms·

You could potentially enter Britain without a passport this way, taking a ferry.

threetonesun 4y ago
Yep, did a trip that was Dublin to Belfast, ferry to Scotland, train from Edinburgh to London, only checked the passport once.
- TomWhitwell 4y ago
  I went from London to Paris last week, only checked the passport once.
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    From my understanding, UK Border Force doesn’t do exit controls on that route by the Chunnel, but France (or security?) reports exits back to UK. The reverse has juxtaposed controls where you deal with both French exit controls and UK entry controls at the departure railway station. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtaposed_controls https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtaposed_controls
    - laurencerowe 4y ago
      Pretty sure the UK has never done exit controls. I remember being surprised at being asked for my passport at the border post the first time I flew out of Schengen since officials don’t check your passport flying out of the UK.
    - NoboruWataya 4y ago
      I have travelled to the continent several times on the Eurostar and each time I got my passport checked twice in St Pancras Station in London, within a few metres of each other. Once by UK authorities and then by French authorities.
      - Symbiote 4y ago
        And I have walked past the unmanned UK booths to the French one several times, but anecdotes are pretty useless in these discussions.
        NoboruWataya 4y ago
        We're not debating statistical trends here, so blanket dismissals of "anecdotes" are themselves pretty useless. I was sharing my experience. Maybe you happened to be passing by while they were on their tea break, I don't know. I'm going again in a few weeks so will be interested to see if both booths are still functioning.
        Symbiote 4y ago
        The UK introduced exit checks in 8 April 2015. My anecdote is from travel before then, yours after. Discussion-by-anecdote is pointless without dates etc, and a waste of time when it's easy enough to find the policy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exit-checks-on-passengers-leaving-the-uk/exit-checks-fact-sheet https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exit-checks-on-pa...
- hanoz 4y ago
  You shouldn't have needed to show a passport at any point in that journey.
  - thomond 4y ago
    You need ID going from NI to Britain so he may have used his passport for that.
    - hanoz 4y ago
      You do not.
    - scott_w 4y ago
      No, you don’t. Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. so it would be like asking for a passport to travel from Berwick to Eyemouth. I’ve been on this ferry trip post-Brexit and the only thing the border police are interested in is whether a dissident planted a bomb under your car when you weren’t looking.
      - netsharc 4y ago
        https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/ireland_and_the_uk/common_travel_area_between_ireland_and_the_uk.html https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/... The language says "may" and "should". You have to be a citizen of Ireland or the UK, and they may ask you to prove that you are. And if you're neither, you have to have a passport, but the checks may happen, or (more likely) they won't happen. So, do you need ID as grandparent poster said, or "you don't", as you claim? The answer is... it depends. Mostly it depends whether there are checks or not. Technically I could've driven the last several thousand miles of my driving "career" without my driver's license, but legally, I could've been stopped and been asked to present it.
        scott_w 4y ago
        You're reading an Irish website about "government in Ireland" to try and interpret UK law. Ireland is not a part of the UK or vice versa. In the UK, you do not need to present ID at any point to travel within the UK. As per the Good Friday Agreement, this extends to the island of Ireland. In other words, you do not need to provide ID to travel between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. If you drive up the N1 / A1 dual carriageway (the main road between Dublin and Belfast), you'll see for yourself. And on your driving license comment: in the UK, you do not need to carry your driving license with you at all. Traffic police are not going to stop you just to check you have one. Ever.

Yep, did a trip that was Dublin to Belfast, ferry to Scotland, train from Edinburgh to London, only checked the passport once.

TomWhitwell 4y ago
I went from London to Paris last week, only checked the passport once.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  From my understanding, UK Border Force doesn’t do exit controls on that route by the Chunnel, but France (or security?) reports exits back to UK. The reverse has juxtaposed controls where you deal with both French exit controls and UK entry controls at the departure railway station. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtaposed_controls https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtaposed_controls
  - laurencerowe 4y ago
    Pretty sure the UK has never done exit controls. I remember being surprised at being asked for my passport at the border post the first time I flew out of Schengen since officials don’t check your passport flying out of the UK.
  - NoboruWataya 4y ago
    I have travelled to the continent several times on the Eurostar and each time I got my passport checked twice in St Pancras Station in London, within a few metres of each other. Once by UK authorities and then by French authorities.
    - Symbiote 4y ago
      And I have walked past the unmanned UK booths to the French one several times, but anecdotes are pretty useless in these discussions.
      - NoboruWataya 4y ago
        We're not debating statistical trends here, so blanket dismissals of "anecdotes" are themselves pretty useless. I was sharing my experience. Maybe you happened to be passing by while they were on their tea break, I don't know. I'm going again in a few weeks so will be interested to see if both booths are still functioning.
        Symbiote 4y ago
        The UK introduced exit checks in 8 April 2015. My anecdote is from travel before then, yours after. Discussion-by-anecdote is pointless without dates etc, and a waste of time when it's easy enough to find the policy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exit-checks-on-passengers-leaving-the-uk/exit-checks-fact-sheet https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exit-checks-on-pa...
hanoz 4y ago
You shouldn't have needed to show a passport at any point in that journey.
- thomond 4y ago
  You need ID going from NI to Britain so he may have used his passport for that.
  - hanoz 4y ago
    You do not.
  - scott_w 4y ago
    No, you don’t. Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. so it would be like asking for a passport to travel from Berwick to Eyemouth. I’ve been on this ferry trip post-Brexit and the only thing the border police are interested in is whether a dissident planted a bomb under your car when you weren’t looking.
    - netsharc 4y ago
      https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/ireland_and_the_uk/common_travel_area_between_ireland_and_the_uk.html https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/... The language says "may" and "should". You have to be a citizen of Ireland or the UK, and they may ask you to prove that you are. And if you're neither, you have to have a passport, but the checks may happen, or (more likely) they won't happen. So, do you need ID as grandparent poster said, or "you don't", as you claim? The answer is... it depends. Mostly it depends whether there are checks or not. Technically I could've driven the last several thousand miles of my driving "career" without my driver's license, but legally, I could've been stopped and been asked to present it.
      - scott_w 4y ago
        You're reading an Irish website about "government in Ireland" to try and interpret UK law. Ireland is not a part of the UK or vice versa. In the UK, you do not need to present ID at any point to travel within the UK. As per the Good Friday Agreement, this extends to the island of Ireland. In other words, you do not need to provide ID to travel between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. If you drive up the N1 / A1 dual carriageway (the main road between Dublin and Belfast), you'll see for yourself. And on your driving license comment: in the UK, you do not need to carry your driving license with you at all. Traffic police are not going to stop you just to check you have one. Ever.