Passports

[Colin Wood]

I was born in England, but when I became an Australian citizen, I got an Australian passport.
I have just come back from UK and Ireland and could see no difference in treatment at any airport.
On leaving Sydney Inused a wheelchair to get to departure lounge. On arrival I realized I had not filled out any departure forms or paid a departure tax. Queried at the desk. asked if I had shown my passport, answer yes, well that's all you do.
On arrival Heathrow, using a wheelchair, the same. One stop show passport and straight through. Same going and coming from Gatwick and Dublin.

[James Curry]

My neighbour had a right moan about delays when entering Greece the other week they had to queue at immigration to get stamped in. A Ryan air flight arrived and most onboard just sailed through immigration, go figure. That is what happens when you leave the club

[Ivan Cloherty]

My neighbour had a right moan about delays when entering Greece the other week they had to queue at immigration to get stamped in. A Ryan air flight arrived and most onboard just sailed through immigration, go figure. That is what happens when you leave the club

A little bit of waiting once or twice a year, a price well worth paying!

[Donald Young]

My feelings are as yours and i became a canadian citizen at the first opportunity
and have never had problems going back to blighty.
Thanks --don.

[Johnny Kieran]

The only reason there have been any problems since leaving the EU, is all down to the bosses of every department dealing with everything. Things like Import -export, ferry services, customs and excise, anything that could possibly thwart a smooth transition to independence. They are all remainers and are guided by gov.uk, who are also remainers, albeit after Cameron dropped his clanger by promising a referendum. They also had all the help they wanted from their buddies in Brussels, who were only too pleased to help at every request, and still do.
I think that given time, people will realise the importance of democracy in our lives, and things will progress. I'm not saying the EU won't, at some point in the future, negotiate some kind of deal with the UK, to make things a bit smoother for them. It just takes a bit of time.

[Austin Carl Largan]

Hello shipmates,
I've only just found this topic but I see it is still alive so here is my two 'pennyworth, which I must forewarn, left a bitter taste in my mouth. As many of you did, I ended up with dual nationality, UK and USA. Also, as many of you did I found it especially useful to have a passport choice when avoiding immigration queues and the like and never experienced any problems entering the USA, and I always entered to the customary greeting of "Welcome home sir". However, on the UK side most of the pond the immigration officers invariablyexpressed obvious displeasure that I was entering on a foreign passport. One in particular gave me a very hard time and grilled me about where I banked, where I was staying, who was going to pick me up and did I realize that I was not eligible to any state benefits while here and not allowed to be employed in any capacity (all of which are untrue incidentally). Anyway, moving on, I had two passports for most of my life and did not experience any difficulty renewing them until my latest UK passport expired. Upon application I was advised that I had to forward my US passport to the UK authorities for examination before renewal was permitted. I wrote back that I needed my passport for ongoing travel commitments whereon they advised me that I must supply a photocopy of every single page including front and rear cover. And this is where I took exception. Now I fully understand that in today's increasingly more dangerous world the government would want to take an interest in where I had been and fully concur with their mind set in this........however.....I was 78 years old at that time and hardly fell into the category of being a dangerous individual. Apart from that I was under the impression that it was illegal to take photocopies of my US passport, but I could be misguided on this. And here was my final, decision making take on the whole debacle. Wherever I traveled in the world on my UK passport I was under an obligation to follow their rules, regulations and foreign travel policy, with the same thing being applicable whilst traveling on the US passport. However, I considered the government to be overstepping their authority by demanding to know where I had been whist traveling under the authority of another sovereign nation so I stuck to my guns on this and refused to comply. So, my application for a UK passport renewal was denied,......to add insult to injury they refused to return my application fee.

Paradoxically enough, I still have a valid UK Seaman's I.D. card and discharge book, so I suppose I could always use them in a pinch.....

So, I know what to expect next from anyone out there who does not agree with me, if I want the passport I have to follow the rules, very well, point taken but I think the government has gone too far with their regulations especially considering my age and clean record and I refuse to comply, in final, I take this incident to be nothing more than old person harrassment, if I had am M.P. I should be certain to complain to him, bitterly.

The last time I entered the UK last March I was expecting some reaction from immigration but when I presented myself to the desk there was a very young man in Royal Navy uniform sitting there who greeted me most pleasantly. Upon inquiring what he was doing there he replied that Immigration and Customs were all on strike. Had I been aware of that I may have been tempted to smuggle a suitcase of contraband watches and naughty magazines in....

All the best, Austin

[Doc Vernon]

Well Austin I have Dual Citizenship as well, Australian and South African, which i too find very handy at times of Travel, especially when going back to South Africa to visit my dear Sister.
Never have had any issues at any Airport for Years now, so all is good!
I am not sure on this but you mention that you still have your Seamans ID and Discharge Book, thats great a nice keepsake, but i have heard (Correct me if i am wrong) that one cannot use the Seamans ID or in fact Discharge Book for Travel purposes any longer, talking about the Custom Points in various Countries!??
This apparently applies to ex Seaman who are no longer gainfully Employed on a Ship!
Cheers

[happy daze john in oz]

Well recall the days of black and white in South Africa, district six and all that.
But from what I hear there are a few spots in UK, Birmingham I hear is one, where black and white do not mix.

One day in Cape Town got on the bus and the conductor stood up and said,
'I am fed up with all this black and white stuff, from now on you will all be green
dark greens at the back, light greens at the front'

Only time I ever heard of any one getting into strife in Cape Town was my mate Ginger, hooked up with a bit of black ham and got a pcket.
Took the medic weeks to fix him up.
Dipping your wick into uncharted waters can lead to trouble.

[j.sabourn]

He was quite right John , they call it colour prejudice and as said before black and white are not colours. He was one of the educated Afrikaners . JS

[Austin Carl Largan]

Hello and thanks for the replies. Yes, I was sort of aware that one can't use the seaman's documentation for travel any more and it's a pity really as the I.D. card is an impressive looking document, bright red in colour with the royal shield of arms on the front in gold, made of hard cloth type material and similar in size and shape to the old blue Brit pre common market 'foreigner frightener' passport. Actually my documents are not originals as I had re-upped them about ten years or so ago in order to seek out employment on the Irish ferries as a retirement gig. This was of course while the ferry companies still employed Irish and British people on their ferries and is why my I.D. card is still valid.
At the time of renewal I came across something I was not aware of, the C.O.C. document, or 'certificate of equivalent competency', which I applied for and was issued. Apparently, after the introduction of the S.T.C.W. regulations, all major shipping nations are supposed to have and maintain equivalent levels of nautical competency?.........(tongue in cheek here as those of us who have worked with the seamen of certain other countries will testify)....and respect each other's licences. So, as I held a U.S. chief engineer unltd licence, the British maritime agency issued me with a U.K. version. I never did get to use it but it's a nice keepsake. Shortly after I received my new documents the ferry companies had a reappraisal of their crewing tactics, as we all will remember. Still, I ended up my shipping days down in Antarctica on a research icebreaker and it was the very best assignment I have ever held in my life. Antarctica is the most amazing and incredible place I have ever been to, if only it could stay that way, pristine and virtually untouched....well, for the most part that is. I had ten glorious years there and it really was the very best experience of my life.

All the best, Austin.