Traveling out of London Heathrow

S

sarrebal

Registered Users (C)
LHR has got to have the worst passport control for US-bound flights. I'm not talking about immigration (just like in the US, there's no immigration in exit in the UK), but those E-SEC (or ICTS) people who check and scan your passport and your status in the US before you even proceed to the check-in counter.
Last time I flew out of Heathrow the guy had a hard time recognizing the I-751 extension letter, but after 5 minutes he finally let me through (plus, my wife was with me).
Now, this guy scanned my passport, scanned my 10-yr green card and when everything was looking good, he noticed the many middle-eastern stamps in my passport, plus an indonesian visa, malaysian stamps and a couple of russian visas. He freaked out, literally. He disappeared with my passport for 20 minutes, came back, asked me several questions on what countries I visited, asked a couple of other colleagues. He finally let me through. I asked what the problem was and he said that they always do that with all non-US and non-UK passports. I asked him what the difference is between a UK passport and an Italian passport for the purpose of traveling to the US, especially when I have a valid green card. He couldn't answer, but it was clear that the middle eastern stamps threw him off.
The funny thing is that the guy was clearly a Pakistani....
 
I still do not get the connection. Pakistan is not part of the middle-east. Regardless, the gentleman was probably British of south asian descent who has been trained to react to certain visa stamps. This instilled training is independent of his ethnicity.


sarrebal said:
Why would he freak out on middle eastern stamps if he's a Pakistani himself?
Click to expand...
 
I would say Pakistan is part of the middle east, at least geographically.
But anyways, the man was definitely an immigrant himself as he had a thick accent.
And I'm pretty sure he was a Pakistani as he looked very much alike former president Musharraf. :)
I agree with you, he was definitely trained. However, I don't really understand what he could possibly check with other people just by looking at my stamps. I still find it sad that stamps from muslim countries raise flags. I also have Israeli stamps and many Asian stamps.
 
The immigration officer did not react because you had stamps from Asian or Muslim countries, but because you believe that Pakistan is part of Middle East.

Also, it is quite amazing that a Musharraf look-alike would be considered a "Pakistani" considering the ex-General was born in Delhi, India.


Stoned!
 
sarrebal said:
But anyways, the man was definitely an immigrant himself as he had a thick accent.
Click to expand...

So you are saying anyone with thick accent in UK, is an immigrant?:confused:

sarrebal said:
And I'm pretty sure he was a Pakistani as he looked very much alike former president Musharraf
Click to expand...

Sylvester Stallone ("Rambo") looks like a Pakistani film actor, so is Sylvester Stallone from Pakistan?:rolleyes:
 
Yes, I assume that everyone with a thick non-British accent working at Heathrow is an immigrant in the UK. What's wrong with that?
Also, I said geographically. Subcontinent areas are difficult to define. Sometimes even continents (define Europe, for example, especially its eastern border).
So Musharraf was born in India. I got to know that Pakistani had an Indian president. There's always something to learn.
All I was saying is that it's sad that certain stamps still raise flags, and I wasn't even at immigration. Especially to a (most likely) muslim immigrant.
 
Sarrebal my dear,

All we are trying to say is that when a world travelled person such as yourself can make generalizations like that, you can't really blame for being singled out by an immigration officer whose job is to look out of anomalies.



Stoned!
 
I didn't generalize. I said the guy was a Pakistani and I'm positive he is. And also it wasn't an immigration officer. Never a CBP agent questioned me about that.
 
It is not about being muslim

It has nothing to do with being muslim, shia or sunni or middle eastern, pakistani , indian or australian...these people at heathrow and at cbp are just doing their job, I have travelled to france and england recently and I am Iraqi and muslim..I honestly would rather be questioned just to make sure that I am not associated with some one on the UK border agency or the department of homeland security watch list and so that I can travel freely to see family and friends abroad wherever they are..when you do not have an attitude with those people letting you board planes any where on earth, answer any questions honestly and truthfully then you are also likely not to get screened heavily on future trips, I have white US born citizen friends who have had their issues boarding flights..so it's not because you or your travels played any role...I entered San Francisco international airport recently and was not sent to secondary screening and no one bothered me when I was leaving heathrow either...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top