Please sign in to post.

UK to start passport checks when exiting the country

A heads up.
As from 8th April 2015 (today) the UK will start checking passports for people leaving the country. The Schengen Area has always checked passports/ID cards for travellers entering AND exiting, but up to now the UK has only checked people arriving, not leaving.
As this requires extra desks at airports, ports and St Pancras station I imagine it might cause a few minutes delay until the system beds in.

The official government announcement is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exit-checks-on-passengers-leaving-the-uk/exit-checks-fact-sheet

Sorry I didn't post this on the correct forum, there is no UK forum!

Posted by
1976 posts

Thanks for posting this. I'm flying from Manchester, UK to St. Louis on October 28 and will keep this in mind. My flight departs at 8:00am and I was hoping I could arrive at the airport later than the ungodly hour of 5:00am, but I guess I shouldn't push it with these new exit checks!

Posted by
5466 posts

"Most passengers will not notice any significant difference to the usual outbound travel processes."

There won't be any noticeable change at airports - the change will be most seen at ports, Eurotunnel and possibly Eurostar.