Dover Ferries : Long Delays

[Centralscrutinizer]

I would think they're doing very little in the way of checking at the moment just to get people through but all it takes at Dover is someone to fall foul of the rules and you have a bottleneck.

That could be expired or close to expired passports, a query on someone who is close to 90 days in 180, or a myriad of other, possibly more serious, reasons.

They probably carried out 30k+ passport checks on Saturday. Even a few seconds adds up over the course of the day and any issue at the booths or on the approaching roads will cause a major problem.

From May 2023, non EU citizens will also need to show that they've paid for the visa waiver.

The real fun will start when the EU implement their biometric border control and ESTA system.

 

[Norman_Conquest]

that isn't strictly true, they are supposed to check how long you have been in the EU in the last 180 days, that may just be the last stamped page to review, or it could be pages if you commute over there for work.

Don’t you think the chip in your passport will tell them that when they scan it?

 

[NYboro]

No, they don’t need to check every page, you are making things up to suit. Passport opened up on face page, quick scan - that part is the same, flick to your last stamp page and new stamp added. You are talking seconds longer.

They are not necessarily stamping the last page. Mine's been stamped all over and they've gone through it to check.

 

[Unravel_Morrison]

They (at Dover) said that the new processing time had gone from 58 seconds to 90 seconds per car on average.

That's still an extra 11-12 hours of extra queuing time for Saturday gone than would otherwise have been the case (if the 9 booths are operational).

 

[Laughing]

I would say that this is both a first world problem and one of infrastructure. I do have sympathy for people living locally to, for example Dover, but not much for folks who travel en-mass on the first day of the school holidays.

I travel to India a fair bit and passport control is a ball ache, getting visas is a ball ache, it doesn't adversely effect my life because they have the infrastructure to cope. We simply don't, and I can't see dover being expanded much, there isn't the space so this may well continue.

We really didn't prepare for this at all, and you have to assume that is by design, though I can't for the life of me see why, beyond blaming the French. This bit really confuses me.

 

[Norman_Conquest]

They are not necessarily stamping the last page. Mine's been stamped all over and they've gone through it to check.

That sounds more like an official not using the data available to them.

 

[Norman_Conquest]

I think we all agree that Brexit’s made travel a ball ache that none of us need.

 

[SmallTown]

That sounds more like an official not using the data available to them.

It doesn't. My passport always gets stamped in random pages. I've not once had a customs official stamp in page order

 

[Unravel_Morrison]

I would say that this is both a first world problem and one of infrastructure. I do have sympathy for people living locally to, for example Dover, but not much for folks who travel en-mass on the first day of the school holidays.

I travel to India a fair bit and passport control is a ball ache, getting visas is a ball ache, it doesn't adversely effect my life because they have the infrastructure to cope. We simply don't, and I can't see dover being expanded much, there isn't the space so this may well continue.

We really didn't prepare for this at all, and you have to assume that is by design, though I can't for the life of me see why, beyond blaming the French. This bit really confuses me.

I think they're just a bunch of chancers who thought they could wing it.

There's that story of Frost explaining to Johnson what the deal actually meant and Johnson had thought that was what happened with no deal.

 

[Centralscrutinizer]

They are not necessarily stamping the last page. Mine's been stamped all over and they've gone through it to check.

I like it when they take the time to find an empty page at the back and then randomly stamp it, preferably upside down and at an angle The most skilled operatives can even half miss the page with the first attempt

 

[Capybara]

I haven't had a passport stamped since 1996 and that was my previous black one. Neither of the red ones I've had since have been stamped and I haven't used my new black one yet. So I'm pleased we've Brexited because now I'll get stamps all over my passport again and I can talk about how many stamps I have like other people do as if it matters.

 

[Cardiffdaffs]

I haven't had a passport stamped since 1996 and that was my previous black one. Neither of the red ones I've had since have been stamped and I haven't used my new black one yet. So I'm pleased we've Brexited because now I'll get stamps all over my passport again and I can talk about how many stamps I have like other people do as if it matters.

My trip to France a few weeks ago I acquired a stamp. When I say stamp it was more like blotchy red blob of ink that was indecipherable than a stamp as such.

 

[NYboro]

I haven't had a passport stamped since 1996 and that was my previous black one. Neither of the red ones I've had since have been stamped and I haven't used my new black one yet. So I'm pleased we've Brexited because now I'll get stamps all over my passport again and I can talk about how many stamps I have like other people do as if it matters.

It does matter because, in a rational society, we wouldn't need them.

 

[Centralscrutinizer]

My trip to France a few weeks ago I acquired a stamp. When I say stamp it was more like blotchy red blob of ink that was indecipherable than a stamp as such.

You'd have to say that the EU stamp is pretty disappointing. It's the one thing I was looking forward to getting after Brexit

 

[NYboro]

You'd have to say that the EU stamp is pretty disappointing. It's the one thing I was looking forward to getting after Brexit

The Eurostar ones have a little engine on them instead of a little plane! Much better than the multiple "NYC admitted" ones.

 

[Centralscrutinizer]

The Eurostar ones have a little engine on them instead of a little plane! Much better than the multiple "NYC admitted" ones.

Sounds good. I've got ones with a plane and ship so far. I wonder how many are in the set

 

[Norman_Conquest]

I see the French are expecting delays on their roads today due to the number of holiday makers travelling.

France’s July and August holiday crossover: heavy traffic this weekend

Saturday will be the most congested day of the weekend. We look at the roads which will see the heaviest traffic

www.connexionfrance.com

 

[SmallTown]

I see the French are expecting delays on their roads today due to the number of holiday makers travelling.

France’s July and August holiday crossover: heavy traffic this weekend

Saturday will be the most congested day of the weekend. We look at the roads which will see the heaviest traffic

www.connexionfrance.com

Deflection.

I don't get why people want to deflect from the problems of brexit. Why ignore that which is destroying the country and can be changed?

 

[Norman_Conquest]

Deflection.

I don't get why people want to deflect from the problems of brexit. Why ignore that which is destroying the country and can be changed?

Nothing to do with deflecting from Brexit, it is just proving my point that the majority of infrastructure fails when faced with overwhelming numbers.

There will be no passports to be stamped, checked and double checked, just motorist sat in traffic jams trying to get through toll booths.

As I said above, we all know the issues Brexit’s caused.

 

[pierrequiroule]

It's been like that for the decades I've been in France on the changeover weekends in July/August. They're usually signalled as orange, red and black. This weekend is black as many people return from holiday as the next wave sets off.