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A US citizen has been visiting the UK 4 or 5 times a year for either personal or business reasons. He is tired of the same procedure of filling out a landing card and waiting in the queue for his landing interview. He doesn't want to do it any more. He says that the procedure is a meaningless drudgery in his case and may curtail his visits because of this.

Is there any way he can get relief?

Gayot Fow
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2 Answers2

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He can apply for the Registered Traveller service:

Apply for the Registered Traveller service to get through UK border control faster. You won’t need to fill in a landing card.

You can apply if you’re 18 or over and you’re a national of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand or the USA.

One of the following must also be true:

  • you’ve got a visa (but not a Tier 5 concession (Creative and sporting), EEA family permit, discretionary leave or leave outside the rules)
  • you’ve visited the UK 4 times in the last 52 weeks eg for business, education, tourism, education or medical treatment

You’ll be able to use the:

  • ePassport gates if you have a biometric passport
  • faster entry lanes at Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Manchester and Stansted airports, and Brussels, Lille and Paris Eurostar terminals

It costs £70 to apply to use the service for 1 year. If your application is unsuccessful you’ll get £50 back.

If you’re already a member and you get a new passport, you’ll need to pay £20 to update your passport details. Updating your visa information is free.

Community
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phoog
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I suppose this question could be put more succinctly as Does the United Kingdom have a known traveller programme, like ANZ SmartGate or the North American NEXUS/Global Entry? Indeed, they do: the Registered Traveller service.

Frequent visitors and some visa holders who are adult nationals of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the US can apply. According to the promotional video, users

  • don't have to fill in landing cards
  • may use faster European Economic Area (EEA) border queues
  • may use ePassport gates at participating UK international ports if they have a biometric passport

Per the website, the express queues are avaialble at Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Manchester and Stansted airports, and Brussels, Lille and Paris Eurostar terminals. The annual subscription is £70, though if your application is denied, £50 of that will be refunded.

choster
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