API form....what for???

[ardcarp]

Mrs A and I thought we'd take advantage of a Brittany Ferries 3 nights for the price of 2 in France. It's an attractive offer because for
a cabin on a night crossing, a car and three nights in a decent hotel (ie 4 days in France) it doesn't come out that much more expensive than just an ordinary return crossing with your car. I s'pose they're trying to fill up the ferries as the off-season approaches.

However, here's my niggle. Having booked and paid and received the 'tickets', we thought all was fixed. But today we got a rather snotty email saying we had to submit an API Form online (what??) 24 hours before departure. It stands for Advanced Passenger Information, and it's our Border Force that wants it. It involves entering the full names and DOBs of the passengers, their passport numbers and expiry dates.. Why? We're taking our f****** passports with us anyway.

Why does the government try to make life difficult? What about people who don't 'do' computers? The form isn't straightforward by the way.

[Frances_iom]

...
Why does the government try to make life difficult? .

haven't you yet realised that as the covid 'problem' which allowed the executive unbridled freedom to restrict all personal liberties and withwhich the populace went along with all the totalitarian control freaks in Government, this has now continued with finance etc under the guise of money laundering and illegal immigration - aided by the way Brexit was done which means our nearest neighbours are very unwilling to give the Brits any special facilities

[ardcarp]

Yes, that was the case with the 'locator form' which you had to fill in before returning from abroad. (I think that's finished now.)
I won't get on my hobby horse, but for sailors who like to take their own boats across the Channel [and we're not all rich b******s] life has been ruined not just by Brexit but by our government's crass and unnecessary requirements as a result of it.

[kernelbogey]

I've learned this to be standard from airline(s): I've flown only with easyJet (my choice) in the last few years; they require this information, without which you can't get a boarding pass or check in. I think the checkin staff, when they look at one's passport, are just confirming that the name, number & dob correspond. I don't know whether this is part of a protocol between isolationist UK and France, but I think it's isolationist UK and the EU. Once easyJet have all that API data, they can hold it in their system if you authorise that - which I find convenient; you have to remember to change it when you get a new passport.

I had to provide this recently to book us as foot passengers on P&O Dover-Calais (I don't recommend them). A week later we travelled on the train from Marseile into Italy - no one checked anything.

[kuligin]

Are there not two separate issues here. The British government wants to know who is leaving the country, the reasoning being you can not otherwise calculate net immigration, so the API form is needed.

When entering the Schengen Zone one has to produce your passport so it can be stamped to ensure your total stay in 6 months does not exceed 90 day. It is important to get the passport stamped when leaving the Zone as evidence of compliance.

Once you are in Schengen there are no controls.

The advantage of an Irish passport is that you are not stamped on entry or departure but are also treated as equivalent to British on return.

Next year the EU will require information similar to that provided when travelling to the USA. I assume this will be done on line and a fee paid. There is talk of further delays as fingerprints will be taken at the frontier. I hope none of this applies to European Citizens, whose country is not part of Schengen, ie me.

[ardcarp]

When entering the Schengen Zone one has to produce your passport so it can be stamped to ensure your total stay in 6 months does not exceed 90 day. It is important to get the passport stamped when leaving the Zone as evidence of compliance.

That's the main problem for sailors. A friend of mine had ten days for a trip to Brittany from Plymouth. She spent two of the ten finding a passport office open to stamp her plus crew in and another two returning to that same place to stamp them out. Going places on a sailing boat is weather, wind and tide dependent, so it's not like driving somewhere when you want to.

The advantage of an Irish passport is that you are not stamped on entry or departure but are also treated as equivalent to British on return.

Yes, lucky people who have one. My great grandfather was Irish, but that didn't count when I tried to get one.

Next year the EU will require information similar to that provided when travelling to the USA. I assume this will be done on line and a fee paid. There is talk of further delays as fingerprints will be taken at the frontier.

OMG. Really???

Another niggle. Mrs A organised some car break-down insurance for our short French trip via the RAC to which we belong. They said they'd send the documents via email. They did, but REQUIRE A PASSWORD TO SEE THEM. AAAARRRRHHHHGGGG. Life just gets worse.

[kernelbogey]

....Next year the EU will require information similar to that provided when travelling to the USA. I assume this will be done on line and a fee paid. There is talk of further delays as fingerprints will be taken at the frontier...

I have a hunch there may be some advantage then to going from the UK direct to Italy where possible....

[smittims]

My first thought on hearing of this API form was that it is simply to show who left, so that if you bring back anyone who isn't on the form the Border force will be alerted.

That said, I agree with Frances-iom's complaint about the theft of civil rights in 2020. I was disappointed more people, didn't resist . I'm sure certain people in Whitehall noticed how easy it had been.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I have a hunch there may be some advantage then to going from the UK direct to Italy where possible....

Recently reading requirements to enter and travel in France (not sure if on a .gov website or not) it pointed out its important for us UK citizens to have the passport stamped on entry - otherwise if there is a check, there is an assumption that you have exceeded the maximum non-visa stay (90days?) and will be required to leave immediately.

One can individually decide to assume the risks of them deciding to check a grey haired man in his 60's (or whatever) and the assumed relaxed attitudes of countries visited. Of course, he EU are entitled to regulate their borders and those within it, and its a lot friendlier than negotiating entry to the US, however harmless and inoffensive we look.

[ardcarp]

Yes, to go with your own sailing boat (in this case a friend's for whom I was crewing) from the Britich Virgin Islands to the American Virgin Islands, a mere hop across the water, you have to first go by ferry (passports, visas, eye-recognition) to check in. Then take the ferry back to the BVI. Then you can enter with your boat...going through all the checks again. Pointless. A waste of a day. And American border police, with side-arms, scowl the whole time.