1000 page form to enter the UK

[Meruem]

Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit! But I spent 2 days in a European city and flew back yesterday. We reached passport control to find some guy yelling that we all had to fill out a form online. A handful of people on my flight had known about it and completed it in advance but most of us hadn’t. The yelling guy was telling us all to scan a code on our phone (which didn’t work and I ended up having to google it). There was then a really long form (took a good 20 minutes to complete) for “track and trace”. They wouldn’t let us through passport control without showing them the completed form. I thought I had followed all travel announcements from the government but this was the first I’d heard of this. Is it common knowledge?

I’m not one of those who thinks the government are using all this to monitor us but that form was ridiculously long with questions that were irrelevant to the supposed purpose. Ultimately surely all they need is flight number, name and contact details? Nothing was said on the flight about it and it was all very chaotic and stressful. What if you get there and your phone has no battery or internet access?

So this is a warning to anyone planning to go abroad who hasn’t heard about it, as it’s not advertised anywhere as far as I could tell.

what was the form called?

Do you not watch the news/read a newspaper/listen to the radio...? No idea how anyone with an awareness of current events could be unaware of this?

What if you don't own a smartphone? Not all of us do!

Public health passenger locator form

It can be completed in advance and printed

I didn't know about the form - I've just heard about air bridges and quarantine.

Ok polka, you may know, well done you. Clearly not all of us do.

Maybe my initial comments were a little harsh (tough day at work, and I've only be here an hour!). But while maybe not everyone knows, surely someone travelling abroad/ re-entering the uk should do due diligence?

But as a British citizen why would I be looking up whether I need a visa, or whatever? I have a British passport and assumed that was all that was needed. I have travelled to japan a few times. You need to fill out a landing permission form to enter. They announce it on the flight and hand out paper copies. They don’t just spring it on you when you get to passport control. I just think it was badly handled and, as I say, they don’t need the vast reams of info they asked for.

Hope your day gets better!

I'm with you OP. I knew they were collecting details- which is sensible in the circumstances- but surely the information required is fairly minimal - name, number, incoming flight details, uk address. It should only take a few minutes to fill in, if they are taking more information than this then it would be good to understand what it was and how it's being used.

I also hope this information will be destroyed after it is no longer relevant . So that might be longer than 14 days for a number of valid reasons, but should not be needed for longer than say 3 months.

Honestly OP I just had a look and it just looks exactly like I'd expect it to. All they're asking for is where you normally live, what countries you've been in for the last 14 days, the flight you're arriving on, your contact info in the UK / your home country and your passport info. There's the usual extra stuff like are you travelling with under 18s, and it obviously will take a while as they want to make sure you fill in each bit but the info is exactly what I would expect.

I think its been quite widely publicised that most countries are asking for this information. They want to a) be able to track you down if someone on your flight is positive and b) spot any patterns of where covid is coming from. So if you just said you're Italian on a flight from Paris and they didn't ask what other country you travelled through they might miss the fact that you had actually spent a week in Germany and that combined with another X cases from Germany that week could point to a cluster.

I used to travel extensively for work and this is the kind of info you have to fill in on arrival in most countries outside the EU. I think its going to become the norm. The info is also on the page about when its destroyed and how long its stored for. There's nothing more stressful than having to fill something out you don't know about in a queue but I don't think there's anything shocking and surprising on this form.

Also, can you clarify what info they're asking for that you think is irrelevant?

Honestly I was flustered and just trying to get through the thing! So I dont remember a lot of it. But for example. They wanted passport number, fair enough. But then they wanted date of issue, date of expiry etc. Why is that necessary for track and trace? It’s irrelevant what year I got my passport and when it expires for COVID purposes. As I said in a previous post, I have filled out landing cards for Japan. It’s a small card that takes less than 5 minutes. A 20 minute form isn’t necessary. And if there is any argument for it being necessary it should be provided in paper form as an option at least.

I haven't seen this form

And I do know that the Information Commissioner has said there will be a pragmatic approach to the handling of personal data icw necessary pandemic infection control measures.

But the Goernment doesn't half seem to be kicking the arse out of the idea of acquiring only the minimum data for the purpose at hand, and only retaining it for the minimum time required.

I've just completed it, it wasn't the most straight forward and only knew about it as I am on a local (abroad) forum. The one to travel in 1st place was v straightforward and well publicised, this one not so much

I've never given a passport number without issue and expiry date. It's like giving your bank card, you're asked for expiry date and CV2. I think the issue is just that you felt flustered at the airport because it wasn't expected. The airlines should really be informing everyone before the flight to give them a chance to fill it in, or at least just before landing, the same way they used to hand out customs forms.

Re expiry/issue dates, I can't remember the uk format, but for some countries you can tell if someone's given a false ppt number if certain dates/numbers don't add up, so it could be a fraud check

What if you get there and your phone has no battery or internet access?

I'm sure they must have a way to record the information from people who don't have a suitable phone or are disabled - otherwise they'd have to hold people hostage in the customs queue forever!

It's likely they just use that method as standard as it's easy and contactless, but I'm sure someone would be able to dictate their answers to someone if necessary.

There's a pandemic on.

Really annabel? I had no idea! My issue isn’t with giving information. It’s the way it was done and how much they asked for. Maybe try reading the full post.