Delays at Dover

Our teacher daughter is on a Dover coach taking a load of kids on a skiing trip.

She WhatsApped us to tell us of the 8 hour wait for the ferry. Port authorities claim in public to be providing food and refreshments for waiting coach travellers.

In reality packets of crisps and bottled water. Not the 5 star slap up meal they would like the stay at home public to imagine they are offering.
 
Port of Dover has declared a critical incident over the delays, because of Channel weather and the delays caused by getting coaches through Border Control [2 hour delays quoted by DFDS & P&O yesterday]. P&O said it was putting passengers on the next available ferry [presumably in an attempt to keep people and traffic moving, rather than waiting for the allotted sailing time].

Steve
 
barryd said:
/Cant see how bad weather can be anything to do with it. Stiff breeze in the channel but thats about it.

Click to expand...
DFDS and P&O say differently, and the latter has a photo in the Guardian of [Pride of Kent'?] with waves breaking over the bow

Steve
 
There are going to be worse delays come November when for example a double decker coach of school kids going sking will mean up to 80 getting off, queuing up, having their passports examined, then stamped, AND being subject to finger print and facial recognition tests before entry. All the time tying up border staff.

Best advice it to avoid crossings at the beginning of holidays and half terms when planning and booking.
 
And we were told this would not happen.
It’s hoped that when ETIAS is finally rolled out this will speed things up negating some of the checks. But the passports will still need to be stamped. The US have always had strict entry controls, but unlike ourselves and Europe they cater for their own demands with vastly more border guards on duty when you arrive. The systems we have here hark back to the days of flashing your passport then walking through. These days are gone.
 
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Reactions: REC
REC said:
WHEN ETIAS is finally rolled out;):oops::oops:
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It’s now set for April next year. The problem being it’s much more difficult for 27 countries to agree to certain provisions than a single state. Plus they keep wanting to add improvements. But before we judge the EU what about our system, it’s miles behind were the EU are.
Some of the checks currently being carried out by border guards in the EU will already be covered with ETIAS, thus hopefully making things smoother and faster than they currently are.

www.etias.info

UK Reveals US-Style Visa Waiver for EU Citizens | ETIAS.info

The UK’s Conservative Government has revealed a US-style visa waiver scheme for EU citizens which will apply post-******. Discover the proposed rules now.
www.etias.info www.etias.info
 
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Fisherman said:
And we were told this would not happen.
It’s hoped that when ETIAS is finally rolled out this will speed things up negating some of the checks. But the passports will still need to be stamped. The US have always had strict entry controls, but unlike ourselves and Europe they cater for their own demands with vastly more border guards on duty when you arrive. The systems we have here hark back to the days of flashing your passport then walking through. These days are gone.
Click to expand...
According to the EU website, the Entry/Exit System will remove the need for Passports to be stamped , when the System is introduced.
EU Entry/Exit System Factsheet
EU website still refers to May 2023 introduction, but the House of Commons Library refers to introduction at the end of 2023,. ETIAS is a separate, but interconnected system to the EU Entry/Exit System EU Entry System & ETIAS

Steve
 
marchie said:
According to the EU website, the Entry/Exit System will remove the need for Passports to be stamped , when the System is introduced.
EU Entry/Exit System Factsheet
EU website still refers to May 2023 introduction, but the House of Commons Library refers to introduction at the end of 2023,. ETIAS is a separate, but interconnected system to the EU Entry/Exit System EU Entry System & ETIAS

Steve
Click to expand...
Yes I read this but there’s uncertainty over this. The US runs a similar system ESTA. But they do stamp your passport. What I don’t understand here is ETHAS if the same as the US system will only only validate your right of entry into the EU it wont record when you enter or leave. But border guards also have to check that you are not in their list of undesirables, they won’t need to do that check which has been done by ETIAS and this is where it can save time. But there’s much uncertainty over exactly what will happen.

What may happen is they will simply scan your passport, this will then be logged onto the ETIAS system, then log again when you leave. If so then they won’t need to stamp your passport.

etias.com

Why was ETIAS delayed again to 2024?

In early August 2022, the European Union announced the delay of launching the ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System).
etias.com etias.com
 
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Fisherman said:
Yes I read this but there’s uncertainty over this. The US runs a similar system ESTA. But they do stamp your passport. What I don’t understand here is ETHAS if the same as the US system will only only validate your right of entry into the EU it wont record when you enter or leave. But border guards also have to check that you are not in their list of undesirables, they won’t need to do that check which has been done by ETIAS and this is where it can save time. But there’s much uncertainty over exactly what will happen.

etias.com

Why was ETIAS delayed again to 2024?

In early August 2022, the European Union announced the delay of launching the ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System).
etias.com etias.com
Click to expand...
The EU Entry/Exit System is the main system, and ETIAS is a supporting, 'pre-clearance' system that, like ESTA, will undertake some of the admission check in advance. The Entry/Exit System will link up the main EU databases to undertake checks on overstays/potential people smugglers/trafficked people etc etc, so the stamping of Passports [which was reported in Summer 2022 as taking 75-90 seconds per individual, IIRC] will be rendered redundant.

The EU Entry/Exit System is a very ambitious project, to put it mildly, and it is small wonder that it has fallen behind schedule so often; part of the reason for delayed implementation was ******; UK was offered the same deal for its citizens entering Europe as UK granted European citizens coming to UK, during the period Sep 2016 to Jan 2017, but UK Government refused the offer, because it was still trumpeting the removal of Freedom of Travel as a ****** benefit [Michel Barnier's 'My Secret ****** Diary']

It will be good when it all settles down, so they say!

Steve
 
barryd said:
The problem is space at Dover. They cant increase the capacity for more border guards and checks.

I bet someone at GB News got the sack for inviting Simon on though. :ROFLMAO:

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So according to Simon ETIAS will make things worse :(
 
marchie said:
The EU Entry/Exit System is the main system, and ETIAS is a supporting, 'pre-clearance' system that, like ESTA, will undertake some of the admission check in advance. The Entry/Exit System will link up the main EU databases to undertake checks on overstays/potential people smugglers/trafficked people etc etc, so the stamping of Passports [which was reported in Summer 2022 as taking 75-90 seconds per individual, IIRC] will be rendered redundant.

The EU Entry/Exit System is a very ambitious project, to put it mildly, and it is small wonder that it has fallen behind schedule so often; part of the reason for delayed implementation was ******; UK was offered the same deal for its citizens entering Europe as UK granted European citizens coming to UK, during the period Sep 2016 to Jan 2017, but UK Government refused the offer, because it was still trumpeting the removal of Freedom of Travel as a ****** benefit [Michel Barnier's 'My Secret ****** Diary']

It will be good when it all settles down, so they say!

Steve
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It’s starting to get political, but then it is entirely political. And it’s completely relevant on here. Obviously anyone looking at this can see were the problem lies, and what has created these issues. Look at Barry’s video, Simon Calder reckons that ETIAS will make matters worse, not better, and he tends to know what he is talking about. :(
 
marchie said:
UK was offered the same deal for its citizens entering Europe as UK granted European citizens coming to UK, during the period Sep 2016 to Jan 2017, but UK Government refused the offer, because it was still trumpeting the removal of Freedom of Travel as a ****** benefit [Michel Barnier's 'My Secret ****** Diary']

It will be good when it all settles down, so they say!

Steve
Click to expand...

Thats shocking. I Cant seem to find any reference to it though (not read the book). It should have been easily negotiated because we do indeed offer six months free movement to Europeans here in the UK. It would have solved a lot of long term travel issues for us motorhomers for sure.
 
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