Do they check passports for americans when traveling from ireland to uk?

Question

I was told by immigration that Republic of Ireland to UK flights are treated as domestic. There is a separate line for flights from Ireland where all they do is take your boarding pass and tear it. They don't even look at your passport. That happened to me once. Does it happen all the time?

Answer 1

If you carry an American passport you will most likely have to show it at immigration on entering the UK.

Answer 2

I've always found getting out of the UK is much easier than getting back in again.

Taking the ferry from Dover-Calais as an example, the French customs people on this side of the channel just wave you through without even looking at your passport at all, but on the way back, the British passport people are a lot more thorough and check everyone in detail.

The same thing happens at the airport - they're rarely interested in your passport at all if you leave the country (especially on an Irish flight) and even when you arrive in Ireland on a UK flight passports aren't checked properly, but huge queues often build up at the UK end when you arrive back and passports are machine-read - I've never seen people just 'waved through' in the UK on mainland European flights, but it does sometimes happen on Irish flights who can bypass passport control.  

Offficially UK citizens don't need a passport to travel to Ireland (just photo ID such as a driving licence), so checks are rare or non-existant for UK citizens.   If you've got an American passport though, the UK officials will notice.  Besides which, you'll be travelling through a different channel to EU citizens so it should be checked, yes.

Answer 3

In Europe there is something called the "Schengen" agreements which means there are no passport checks on borders between certain countries.  

Neigher the UK nor Ireland are Schengen countries, therefore any passport checks are up to any agreement between the Uk and Irish authorities.  Generally if you are British or Irish you can come and go as you please but if you are not, you need your passport checking.  

Passport checking may not be as vigorous as with flights from othe countries, but that does not mean the flights are treated as domestic.

Answer 4

No, flights are only domestic if you have a right to reside in Uk or Eire

Answer 5

Yes and they check very thoroughly too. I spent 3 months in a detention centre because mine wasn't correctly stamped and I was considered an illegal immigrant.

Answer 6

They is a policy to re-introduce passport checks between the UK and the Republic of Ireland. They do check passports , the same for the rest of the EU in and out of the UK

Answer 7

That was how it was when i went from Ireland to England but bring it just in case.

Answer 8

Legally, there are no immigration checks between Ireland and the UK. The authorities may perform security checks and ask for your passport. However, there are no immigration checks so will not get asked for your passport for immigration.

Answer 9

I think you will have to show your passport

Answer 10

The travel regulations are a bit crazy between Ireland and the UK.

If you fly from Ireland to the UK you won't be checked when you arrive into the UK, but the airline will want to see a passport or and Irish or UK driving license before they let you check in. Also, the security people in the Irish airport will want to see some ID to allow you into departures. You won't be allowed to use a US drivers license.

When you are flying back, the Irish police will check your passport.

However, if you trave by sea to the UK, or go to Northern Ireland by land and then fly to Britain, there are no checks as this is an internal flight.

A word of warning: If you are trying to enter the UK "through the back door", because you are barred from the UK for some reason, it won't work. The UK and Ireland share information on deportations and personna-non-grata. If you attempt to enter Ireland from abroad, the border police will have your full details and you will be refused entry to Ireland.