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How to get through Airport Immigration Quickly
Airport immigration for many passengers is all about the long lines. In some countries there can be waits of over 2 hours. Immigration officers are trained to spot certain behaviours that may be suspicious. This may lead to further questioning and even for the legitimate traveller, this is a major annoyance. This article will explain how immigration controls work and show you how to get through them quickly. It will also cover the questions which immigration officers commonly ask and explain how to answer them.
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The Iris Recognition System is a new biometric technology that allows some passengers to pass through immigration at London Heathrow airport almost instantly, without showing their passport. In our recent article entitled Top 6 tips for getting through Airport Immigration Quickly, we talked about how using automated airport immigration services could dramatically speed up your journey through immigration at some airports. You can effectively bypass the queues as immigration and head straight through to baggage reclaim.
The following four UK airports are currently using IRIS: Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester. As Heathrow is by far the busiest airport this article will concentrate on the IRIS recognition system at Heathrow.
Essentially, everyone has a unique eyeball and by taking a photograph of this, it is possible identify individuals. This works in a similar method to fingerprints but is much more accurate. Everyone who wants to register must sign up to the IRIS scheme at Heathrow before leaving the country. Anyone over 18 can register provided they meet certain criteria. Generally speaking, all UK/EU passport holders can register as well as anyone already holding a UK visa for more than 2 months or frequent visitors to the UK.
IRIS registration is a simple process that takes 5-10 minutes at most and is available at all Heathrow terminals, after security. It involves having a photo taken of your eyes and stored on a system together with your passport details. A full list of registration lactations is available here. You only need to register once, regardless of how many times you can use the system.
When you enter the UK through immigration at Heathrow, look out for the IRIS signs. These are typically immediately before the regular immigration queue begins. You simply have to walk up to an IRIS machine, look into it and then a security door will open and you can proceed to baggage claim. That is it, a very quick and easy to use system – you don’t even need to show your passport at the IRIS machine as it is stored on the IRIS immigration database.
The data is stored for exclusive use by the IRIS recognition system and there is no need to worry about data security. Furthermore, the system uses high quality digital photos, similar to a regular digital camera, so have no negative effects. No flash or lasers are used and the system is perfectly ok to use regularly.
Overall, while queues at Heathrow immigration can exceed 20 minutes on occasion, not nearly as bad as the 1hour+ regularly faced in the USA, the IRIS recognition system drastically cuts down this time. Another great advantage of IRIS, passports are not required as the system automatically checks you passport on its record system. This saves a considerable amount of time when passing through immigration. Having used the IRIS machines at Heathrow I can attest to the fact they are extremely quick and easy to use. A must have for anyone wanting to save time on their journey.
