On 22/01/2017 13:33, Roland Perry wrote:
In message
-septe
mber.org, at 11:30:53 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017, Recliner
remarked:
The ePassport queues have got worse and worse, as more people have got
chipped passports and have learned how to use the gates. At one
time, the
majority preferred the manual queue, but as fewer desks are now manned,
most EU citizens now use the gates.

Only two more years to go.

Really? EU citizens are very likely to continue using the ePassport
gates
post-Brexit. After all, visa-free movement is likely to continue; what's
likely to be restricted is employment (ie, getting an NI number) and
access
to benefits.

That's going to stop people working illegally, not.

Even now, many non-EU citizens can use them:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPas...es#Eligibility

At present, British citizens, European Economic Area citizens and
citizens
of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South
Korea, Taiwan and the United States who are enrolled in the Registered
Traveller Service,[1] can use ePassport gates, provided that they are
aged
either 18 and over or 12 and over travelling with an adult and holding
valid biometric passports.

I'm genuinely surprised by that. I have an Australian ex-colleague who
often complains about being grilled by UK Immigration about why they are
such a frequent visitor here.

[The reason being, they are in effect in transit to several different EU
countries, but like to break the trip for a few days in London].

I should see if they are eligible to use the ePassport gates.

They would not be as, IIRC, e-gates are only available to EEA citizens,
besides just UK.