Schengen: Passport control. Customs and passport control

Undoubtedly, the fastest, most convenient and comfortable mode of transport is a modern airliner. Numerous travelers choose the plane, because quite often only on this transport you can get to the most remote cities on our planet. But what if passengers choose an airliner for a flight for the first time, because they do not understand all the procedures that must be completed? In this article we will try to explain what needs to be done at the airport.

It is very convenient to use an electronic coupon, which is bought via the Internet at a convenient time for the user. The main thing is to correctly enter the passenger's passport data in a special field. After receiving the itinerary receipt, which will be delivered to the user by e-mail, it is recommended to print the document. A printed receipt may be needed by passengers during passport control at the airport.

When do you need to arrive at the airport?

You need to arrive at the air harbor approximately 2 – 2.5 hours before departure to slowly go through all the formalities and not get into a stressful situation. This is especially true for those passengers who need to go through passport control at the airport with a child. It should also be noted that there may be traffic jams on the way to the air pier.

Arriving at the territory of the air harbor, you need to find the terminal from which the airliner is taking off. The terminal number is written on the printed receipt, and the scheme can be studied on the official website of the airport.

Before entering the desired terminal, passengers are required to pass the first control, which is called preliminary. To pass, you must do the following:

  • all bags and belongings, including personal items, must be folded into a special container and placed on the scanning belt;
  • Passengers need to go through a metal detector;
  • do not leave a lot of things in the pockets of outerwear, it is better to put them in a personal purse or briefcase beforehand. This way you can avoid lengthy security checks.

Electronic passport control counters at UK airport

Registration

After passing through the security control, you need to find the board, which indicates the departure time of the airliners. Having found it, you should select the counter where passengers check in for the desired flight.

At check-in, luggage is checked in, and you only need to leave things carried in hand luggage with you. After that, the air harbor employee will issue a boarding pass. What size and weight of luggage is allowed to be carried free of charge, you should check on the website of the selected company in advance, and you are allowed to have a bag or briefcase of a small size and a maximum weight up to 10 kg(each airline has its own restrictions regarding the weight and dimensions of hand luggage).

If there is still a lot of time before the plane's departure, and you are standing at the beginning of the check-in queue, you can ask the airport employee to issue a boarding pass for a specific seat in the cabin of the airliner. The ticket indicates the number of the exit (gate) to which you need to proceed.

Passport control at the airport

If passengers depart from their own country, before boarding the airliner, they need to go through not only a security check, but also passport control. Many are interested in the question: what is passport control at the airport, and what is checked at passport control?

Passengers leaving the country must go through this procedure without fail. The procedure for passing through passport control is as follows:

  • in turn, each passenger must go to a special counter, where airport employees check documents;
  • for verification, you must present the original passport, at the request of border guards - a boarding pass;
  • if everything is in order, the airport employee puts a stamp, which confirms that the state border was passed without violations, in accordance with the law.

The border services of the airport can carry out passport control according to their own rules, that is, apply a different procedure for this event. However, the end result should be in the form of a mark on the passage of the state border.

Flying with children

When flying with children under 13 years old, parents often ask how passport control is carried out at the airport with a child and what documents need to be prepared for this procedure. To fly abroad with children, parents should prepare the following documentation.

A person planning an overseas rendezvous must be prepared to go through passport control. Sometimes this procedure can take a considerable amount of time from the passenger. To avoid trouble and unfortunate misunderstandings, the traveler must arrive at the airport 4-5 hours before departure.

Taking into account the fact that getting to Sheremetyevo Airport, Domodedovo or Vnukovo, for example, in traffic jams, may not be easy, you need to leave the house long before the plane takes off.

Many are interested in the question of what they check during passport control. First of all, the legality of departure abroad is checked. A person who has large debts to a bank or the state,.

The same applies to persons who have serious problems with Russian legislation. It will not work to travel abroad, as well as to leave.

You can go through passport control after the end of the customs control procedure.

Subtleties of passport control

A person wishing to go through passport control undertakes to provide one of the following documents proving his identity:

  • international passport;
  • passport diploma;
  • service passport;
  • special passport of a sailor;
  • certificate of return to Russia.

A citizen of any foreign power, when entering the territory of the Russian state, as well as when leaving, undertakes to provide border guards with valid documents. Particular attention is paid to the validity of the passport.

Service passport of the Russian Federation

It is also important to remember that the passport should not have mechanical damage. If at least one of the pages has handwritten notes, the passport must be replaced.

When problems arise, you need to behave as calmly as possible. Excessive nervousness plays against traveler. If a person knows for sure that his documents are in order, and he himself is not wanted, then all misunderstandings that have arisen can be quickly resolved.

Before planning a trip is necessary. If the traveler has large debts to a financial or government organization, then they will need to be paid off before the trip. Otherwise, the trip will be cancelled. you can on your own.

Finally

If a traveler is detained at customs control, he has no chance of receiving compensation for a failed vacation. The cost of the tour in this case is not returned to the passenger even when he has it on hand.

Finally, you waited for your vacation and fly to rest. Only now you will fly by plane for the first time ... And then you have a million questions: what to do at the airport? Where to go? How not to miss your flight?

We decided to make a small FAQ on terms and procedures, which will help newcomers feel a little more confident at the airport.

The order may vary slightly, as each airport has its own sequence of passing inspections and registration.

Once at the airport, the first thing you have to do is check-in for the flight. Above the check-in desk, there is a board with the airline logo, flight number and city of arrival.

This information is duplicated on the information board, the number of the counter where the check-in for your flight takes place is also indicated there.

Check-in starts 2 hours before departure and ends 30-40 minutes before departure.

At check-in, you must present your passport and air ticket. If you have an e-ticket, then show only your passport. You must put your luggage on the conveyor belt, where it will be weighed, a special tag will be hung (so that the loaders know which plane to put it on, and you can find it later) and sent to the loaders. You will also be asked to present hand luggage (things that you want to take with you to the cabin of the aircraft), they can also hang a tag on it.

As a rule, the weight of hand luggage should not exceed 7-10 kg. In addition, there are certain requirements for the dimensions of the bag, you can check with the airline.

After check-in, you will be given a boarding pass and luggage tags (stickers that are glued to your passport or boarding pass, they will help you find your suitcase upon arrival).

You can check in not only at the airport, but also at home. Some airlines practice online check-in for a flight. You can register in this way using a laptop, tablet and even a phone. You can read more about mobile registration in the post “Mobile registration”. After that, on a regular printer, you print out your boarding pass, and check in your luggage at a special Drop off counter.

On the boarding pass it will be written in which gate the plane will board and your place in the cabin. When checking in, you can ask the airline representative to seat you in a comfortable seat, such as by a window or near an emergency exit.
Gate (eng. gate - gate) - gate to board your plane.

Then, following the signs, you will need to proceed to pass the pre-flight inspection. You will be asked to go through the frame and will be searched for items prohibited for transportation. And representatives of the border service will check your passport and visa if necessary.

Please note that during the inspection, when asked by security officers about the items and substances you have, you should not allow jokes, for example, “this is a bomb”, “this is drugs”, etc. Such answers are considered as a passenger’s statement about the presence of dangerous substances and objects and may entail removal from the flight, and further investigation and prosecution in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation up to the initiation of a criminal case under Art. 207 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Knowingly false report about an act of terrorism”).

On international flights, all passengers must go through customs before check-in. During its passage you will see two corridors: "red" and "green". They are indicated by inscriptions in Russian and English: “There are no goods subject to mandatory written declaration” (Nothing to declare) for the green corridor and “Goods subject to mandatory written declaration” (Goods to declare) for the red corridor.

Green corridor is intended for passengers who do not carry goods subject to mandatory written declaration.

Red- for passengers who have goods subject to mandatory written declaration, i.e. goods that are subject to customs duty, have cost and quantity restrictions, etc.

After passing through these formalities, you will be taken to the waiting room, where there are cafes and duty free (eng. Duty Free) - duty free shops.

When boarding is announced for your flight, return to your gate and present your boarding pass and passport (not always required) to the airline representative. The boarding pass on the right has a tear-off spine on which the main information is duplicated. The airline representative will tear it off and give it to you. Keep the ticket until you receive your luggage upon arrival.

Landing is announced several times over the loudspeaker, the same information is duplicated on the information board and above the gate itself.

If you get lost, then go to any employee of the airport and they will help you find the right gate.

You will be put on a bus that will take all passengers to the plane's gangway. Large airports have telescopic bridges, through which you can get on board the aircraft directly from the terminal.

What will happen on board the aircraft is no less interesting, so we advise you to read our article “Why and why on board the aircraft” . It will answer most of your questions, such as why people stuff their ears during takeoff and landing, why turn off mobile phones, and much more.

Upon arrival, you will be put back on the bus or across the bridge you will get to the airport arrivals hall, where you will go through passport and customs control and pick up your luggage.

If you have a flight with a transfer, then read our article "Transfer at the airport". In it, we will answer the most popular questions about transplantation.

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In order to protect passengers from adverse events during air travel, security control is carried out at all airports, which includes not only document verification, but also other procedures. Taking into account that they take a lot of time, you should arrive at the airport in advance. The best option is 2-4 hours before the departure of international flights, and at least 1.5 hours for domestic flights.

Those who fly outside the state go through passport control at the airport. Keep in mind that when several flights depart at the same time, a huge queue forms in front of the control desk, and even if you still have a lot of time before departure, those who have no time left at all may ask to start.

General information

Many are interested in what exactly they check when passing through passport control at the airport. First of all, the employee must make sure that the flight outside Russia is legal. A person who has large debt obligations to banking institutions or the state does not have the right to travel abroad.

The same rule applies to persons who have serious problems with the law. A travel ban is imposed on citizens with a criminal record, as well as those with pending enforcement proceedings.

Subtleties of passport control

Travelers without experience are afraid to go through passport control at the airport, they don’t know what they check in the process. Passport control rules apply to everyone without exception:

  • You can't get too close to the post. Before the red line you need to stop, this line means the Russian border. A person who breaks it can be punished.
  • Many tourists are very confused by the gaze of the passport control officer, do not worry and look away, as the border guard checks his face in front of him with the photo in his passport.

  • When passing through a document check, airport employees can not only check the documentation, but also ask different questions. You need to answer clearly and carefully, jokes and irony in this case are inappropriate and can turn into trouble.
  • If the passenger does not understand at all the question of the border guard asked in a foreign language, for example, during an arrival check, it is imperative to say so, in no case answer “as it seems”, as this can lead to problems, such as refusal to entry into the state.
  • Keep in mind that even if the tourist has all the necessary documents and visas on hand, passport control workers at the entrance have every right not to let a person into the country if there are good reasons for this. For example, it may be a suspicion that the real reason for arriving is to stay in the country and get a job on a tourist visa.

But do not worry too much, because in most countries, checking documents at entry and exit is a common control procedure.

How to get through passport control at the airport

Those who go on an international trip for the first time should be aware that there are several types of control that can be located in a different order, but one way or another, they will have to be passed.

customs inspection

Passengers notice the process of customs control quite rarely, because, as such, the inspection may not take place. All those who have nothing to declare simply go to the "green corridor". Those who need to arrange some things go to the "red corridor". In the "green corridor", instead of being screened, travelers simply pass by airport employees and through special frames. Customs control can be carried out both at departure and upon arrival. On his own initiative, the security officer can check any passenger. This happens quite rarely at Russian airports, usually checking tourists arriving from trading countries such as China. After passing the customs check, you can go through passport control at Sheremetyevo airport or any other.

Passport control before departure

Travelers departing on an international flight go through not only the usual control, but also passport control. This procedure is valid only for passengers who travel outside the state. However, not all tourists know how to go through passport control at the airport, and even more so they are unfamiliar with the process.

Passport control procedure

The passenger must do the following:

  • In turn, travelers come to a special window where airport staff check their documents.
  • The passenger must present the original of the foreign passport, and at the request of the document control officer or the border guard, it is necessary to show the boarding pass.
  • If there are no questions about the documents and everything is in order, a seal is placed confirming that the person has passed passport control without violations. This means that he has the right to cross the state border, since no problems have been identified.

Passport control at the airport of each country is carried out according to its own rules of the existing border services, but in any case, the passenger's document must contain a stamp on passing all the steps of check-in for the flight.

Air travel with children

For inexperienced tourists traveling with children under the age of 14, flying is a very intimidating experience. However, passport control at the airport for such passengers is not as complicated as it seems at first glance. Tourists who go on a trip abroad with children must have the following documents with them:

  • Foreign passport of the baby, made according to the established model.
  • International passport of the parent with a stamp and a photo of the child.
  • The original birth certificate of the baby.

A child who is already 14 years old passes passport control at the airport on his own. When traveling outside the state with one parent, it is necessary to prepare a notarized permission to leave the child from the second parent. This document is needed only for international travel, no document is required for domestic flights.

Security control

Another type of control that many passengers do not like is security control. This process involves removing women's outerwear and heels, taking out laptops, removing water bottles, and raising hands.

At most airports, there is only one security control - pre-flight. In Russia, for example, the first check also takes place at the entrance to the airport building, it is not so thorough, but it is also important.

At the pre-flight security control, plastic boxes are offered in which metal objects, equipment, liquids, etc. should be folded. If modern screening frameworks are installed at the airport, you will need to take off your shoes. The terminals, equipped with advanced technical equipment, have installations that allow you to recognize the contents of bottles, making it possible to carry water, juice and soda, and not throw them away during inspection. Basically, when controlling security, you have to part with the following things:

  • with bottles over 100 ml;
  • with matches;
  • with lighters;
  • with large and small scissors;
  • with corkscrews.

If items such as hairpins, jars, souvenirs, etc. are found in the bag, they will simply be inspected and returned to the passenger.

Do not be afraid of screening procedures, they are necessary for your own safety. Arrive at the airport early and enjoy your next flight! Have a nice holiday!

It's time to familiarize yourself with the procedure for entering the UK. To enter the territory of the United Kingdom, it is necessary to go through a series of standard formal procedures - as, indeed, in most other countries of the world. We tell you what awaits you at the British border.

Filling in the Landing Card

Before going through passport control at the UK border, you will need to fill out a Landing Card. Completing this card is mandatory for anyone who is not a UK or EU citizen, including minors. As a rule, cards are distributed by flight attendants shortly before boarding. They can also be picked up at the airport in the arrivals area.

The Landing Card is an A6 form in which you need to enter personal data and travel details. Filling out a migration card is not difficult, but if you are not sure of your knowledge of English, it is better to familiarize yourself with the instructions and an example in advance.

The card should be filled in capital block Latin letters. Below are all the points of the migration card with examples and recommendations for filling them out:

  • Family name / Surname: IVANOVA
  • First name / First name: ANNA
  • Sex / Gender: M - male, F - female
  • Date of birth / Date of birth: 01/01/1993
  • Town and country of birth / City and country of birth: MOSCOW, RUSSIAN FEDERATION
  • Nationality / Nationality: RUSSIAN
  • Occupation/Profession: MANAGER. If you do not know how to translate the name of your profession into English, write its Russian name in Latin.
  • Contact Address in the UK (in full) You can see the address of residence in the hotel reservation or in the invitation.
  • Passport no / Passport number: 121200000
  • Place of issue / Place of issue of the passport: FMS RF (indicate in Latin the authority and country of issue of the passport)
  • Length of stay in UK/Duration of stay in England: 14 DAYS
  • Port of last departure / Place of last departure: MOSCOW, DOMODEDOVO (if you are flying with a transfer, indicate the last place of departure)
  • Arrival flight / train number / ship number / Arrival flight number: E111
  • Signature

The white blocks at the very bottom of the card and its reverse side do not need to be filled. If you suddenly missed any column of the map, then the border control officer will ask you to fill it out on the spot or enter the necessary information yourself.

UK Passport Control

Before passport control at the UK border there are two queues: for citizens of the UK and EU member states (UK / EU) and for everyone else (Non EU or All other passports).

At passport control, the staff will ask you to present an international passport with a British visa and a completed migration card. The cover must first be removed from the passport. You should have documents confirming the purpose of your visit with you (hotel reservation, invitation from relatives, letter from an educational institution or company).

Depending on the nuances in each particular case, the entrant may also be asked to demonstrate other papers. If you got married, changed your surname, and now the surname on the visa is different from the surname on the front of the passport, take a marriage registration certificate. If you and your child traveling with you have different last names, you will need a birth certificate. If you are not accompanying your child, you must have the relevant documents in your hands (child's birth certificate and notarized consent from both parents).

In our practice, there were cases when officers asked to show a return ticket, so we recommend that you have it with you in printed or electronic form.

Accompanying documents can be provided both in the original and in the form of copies, however, they must be accompanied by translations into English. Learn how to properly follow and visit the United Kingdom.

Travel insurance to the UK is optional, but we strongly recommend that you take out a standard travel policy with coverage of at least €30,000.

All travelers entering the United Kingdom are asked a series of formulaic questions by passport control officers. The most frequently asked questions are:

  • The purpose of your visit to the UK (please note, the purpose must be the same as the one you indicated when filling out the visa application form)?
  • What is the number of your visit to the UK?
  • Where are you planning to stay?
  • Who are you traveling with?
  • Approximate plan of your trip?
  • Do you have relatives or friends in the UK?

The task of the officer is to prevent illegal immigration or border crossing attempts by intruders and criminals. Your task is to show that you have no such intentions. Therefore, calmly and honestly answer all questions and, if necessary, present the requested documents. Communication with an officer rarely takes more than a minute.

UK Customs

Most Russians visit the UK for tourism, business or educational purposes, and therefore pass through customs control. However, there are a number of items that must be declared or banned from being brought into the UK.

If you are bringing more than €10,000 in cash with you, the money must be declared.

Restrictions on the import of tobacco products:

  • cigarettes: no more than 200 pieces
  • cigarillos: no more than 100 pieces
  • cigars: no more than 50 pieces
  • tobacco: no more than 250 grams

Restrictions on the import of alcoholic products

  • beer: no more than 16 liters
  • wine (not sparkling): no more than 4 liters
  • alcohol with a strength of up to 22%: no more than 2 liters
  • alcohol with a strength of 22%: no more than 1 liter

Persons over 17 years of age have the right to carry tobacco and alcoholic products. Products transported in excess of the specified norm should be declared and customs duty paid for it. Goods worth more than £390 must also be declared.

The following items and products are prohibited from being imported into the UK:

  • meat and dairy products (including eggs)
  • weapon (e.g. switchblade)
  • self-defense aerosols

If your luggage does not contain anything interesting for customs, go to the "Nothing to declare" sign. If you have products that are subject to declaration, go to the line with the sign “Goods to declare”. To declare, you need to fill out a short form and give it to the customs officer. If necessary, pay the customs fee and present the necessary permits and licenses (for example, if you are carrying a weapon).

As a rule, all checks at the British border do not take much time. Prepare the necessary documents in advance and do not forget to fill out the migration Landing Card. In the absence of queues, in 5-10 minutes you will be officially in the UK.