UK immigrations are mean

Okay so here's our story . . . I met a girl online, on this online game, things progressed to instant messangers/emails, to phone calls, to webcam conferences, to snail mail etc etc. we became very close and developed feelings for one another and after about 6 months of talking decided we should give it a chance in real life, I bought her a ticket and offered her somewhere to live, offered to support her all that.

She flew from IAD to London and was stopped by immigrations, she didn't have any cash on her, she only had credit cards which they didn't find suitable as means of support. They interrogated her for hours asking her the same questions over and over again, she was a little embarrassed about the reason she was flying here so didn't want to go into too much detail about stuff, the immigration officer played on this and put words into her mouth asking questions to which she replied yes even if they were only partial truths.

For example she was embarrassed that we'd never met in real life before, didn't say we had but insinuated we had, so he asked her if we had to which she replied yes not thinking he'd contact me for verification, he also went on to quiz her about money and supporting herself to which she replied that she would perhaps look for market work or something cash in hand (not knowing this was actually illegal) the immigration officer noted this down also.

He then went through all her bags and found a letter she had written to me, in which she said she wanted to be with me forever, he came back with this letter quoting that line while shaking his head, to which she replied "I don't mean forever right now, I plan to go back to college after my 3 months stay here"

During this was happening, at some point he had spoken to me on the phone and this is how he found out that we'd infact not met in real life before and that our dates were slightly wrong (a month or two out).

He eventually came back into the room and told her he was denying her entry to the UK and that she'd be sent back home that same day, she started crying and another member of staff offered her a tissue to which the immigration officer said "WE DON'T GIVE OUT TISSUES", she was furious and stressed out and fell to the floor crying he told her to grow up and stop being stupid or he'd handcuff her, she was then escorted into a caged van and taken to a different terminal and sent back home.

The reasons for her denied entry were listed as sections 88 and 89 (which I believe is something to do with our stories not matching up)

Anyway I plan to go to USA this week for a weeks holiday to meet her, and if all goes well perhaps we can apply for a fiancee visa to eventually get her over here

-Jimmy 

Im no expert on these issues others will explain it better. I dont think its going to be as easy as getting a fiance visa and bringing her over. She has been denied entry,she lied and was caught. It will not be easy to get the fiance visa. There are criteria that must be met first. Six months of internet chat and letters to each other won't work. She now has been red flagged by immigration. Its not going to be easy. Have a look at this. Goodluck mate!

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=17797.0

I'm so sorry you both had such a terrible experience!  I met my UK fiance online also, and flew to England to meet him.  I was asked many questions also, but just answered them honestly, even though I was also embarrased at meeting online.  ( I have since discovered they really don't care HOW you met, it's your intentions they want to know)  I was allowed in that time, but on another occasion, the immigration official, for some unknown reason, didn't think I would go back, and was held in a room and questioned.  One of the other officials brought me lunch, however, and even though smoking was not officially allowed, they gave me a cigarette.  I WAS eventually told I must go back to the US, but they gave me a week with my fiance.  That was a few years ago, and I have returned 4 times since, with no problem.  I am applying for my settlement/fiance visa next month, and hopefully all will go well.  I would assume your girlfriend had an experience with an official who was in a terrible mood that day, though that is no excuse.

Oh, yikes...been there, done that! Not fun!!!

Dealing with immigration needs to be taken very very seriously and you need to be completely honest with them. If you're not, they're going to figure it out and it's going to cause problems. Unfortunately, it sounds like your girlfriend just didn't know a thing about dealing with immigration before she tried to come over. It happens to a lot of people.

Telling them that you met online isn't a big deal. They hear it every day so it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Mentioning that she might try to find work for cash would have got her sent home without all the other stuff anyway. I mean, even if you're legal to work in the UK (which she's not), getting a job that pays you cash in hand is against the law anyway. You've also got to be careful about what you have in your luggage. If you're detained then they're going to go through it all (as she found out). If they find anything in there that suggests you might be looking for work, or might be staying longer than you say then it's going to cause problems. I got harrassed for bringing my laptop with me. The immigration officer kept saying there would be no reason to have it if I wasn't working. So, they might find things that you probably wouldn't even think would cause problems.

I feel bad for her. It sounds like she was unfortunately unaware of UK laws, how to deal with immigration, and what to expect. I was detained for nearly 7 hours on my first trip to the UK and denied entry. I was exhausted after my flight, absolutely starving and I had to get on a plane headed back to Seattle (looong flight) about 18 hours after landing, and still no sleep. I was so sick on the flight back that the flight attendants were having to take care of me. It was horrible.

I managed to get into the UK on my second attempt but they only let me stay for one month. After that my husband (boyfriend at the time) flew back to the US with me and absolutely breezed through US immigration so hopefully you have better luck than her! Just make sure you have a return ticket in hand, have some cash on you, can give them the address where you're staying, and don't lie to the immigration officer.

Good luck!

Oh, and that immigration officer was just rude. I dealt with 4 of them when I was detained and while they weren't the nicest people and I felt like I was being reeeaally interrogated at times, they remained professional and were never mean to me. The whole situation though felt very much like being a prisoner and like I was really in trouble and has really put some fear of immigration officers and other UK officials in me! My first time dealing with them was a pretty scary experience.

This brings me to a question I guess I should have asked earlier.  When I was told I had to return to the US in a week, I was never given a paper, or ruling, or anything of that kind, just verbally told to return to the airport on a certain day, and they would have a flight for me.  So...my question is, was I denied entry, deported, or what??  I know they ask that on the fiance visa, and would like to know how to answer it!

Well, they're under no obligation to allow anyone entry to the country as a tourist.   They may seem 'mean', but they have a job to do, and that's to make sure the tourists they allow in are there as just that - and plan to leave accordingly.

Even though your girlfriend did plan to return, the moral of this story is to have a good plan/story in place before travelling across - a ticket good for only a fortnight before return, for example, some cash, a night in a hotel booked, etc. 

He eventually came back into the room and told her he was denying her entry to the UK and that she'd be sent back home that same day, she started crying and another member of staff offered her a tissue to which the immigration officer said "WE DON'T GIVE OUT TISSUES", she was furious and stressed out and fell to the floor crying he told her to grow up and stop being stupid or he'd handcuff her, she was then escorted into a caged van and taken to a different terminal and sent back home.

To the idea of falling on the floor weeping, that's a bad strategy because if they think she's gone over the edge, it kicks off a different procedure which has far worse implications than a simple refusal of entry.  But based upon what you've described, this unfortunate episode will not be an overly big deal when she goes for her fiance visa.

I was just thinking, after reading this, that it must really SUCK to be an immigration officer /entry clearance officer... all day long, people are telling you lies, going into hysterics, probably hurling abuse,  exhibiting all sorts of ignorance, etc...   It's not a job i could do. 






edited to add a missed-out word! 

Well, I'm sure it's a stressful situation to be in, and technically they weren't doing anything wrong.  But I'm sure there are red flags that immigration officers are trained to look out for(no money/long stay) and truthfully she should have known the legalities of it before she came in.  Sorry you had to go through it, hopefully it'll all go smoothly the next time.  You're certainly not the first or the last to get caught at immigration.   

You're certainly not the first or the last to get caught at immigration.   

True... it happened to me as well, but luckily did not affect my settlement visa application a couple of years later.

I was just thinking, after reading this, that it must really SUCK to be an immigration officer /entry clearance officer... all day long, people are telling you, going into hysterics, probably hurling abuse,  exhibiting all sorts of ignorance, etc...   It's not a job i could do. 

The biggest problem is standing on your feet all that time, and of course, boredom.

<scene disolves>

A long, long time ago...

<scene refocuses>

When I was a carefree bachelor happily ensconsed in Marylebone, I used to go out with an IO.  Not really go out too much, but she would come over when she finished work and stay with me for a few days at a time.  I wasn't really interested in immigration in those days, but sometimes she would talk about it when the mood hit her.

She told me once about an American girl who, when she asked "What is the purpose of your visit?", the girl answered, "I met this guy on the internet and I want to see if he's any good in bed."  "How long do you intend to stay?"  "I could be out of here tomorrow, otherwise a week!"    BAM goes the stamp.  "Welcome to the UK".

People coming in to worship snakes, people looking for long lost lovers or classmates, jesus freaks, holy rollers, self-styled poets and prophets.  How about people showing up in B&D leather bondage?     She's seen it all....

And sometimes she would say how people would think that their circumstances were improbable so they would make up a story that sounded more believable and try to use that.  And they would get caught in a lie and get in trouble.  And the irony is that if they had explained their true circumstances they would have cleared immigration with no problems.  But since they had already lied, they had to be refused.  And they *HATE* to be lied to.  It really gets them angry.

Now she's not an IO any more because she transferred to a desk job in Croydon were she chases up ILR applicants.  And we still have an amicable relationship, and we have coffee whenever I have to trek down to Lunar House.  And she thinks that my role as an advocate is beyond hilarious, but that's because she knew me in a different capacity first.

So in terms of being embarrassed about telling an IO something, it's helpful to remember that it's really and really hard to say something that they haven't heard before.

Hmmm, I think if I was in her situation I'd probably do the same.

I also met my significant other online. We had talked online for 1 year and four months before he decided to come over to California from London, to finally meet me for the duration of two weeks.  He said they hardly asked him anything at the US immigrations. When I came to visit him 6 months later during Christmas time, I also had to go through the interrogation of UK immigrations.  She had asked how we met, how long we had known eachother, etc. When I had mentioned we met online, yet had no pictures to show or any proof, she started asking me loads and loads more questions. I think she thought I was this mail order bride or something. Plus, I am only 18 and do look young for my age, so that didn't help any either. But I was as honest as I can be, saying that my parents had met him, and that he had even stayed in the same house with my family as I hadn't my own place. 

But in the long run, him coming over to the US was probably better than me going over there first. He is 9 years older, so if I would've gone over first, there most likely would've been more problems for me than for him.

I've been here on a five months stay since August, and I'm going back in January to get my fiance visa 

So, I hope all goes well for you and her!

i met my wife on the internet  she lives in Minnesota when i first went over i was striped searched in front of everybody and told they were thinking of sending me back i have a ten year visa i am retired have a home in england children and 8 grand  so i go back and forth but i have never got over there without having trouble even when i  have been with the wife they have sent me back after just a few weeks  the wife as never had a wrong word said  to her over here  they are allways nice over in the us i allways have trouble

I don't understand why she just didn't say, "I'm here on vacation to visit a friend."   Works for me!

I don't understand why she just didn't say, "I'm here on vacation to visit a friend."   Works for me!

I used that and I got "whats your friends name" "howd you meet" "what does he do for employment" "whos the employer" "where will you be staying"