Acing Customs
Clearing customs anywhere can be pretty intimidating! Everyone has that fear that they are going to be stopped and taken into a back room by huge scary officers and be questioned for hours on end on why you are 'invading' their country! However, there truly is nothing to fear if one takes the time to understand exactly what they need and how to organize it in order to make your life and the life of the questioning officer easier!
So, if you or anyone you know will be studying in the UK for a semester or two there's definitely a few do's and don'ts when it come to clearing customs. First is the checklist:
1. Passport: Have your passport ready at all times! Also, keep your flight ticket inserted to the page where your photo is so you can hand it over right away. Be careful though with the ticket, when asked for your passport by customs, only give the passport. The ticket is only a BOOKMARK to mark your photo page! Also, if you have a passport holder make sure the passport is NOT in the case when you hand it to them!
2. Landing Card: make sure you fill out the landing card ON THE PLANE, so you are good to go and can get in line right away for customs! Hand this to customs with you passport.
3. Study Abroad Sheet: No matter what program you are on, you should have received an email which has where you are staying, the name of the program you are enrolled in, the fact that you are a STUDENT and will be involved in University learning, and a form of contact for the program. This is all you need if you are NOT doing an internship and are NOT staying more then five months. If you are working or are staying for six months or longer you must also have a Visa which the program and the UK government should have approved and sent to you. If you have not received these YOU WILL NOT ENTER THE UK! Contact your program immediately if you have no print out!
4. Travel Itinerary: You must be able to show a travel itinerary! They will want to see that you are in fact a student and are planning on studying as well as touring the surrounding area. This Travel Itinerary should include where you will be staying, who you are studying under, the program you are involved in, and all FLIGHT info. You should staple this LARGE packet and fold over the page that has both your incoming flight that you just took and your outgoing flight you will take months from now together! They will want to see the flight number so they know you are not trying to stay!
For the most part if you follow those rules and act very polite, then you should have absolutely no problem! Go up with a cheery attitude because remember: you are entering THEIR country. And you are also representing YOUR country! So, act very cordial and answer all their questions without attitude. Don't fuddle around! Make sure you have all these documents in a clear folder and that you have them in order of the bullet points above. By being organized and ready to go, then the customs agent will know you truly are a student entering the country and ready to pursue knowledge!