§ Mr. ColmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when it became the practice for immigration officers to vet passengers as to the status of their visas and passports prior to leaving aeroplanes arriving in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [99848]
§ Mrs. RocheWhile there are powers in Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 which allow an Immigration officer to board and search an aircraft and to require the production of a passenger's documents, Immigration officers do not routinely examine passengers' travel documents prior to their leaving an aircraft. However, Immigration officers regularly attend arriving flights and check travel documents shortly after disembarkation in order to identify inadequately documented passengers. This practice has grown since the late 1980s in order to deal with the increasing number of passengers who destroy or otherwise dispose of their travel documents and tickets after departure for the United Kingdom. The procedures have been developed to establish the proof of carriage so that charges under the carriers' liability legislation can be effectively pursued and also to minimise the difficulties and costs in removing persons where the identity of the carrier and the port of embarkation cannot be established.