Quote Originally Posted by jonnyivy View Post
On a separate issue, does anyone consider that different Customs entry points (airports etc.) are easier to get through than others? I ask this, because every time we land in Edinburgh, my wife just walks straight through (separate lanes of course). She only once got stopped and was asked where her husband was. She pointed over to me and was just waved on through - without them even checking me out!

London, on the other hand, seems much more strict!
I would say it very much depends what side of the bed that particular immigration officer got out of on that morning. Yes the rules are all there and should be followed but how closely things are checked when arriving in different places is all down to the individuals working there. For example I had a seafarer arriving in Manchester to join a vessel in dry dock and they phoned me to say he would be denied as the ship he was joining would not sail within seven days. I asked where to find the rule that said it must be seven days and after a lot of phone calls they came back saying the actual wording is that the vessel must sail within a reasonable time, that one officer had just decided that meant within seven days. There is no telling how each officer will decide to interpret the rules that day.