FAQ

I was stopped at the UK Border Force, how can I be sure it won’t happen again?    

Sometimes people can have a ‘flag’ against their Home Office profile, which means they get stopped and questioned by a Border Force official when trying to enter the UK.

We do not know what triggers the creation or the clearing of a flag, as this is not set out in public guidance.

However, if you think there is a flag against your profile which you think should not be there, we recommend that you:

1. lodge a complaint to Border Force as soon as possible after you have experienced being stopped by a Border Force official, and definitely within a three month deadline of the border incident, asking them to ensure you will not be stopped again and to clear any flags on your profile.

Details for submitting a complaint are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/border-force/about/complaints-procedure

2. apply for a copy of your files from UK Border Force to see what information is contained about the reason for the flag or for being stopped. This is called a Subject Access Request and more details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/requests-for-personal-data-uk-visas-and-immigration. This information returned is likely to be limited but there may be something that gives a clue. We would be very grateful if you could report this to us using our Report-It tool.