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Customs and Immigration In theory UK aircraft should leave and enter the country through designated airports such as Southampton, Southend, Biggin Hill or Bournemouth. Other well placed GA airfields such as Lydd, Manston and Shoreham too offer customs services. It is no coincidence that these airfields make high charges for their efforts. If you are not in a hurry and are not short of cash this is an option. For the rest of us we need to think about the problem. Remember that this officialdom is all intended to discourage us from going anywhere, but lets face it 3 slightly pissed pensioners arrested after a lunch in France will not be the greatest haul of criminals ever brought up before the beak on terrorism charges! UK Customs Leaving the UK There is no need to report to customs when leaving the UK. If travelling to the Channel Islands then Special Branch must be informed so they can search you (if they want) under the provisions of the Terrorism Act, on both departure and return. The official form for doing this is a "general declaration" which should be faxed to "Special Branch" a minimum of 12 hours before the flight. Special Branch require notification in writing so telephoning wont do. The cynical amongst us may note that the first question asked is about VAT, and since Al Queida are not known to have training camps in the Channel Islands, and do not willingly pay VAT, one cannot help but conclude that the true purpose of the anti terrorism law is to catch tax dodgers, shoorly not!. The Hampshire police GENDEC has lots of useful phone numbers and things attached. Click Here for a Hampshire Police General Declaration The GENDEC form provided by Special Branch needs to be hand written and faxed from a conventional fax machine which makes it difficult for those of us without a fax machine. I have recreated the form in MS word which can be sent via a faxmodem or pdf'd and sent via e-mail. Why not download it and create your own ready completed format? Each police Authority has a different format Click Here for a Sussex Police General Declaration Returning to the UK When returning to the UK it is necessary to give 4 hours notice to customs (the form below is suitable but there is no standard so a letter format with the same info would do) and 12 hours to Special Branch if returning from the Channel Islands. Customs can be informed by phone if there is no access to a fax, but special branch need a GEndec in writing i.e. a fax.
Click here for a full size Customs and Immigration form Here are the Fax or Phone numbers:
A crafty tip British fuel taxes are applied to Fuel burnt in the UK. Fuel bought in the UK but burnt in France is not subject to UK duty. Click here to recover 26p per litre from you fuel bill French Customs French customs and immigration are relaxed, to most Europeans we are all European and that is good enough. So unless you are routing from the Channel Islands which are outside the European Union (Tax Havens) the Douanne will show little interest. When they do show up, often in a helicopter, they will want to check documents. In Gallic fashion when they do take interest they can get very awkward so ensuring that paperwork is order is essential. | |||||||||||||||||
