Mr A said he waited two and a half hours to pass airport immigration control when he arrived in the UK because of a fault with Border Force's IT systems.
What happened
Border Force experienced an unforeseen technical fault, which affected its computer systems at the airports. It put in place measures to make sure it could still process people through immigration control but said that some passengers queued for up to two hours to pass through. Mr A said he had booked a cab, and had to pay additional waiting fees because of the delay. He wanted Border Force to reimburse him the extra cost he incurred.
What we found
We did not uphold this complaint. Border Force's role was to check all passengers passing through immigration control. The IT fault affecting Border Force was a one–off, unforeseen and an unavoidable problem which it has since resolved. It put in place contingency plans to address the problem, which were as effective as could reasonably have been expected. This meant that staff never stopped checking passengers through immigration control despite the IT fault. While some passengers experienced up to two hours' delay, we did not find this was because of Border Force's actions. The airport operator, not Border Force, was responsible for prioritising people in the queues to immigration control. We did not uphold Mr A's complaint that Border Force was at fault for the delay he experienced.
UK Border Force
UK
Not applicable
Not applicable