Guidance

Passenger documents: get help to reduce your charges

Updated 11 September 2024

This information is for all carriers (especially the owners, agents and operators of ships and aircraft) operating international services to the UK.

Under Section 40 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, carriers are liable to charges if they carry a passenger to the UK who is not properly documented (we call this an ‘inadequately documented arrival’). The current charge for each inadequately documented arrival is £2,000.

This information explains how the Risk and Liaison Overseas Network can help you to limit the number of inadequately documented arrivals you carry on your services, so reducing the potential charges we may levy against them.

The UK has a network of immigration liaison managers (ILMs) overseas, a number of whom are in locations that have been identified as major sources or transit points for inadequately documented passengers arriving in the UK. There is a map showing the locations of the Immigration Liaison Managers who perform this role

All ILMs work to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) code of conduct for immigration liaison officers. You can read the code of conduct on the IATA website. Their role is to offer advice and expertise to airlines with a view to preventing or disrupting the carriage of inadequately documented passengers. They do this by:

• providing training to airline staff in UK passport and visa requirements, and forgery awareness – they are also willing to provide this to host authorities
• attending flight departures to give on-the-spot advice to check-in staff on the documents presented by passengers
• offering assistance to airlines about passengers who may be inadequately documented for travel to the UK but who are nonetheless admissible there and who, without the ILM’s advice, may be prevented from travelling
• developing and maintaining effective working relationships with airlines, local airport authorities and other countries’ liaison officers

ILMs have no legal powers abroad, so they cannot therefore:

• instruct an airline to deny boarding to a passenger – ILMs are only able to give advice on whether a passenger is correctly documented; the final decision on whether or not to carry a passenger is solely a matter for the airline
• investigate, arrest or prosecute criminals engaged in illegal migration – they will, where appropriate, offer their assistance in identifying those involved

In addition to their permanent locations, ILMs may have responsibility for a number of other countries in the region and offer similar advice and training to carriers there. In this way more than 120 countries are covered by ILMs. To see if your region benefits from this service, please contact our headquarters at the email address below.

Operational and management support is provided 7 days a week by a team of over 30 staff at the Risk and Liaison Overseas Network Operation Centre in the United Kingdom.