Comment on I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal.
MurrayL@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
The ‘beta website’ for announcing your arrival says right at the top that its been live since November 2023, so it seems more like you just didn’t bother to do the proper research before arriving?
cabbage@piefed.social 22 hours ago
When you read guidelines about sailing to the UK anywhere this website is never linked, at least not in any source I could find, as it is too new and nobody seems aware of it yet. The harbour when we arrived were also not immediately aware of it. And to find it again I had to try several different search terms while adding "site:gov.uk" into the search engine. All the search results are just about illegal immigration. I'm not sure exactly how they expect people to gain awareness of it.
If you press the big green button saying "start now" you'll come to the website of the form, which states clearly on top: "Beta This is a new service – your feedback will help us to improve it", which is why I describe it as a beta website. Because it literally is.
MurrayL@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
Sorry but I don’t believe you.
A quick web search for relevant keywords (‘uk legally registering entry immigration border small boat’) immediately brings up not only the supposedly impossible to find link, but also a guide from the Royal Yachting Association that tells you that you need to register in advance and links directly to the form.
cabbage@piefed.social 22 hours ago
It's easier to find the website retroactively when you already have it and you know which vocabulary it uses. Use the wrong word and you only get a million articles about illegal immigration.
Furthermore, we had no way of knowing a website like this now existed, as in the past you would sail in and then register. We had no reason to believe anything had changed on that front and therefore no reason to conduct a whole lot of research into it.
If I wanted to enter illegally I would obviously have saved my £20 and not gotten an ETA, as I ended up not needing it anyway.
leraje@piefed.blahaj.zone 20 hours ago
On behalf of the saner members of the UK, sorry about Murray. Sadly, we're overrun with pedants of this nature which is largely why we've become such a backward set of mouth breathers since 2016-ish.
c10l@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Sorry but I don’t believe you. I just searched your exact terms on my search engine of preference and I still haven’t found said beta website.
Furthermore, and most importantly, if you know exactly what to look for, eventually you will. In the same vein, if I had typed the URL to said website on my browser’s address bar, guess what… I would have found it without even have to search for it! 🤯 Even easier, by your logic.
cabbage@piefed.social 19 hours ago
Yeah, in order to find the site again for the purpose of this post I had to switch search engines as well.
Also doesn't make it easier that a minority of the crew spoke good English. Most are only comfortable in French. I imagine most Brits would struggle if they had to dig up obscure government websites in French that they had no idea even existed.