Why do people that decide people’s journey don’t know the law?

Photo by Alex Robert on Unsplash

This post is a bit more personal.
It’s about a journey I just came back from.

You see, I’m a Romanian, who also became a British citizen last year, and I’m also settled.
What that means is that I can travel anywhere in Europe and back in the UK with my Romanian ID and it shouldn’t affect my future. Until the end of 2025, according to the same law from the same government I put the link up in. (and here’s a more colourful website, in case the drab government one doesn’t suit your palate.)

But here’s the thing. Not everybody seems to know the law.
You see, I was in Iceland, traveling by Wizz Air, who showed what you’d need and not need to travel, but there was no mention saying that you cannot travel back into the UK with your ID, like the aforementioned law states.
Despite my best to convince the folks at the boarding gate that everything is legit, including showing them a picture of my citizenship letter, which they deemed not ok as it’s a picture and not the actual letter -because who in their right mind would take that?- I had to scramble and find something else.

So I booked the first flight back to Paris, and then I booked a Flixbus to London, as the Eurostar was a tad too expensive. Let’s not break the bank completely, you know?

The flight to Paris went well, no problem, but then the boarding of the Flixbus was another thing.
Similar to the Wizz Air staff, the French bus driver was reluctant in allowing me on, despite me showing him all this evidence, including the settlement scheme.
So he called someone, who told him it’s ok to allow me to board. Hell, before that, I was thinking I had to find a place to stay at 10pm in Paris, and book a Eurostar the following day as it was incredulous. So, thankfully, we didn’t end up there.

Fast forward to the border check by the Calais ferry, and this is where it kind of becomes funny, if it wasn’t already something out of some random movie.
First up, the French border guards where analyzing the shit out of my ID, and eventually, and somewhat reluctantly, allowed me to go through, despite again, being settled and…