Tourists detained and deported over passport issue

Several residents have shared their "terrifying" experiences at international borders, where issues with Isle of Man passports have led to deportations, detentions, accusations of forgery, and emergency travel documents.

It comes after a 26-year-old solo traveller reported being refused entry to China on arrival.

Since then more residents have come forward sharing similar experiences in other countries.

Kelly Bailey described feeling "like a criminal" after being held for eight hours without her luggage, food or water, in Istanbul and escorted on a return plane to Manchester.

She had flown to Turkey in late 2022, after travelling there with her children months earlier without any issues on the same passport.

But this time she said officials pulled her to one side, told her she needed a visa and had to apply through the UK Embassy in London.

With the office closed, she said she was held overnight for eight hours, without food or drink, with her luggage confiscated and only left with her phone.

"It absolutely terrified me," she recalled, adding: "I was alone and so upset... it was humiliating."

Another Manx resident, Garry Bolton reported a similar ordeal in Turkey, when he travelled there with his partner for her birthday - but said they never made it past the airport.

He said they were detained in Istanbul after officials believed small design changes on their passports indicated forgeries.

Bolton added: "We were accused of trying to enter the country on false passports."

He said they were also held for about eight hours without food or water before being escorted onto a plane back to the UK.

Bolton described his partner as especially scared and outlined how their attempts to get help from the Turkish consulate and the Isle of Man government brought no resolution.

He claimed the ordeal left them thousands of pounds out of pocket, and said they had since obtained UK passports to avoid it happening in the future.

A further traveller, Niall Quiggin from Onchan, shared his passport issues in China.

He was travelling to Yangzhou for work, assuming his passport would fall under China's temporary visa-free travel arrangement for UK nationals.

But upon arrival in Shanghai, Quiggin said he was singled out at immigration.

"All the other British nationals [were] just going through easily," he said, adding that officials stared at his passport for some time and eventually moved him to a holding room for more than two hours.

Quiggin was eventually granted a temporary emergency entry permit, valid only for the dates of his travel, with the requirement to apply for a full visa in the future.

Quiggin was told the cause was the wording of his passport, where instead of reading: "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland," it read: "British Islands Isle of Man."

He hoped the incident prompted clearer guidance from authorities on how crown dependencies' passports were treated under international agreements.

While he said he liked "the Manx passport being a bit different", he thought key wording should be clearer for countries outside of the British Isles to understand.

The Isle of Man Immigration Service acknowledged the recent case in China where a Manx passport holder was denied entry.

It said entry rules are set solely by host countries and travellers must ensure their passports meet local requirements.

Travellers were advised to consult the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and relevant embassies, it said.

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