US looking into preclearance at European airports
 

The Guardian newspaper (UK) is reporting that the US has approached five European countries about the possibility of installing CBP preclearance facilities. It would be like the system that already exists in Ireland and Canada where fliers to the US pass through US passport control before boarding their flights. That would give them essentially domestic arrivals when they get to America.

The five countries are the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden. The Guardian reports that, so far, the UK is the only one to express interest in the idea.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...cks-passengers

Glad that they're looking at countries that take security very seriously. Except that for LHR one will now need to lead forever in advance of the flight.

this would be great. it would be great to pop off the plane in new york after a long flight, grab your bags and go! instead of waiting on those long lines...

Grab your bags and go? At a NYC airport? I doubt that.

I would hate this system since you need to claim your bags in Europe and then recheck them. Flight connections don't give enough time to do this.

And if you have to wait in a passport control line in Europe you'll need to get to the airport extra early.

More bureaucratic turf building. The old INS had been working on this back in 1988 when I was at the embassy. Homeland Security has the same priorities. They want to build an overseas presence -- which necessarily infringes on the State Dept's turf. This will be determined by departmental infighting, even if the host countries agree (which they shouldn't, at least until the DHS is staffed by personnel at least roughly comparable to an FSO, and not the untrained policeman they presently employ).

Well, i just got Global Entry - maybe I'll "win" either way.

"Grab your bags and go? At a NYC airport? I doubt that.

That's EXACTLY what happens in New York on most flights from Canada, from Ireland and from London on BA001 via Shannon.

It´s very expensive to keep personnel in foreign countries, not to mention additional costs for facilities and equipment. Immigration can be done much more cost effectively within the USA.

No one without Global Entry should be complaining about lines at Immigration.

<i>I would hate this system since you need to claim your bags in Europe and then recheck them. </i>

We flew from Paris to NYC via Dublin with a layover and U.S. Immigration and Customs in Dublin. We did not have to recheck out bags. Customs has a flat screen which shows the bags and the agent asks us to identify it. That's all.

Well you still have to wait and identify your bags. Frankfurt connections don't give enough time for this extra step so I hope this process is not adopted in Germany.

flanneruk - never fly through Newark as you'll have a long wait for your bags.

That would be a boondoggle for any C&BP personnel stationed in Europe.

I see it is a ginormous waste of time and resources. If adopted, I hope the host countries make the U.S. foot the bill for the modifications that will have to made at the airports and charge them rent for their spot of "American soil" in the airport.

I'm pretty sure I did this in Schipol a few years back, certainly I was interviewed by an American on a lecturn

bilbo - no you didn't. That was security, not immigration or customs - you still have to go through those on arrival in the US when flying from Schiphol. You can join Privium at Schiphol if you have Global Entry.

As a non US citizen I like the idea. There is nothing worse than standing for over an hour in a queue for immigration after an 11 hour flight. If you know it will happen in Europe you allow extra time at the airport before the flight.

Not sure how it would be organised though - Schiphol would have to designate a pier for such things, and how would it work at Heathrow - all US flights leaving from a single terminal? That would be a pain for people connecting through the airport.

As for the worry that there isn't enough time during a connection in Europe, you'd have to build in a longer connection there. Airlines would have to increase their minimum connection time in the UK for flights to the US. The payoff would be that you just go right to your connecting gate when you arrive at the US airport.

You would think they could just put someone on an aircraft and walk from one end to the other

I just flew through Newark from Frankfurt and I have to say the lines were very short even for those without Global Entry, which I have.
My brother entered the same gateway with his daughter, he has the Global entry and she does not. He waited with her and he was amazed at how quickly he got through.

Also. I don't think I waited more than 10 minutes for my bag and recheck took about 10 seconds. Someone met everyone at the recheck point and just scanned the bag tag with a hand scanner and we were on our way.

Of course, even this does not help if you are looking at a tight connect time and the plane does not land on time.

"how would it work at Heathrow?"

Simply a matter for discussion. The shops - and UK Immigration - use simple labour scheduling software that lets them move staff between terminals as demand fluctuates - and is sort of predictable, since long haul arrival times are known at least 6.5 hours ahead of time, and departures are more or less known weeks ahead.

Presumably the American government can learn from professional border control management how to enter the last half of the 20th century? Though obviously, comparing the mess the American Constitution seems to mandate for foreign visitors at JFK and Atlanta, I suppose the answer to that question is no.

The US HAS tried this at Heathrow before, and ran away whingeing about how it was too difficult for them, poor dears.

Heathrow's had a change of ownership since, and I understand the US bureaucrats have moved to a different department. Nonetheless I have 100% confidence in the US government's ability to say "no, we can't" when asked to adapt to a different environment.

What I meant Flanner was will they offer it in all terminals with flights to the US, or will it be only in one?

Flanner, I doubt the US would say, "No, we can't." The US is the one who is pushing this. So far, the UK is the only one of the five countries that has expressed interest.

Great idea!