US Pre-Clearance Could Arrive at Even More Foreign Airports
You know what’s cool about flying to Canada—besides Tim Horton’s of course? It’s that you can take care of your customs clearance and border patrol shenanigans right up in Canada, so that when you land back at home in the nifty fifty you’re free to just depart the airport without any additional screenings or security checks. Well, it looks like the additional airport fun is expanding elsewhere sooner rather than later, so you just might need to arrive at the airport a little bit earlier on your next departure back to the USA.
Apparently the foreign screening is all part of Homeland Security’s plane to keep us safe, as the thinking is that American Customs and Border Protection will have a head start if they're checking stuff out before the bad guys even get here. Sure, that might be somewhat helpful on some level, but what we’re most interested in is simply the convenience.
Right now there are several options like this available in cities in Ireland, Aruba, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Canada. If you've ever flown from Dublin back to the US, you'll know what we're talking about; you're cleared and US passport-stamped before you even board that plane. However, it looks like Uncle Sam is now chatting with other countries, and this feature may be added to places like Abu Dhabi before you know it. The government has been talks with the folks over in the United Arab Emirates, and has also been pushing paperwork back and forth with Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
There’s other spots like Madrid, Tokyo, and Panama City where American officers are already in place to help out and aid the local security authorities. It doesn’t sound like plans for official preclearance are in place just yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see even more preclearance in the years ahead.
[Photo: Wikimedia]
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