patersoj

Not seen any mention of it elsewhere on the forum, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the new Passport Express terminals at Dulles when I arrived on Friday.

In my last 4 arrivals it has taken me a minimum of 70 mins to get through immigration. On Friday it took the grand total of 6 mins (I timed it!). The only downside was I then had to wait 30 mins for my bloke to pick me up - he was caught out by the speed to get through too.

Suspect this may make Washington a more popular place to connect though in the future

paul4040

I read about these in an aviation magazine. How does it work? I'm entering the States via IAD in March.

I've only been to the U.S. once before (also via IAD coincidentally), in 2005. I have a valid ESTA and will be using my UK biometric passport. Do I need my printed ESTA details to enter along with my passport?

Just a little concerned about American immigration, as I regularly hear horror stories!

KARFA

I think they have been mentioned before but under the other name of APC (Automated Passport Control). Unlike the exisitng Global Entry machines, these APC ones are open to non-US citizens who have an ESTA. Some more information at the CBP website including a list of where they are:

http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizen...rt-control-apc

Also more discussion on this FT thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/check...t-control.html

T8191

So far I've found this >>>>

https://www.airportrevenuenews.com/i...ssport-kiosks/

http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/20...ssport-kiosks/

... and what KARFA said, faster than me

KARFA

Were they there when you went to IAD a few months ago T8191? I didn't see any at JFK T7 back in August but there was absolutely no queue and my sister and I were through in 5 minutes anyway. They have to be a positive development and should help reduce the queues a bit.

NB12

I posted a news article about this in a thread on IAD connections when the kiosks opened a couple of weeks ago. Glad to hear they were working well for you - hope this is still the case when I fly into IAD tomorrow!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...8-mct-iad.html

T8191

Went through on 5 Sep 14, no sign of anything happening then. Just the usual row of 54 desks, 10 or so of which were manned by CBP Agents doing the Immigration thing.

That said, we were through the Border in 9 minutes from getting off the mobile lounge, so no complaints.* It helps being in CW, and knowing where to go at each part of the process, of course.

*On chocks at very remote stand 1235, on the bus and moving 1245, reached Arrivals Building 1255, through Border 1304, and kerbside 1315.

patersoj

Sorry I missed the previous references to this. Didn't realise it was known by multiple names - Passport Express, APC etc

I was there in Aug/Sep too and would really have welcomed these then. Whilst I can see that they may be of limited value if you sit at the pointy end, they made a significant difference to my experience as a passenger in WT (that is prett reasonably familiar with IAD and it's nuances eg the ppl movers)

How they work?
They ran through the Customs form, took a photo and fingerprints, then dished out a slip of paper with your photo and details on it. I had a big X on mine due to bringing in foodstuffs, so was directed to one immigration officer. The chap in front without an X was sent to another. Further limited questions then off to Customs. Interestingly, the Customs agent made a point of matching photos on the slip of paper to faces. One woman was pulled out because she had changed her hairstyle between the two.

Big improvement to the process from my personal point of view

T8191

Thanks, patersoj ... I look forward to hearing more practical/personal experiences.

Looking back through my travel diaries, in the days of travelling in the "back of the bus" (before I discovered FT and BAEC) I see we used to spend about an hour stood in line at IAD. I'm sure a LOT of visitors to the US may applaud this development.

And having got your receipt, you join another line to go face-to-face with an Immigration Officer, then go get bags off the belt at Reclaim ... and then join another line for the Customs bit of CBP? I'm still not convinced this is actually progress - the Customs bit is minimal, it's the flapping around in mis-managed lines at the Border that takes the time.

We shall see.

callum9999

How many machines are there? If there are more than there are border staff then I can see it greatly reducing queues. Even if there isn't it should reduce queues as each machine can be used at the same time as the staff are, meaning more people being seen at any one time.

While incredibly long and very tedious, I don't know if I'd call any of the lines "mismanaged" when I've been at US airports. People got seen in the vague order that they lined up in while all relevant immigration officers were always processing people. Is it normally different?

Fly Baby

These sound like the machines they have in T4 at JFK? They looked to have around 30 or so (maybe more as I didn't stop to count) Didn't have to queue to use them and they were self explanatory and very easy to use.

They were available to anyone that had previously been to the States under the ESTA scheme. I thought the set up was excellent - managed to clear the officialdom within 15mins and was queuing for a taxi in less than 20mins from stepping off the aircraft.

If they put them in T7 at JFK I would be quite happy.

T8191

The links suggest 40 at IAD.

I'm still not quite sure what the process is supposed to be about, though. There's a fuzz between Immigration and Customs that I haven't quite unravelled yet. It seems, in some links, that this just processes a Customs form ... in others it implies it handles some Immigration aspects as well. But so far it seems to me [who may be completely wrong] that this generates a ticket to present at the Immigration line, before collecting bags and proceeding to Customs lines with the ticket. I'm just not clear about what this actually does to speed the process.

My 'unkind' comment about mismanaged lines is the way people in the Tensa-Snake are fed to already extended lines behind whichever desks are open. That procedure depends on who you end up behind ... find yourself herded behind a very foreign family from some obscure Nation, and you can stand and watch all the other lines moving happily whilst yours is static. IME, in the Caribbean, the Tensa-Snake is fed to empty desks, not ones with 6-8 people of unknown 'delay factor'.

callum9999

Someone mentioned that you get your fingerprints etc. done there. I was under the impression (which could well be wrong) you basically go through the entire process that you would have gone through at the desk, then once you present your ticket they will either wave you straight through or ask more questions.

Either way, anything that you can do on the machine instead of in person will speed up the queues. If there are 40 machines at IAD and 40 immigration staff, you've effectively doubled the number of people who can be processed at any one time.

Frequentflyer99

I went through this in MIA last week - there are about 25 - 30 machines there, with probably a 10 - 15 min queue to get to a machine. To use them you have to have an ESTA issued after a specific cut off date and to previously have had your photo and fingerprints taken.

Think cash machine with slot to insert passport as at the UK E-gates. It asks a few standard questions and asks you to insert your passport. It could not read mine and sat whirring and clunking for quite some time so I was brave and pulled it out and re-inserted it, and all was well. It asks the usual customs questions, somehow knows which flight you have arrived on and asks you to confirm that, and then takes fingerprints from 4 fingers of a hand of your choice.

It then takes a standard (glasses off) photo and if all is well does a print out like a large slip from a cash machine, which has your photo on it. Into the immigration hall and 4 desks set aside for processing those with the slips. Photo on slip checked against face and passport and out in a min or so with no conversation.

Customs as per usual except they also double check the immigration print out as part of the passport check.

Quite efficient really, although the UK E-Gates which avoid the mini-queue to have the slip checked are probably more efficient.

shefgab

I used one of these at JFK T4 last month. I was having premonitions of waiting in queues for hours, but it was all quite ok. There were a LOT of machines (I'd say 4 rows of 15?), and I didn't have to wait to get one. I swiped my passport, and confirmed a few questions (address in US etc). I was then given a receipt with A or B on it, which directed you to a queue. After 3/4 mins in line, I was seen by an officer who asked a few inane questions, then stamped my passport. Time from arriving in the passport hall to getting a stamp ~6 mins. This is, as others have said, only for people that have previously been processed fully on the same ESTA.

TSA for security for my transfer, on the other hand, was quite quick, but very unplesant. Horrible people working down there, taking joy in shouting at people that don't speak English.