Aug 2, 2014, 2:28 pm
Last edit by: Mabuk dan gila
APC Locations: ATL AUA AUH AUS BOS CLT MDW ORD DFW DEN DTW DUB YEG FLL IAH LAS LAX MIA MSP YUL NAS JFK EWR MCO PHL PHX PDX RNO SLC SAN SFO SEA TPA YYZ YVR IAD
Eligible persons at all APC airports: U.S. and Canadian passport holders and international visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries are eligible to use APC kiosks. Visa Waiver Program visitors must have Electronic System for Travel Authorizations (ESTA) approval prior to travel and have visited the United States on at least one occasion after 2008.
Eligible persons at some but not all APC airports: US permanent residents might be eligible to use APC kiosks at LAX, SFO, ORD, DTW; probably more by now.
Eligible persons at all APC airports: U.S. and Canadian passport holders and international visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries are eligible to use APC kiosks. Visa Waiver Program visitors must have Electronic System for Travel Authorizations (ESTA) approval prior to travel and have visited the United States on at least one occasion after 2008.
Eligible persons at some but not all APC airports: US permanent residents might be eligible to use APC kiosks at LAX, SFO, ORD, DTW; probably more by now.
US CBP Automated Passport Control
May 11, 2015, 1:17 pm
#347
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 241
No More Paper Customs Forms?
Just got back from Europe and no U.S. citizens were required to fill out paper customs forms upon arrival (only non-U.S. ones were). I have Global Entry so I just moved past the crowd at the customs line, but it looked like people were filling out an electronic customs form similar to the Global Entry's electronic machines. Is this the new trend?
May 11, 2015, 1:25 pm
#348
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: South Wales, UK
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 693
No More Paper Customs Forms?
Think it depends on the point of entry. Automated passport control is being steadily introduced at major airports, and even visitors on returning ESTA's are being encouraged to use them.
May 11, 2015, 1:27 pm
#349
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: BNA
Programs: Enough to fill a spreadsheet; mostly AA, RC, and Hilton
Posts: 8
Yes - APC (Automated Passport Control). CBP is pushing towards this as it cuts back on their staffing requirements. Folks using APC don't get to breeze past customs though.
May 11, 2015, 2:23 pm
#350
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Roswell, GA
Programs: AA EXP 2.8m,Lifetime PLT, Hilton Diamond, IHG PlLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 3,191
No More Paper Customs Forms?
Some airports I been they have express type exits you can use them if you don't have checked bags regardless of global entry
See them at dfw and ord so far
See them at dfw and ord so far
May 11, 2015, 4:47 pm
#351
Senior Moderator and Moderator: American AAdvantage & TravelBuzz
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 10,413
As this thread is specific to the immigration/customs practices of the United States, we'll move this Practical Travel Safety and Security forum for further discussion. Thanks. 
/JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator
/JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator
May 12, 2015, 8:42 am
#352
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
Just got back from Europe and no U.S. citizens were required to fill out paper customs forms upon arrival (only non-U.S. ones were). I have Global Entry so I just moved past the crowd at the customs line, but it looked like people were filling out an electronic customs form similar to the Global Entry's electronic machines. Is this the new trend?
Persons entitled to use APC or MPC is a much larger group of persons than those holding GE membership.
May 13, 2015, 12:13 pm
#354
Moderator, Hilton Honors
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: on a short leash
Programs: some
Posts: 71,419
May 13, 2015, 3:25 pm
#355
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: WAS
Programs: AMEX Platinum, Global Entry, Priority Pass, SPG Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,594
Discussion of wait time reduction as a result of APC:
Automated Passport Kiosks Haven’t Solved All the U.S.’s Arrivals Delays
Automated Passport Kiosks Haven’t Solved All the U.S.’s Arrivals Delays
May 14, 2015, 1:23 am
#356
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: HaMerkaz/Exit 145
Programs: UA, LY, BA, AA
Posts: 13,167
Discussion of wait time reduction as a result of APC:
Automated Passport Kiosks Haven’t Solved All the U.S.’s Arrivals Delays
Automated Passport Kiosks Haven’t Solved All the U.S.’s Arrivals Delays
Take EWR for example. The average wait time dropped 9.9%. But it went from 14.1 minutes to 12.7 minutes. So the longer wait time was still shorter than the new one in JFK (for example)
May 15, 2015, 2:34 pm
#357
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 17
Customs Declaration
Now I think I understand why we came through US Preclearance in Dublin on Sunday and still had our blue Customs Declaration form with us afterward. No one on the flight or at the airport said anything about US citizens or anyone else not having to fill in the card, so we did so as usual. Then as we approached Customs we were directed to a kiosk that scanned our passports and asked some questions, then printed out something. We then went to a Customs agent who took that printout, asked a couple of questions, and then passed us through. Now I'll know in the future.
May 17, 2015, 12:33 am
#358
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: US/UK - and elsewhere
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 2,540
inconsistent APC procedures
I'm a green card holder (UK citizen). Over the past month used APCs at MIA, IAD and DFW; BWI had them but they weren't being used.
IAD: Used same line as US citizens (both immigration and customs), no problem and quickly through.
MIA: same line as US citizens (both immigration and customs), got an 'X'. Was told it's because I had scanned my passport (as instructed by the machine), CBP said I should have scanned by green card (of course - I'm psychic!).
DFW: US citizens and permanent residents split at the APC - but no queues to speak of, got the 'X' again and had to do all the fingerprint/photo that I had already done at the kiosk with the CBP officer (i.e. double waste of time). At customs the lines were again split between US and Canadian Citizens, global entry, and ESTAs and permanent residents - so I was directed to the latter which took over 40 minutes to get through - which was particularly annoying since green card holders should expect the same treatment as US citizens.
As with most things in the US, the system seems to open to interpretation by whoever is in charge at the local level... .
IAD: Used same line as US citizens (both immigration and customs), no problem and quickly through.
MIA: same line as US citizens (both immigration and customs), got an 'X'. Was told it's because I had scanned my passport (as instructed by the machine), CBP said I should have scanned by green card (of course - I'm psychic!).
DFW: US citizens and permanent residents split at the APC - but no queues to speak of, got the 'X' again and had to do all the fingerprint/photo that I had already done at the kiosk with the CBP officer (i.e. double waste of time). At customs the lines were again split between US and Canadian Citizens, global entry, and ESTAs and permanent residents - so I was directed to the latter which took over 40 minutes to get through - which was particularly annoying since green card holders should expect the same treatment as US citizens.
As with most things in the US, the system seems to open to interpretation by whoever is in charge at the local level... .
May 18, 2015, 10:05 am
#359
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Scarborough
Posts: 596
this whole "common name" crap happens everywhere for the US.
They are unable to fix it. Being a "superpower" you would think they would fix these kind of things rather quickly......
even if someone has a common name, they still have a different passport #, nationality, etc and many other factors. Why is the "name" always the issue?
This whole APC stuff, all it does is add more people to be sent to Secondary inspection rather than increase the flow of people through primary inspection. So the secondary inspection room/area gets flooded with people, officers in secondary get pissed because of increased workload, they can get grumpy/cranky as a result when they see constant lines and lines of "unnecessary" people who end up there.
They are unable to fix it. Being a "superpower" you would think they would fix these kind of things rather quickly......
even if someone has a common name, they still have a different passport #, nationality, etc and many other factors. Why is the "name" always the issue?
This whole APC stuff, all it does is add more people to be sent to Secondary inspection rather than increase the flow of people through primary inspection. So the secondary inspection room/area gets flooded with people, officers in secondary get pissed because of increased workload, they can get grumpy/cranky as a result when they see constant lines and lines of "unnecessary" people who end up there.
May 22, 2015, 2:31 pm
#360
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,872
When we flew to ORD from Japan recently, not only we filled out the paper custom form airline crew gave us, we were also directed to use the AUTOMATED Passport control ATM like machine after landing and it was same info we had to type in.
Was the paper custom form not required than? We no longer have to accept & fill out the paper custom form the flight attendant gives us?
Was the paper custom form not required than? We no longer have to accept & fill out the paper custom form the flight attendant gives us?
