Originally Posted by
federernadal
So I was thinking about the locks..since I am coming in from the international sector, I will firstly of course not need any of those special TSA locks while I am outside US.
Then in Seattle, when the immigration officer will check me, I will need to open the bags in front of him, where he will check. Then he will say OK and I'm guessing he will put some OK stamp on my bag which will waive any checking later on in Denver/Montana. This sounds right I guess. What do you say?
After the initial immigration booth you will have to claim your luggage.
You can keep your luggage locked until you claim it. At this point I would just unlock it if you don't have any valuables in your luggage. You could always keep a lock on it, but security might cut it if they need to inspect your checked bag. I wouldn't waste money on TSA approved locks.
When I have checked luggage, I don't bother locking it anymore. I don't keep any items of value in my luggage either. Anything of value goes in my carry-on.
Not everyone has their baggage inspected by US Customs/Agriculture. When you exit US Customs a CBP officer will collect your Declaration Form. This agent will either send you out the door (with no luggage inspection) or they'll send you to an area for baggage inspection .. and then out the door.
Once you exit US Customs there will be an area for you to re-deposit your luggage, clear security, and just follow the signs to the gate for your connecting flight.
Originally Posted by
tourist
No. That does not sound like the regular procedure. IF your bag is opened it will be done out of your sight after both immigration and customs in preparation for your bag to be loaded on a domestic flight.
I think the OP is talking about Immigrations/Customs looking inside the checked baggage.
As I put in my reply, US Customs doesn't check all baggage and the OP will either be sent out the door or be sent to another area for Customs/Agriculture baggage inspection before leaving US Customs.
After US Customs, there will then be an area to re-deposit checked luggage to the airline. As you describe, security (TSA) typically does the baggage inspection out of the passengers sight in preparation to be loaded onto the connecting flight.
I am not 100% sure where US Immigrations is being done at SEA today -- not sure if it is in one of the satellite terminals or if they have multiple Federal Inspection Stations.