Originally Posted by
Henwurst
Yup, Guam is a US territory just like Puerto Rico.
It can indeed get confusing sometimes, but it is fairly common that different parts of a country have different rules, often to facilitate trade or because the local environment/agriculture is extra sensitive. Hawaii has separate customs from mainland US and Hong Kong has its own immigration, customs and currency even though it is part of China. In the case of Guam and Saipan they simply have less restrictions on citizens of nearby countries than mainland US, which I think makes a lot of sense.
Chinese and Russian citizens have very few restrictions for visiting Saipan which has helped boosting tourism.
Wait, you're talking about immigration, not customs at all!
Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa are outside of U.S. customs jurisdiction. They all have their own respective customs agencies. USCBP in Guam and CNMI does not conduct any customs function at all. (In AS, they even have their own immigration!) And since Guam only has one airport, all flights into Guam go through Guam customs. From these three territories into HNL, everyone must fill out a blue form.
Originally Posted by
x1achilles
Do you have to go through U.S. immigration and customs in HNL when flying from GUM?
Both, sort of. At GUM, BP scan is conducted before you enter the gate holding area. USCBP immigration preclearance (proof of stateside admissibility) is conducted before you proceed to the bridge. If you don't show up and get beeped into the holding area at a certain cutoff point (forgot, 30-45 minutes) before departure, they'll start offload you and your bags. On arrival at HNL, immigration is skipped and you get right to baggage claim and then customs.