Originally Posted by
skiereric
For step two (CBP interview in preclearance at an airport), do I need a US departing flight? ie my wife is flying domestic and wanted to try finish the process. I assume a domestic ticket will not get access to preclearance USA. So any suggestions.
I guess I could by a refundable ticket just to use to get access to preclearance and then cancel it once finished?
Let's say that you go through the 2-step interview at a pre-clearance airport. You can't exactly leave the area after the CBP interview as once the interview is completed, you will physically be in the terminal where the US flights are.
Unless you have a medical emergency or anything critical (like an airport situation which requires passengers to clear the terminal), you can't really back out from there and do have to board the flight.