Layover/Customs Question! Please Help!!
 

I am flying from Orlando to Taiwan and had some questions about customs and layover times. I fly out of MCO (orlando) to ORD (chicago) with a 1:30 hr. layover. Then ORD to NRT (japan) with a 2:15 hr layover. Then NRT to TPE (taipei, Taiwan). My question is this.... When I arrive to orlando to fly out, since it is an international flight, will i go through customs in orlando? Or will I go through customs in Chicago, since that is the airport before i leave the country? If i do go through customs in Chicago, will my 1:30 hr layover be long enough for me to get through customs? Then when I get to japan, will there be an international terminal? and will 2:15 hrs be enough time to go through customs if there isn't?

Thank you for the help!!!

Hunter.

Welcome to FlyerTalk. Are you traveling on a US passport? You do not need to go through customs when you leave a US airport. So no customs in Orlando or Chicago. You will arrive into the International Terminal at NRT. You will go through security there to transfer to your TPE flight, but again not customs. :)

Nothing fancy at MCO or ORD. The US essentially does not have departure customs inspection — with the exception of one remarkable case in 2007 where a woman booked a one way trip ORD-PEK and was subjected to a "random" post-security check of her bags where government agents found thousands of electronic documents which, they somehow determined at the time, were stolen trade secrets from Motorola that were being smuggled to China (http://www.law360.com/articles/28485...-china-witness , http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...-trade-secrets ).

But with that rare exception this never, never, actually happens. You'll be asked to show your passport at check in at MCO and possibly at the gate at ORD, but there is no formal customs or immigration process for exiting the US.

Your 2hr15min layover in NRT should be enough time to transit through the international-to-international transit area. This is clearly signed. There will be another security screening but your passport won't be stamped (you won't enter or exit Japan). Be sure you have your onward boarding pass NRT-TPE available — best to get that at check in if possible.

no outbound customs and immigration

but if your visa classification is one where you need to turn in your i94 upon exit, i highly suggest you do so to a cbp officer in ord (go to the window at arrivals level and get the officer's name) and not to the gate agents when boarding your flight. however it's not the end of the world turning it into the gate agent and it's clear this is within the law

i got hit as a violator every time when trying to enter the usa for 1.5 years when i turned in my i94 to the gate agent upon termination of the visa i had at the time. fortunately i kept copies of my outbound boarding pass and my global entry records showed inbounding to canada within the legal time but i still had to wait in secondary 30-60 minutes each time and the dhs redress process took 12 months. however i think this happened because my employer didn't terminate my visa online or whatever, not because i turned in my i94 to the gate. but c.y.a.

There is no customs or immigration leaving the USA. You will go through typical airport TSA security at Orlando, and security again in Tokyo. First Customs/Immigration will be at Taipei. The USA part is just a typical domestic flight.

Have a good trip

I94s are electronic now, nothing to turn in.

Well, yes and no. A friend recently flew UA895 ORD-HKG, and ICE was doing spot checks in the jetway. He says they found someone with over US$10K cash, a no-no.

Welcome to FlyerTalk. I see you have received some good and helpful answers here. As this is the United Airlines forum and your question involves customs/immigration and you are a new member, I am going to move your thread to our Information Desk forum. It's a helpful place for those getting started here since this can be a confusing place to navigate.

l'etoile
UA moderator

Will you be returning by the same route? If so, you'll go through immigration. And customs at ORD as your US Port of Entry. Be sure to leave plenty of time for that.

OP - As is sometimes the case on FT, what is a simple answer on FT is sometimes overcomplicated by extremely rare exceptions which will not affect the connection times you are booking.

The US does not have formal exit controls. Thus on departure from MCO and ORD, you will not go through any exit border control as one does when departing many countries. If you have an I-94, you no longer drop that off physically.

I take it that you are flying UA. When you check in with UA, UA will for its own purposes, check your passport and visas (if any) and will likely do so again when you board at ORD.

Make certain that you allow enough time to meet the check-in and gate deadlines for your flights. Those are the minimum time to be at the counter (not in line).

Once in a great while, CBP or another federal agency may run checks on departing passengers, usually in the jetbridge. While that may slow boarding somewhat, it won't affect your connection time, because the flight won't leave with passengers in the jetbridge.

oh god

so all the more reason to keep solid proof of your exit with you at all times when trying to re enter the usa ... my redress process for being a l1 violator (i left lawfully, with days to spare) took 20 months, about 10 visits to secondary lasting 45-90 minutes each

Note that this is not US border control per se. It's because an airline can face large fines if one of their international passengers is denied entry upon arrival to the destination country. So the airlines tend to be rather to very careful about making sure all passenger paperwork is properly in order before people board an international flight.

Not only would the airline pay the big fine, the airline would be required to fly the denied person back to the US, immediately. If the return flight were sold out, the airline would be required to involuntarily bump another passenger to make room for the denied person.

Actually, the Information Desk is for questions about Miles and Points. Questions about customs and immigration belong in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/pract...ty-issues-686/

But it is also essentially border control because the airline supplies a manifest which CBP uses to record exits from the country, and by checking passports they're also checking that the manifest is correct.