StaplerTeeth

is US passport required when flying nonstop from Guam back to Honolulu?

the State Dept's website said no passport need, since Guam is a US territory.

but on Wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam , it says "However, due to the Guam-only visa waiver program for certain Asian tourists, an eligibility pre-clearance check is carried on Guam for flights to the States. " (in the Transportation section)

does this mean that I still need to bring my US passport?

Steph3n

sounds like they do a check for other countries but as US Citizen(DL should be enough) you should be fine.

sbm12

Continental.com has a great resource from Timatic regarding travel documentation; it is very accurate and is maintaind by people where that is their job, rather than Wikipedia where it is a bit of a crapshoot.

For a US citizen embarking in the FSM and arriving in the USA it has the following to say:

So while you may be able to prove your legal right to enter the USA in other ways, a passport is the easiest way to do so and will have the most consistent (and likely positive) results.

StaplerTeeth

I was surprised to read that....... that's not what the US Dept of State
website says concerning travel from Guam to Honolulu (nonstop flights)...

etch5895

If it is anything like flying in from Puerto Rico, you will probably have to clear a brief Agriculture inspection at GUM, but will not need to clear US immigration in Hawaii, as GUM is a US airport.

Finite Elephant

I haven't been to GUM in several years, but as I recall U.S. citizens needed a passport back and forth from HNL. This was both pre- post- (and one memorable trip during) 9/11. As stated above, they have a special visa waiver deal for asian tourists, particularly from Japan and Korea. Trust me, this will all make sense when you get there. Guam caters to Asian tourists more than even HNL.

On the plus side, it's basically one big Duty-Free zone, and, if you're so inclined, it's where Japanese brides-to-be come for their bachelorette parties.

HkCaGu

If anyone goes into researching the edit history of the Wikipedia article quoted above, you'll find that the quoted sentence was written by someone named HkCaGu.

There is no "conflict". Yes, there is a US CBP pre-clearance for eligibility for entry into the States (since admission to Guam does not guarantee admission to the States), but a passport is not "required" to establish that eligibility.

Two important points to note: If you fly from GUM-US through any foreign point (Japan or Island Hopper), you must have a passport. If you fly GUM-HNL, you must check in and get to the gate before specific pre-clearance cut-off times. Your boarding pass gets processed not when you enter the jet bridge but when you are admitted to the pre-clearance waiting area--they'll offload your bags if you don't show up in time.

Unlike SJU, there is no agricultural check since Guam is completely outside US customs jurisdiction. Arriving at HNL you go through a complete customs check with a higher US-territory allowance for purchases.

And BTW, Continental Micronesia allows bag checks on the evening before your early morning flights. They just hold your BP for pickup at a special counter the next morning.

slowtrains

how does one establish eligibility without a US passport?

etch5895

US Driver's License is probably what they had in mind.

sbm12

Or a birth certificate. Or a verbal declaration. Back in the day all of those things could get you in to the USA from Canada, too. I would image that Guam was similar.

moeve

If you have a passport just take but then again you are probably one of the many million Americans who don't have one right??? Then I believe it will be a photo ID PLUS the birth Certificate with the raised seal - however it is imprerative you check that with the US embassy because even flying to the Carribbean Islands these days require a passport.

slowtrains

Where's the US Embassy in Guam?

Finite Elephant

That's kind of a long way to get to Guam. The usual route from the mainland is through HNL, but if you've stumbled on a good mileage run, go nuts.

ESpen36

And from the Wikipedia article:
Seems like a heck of a lot of unnecessary complexity. So Guam is within U.S. territory for immigration purposes (aside from Asian tourists?), but not for customs purposes?

Why not just do the whole thing--passport control and customs--for every arriving traveler? Seems like a lot of hassle to try to determine citizenship and conduct immigration on just those people.

I'm still not clear on what exactly Guam's status is, and how it differs from Puerto Rico's.


The CIA World FactBook says the following about the two islands' dependency status:

Guam: organized, unincorporated territory of the US with policy relations between Guam and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior

Puerto Rico: unincorporated, organized territory of the US with commonwealth status; policy relations between Puerto Rico and the US conducted under the jurisdiction of the Office of the President


So...is it the fact that Puerto Rico is a commonwealth that makes it subject to U.S. Customs?

HkCaGu

Each territory is different, and depends on the "deals" each territory has made with the US government. PR and CNMI are both commonwealths but there are few similarities. All territories are outside US customs except PR. But PR and HI, despite within US customs, have agricultural checks. When you add geography to history, the whole thing becomes very complicated.

Simply said, CBP isn't always CBP in the territories. For Guam it's just border protection, not customs (which isn't federal). Try bringing $10k from Country X through GUM (one day layover) to HNL. Arriving on GUM (if you leave the airport, you must go through Guam customs) you report it. Flying GUM-HNL you report it again. (You entered two customs agencies' jurisdictions!) All Guam customs does is filling out a form to notify US customs. HNL customs fills out another form. When two forms arrive somewhere in US DHS, the two records will probably match to indicate you brought in $10k, not $20k. Sounds fun?

Want more? Just add TSA. CS used to operate HKG-SPN-GUM because US suspended transit (GUM)-without-visa in 2002/03, and SPN (part of CNMI, which is outside US immigration and more lax in visa waivers) wants the tourists who can't bother to transit GUM. Arriving HKG-SPN at 5 am (nobody wants to wake up), everybody gets off the plane because you're "unclean" (foreign security doesn't count!) and are entering US soil. You wait a few minutes and board the same plane and seat and endure the tons of announcements half awake during the 20-minute SPN-GUM.

CS terminated the stop after one year--having realized that 90% of the passengers are GUM-bound, not SPN-bound. The flight stopped at SPN because it's not US (for immigration), but you can't sleep all the way to GUM and have to get off and on the plane half awake because SPN is US (according to TSA)!