Business Immigration Insights

The Department of Homeland Security today announced it will negotiate with ten airports in Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom to open preflight inspection offices, where U.S. Customs & Border Protection agents will inspect travelers for immigration, customs and agriculture requirements before they board U.S.-bound flights.  After a year-long analysis by DHS, the Department of State, and the Transportation Security Administration, these ten airports were selected, from more than twenty that submitted letters of interest, as the most likely to facilitate both U.S. security and U.S. travel.  Preclearance locations currently exist only in Canada, the Caribbean, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates, at a total of 15 foreign airports.  With successful preflight screening, a foreign traveler normally avoids all screening at his or her U.S. destination airport.