One of the most difficult processes and parts of travel that no one likes is customs and immigration checks. These checks are often done by a country’s embassy or airport offices. Whenever you arrive at an airport to travel someplace outside your country, the painful part of long custom lines and immigration queues come to the mind.
The jet lag and tiredness from your traveling simply increase 10 times when you realize that you are now supposed to wait for hours to get through customs. Standing in queues is always boring and there are simple ways to avoid it. Here are a couple of different things that will help you with the bugging question, how to avoid long customs and immigration lines on your next trip?
The Mobile Passport App
There is an app specifically designed for people entering their own country or tourists re-entering a country. This Mobile Application is known as Mobile Passport App. This will help you to get through customs and immigration in no time at all, without standing in any queues. This app is simple to use. Start by downloading the app and complete your passport profiles in it. The app will scan and store your passport’s information on your phone itself.
After arriving, submit the Passports and Customs declaration forms. You will find that the Customs and Border Protection Unit (CBP) has sent you a digital receipt. This receipt will be an encrypted QR code which will expire within 3 to 4 hours. Use this QR code when you hand in your passport and documents on the entrance to the officer and you will no longer need to wait in long custom and immigration lines. The Mobile Passport App has a list of all the different airports where it works.
The Global Entry Scheme
If you are a regular flyer or you take interchanging flights frequently, enrolling yourself will help you to avoid long customs and immigration lines on your next trip. This U.S program helps travelers to get approved by the U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) beforehand. There are different display kiosks at many airports where the Global Entry Scheme is valid. These kiosks help the Global Entry members to sign in and follow a few steps that are completed within seconds. These Global Entry Kiosks take your personal details, related information, fingerprints, and a customs declaration. These Kiosks also scan your documents like passports or residency cards.
After successfully entering all the details and verifications, a complete background check of the traveler is done. Then, a transaction receipt is given out which directs the traveler to the exit route and the process is completed. This Global Entry Scheme has surely been successful, and it is one of the best ways to avoid long customs and immigration lines.
The days of waiting in the queues and fighting over your spot at the immigration and customs offices have gone. We hope the above-mentioned steps will help you travel easily without any problems.
