Do your upcoming travel plans include arriving at RDU nonstop from an international destination? If so, then you’ll likely re-enter the United States from our Federal Inspection Services Facility. A new free smartphone app is set to help make that process simple and quick!
Between 400-600 passengers pass through Passport Control on the second floor of RDU’s Terminal 2 each and every day coming from London, Paris and beyond.
That’s a lot of passports!
And sometimes, the flights arrive within close proximity to one another, meaning lines to pass through Passport Control can sometimes form.
To speed up the re-entry process, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection Agency has selected RDU as the next airport to offer Mobile Passport Control. It’s available to iPhone and Android phone users and the best part is that’s it’s free and easy to use.
You can begin to use Mobile Passport Control at RDU on July 12, 2016.
Here’s how it works:
- Download the App. Find it in the Apple App or Google Play store and download it to your smartphone before or during your trip and set up your profile. You can do it once your plane lands; however, you may have to wait a few moments while you enter your personal and trip information.
- Set Up Your Profile. Once it’s downloaded, enter basic information about you and your passport, including taking a selfie use during the reentry process. Traveling with others? No problem! You can save up to 12 profiles in the app.
- Enter Your Trip Information. On the plane ride home, or immediately upon landing, fill out the trip information in the app, including the customs declaration questions. You’ll need to do this for each of your profiles that are reentering. To make things easier, fill out while in flight (even on airplane mode) and submit when you land. Wait until you land to submit the information.
- Proceed to Passport Control. Once on the ground, press submit to get a receipt. Then, with smartphone in hand, proceed to the “Mobile Passport Control” lane in Passport Control and show your device to the customs agent upon request.
Some helpful tips:
- Your receipt is only valid for 4 hours, so it’s best to submit your information once you land.
- Everyone traveling in your party must have a profile, even children. Make sure you set up profiles for everyone, and that everyone gets their own CBP receipt to pass through customs.
- You don’t need a WiFi or cellular connection to fill out profiles. Feel free to set up your profile at 38,000 feet.
- You can delete your information once at the end of your trip, or you can choose to save it if you’re a frequent traveler. Mobile Passport protects your data and privacy.