V-Flyer

Hi,
Just thought I would let people know of change in the air, some of you may already know and a warning not to be smart-ass!!
It seems they have placed automated machines in Logan arrivals.

Now these are pretty simple to use and I thought self-explanatory, tho looking at the looks of fear / terror on some peoples faces I could be wrong
Anyway, we were directed in to these booths, must be about 20 of them, they are the normal Passport here, look in to the camera here, place fingers here (flashback of Bangkok ). At the end of this process you get a nice little receipt with your picture on - Very Global Entry like but with no charge

Once done you then have your receipt checked and a few more questions by another CBP agent, at which time you hand then your customs declaration, off to bags and away we go.

I guess this will be faster when people get used to the machines but at the moment looking at the queue when I turned round, might take a while.
Just a word to the wise. If you give a smart-ass answer to the CBP agent when he asks how did you find the system.......I spend the next 45 mins in Secondary Inspection feeling like a criminal

Which airport was this at?

Yes always better not to be smart-arsed with the CBP. They have guns for starters and can have you on the next flight home before you can say DYKWIA!

They've been rolled out at quite a few airports now. It's called Automated Passport Control (APC)

http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/a ... ontrol-apc

Not to be confused with the Global Entry Scheme.

No good for Green Card-holders (yet)...

They have these systems at ORD for US citizens and repeat ESTA holders.
Managed to get through immigration in barely 5 minutes thanks to a tiny queue. Only difficulty I had was that the camera for the picture was really low down, so had to bend right over being 6'4"...
Otherwise - nice addition.

LovingGold wrote: place fingers here (flashback of Bangkok )

Interesting statement. Do tell....

tontybear wrote:Which airport was this at?

LovingGold wrote:It seems they have placed automated machines in Logan arrivals.

Think there's a clue there...

pjh wrote:

tontybear wrote:Which airport was this at?

LovingGold wrote:It seems they have placed automated machines in Logan arrivals.

Think there's a clue there...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr..............

I found them very easy to use, apart from OH took his finger off the sensor too quickly, despite my asking him not to, and had to have all fingers done at the desk!

And God no, don't smart mouth an American with a gun lest you want trouble

Oh, and as pjh says about Bangkok, do tell, my interest is piqued...

I see from the link posted helpfully above (thank you) that the machines are at EWR. I didn't spot them in September, are they beyond the foreigners entry line does anyone know?

And DL, here's another vote for spilling the beans about Bangkok.

They had them at MCO when I went through earlier in the year.
We weren't directed to them, but others were and it seemed to reduce the queues.

Dick D

LOL - Bangkok.
All I will say is this happened to a friend. Stop rolling the eyes, it really was a friend
Think late 80's, group of young men visiting that great part of the world.
One decided to step in to a bar he was warned against going in to. You know the type, sign offers beer for 10 baht but that is only for the first one.....

Two hours later, and an empty wallet we had to ask the local police to get our friends passport back and settle his entrainment tab.
On the return to the UK there was a visit to the Dr needed.....

But we've all been there

LovingGold wrote:LOL - Bangkok.
All I will say is this happened to a friend. Stop rolling the eyes, it really was a friend
Think late 80's, group of young men visiting that great part of the world.
One decided to step in to a bar he was warned against going in to. You know the type, sign offers beer for 10 baht but that is only for the first one.....

Two hours later, and an empty wallet we had to ask the local police to get our friends passport back and settle his entrainment tab.
On the return to the UK there was a visit to the Dr needed.....

But we've all been there

Oh, so it was your "friend" was it?

I nearly got eaten alive by the ugliest drag queen you've ever seen when I was 18 and very, very inebriated . I was saved, luckily. I pity your "friend", did he get a shock when he looked under the table? lol

(feels good to purge, I've been carrying that trauma for years... )

LovingGold wrote:
Two hours later, and an empty wallet we had to ask the local police to get our friends passport back and settle his entrainment tab.
On the return to the UK there was a visit to the Dr needed.....

But we've all been there

But have we? Really? Not in Bolton, anyhow... Now, when I moved to Blackpool things were different.

Good story. Hope you "friend" has got over it..

pjh wrote:But have we? Really? Not in Bolton, anyhow... Now, when I moved to Blackpool things were different.

Good story. Hope you "friend" has got over it..

Oh don't get me started about Blackpool!!!

JFK has APC in situ; scan passport, photograph and single digit finger scan. I was expecting to be waiting in line for an hour or so for the usual US immigration check; this was a very pleasant surprise.

I don't, ever, recall being out of a US airport, from an international flight, in less than 15 minutes.

Hi

Do you know if you need a Biometric Passport (same as to get through E gates in the UK) for this or any machine readable passport is ok?

Thanks

michaeljtodd wrote:Hi

Do you know if you need a Biometric Passport (same as to get through E gates in the UK) for this or any machine readable passport is ok?

Thanks

Needs to be a Biometric or there'll be nothing for the machine to read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric_passport

Drat. Mine is, OH's isn't.

Does anyone know if this system works if you have renewed your passport since your last trip to the USA?

Darren Wheeler wrote:

michaeljtodd wrote:Hi
Do you know if you need a Biometric Passport (same as to get through E gates in the UK) for this or any machine readable passport is ok?
Thanks

Needs to be a Biometric or there'll be nothing for the machine to read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometric_passport

No problem experienced with my non-biometric chip-less Passport at JFK; I suspect that this is using fairly advanced OCR and facial recognition software matched into your ESTA, and previous entry photographs and print scans, hence the requirement for only a single digit scan.

It seems to run along the same lines as the HKG system which scans your assigned barcode and checks a fingerprint scan.

A chipped Passport would, probably, be marginally faster to process.

King of the Skies wrote:Does anyone know if this system works if you have renewed your passport since your last trip to the USA?

I don't believe so, I used it at ATL about three weeks ago and they were asking people if they had entered the USA on their current ESTA before directing them to the new machines. As you'd have to get a new ESTA with a passport renewal, it'd be like a first visit.

Thanks for the reply RachVG, good to know. The queues for me!

RachVG wrote:

King of the Skies wrote:Does anyone know if this system works if you have renewed your passport since your last trip to the USA?

I don't believe so, I used it at ATL about three weeks ago and they were asking people if they had entered the USA on their current ESTA before directing them to the new machines. As you'd have to get a new ESTA with a passport renewal, it'd be like a first visit.

So new ESTA (even with long term biometric passport previously used to enter US) means standard queue?

pjh wrote:

RachVG wrote:

King of the Skies wrote:Does anyone know if this system works if you have renewed your passport since your last trip to the USA?

I don't believe so, I used it at ATL about three weeks ago and they were asking people if they had entered the USA on their current ESTA before directing them to the new machines. As you'd have to get a new ESTA with a passport renewal, it'd be like a first visit.

So new ESTA (even with long term biometric passport previously used to enter US) means standard queue?

That's what I'm wondering aswell