US pre-clearance immigration service rolled out to UK hubs
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The US government has announced a major expansion of its pre-clearance operations, which will enable air passengers travelling from the UK to be approved for entry into the US before they arrive in the country.
The immigration service will be offered to passengers travelling from London Heathrow and Manchester airports.
Other international hubs to be included in the programme include Brussels Airport in Belgium, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, Oslo Gardermoen Airport in Norway, Madrid Barajas Airport in Spain, Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden, and Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey.
“A significant Homeland Security priority of mine is building more pre-clearance capacity at airports overseas. We have this now in 15 airports,” said US Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson.
“Pre-clearance is a win-win for the travelling public. It provides aviation and homeland security, and it reduces wait times upon arrival at the busiest US airports,” he added.
Under the pre-clearance system, passengers will now be able to undergo immigration, customs and agriculture inspection by US Customs & Border Protection prior to boarding their direct flight to the US. This is intended to make it streamline the process for travellers on arrival in the US, as well as identifying any threats before they reach US soil.
The Department of Homeland Security said that more than two dozen airports expressed an interest in opening pre-clearance facilities. Those selected were identified as having the “greatest potential to support security and travel facilitation”.
Prior to the expansion of the scheme, pre-clearance was only offered at airports in Canada, Ireland, the UAE and the Caribbean.
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