Immigration Alert: Change In Requirements For Private Aircraft Arriving And Departing The United States
On November 18, 2008, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),
in an effort to improve and standardize international and domestic
general aviation security, published new regulations in the Federal
Register that changed the requirements for private aircraft. The
new regulations require advance notice of a private aircraft's
arrival from a foreign country and/or departure to a foreign
country and standardize the collection of travel manifests
documenting all persons on board. The new process outlined in this
rule change is similar to the process currently employed by
commercial aircraft, as CBP seeks to standardize advance notice
procedures for all CBP airports of entry in the United States.
Previously, pilots of private aircraft entering the U.S. from
abroad were required to notify the CBP directly (at the place of
intended arrival) at least 60 minutes prior to arrival,
or, alternatively, by requesting in the "remarks" section
of their Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight plan that the
FAA share this information directly with CBP. Some CBP offices also
requested that detailed information about passengers, crew, and the
aircraft itself be faxed in advance to CBP, but this practice was
not in effect at all CBP offices.
The new regulations require pilots (or their designees) to
submit advance notice and passenger/crew manifest information to
the CBP no later than 60 minutes prior to departure from
the foreign airport of origin. This notice is to be provided
through the
Electronic Advance Passenger Information System (eAPIS), an
electronic data interchange system overseen by CBP. CBP now also
requires the pilot (or their designee) to compare the data
contained in the flight manifest with the information on a
Department of Homeland Security approved travel document presented
by each individual seeking to travel on the aircraft. CBP will now
also issue departure authorization to pilots (or their designees)
through the eAPIS system.
In addition...
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