TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin USA pre clearance on way toward approval

Daily Herald story

Maybe I missed it but did they leave out any reference to TSA inspections? My experience with the pre-clearance process is limited to Dublin, Ireland and Aruba where as I recall the TSA type inspections, at least on Aruba are conducted twice, once by the local Aruba inspectors then again by the US.
The Public Health and Department of Agriculture inspections are taken very seriously, trying to bring food or plants back into the US without declaring it may result in long delays and even heavy fines.

The benefit of all of this is that arrival in the US is "domestic" and no further inspections are conducted and at certain airports in the US this is a major benefit.

Hi Carol,

Interesting DH article, thanks for posting it!

You might want to change the thread title to "USA pre-clearance on way toward approval" to avoid confusion.

PREcheck and pre-clearance are two different programs.

TSA pre-check is a program to ease the pre-boarding security inspection for known travellers who are in the TSA data base and who have been determined to pose little threat. These individuals can use the TSA PreCheck Lines when entering the secure area before departure and keep their belts and shoes on, etc. and get through the process faster. This lets TSA focus more of its resources on the rest of the travelers.

Pre Clearance, on the other hand, moves the US Customs and Immigration inspections from the US arrival airport to the foreign departure airport. It involves creating a sterile departure gate area for US bound flights and travellers headed to the US pass through their inspections before takeoff. When the flight arrives at the US airport it just pulls up at a regular domestic gate since everyone aboard was inspected by US Immigration and Customs before departure.

This is a good thing for US SXM travellers since it will allow us to make quicker connections in places like CLT.

V/R
Bill

Bill--you are correct. I changed the title.

Bill - there are other individuals who randomly receive TSA pre check on a flight by flight basis. I, myself, have received it a number of times. I never applied.

"Bill - there are other individuals who randomly receive TSA pre check on a flight by flight basis. I, myself, have received it a number of times. I never applied."

Supposedly that is changing.

Hasn't changed as of January as we had it with JB and we haven't applied for it either. I think if you're flying on AA Business Class you automatically get it, or at least, we always have.

Woopse!! I just remembered, while we didn't apply for the trusted traveler program we did just get our global entry last fall and actually used it for re-entry to the US at JFK that trip, and while I know it isn't a guaranty that you will ALWAYS be preapproved with GE, the rule of thumb seems to be that most times you are. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

A question for those who have experienced customs pre clearance. After preclearance are you quarantined until you board plane? I see a potential problem at PJA. Where is there space for quarantined passengers?

If you have Global Entry you automatically have pre check

Most all the time but it is still not a guarantee.

Dave,

I agree with Scubaman - according to the paperwork that came with our GE cards, it is NOT guaranteed but more often than not you will get it. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

No, you don't. It is random and not guaranteed.

I did not get TSA pre check one time so I walked through the line (pre-check) and showed my GE card and they sent me right through.

Carol, the article says passengers will clear customs, immigrations and other things such that they will not be required to pass through any reception checks when they get back to the USA. This a lot more than a PSA pre-check.

Sorry, I know that. Bill corrected me, and I corrected the title of the original post, just didn't correct the responses to the original post.

Hmm, I wouldn't have thought to do that, and frankly, I'm surprised it worked. We were told at our GE interview that Precheck was random, which makes complete sense to me. Glad it worked for you.

We've always had Pre Check at American Airports with domestic airlines.

Yes, once you are admitted into the pre-clearance area you are, for legal purposes, admitted into the US. You may not leave the boarding area except for an emergency...and if you do leave you have to go through the whole screening process again.

BTW... The screening is done by U.S. agents on an overseas assignment.

My first experience with this process was several years ago when I was returning home from a business trip to Canada.

You are exactly correct Pat...

The TSA (rightly) makes some random percentage of Pre-check travellers go through the more detailed inspections as a protection against "deep cover" threats.

It's not like we have a disease. After precheck, we meet you on the other side of the line. After 6 months of waiting, we finally have our Global Entry appointment March 14 in Denver. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

I caused this confusion by my original post, but this question has to do with PRE CLEARANCE, not pre check.

Regarding the quarantine question, in Bermuda, everyone pre-clears to their destination country (US, UK, or Canada) then is sent upstairs to a corresponding terminal area. London passengers can't hop over to the Boston passenger area.

If Juliana wants to go forward with this program, a separate room just like Aruba, Bermuda and Shannon would have to be in place.

Will there be any advantage for having Global Entry if this pre-clearance takes place in SXM?

At some point in time when set up, there will be a line (or more than one) for Global Entry -

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Additional Information

If you are a US Citizen or permanent resident you get PreCheck with your GE approval.

DaveZ,

Once again, I believe you are mistaken in your assumption.

This is NOT always the case although you PROBABLY will get TSA precheck approved MOST of the time.

This is how it was explained to both my husband and me by different interviewers during separate interviews.

The literature that arrived with our cards also says "....you may" and not 'you will' get precheck approval.

Again, as stated by a previous poster holding GE membership, he did NOT get TSA precheck approved on a recent trip though they did accommodate him willingly in the appropriate TSA precheck lane.

Not meaning to give you a hard time but subsequent travelers should not expect it and possibly be disappointed if it doesn't happen. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I think it's just semantics...Yes you DO get TSA precheck (status) with Global Entry approval...fact

You are then ELLIGIBLE for expedited screening via the PreCheck system. Most likely you will be afforded the quicker screening but occasionally you might not.

In the 4 years we have had GE we have always received PReCheck status on our boarding passes (in airports with active PreCheck lanes)

Glad it worked for you. My wife has GE and did not get PRE on her boarding pass in portland. She showed her card to the tsa and the said sorry the can't over ride it. Looks like it depends on the airport and who is checking.

When you are booking your ticket you have to be sure that your GE # is entered or you will not necessarily get PC. If you look at the website for GE it states that if you are a US Citizen or Permanent Resident you are eligible for PC. I had PC as an elite flyer with DL and then applied for GE as I started more international travel. My wife signed up for GE as well only for the PC status it was a benefit of GE. She would not have signed up if it were not and it was very clear that one came with the other. That was a few years ago so perhaps rules have changed.

DaveZ said "If you look at the website for GE it states that if you are a US Citizen or Permanent Resident you are eligible for PC."
That means you are eligible to apply for it. Applying for PRE and GE are two different applications. Neither one guarantees PRE CHECK.
In regards to my wife not getting PRE on her flight. All of her GE trusted traveler number is in her flight profile with every airline we travel with and is double checked before checking in on-line. So that isn't the problem. You just have to accept the fact that PRE is not a guarantee just because you have PRE or GE clearance.

When we got our GE, Prececk wasn't a separate service you could purchase, as it is now. Still, we were told that, as GE fliers, we were eligible for Precheck. BUT that it was RANDOM. There have been two occasions in the past five years or so where one or the other of us has not gotten Precheck. And yes, our numbers are in our airline profiles, and are in our records of every single airline ticket we purchase. It's random, people! And if you think about it, that makes perfect sense from a security point of view!

Same thing here. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Only the US pre-clears. Everyone else clears C&I upon returning to their home country. All other Int'l passengers are kept separate from U.S. passengers.



And some people complain about the B & C gates being hot with very little a/c.....just wait...

I hate to keep this post going but you are in fact wrong. GE provides you with auto registration in PC, but PC does not get you GE.

See link https://www.dhs.gov/trusted-traveler-comparison-chart,

A note is that being enrolled in PC does not necessarily get you PC every time you go through security. I was traveling out of the country through MIA a few months ago and received the dreaded SSS on my boarding pass which gets you a thorough screening.



Last Published Date: November 9, 2016

"GE provides you with auto registration in PC,"
Correct but PRE Check is not guaranteed on either one is what most of us have been saying all along.

"A note is that being enrolled in PC does not necessarily get you PC every time you go through security. I was traveling out of the country through MIA a few months ago and received the dreaded SSS on my boarding pass which gets you a thorough screening."
Case in point.