If you’ve ever flown internationally, then you know how much of a hassle it can be once you get back into the US – or your home country. Especially stressful when you have a connecting flight, and not much time to connect. The United States Customs & Border Patrol have been working to make the process of getting back into the US a bit easier. Not too long ago they started installing the self-service kiosks at airports, making it much easier to get in and through passport control. Recently they’ve started working on US Mobile Passports, allowing you to use your phone to get through Passport control. The app allows you to do your customs declarations and submit your information, so once you land and get to Passport Control you can just breeze right through, it’s not perfect, but it is the future.
US Mobile Passport support is available at a few airports within the US already, and now it’s coming to Dallas-Fort Worth, in Texas. It’s call letters, DFW, is one of the busiest airports in the world, as far as plane traffic goes – sitting behind Chicago’s O’Hare and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Dallas-Fort Worth is mostly busy due to it being the headquarters for American Airlines, and their central hub. Similar to O’Hare for United Airlines and Hartsfield-Jackson for Delta. If you’ve ever gone through passport control at Dallas-Fort Worth, you’ll know just how bad it can be, especially when multiple planes from overseas have landed. This should make things a bit more smoother, however, which is always a great thing.
The app is available in the Play Store now, it’s free of course, and takes just a few minutes to set up. While this should make things faster and smoother, it’s still highly-recommended to keep your passport with you at all times. In case you do get stopped for a random search, or you just need to use your passport. Either way, this way you’ll be all set. One of the cool features in this app is that you can schedule it to send in your information after you’ve landed, or do it before you’ve even deplaned. Which can take a while on planes such as the Boeing 747 or the Airbus A380, both of which carry over 400 passengers, each.