5 ms·

I was under the impression that international flights connecting through the US put travellers in what is technically international territory, and doesn't invol

I was under the impression that international flights connecting through the US put travellers in what is technically international territory, and doesn't involve any of the difficulty associated with entering the country. Is this no longer the case?

kenneth 8y ago
That's never been the case. US airports do not have sterile international zones.
ipsi 8y ago
Maybe? All I can say is that last couple of times I transited through LAX, I had to go all the way out through security and passport control - I could have walked out the front doors of the airport - and then all the way back through. It was the same flight number, and the same physical plane that I was getting back on! I then decided that was too much of a pain, and flew through Dubai instead, which has a vastly superior transit experience!
- delecti 8y ago
  > I then decided that was too much of a pain, and flew through Dubai instead, which has a vastly superior transit experience! At least assuming you're not a member of a demographic for whom that's a potentially dangerous location.
  - mdpopescu 8y ago
    What demographic is that? (I plan to visit Dubai next month.)
    - indigo747 8y ago
      To name one, trans people. It's my understanding that prescription drugs are carefully controlled in Dubai, and HRT is not permitted, and carrying HRT through Dubai can get you arrested and thrown in jail.
saiya-jin 8y ago
Not at all - when flying through Miami on a way to Bolivia in June last year, we had to get a full US visa (which caused us tons of problems due to company issuing them for wrong country, making them invalid). Maybe it depends on airport design, but in Miami there is nothing stopping you from leaving the airport. In fact, we also experienced various issues with flights, and had to literally get out to check in area and chase airlines to take us (it is a long story, full of drama and missed flights due to external errors/issues). US is special in this, now we heed the advice of many - don't travel through US in any way, potential troubles are not worth it.
DrJokepu 8y ago
It's not international territory in any way, it's US territory. International airports being ports of entry is a bit of a legal fiction, because it's not feasible to conduct immigration and customs inspection immediately when the airplane enters US airspace. That doesn't mean that it's not US territory in any way. Aliens (with certain exceptions) need either a US visa or an ESTA to transit through the United States. Technically speaking, the Immigration and Nationality Act permits transiting through the United States without a visa if certain conditions are met, but in practice this is not allowed anymore.
superhuzza 8y ago
No, that's the way most airports work, but not in the US. Even if you are just transferring, you can easily just walk straight out of the airport. I recently did a transfer in the US, took me 2.5 hours to go through customs. I booked before the govt shutdown, so I hadn't anticipated the delay. Not fun.
- cavisne 8y ago
  Cbp (international arrivals) is not affected by the shutdown (even if they blamed it on that) 2.5 hours for US customs sounds about right sadly
  - pimlottc 8y ago
    CBP is definitely affected by the shutdown. It’s just that most of them are still required to work anyway, despite not currently being paid. https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2018/12/22/government-shutdown-border-patrol-homeland-security-unpaid-workers https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2018/12/2...
    - magduf 8y ago
      They are, but that can only go on for so long. TSA employees aren't exactly highly paid, so they can probably only hold out for a little while before finding other work. I'm very interested to see what travel in/through US airports will look like in another week or month with this shutdown.
  - sgjohnson 8y ago
    2.5 hours? I was on holidays to the US 12 days ago. Clearing customs & immigration in Miami International took less than 15 minutes.
    - superhuzza 8y ago
      Yes, the line for foreign passports was 2.5 hours at Washington Dulles. 2 CBP agents for a few hundred people.
johannes1234321 8y ago
Many airports have an international transit zone, which is inside the legislation of the country, but in a legal fiction travelers haven't immigrated, yet. The only one having to go through border check there are travelers connections to domestic flights (in EU inner-Schengen flights are domestic) or for leaving the airport. U.S. airports generally don't do that. Even when transferring from a flight between Europe and South America they request you to go through immigration and customs.
Godel_unicode 8y ago
This is called "sterile transit", and as stated on that page the US doesn't do it.

kenneth 8y ago

That's never been the case. US airports do not have sterile international zones.

ipsi 8y ago

Maybe? All I can say is that last couple of times I transited through LAX, I had to go all the way out through security and passport control - I could have walked out the front doors of the airport - and then all the way back through. It was the same flight number, and the same physical plane that I was getting back on! I then decided that was too much of a pain, and flew through Dubai instead, which has a vastly superior transit experience!

delecti 8y ago
> I then decided that was too much of a pain, and flew through Dubai instead, which has a vastly superior transit experience! At least assuming you're not a member of a demographic for whom that's a potentially dangerous location.
- mdpopescu 8y ago
  What demographic is that? (I plan to visit Dubai next month.)
  - indigo747 8y ago
    To name one, trans people. It's my understanding that prescription drugs are carefully controlled in Dubai, and HRT is not permitted, and carrying HRT through Dubai can get you arrested and thrown in jail.

saiya-jin 8y ago

Not at all - when flying through Miami on a way to Bolivia in June last year, we had to get a full US visa (which caused us tons of problems due to company issuing them for wrong country, making them invalid). Maybe it depends on airport design, but in Miami there is nothing stopping you from leaving the airport. In fact, we also experienced various issues with flights, and had to literally get out to check in area and chase airlines to take us (it is a long story, full of drama and missed flights due to external errors/issues). US is special in this, now we heed the advice of many - don't travel through US in any way, potential troubles are not worth it.

DrJokepu 8y ago

It's not international territory in any way, it's US territory. International airports being ports of entry is a bit of a legal fiction, because it's not feasible to conduct immigration and customs inspection immediately when the airplane enters US airspace. That doesn't mean that it's not US territory in any way. Aliens (with certain exceptions) need either a US visa or an ESTA to transit through the United States. Technically speaking, the Immigration and Nationality Act permits transiting through the United States without a visa if certain conditions are met, but in practice this is not allowed anymore.

superhuzza 8y ago

No, that's the way most airports work, but not in the US. Even if you are just transferring, you can easily just walk straight out of the airport. I recently did a transfer in the US, took me 2.5 hours to go through customs. I booked before the govt shutdown, so I hadn't anticipated the delay. Not fun.

cavisne 8y ago
Cbp (international arrivals) is not affected by the shutdown (even if they blamed it on that) 2.5 hours for US customs sounds about right sadly
- pimlottc 8y ago
  CBP is definitely affected by the shutdown. It’s just that most of them are still required to work anyway, despite not currently being paid. https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2018/12/22/government-shutdown-border-patrol-homeland-security-unpaid-workers https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2018/12/2...
  - magduf 8y ago
    They are, but that can only go on for so long. TSA employees aren't exactly highly paid, so they can probably only hold out for a little while before finding other work. I'm very interested to see what travel in/through US airports will look like in another week or month with this shutdown.
- sgjohnson 8y ago
  2.5 hours? I was on holidays to the US 12 days ago. Clearing customs & immigration in Miami International took less than 15 minutes.
  - superhuzza 8y ago
    Yes, the line for foreign passports was 2.5 hours at Washington Dulles. 2 CBP agents for a few hundred people.

johannes1234321 8y ago

Many airports have an international transit zone, which is inside the legislation of the country, but in a legal fiction travelers haven't immigrated, yet. The only one having to go through border check there are travelers connections to domestic flights (in EU inner-Schengen flights are domestic) or for leaving the airport. U.S. airports generally don't do that. Even when transferring from a flight between Europe and South America they request you to go through immigration and customs.

Godel_unicode 8y ago

This is called "sterile transit", and as stated on that page the US doesn't do it.