All Airports Where You Can (and Should) Use a Mobile Passport

Posted on July 2, 2017 by resourcefulman

If you travel abroad frequently (or even once every few years), then Global Entry can be your best friend. However, if you don’t travel abroad often, the Mobile Passport app may be exactly what your doctor ordered (or border control in this case).

Available for iOS and Android (click on the download links), the app speeds up paperwork when you arrive in the United States by avoiding incredibly long lines at some of the country’s busiest airports. In fact, this is not so much a “mobile passport” as a replacement for paperwork. You still need a passport.

I finally got the Global Entry earlier this year, but I’ve used Mobile Passport before with some great results. The best example is when I got back from Barbados and had to fly to Miami airport, which is best described as hell. I had an hour and a half stopover to get to my connecting flight, and the queue to be handed over on paperwork (the sheets of paper the flight attendants give you when you landed) were several hundred confused people.

Instead of waiting, I downloaded the app, filled out my form while standing in the (much shorter) Mobile Passport queue, and went through the entire process and waited for my luggage before it even got to the baggage claim area.

The mobile passport can be used free of charge. It is not a replacement for Global Entry (which is still much better), but it can greatly simplify border patrolling. Basically, you just use the app to enter your passport details and then answer the questions you usually ask on paper, such as whether you have anything to declare, whether you have fruits and vegetables, and whether you close to animal husbandry. … You can only complete the process if you pass through customs within 4 hours, so it is best to do most of this while your plane is taxiing at the runway or when you are already in line.

Once you have answered all the questions, you will be provided with a unique QR code that can be scanned by the agent at the front desk. They will examine your passport, check the information you entered into the application, and send you on the road. You save them the time it takes to work with that sheet of paper, which in turn saves you time. I guess this cut my Miami customs experience by at least an hour, which in turn allowed me to catch my connection.

The difference between this and the Global Entry is that with the Global Entry, you skip that line entirely. The “agent” you speak to is a kiosk where you enter the same information and scan your fingerprints. Global Entry travelers can also go through a separate line after collecting their bags, with the Mobile Passport taking you back to the masses. Again, this is not a replacement for that Global Entry experience, but it is one step above the alternative.

If you don’t have a Global Entry (or are still waiting for an appointment to complete your approval), here’s where you can take advantage of the Mobile Passport.