4

I just flew from Dublin airport to JFK, and pre-cleared customs in Dublin. However, I was never given the opportunity to declare anything, and I never filled out an entry card.

If I had, for instance, been carrying more than $10,000 in cash, when should I have declared it?

Improve this question
8
  • There are two stages to preclearance AFAIK: security and then customs and immigration. The latter is the opportunity to declare anything you are responsible for declaring (no different to if you go through customs upon landing in the US instead).
    – Traveller
    Commented Jul 6 at 6:37
  • 1
    @Traveller in the US, after passport inspection there's the baggage hall where the CBP folks sit and there's another opportunity for them to stop the travelers, and for the travelers to declare stuff. That doesn't exist at the per-clearance sites
    – littleadv
    Commented Jul 6 at 7:19
  • 1
    "I was never given the opportunity to declare anything": did the passport inspector not ask?
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 6 at 9:15
  • 2
    @NateEldredge I checked in for my flight and checked my bag, proceeded to normal security, made my way to the pre-clearance area, went through a second security check, and then presented my passport to an official at a desk who said nothing to me but “ok” after checking it. Then i proceeded to the gate and boarded. I don’t have Global Entry.
    – MemoryWrangler
    Commented Jul 7 at 5:17
  • 1
    From the description you give in the previous comment, the answer to my question seems to be "no." I wonder whether there is some sign that you were supposed to have read informing you of the obligation to declare but lost among all the other information. (At immigration desks in the US there are typically signs telling you not to use your cellphone and not to take pictures, and lately they've added to this a sign saying that US citizens can opt out of having their picture taken by the facial recognition system.)
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 8 at 6:55

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

You should have talked to at least one CBP officer when going through inspection. Then.

CBP is the US Customs and Border Protection agency - these folks are responsible for both the passport and immigration checks, and the customs checks, all at once (in many other countries these are separate agencies and separate functions).

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    What's a CBP officer? And what's inspection?
    – matt freake
    Commented Jul 6 at 6:54
  • 1
    @mattfreake: CBP is Customs and Border Patrol. That's the person who checks your passport and asks yo a few questions. Inspection is the process of looking at your passport.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Jul 6 at 7:00
3

Trip report: Yesterday I went through pre-clearance in Toronto (YYZ) with Global Entry. The person checking passport specifically asked: "do you have anything to declare: food, vegetables, fruits?". There was no other customs interaction either in Toronto or in the US.

So I guess the answer is "You declare it to the person checking your passport". They are probably supposed to specifically ask you, but they don't always do.

Caveat: this process seems to change regularly and may not be consistently applied everywhere. If you are actually planning to declare something its probably best to be proactive about it and declare to any US officer you interact with. If it's the wrong one to declare to, they will simply tell you so and provide guidance of what to do next.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .