International Travel

[herr_oberst]

Alright, we're all friends here, I've never traveled abroad and I have a question about Customs - do I need to go through customs at departure and arrival, or just departure, or just arrival?

Any tips on getting through Customs at JFK to speed the process?

(I'm going to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, try and get warm)

thanks,

Mike

[JavaBrewer]

Customs at arrival.

[herr_oberst]

that was fast! thanks

mo

[k9handler]

Customs is not a major issue with all the security in place, just make sure to have your documents ready ahead of time.

[imcarthur]

At arrival in the foreign port as above.

Unless you are flying from select Canadian cities & then you clear customs at the departing airport: Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal etc.

On the plane you will be given a customs doc to fill out & sometimes an immigration card depending upon destination.

To ease the process read the list of forbidden items & don't try to bring them home. i.e. no ivory, tortoise shells, shrunken heads, hand grenades etc

Ian

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Alright, we're all friends here. Any tips on getting through Customs at JFK to speed the process?
(I'm going to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, try and get warm)
Mike

1. Get a seat by the front door exit and run to beat the slow humans and get to front of line.
2. U.S. citizens in one line, visitors in next, pick the right one.
3. They have big and little dogs that sniff for food and drugs. Do not save the box lunch sandwich in your carry on bags! Keep all drugs in original package-goes for Viagra like stuff too.
4 Fill out customs forms on the plane.
5. Have your passport, fingerprint and DNA sample ready
6. The more you smile, the longer they will talk to you and make you sweat.
7. Welcome to the USA, you are now on the homeland security watch list for going to the Dominican Republic-too close to Haiti and Cuba.

John_AZ

[stevepaa]

Came back thru JFk in October, customs was nothing like it was in the 70's. I did not see anyone opening their suitcases. I think they all get scanned and smelled before you can retrieve them.

[Rick Lee]

The last few times I've come back to the US, I arrived in Newark. Each time all the customs stuff was done BEFORE retrieving my bags and then I just got my bags and walked out. Kinda backwards.

A trick I read once was to fill out two of those customs forms on flight home and keep one in your pocket. If, upon arrival, the first customs officer makes a mark on your form before you pick up your bags, it could be to alert the next customs officer to inspect you further. In that case, hand your second customs form to the second guy.

[slodave]

Do not try and let customs trick you into an anal probe. A U.S. citizen is not required to submit to them!

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

The last few times I've come back to the US, I arrived in Newark. Each time all the customs stuff was done BEFORE retrieving my bags and then I just got my bags and walked out. Kinda backwards.

A trick I read once was to fill out two of those customs forms on flight home and keep one in your pocket. If, upon arrival, the first customs officer makes a mark on your form before you pick up your bags, it could be to alert the next customs officer to inspect you further. In that case, hand your second customs form to the second guy.

Won't work, the immigration guys stamp the customs form.

My advice: Fill out the form, be truthful and you have nothing to worry about.

[Steve PH]

Originally Posted by slodave

Do not try and let customs trick you into an anal probe. A U.S. citizen is not required to submit to them!

Oh come on, you shouldn't be shying away from new and interesting experiences!

[HardDrive]

Heres a tip: If you are going to be carrying 3 kilos of heroin in your socks, you should have a REALLY good excuse for the nice folks in customs. Try paying them off. They love that.

[cab83_750]

I travelled abroad 2 years ago. When I came back at LAX, I went to the U.S. Citizen line, they looked at my passport, I picked-up my luggages, and that was it.

[rouxroux]

Originally Posted by slodave

Do not try and let customs trick you into an anal probe. A U.S. citizen is not required to submit to them!

You're right...that is the job of the IRS, not Customs

[Hugh R]

Unless you can say "no" with a straight face, smoke the Cubans there. If you bring a few back, take the cigar bands off and put them in your pocket.

Usually, you go through Immigration first, retrieve baggage and then customs.

[RoninLB]

bring personal meds in drug store container and if the heavy stuff bring the script.

[Sapporo Guy]

Bring cigar tubes and bands from home

To get into the states I just did this recently:

Play stupid and apologize a lot, they can't get over we you're stupid and will let you walk through almost every.

Make sure to point to the signs in spanish and say that you can't read them.

Offer to help them, do you want me to open my bag?

Look like you really couldn't give a dam if they hassled you or not. I have a suspision that they like to pick on tarts, and quarralsome folks.

Crack jokes about old times when you could say that you have a RPG launcher in your briefcase.

lolo, LAX asked me why I was in their line. I pointed to the sign and said that it pointed in their direction. They rolled their eyes and said get movin'

I didn't fill out a declaration form! I offered to later but the guy just said to get going. I don't advise to do this because they might make you fill one out anyway.

lolo ... I'm surprised that I get pulled into some special line for being so dumb.

[John_AZ]

Mike,
There have been many topics discussed and the thread has only slightly deteriorated. This will allow me to continue...

Did you know that you can get a divorce in the D.R. in minutes?
http://dominicanrepublic.com/index.php?page=dominican-divorces
While you did not mention taking along family, I only offer this information for future use in case you marry on your trip after a big night out and need a solution.

In Phoenix, we are fortunate to have the Full Body x-ray scanner in test now and even at low resolution, it is impossible to hide anything. Not everyone will be subject, but I'm sure Sapporo Guy has a permanent invitation.

Back to reality, to reduce the impact of loss of travel documents in D.R.-photocopy your passports and place a copy in your moneybelt. Here is a link to the U.S. gov travel site on the D.R.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1103.html

If you purchased a "Package" trip and are expecting the hotels to be just like the brochure, sorry, won't happen. Begin with low expectations and that way you will enjoy the trip and as you said, thaw out.

John_AZ

[Palum6o]

I avoid connecting through Canada for this reason.

[Scott R]

Take a pen with you.