Waiting in long lines to go through customs could soon become a thing of the past for Americans returning home from abroad.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday the agency is in negotiations with 10 international airports in nine different countries to expand its preclearance program.
If approved, the new requirements would allow international travelers in select countries to go through immigration and customs inspections before boarding direct flights to the United States, rather than waiting until after they land.
Currently the program is in effect in 15 countries throughout the world.
The 10 airports announced for possible preclearance locations include: Brussels Airport in Belgium; Punta Cana Airport in the Dominican Republic; Narita International Airport in Japan; Amsterdam Airport Schipol in the Netherlands; Oslo Airport in Norway; Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain; Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden; Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey; and London Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport in the United Kingdom.
These airports are among the busiest in the world with direct flights to the United States, with nearly 20 million travelers in 2014.
DHS described the expansion as both a strong economic opportunity and a “security imperative,” in that it will allow security officials to stop potential threats before they arrive on U.S. soil.
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"This is a win-win for the traveling public. It promotes aviation security, and it makes for a better traveling experience for the public, in that it lessens wait times at the end of the flight,” Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson explained Friday at a press conference. “Every chance we have to defend the homeland form the 50-yard line, rather than the one-yard line, I’d like to take.”
According to DHS, security officials screened 16.4 million passengers through the preclearance program in 2014. Of those passengers, 10,000 were denied boarding, including several who were in the terrorist screening database.
Currently, the program is in effect in 15 countries including Dublin and Shannon in Ireland; Aruba; Freeport and Nassau in The Bahamas; Bermuda; Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg in Canada; and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
