US immigration

Clients travelling to or through the USA, will need to be aware of the country's entry requirements for non-USA nationals.

Entry requirements for the USA

The United States Customs and Border Protection authorities require all passengers travelling to the USA who are citizens of countries which participate in the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) to present a valid Machine Readable Passport (MRP). Under the VWP rules most travellers from the 36 participating countries do not need a visa to enter the United States if they are travelling for tourism or business for 90 days or less.

All passengers intending to travel to the USA on the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) are also required to obtain a valid system travel authorisation (ESTA). In addition, all passengers are required to provide Advance Passenger Information (API) to their carrier at least 72 hours prior to travel.

VWP machine-readable passport (MRP) and e-Passport requirements

All VWP travellers, regardless of age or type of passport used, must present a machine-readable passport. In addition, depending on when VWP travellers' passports were issued, other passport requirements apply:

 Nationals of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Republic of Korea, and the Slovak Republic require passports with an integrated biometric chip containing the information from the data page (e-Passport)  Nationals of other VWP countries: Machine-readable passports issued or renewed/extended on or after 26 October 2006 require passports with an integrated biometric chip containing the information from the data page (e-Passport)  Machine-readable passports issued or renewed/extended between 26 October 2005 and 25 October 2006 (except for Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Republic of Korea, and the Slovak Republic): passports must have digital photographs printed on the data page or integrated biometric chips with information from the data page.  Machine-readable passports issued or renewed/extended before 26 October 2005 (except for Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Republic of Korea, and the Slovak Republic): no further requirements.

 Find out more about e-Passports at the Department of Homeland Security

Electronic System For Travel Authorisation (ESTA) for VWP travellers to the USA

ESTA, introduced by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enhance the security of the VWP is the electronic version of the I-94W form.

It is mandatory that all customers travelling to the USA under the WWP complete the ESTA application prior to entering the USA. In most cases ESTA authorisation is immediate but occasionally there may be a delay, therefore it is recommended travellers apply for ESTA at least 72 hours prior to departure.

ESTA requires submission of data that was previously provided by travellers arriving at US ports of entry on the green I-94W landing card. ESTA is mandatory for all Visa Waiver travellers.

Once approved the ESTA is valid for multiple trips for a period of two years or until the expiry of the passport through which the ESTA was applied, whichever comes first. The US destination address or itinerary changes after authorisation, can easily be updated through the ESTA website. Please note an ESTA fee was introduced per application from September 2010.

Submit an ESTA application

Advance Passenger Information (API)

The United States, as well as many other countries such as Canada and Spain requires bmi (and all other airlines) to collect and supply Advance Passenger Information commonly referred to as API. Accordingly, we are legally obliged to collect passenger information from all customers (including infants) who are travelling to, from and through the United States in order to satisfy enhanced security arrangements as required by the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS), Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

What information is required?

The following information which is obtained from your customer's passport or travel document, should be entered into the booking, prior to travel.

 Full given names as they appear on the passport or travel document  Nationality  Passport/travel document number  Passport/travel document expiry date  Country that issued passport/travel document  Gender  Date of birth  Alien Registration Number (Green Card) is also required for those who have US residency

In addition, the following information is required for passengers travelling to or transiting the USA:

 Country of residence  Destination address in the US for all passengers except US Citizens or residents  The final destination, if the customer is in transit*

*Transiting passengers are defined as those who transfer through the US for the purpose of continuing their journey to a third country, where the time period between arrival in and departure from the US does not exceed eight hours.

US Secure Flight Programme (SFPD) - bmi ticketing inhibition from 1 November

Secure Flight is a programme developed by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). From 01 November 2010 all airlines have been required to provide Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) 72 hours before departure to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in order to carry out passenger watch list matching. The programme has been designed to enhance national border security and the protection of passengers, and will improve the travel experience for all passengers.

What information is required?

Consistent with the requirement to collect Advance Passenger Information, the following information must be entered into the PNR at least 72 hours prior to departure or as soon as known for a late booking.

 Full given names and surname - name must match government-issued passport or travel document  Gender  Date of birth  Redress Number (if one exists)*

*A redress number is a unique number given to an individual by the US Authorities, where the name has regularly identified that person for additional screening, but the person poses no risk.

If the data is not provided, the passenger will be refused for the flight by the US TSA.

Ticketing inhibition at bmi

To ensure compliance, bmi will follow the express recommendation from IATA to inhibit ticketing for bookings with flights entering or departing the United States.

As of 1 November 2010, the issuance of BD e-ticket (236) for all BD codeshare bookings that contain a US Air Segment where Secure Flight Passenger Data is missing was prohibited. Ticket inhibition applies to both initial ticket issuance and re-bookings and is intended to negate situations where bmi passengers may be denied boarding as a result of missing or incomplete information that is required by the TSA.

For both ticketed and un-ticketed please ensure that the necessary SFPD information is added accordingly. bmi will be identifying bookings that do not contain SFPD and queuing them to the booking office. Subject bookings will contain an SSR ADPI with the following information: SEC FLT PSGR DATA REQUIRED 72 HBD.

Additional segment information will appear at time of booking: SEC FLT PSGR DATA REQUIRED 72 HBD SSR DOCS as a reminder of this requirement. The information is shown below the booked segment and stored in the background of the booking (e.g. in Amadeus it can be displayed via RTSVC).

Please note, Secure Flight is a complement to, but not a replacement of APIS and bmi recommend full API data be entered into the booking no later than 72 hours before departure, in order to satisfy the data requirements of US Secure Flight, US APIS and UK e-Borders.

US visitor checks

US-Visit forms part of a programme of measures introduced to improve safety and security for both visitors to the US and US citizens. US-Visit procedures include all visitors travelling under the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) arriving at both air and sea ports of entry into the USA.

What does the US-VISIT programme involve?

US-VISIT requires the collection of unique data - in this case a scan of an individual's unique fingerprint by an inkless scanner, in addition to a digital photograph. These details are taken during the normal immigration inspection process and it will be necessary on each and every entry into the United States. The fingerprint is verified and stored on a US government computer together with the digital photograph.