Confused about Customs

This past Saturday I flew home after a week's vacation in The Bahamas (Stay safe, Bahamians!). At the Nassau airport in The Bahamas, I checked in my bag, went through TSA, then through Customs. I was surprised to see US Customs signs all over the place, because obviously The Bahamas is not a US territory. I guess it's because they're so close to the mainland and the vast majority of their visitors are from the US?

Anyway, I was expecting to have to go through Customs again in Atlanta...and go through the tedious process of hauling my bag from the arrivals to domestic departure desk, then back through TSA, as I did when I arrived in Charlotte after my last international flight from St. Maarten. But I guess in hindsight, that was already handled at the Nassau airport.

So, is there a grid somewhere that tells you what countries provide US Customs screening at the departing airport? I ask because I have a trip in the spring to Grand Cayman and my layover is very tight (1.5 hours), which may not be enough time to go through the screening in Atlanta, especially given it'll be the week after Easter, which is a heavy travel week.

Thanks for your help.

P.S. I have a GOES appt in Jan '17, but in The Bahamas, they'd streamlined the process considerably, even for non-GOES folks. There were a dozen or so kiosks (similar to self-serve check-in kiosks) where you had to scan your passport and answer a few questions at the desk. The wait was very reasonable, though admittedly it was low season. Yeah for efficiency!

http://pointmetotheplane.boardingarea.com/2016/02/17/15-foreign-airports-with-u-s-customs-and-immigration-preclearance-locations/

15 Foreign Airports with U.S. Customs and Immigration Preclearance Locations

February 17, 2016 by Miguel R. Quinones

us_customs

When you fly internationally to the United States, you will typically clear customs and immigration after you arrive in the U.S. However, if you are flying non-stop to the U.S. from the following fifteen foreign airports, you will actually preclear customs and immigration before you board your flight to the U.S.:

Calgary International Airport
Edmonton International Airport
Halifax Stanfield International Airport
Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport
Vancouver International Airport
Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport
Queen Beatrix International Airport (Aruba)
Grand Bahama International Airport (Freeport)
Lynden Pindling International Airport (Nassau)
Bermuda International Airport
Dublin Airport
Shannon Airport
Abu Dhabi International Airport

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Accordding to the article the program may expand to the following airports over the next several years:

Brussels Airport
Punta Cana International Airport
Narita International Airport
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport
Stockholm Arlanda Airport
Istanbul Ataturk Airport
London Heathrow Airport
Manchester Airport

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Thanks for the info! Bummed that Grand Cayman isn't on the list, but it's still appreciated.

LisaRex said:

Thanks for the info! Bummed that Grand Cayman isn't on the list, but it's still appreciated.

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But Istanbul is!!!!!!!!!

It is basically PRECLEARING US Customs. That way when you land in the US, you are considered a Domestic flight.

Most major airports in Canada have been doing this forever. But the list of other destinations is being added to, depending on local government cooperation in addition to space in airports etc.

Clearance into Grand Cayman is pretty quick & when you return, if you're going into the US via Atlanta or Miami (& several other large airports) Try the app Mobile Pass--you fill out the app in advance with your passport info & take your picture & upload it & you fill out the online form as you land on the plane in US, it allows you to skip the kiosks & go to the "Mobile Passport" lines, the app gives you a QR code on your phone(called a receipt)that can be scanned by the customs attendants in the Mobile Passport lines--slick as heck!

LisaRex said:

Anyway, I was expecting to have to go through Customs again in Atlanta...and go through the tedious process of hauling my bag from the arrivals to domestic departure desk, then back through TSA, as I did when I arrived in Charlotte after my last international flight from St. Maarten. But I guess in hindsight, that was already handled at the Nassau airport.

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Aruba is another airport where you do preclearance in the departure airport. Makes connections much easier.

Not sure that handling the bags on arrival in a US airport to go through customs is all that difficult. You shouldn't have to pickup at baggage claim or take your bags back to an airline counter to recheck unless you are flying on different airlines. Usually, we pick up our bags after immigration in the arrival airport, wheel them maybe 100 fee and re-drop them at the recheck point.

dioxide45 said:

Not sure that handling the bags on arrival in a US airport to go through customs is all that difficult. You shouldn't have to pickup at baggage claim or take your bags back to an airline counter to recheck unless you are flying on different airlines. Usually, we pick up our bags after immigration in the arrival airport, wheel them maybe 100 fee and re-drop them at the recheck point.

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Yes, that's what we did, too. It's not that it was physically taxing, but the time involved by having to stand in so many lines. When we returned from St. Maarten, the Saturday afternoon wait to get through Customs was at least an hour. Then there was another shorter queue to hand in your declaration form, then yet another to get your luggage moved 100 feet. But then we had to go back upstairs and through TSA again, which was another hour. So I'm talking 2.5 hours minimum. I have a 2 hour layover on my next trip to Grand Cayman, and it's a high travel week (the week after Easter), so I'm wondering if I'll make it. My only saving grace may be that I'll (hopefully) have GOES and TSA pre-check by then.

Billy Bishop in Toronto also wants to add a pre clearance facility.

It has a lot of advantages but makes for longer layovers in those airports.

LisaRex said:

Yes, that's what we did, too. It's not that it was physically taxing, but the time involved by having to stand in so many lines. When we returned from St. Maarten, the Saturday afternoon wait to get through Customs was at least an hour. Then there was another shorter queue to hand in your declaration form, then yet another to get your luggage moved 100 feet. But then we had to go back upstairs and through TSA again, which was another hour. So I'm talking 2.5 hours minimum. I have a 2 hour layover on my next trip to Grand Cayman, and it's a high travel week (the week after Easter), so I'm wondering if I'll make it. My only saving grace may be that I'll (hopefully) have GOES and TSA pre-check by then.

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We had nearly a two hour layover in Dulles on our return from London. We didn't make it. We were at the back of the line for immigration, then had to go through customs and TSA. TSA took longer than immigration. It was a horrible experience and we missed out connection as I am sure many other fliers did.