New border crossing procedures - what's the real story?

[flyboy1963]

as of May 2009 private aircraft entering the U.S. from Canada and i assume, anywhere else, are subject to the full rubber glove procedure.
....but seriously, can anyone summarize what the steps are to allow us to smoothly visit our favourite cousins without losing our aircraft or sanity?

[Tom Martin]

The new system is computor based. You will need to set up an eAPIS account. https://eapis.cbp.dhs.gov/ Before your flight you will have to use this website to announce your intentions. You will still have to call ahead but you will not need the old form 178. You will still need a flight plan and be in contact with flight following before crossing the border. A mode C transponder is required.
The biggest difference it when you go back to Canada you will have to go on line to your eAPIS account again. As before you will need to contact CanPass and file a flight plan.
The downside is that you will have to have access to a computor to not only declare your intentions but recieve email confirmation before you can depart, for both entering and leaving the US.
Given a bit of time I am sure we can work within the new system.

[andrew phillips]

I believe you need to pre-arrange for a US customs sticker for your plane. Not sure about the return requirements. You need to cross the border with "X" number of miles of your intended path and with +/- so many minutes. I think COPA has the full list of requirements. It sure would be nice if someone just put them in an easy to follow checklist!

[flyboy1963]

thanks guys,
Andrew, that's exactly my fear.
Plane is covered with stickers, pockets filled with forms and stuff, e-mails and 800 numbers that don't work in the U.S.....and I'm stuck in the beautiful south with someone who says " I don need no steenkin' .....etc."
...all because I didn't see section b paragraph 2 somewhere.

[777Dave]

I ordered one today.... US $27.50 , no hurry so I did not pay to expedite.

https://dtops.cbp.dhs.gov/

I'll let you know when it arrives here in Canada.

[az_gila]

...then this link will give a lot of practical details.

http://www.aopa.org/members/pic/intl/

Hope it's all sorted out by my July trip....

[Rosie]

I just arrived Monday to the USA from the Cayman Islands, landing Key West. Clearing Customs at Key West was a walk-in-the-park! They were fast, efficient and had me in/out in less than 10 minutes. No rubber gloves, no strip search, nothing but professional and courteous at Key West.

Yes, prior to departure, I filed eAPIS (which desperately needs somebody who codes this software to actually try to use it and find out how bad it is... took me an hour to figure it out after clicking my way through to nowhere...I spent 22 years trying 'break' F-117 Avionics Software and am very good at finding problems and suggesting solutions :-)

After signing up and giving the system every piece of information on you including your favorite color, when filing eAPIS the system will again ask you to enter every single piece of information that you already gave them

You will also need to enter the address where you can be reached in addition to your permanent address (how about a checkbox that says "Check here if same as permanent address").

If you are in a 2-seat RV, file your passenger as CREW.

Here are some hints to save you some time when using the eAPIS system to file:

1) When you see a dropdown box with selections that have your name (and others), select your name in the dropdown box. I was put in an endless loop by selecting my name then immediately entering addresss information in the boxes below

2) Click the first box that's next to the dropdown box, "SHOW DETAILS". Fill in the "Address While in the United States" information that is missing as indicated by the red asterisks next to the boxes.

3) Verify the "Document Information" is correct else select the correct "Document Information" in the dropdown box.

4) Click "SAVE TO MANIFEST".

5) If you have passengers, repeat steps 1/2/3/4 for other passengers, otherwise....continue to step 6.

6) Click "NEXT STEP" and continue the process (good luck, Rosie).

PS: Unfortunately, all Customs Agents and Offices are not created equal.... I have more notes on customs at Key West here on my trip report link.

[skatetrainer]

I obtained the aircraft decal from https://dtops.cbp.dhs.gov/ Not too straight forward but a phone call to the 1-800 help number fixed the issue. Turns out I already had a decal and I needed the old decal number. They used the tail number to find the decal number and then they gave me my old account number and then I could log in with the old account number and the old decal number where I could use the "renew" tab to complete the decal purchase. Whew.

The next step will be the eAPIS system. My concern will be that we are coming back to the US from a rather remote airport and I suspect that they don't have web access. That ought to be interesting.

I believe that I still have to call Canada customs to warn them I'm coming also.

[Ron Lee]

I just enrolled in the eApis site and activated my account in less than three hours...much of that because I did not see the email from them for about 1.5 hours.

[777Dave]

Customs sticker from U.S. arrived May 11.... 1 week.