The Port of Seattle and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) introduced 14 “Automated Passport Control” (APC) kiosks at Sea-Tac Airport on Thursday, with the agencies touting that the self-serve kiosks should “cut the entry process in half for eligible U.S. and Canadian citizens.” According to a press release from the Port, Sea-Tac is the fifth U.S. airport to install the kiosks.
“This is the latest in our cooperative effort with CBP to provide simple, easy-to-use and customer friendly solutions to make the traveling experiences as positive as possible,” said Charles Goedken, manager of international services for the Port. “This is necessary to meet the demands of the rapidly increasing number of international flights we are seeing at Sea-Tac.”
According to the Port, APC doesn’t require pre-registration, is easy to use and maintains the highest levels of protection when it comes to users personal data and/or information. The Port believes the kiosks will allow international travelers to “experience shorter wait times, less congestion and faster processing upon arrival at Sea-Tac.”
Michele James, Customs director of Field Operations in the Seattle field office, also noted that the new system was installed with customers in mind.
“Automated Passport Control enhances both security and passenger facilitation at our nation’s airports,” James said. “Passengers choosing to utilize the APC self-service kiosks will benefit from an efficient new system of expedited CBP process.”
The kiosks allow travelers to side step the need to fill out a declaration card and interact with a CBP officer. Instead, the kiosks allow travelers to “scan their U.S. or Canadian passport, answer the customs declaration questions, receive a receipt and proceed to (a) CBP officer to finalize processing.” The kiosks, the Port notes, allow up to four people residing at the same address to be processed together.
Sea-Tac joins the Vancouver (British Columbia), Toronto, Dallas-Fort Worth, Montreal, Miami, and JFK-New York in utilizing the kiosks.
