The shortened queue that saves time when entering the USA

More than two years ago, Israel joined the US visa exemption program, and today anyone who wants to fly to the country can fill out the ESTA form digitally and receive permission to enter the country for two years, with the answer usually being received within a few hours.

And if that’s not enough, those who want to streamline the entry procedure, which can be long and exhausting due to questions from the immigration officials, can download the MPC (Mobile Passport Control) application for free in Israel, in which you create a profile for each traveler who has a visa or ESTA permit, and answer questions in advance such as: where you will sleep during your visit, how long you will be there, do you have anything to declare and more.

Filling out the questionnaire and identification information takes about five to ten minutes, at the end of which you receive a summary page that you have to show at the border control after landing. As soon as you land in the US, you can go to a special line marked MPC, and it is reserved for anyone who filled out the questionnaire in advance. You show the confirmation to the immigration officer, and you can go through much faster.

We recently tried this method at the entrance to Los Angeles, and it saved us double time: we didn’t stand in the long line that everyone was standing in, and the questionnaire we went through at border control was also very fast, since all the answers had already appeared in the system. We collected our luggage about half an hour before all the other Israelis who came with us on the flight and stood in the usual line.

It is important to note that sometimes, the queue at MPC is also long, and sometimes quite a few questions are still asked, even though the answers are already in the application, but filling in early usually saves time. It is also important to note that the system is not active in all US airports, but it is available in central locations: Newark, JFK, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and more.