Additional screening at ports of entry will cause significant delay

©  Farhad Sethna, Attorney, 2026

Additional screening requirements on all travelers at all ports of entry – land, sea and air – will cause significant delays in entry to the United States. Travelers who are not US citizens are warned to build in extra time for connecting flights and their onward journeys into the USA.

These requirements will include: fingerprint scans, biometric scans, facial recognition, and in some cases, iris (eye) scans. There is no indication of who will be selected for what, and there is no rhyme or reason as to why certain people may be interviewed longer than others. Hence, passengers should be well aware of these delays and plan their onward travel accordingly.

Some of the items I recommend that my clients carry with them at all times of the following:

  • Tourists: carry all manner of proof of identity, a copy of your itinerary, and other relevant documents. For example, if you’re traveling to a resort destination – let’s say Disney World, or Las Vegas, or Niagara Falls, or New York City, it would be advisable for you to show your hotel bookings for that area, any advance ticket reservations, funds available to pay for hotels and travel expenses etc. Also carry a copy of your return ticket confirmation showing that you intend to leave the USA at the end of your permitted stay.
  • Business travelers: proof of your business meetings, proof of your itinerary, and email and contact information for individuals whom you will be meeting with. If you’re going to attend a conference, proof of the conference location and attendance.
  • Students: carry all manner of proof of identity, all indications of what you will be doing in the USA, such as documentation of your studies, letters from the school, form I-20, any and all documents which would indicate your legal intent to remain within the parameters of your legal status within the United States.
  • Temporary workers: carry all manner of proof of identity, letter from the employer, proof of employment including paystubs, any and all documents which would indicate your legal intent to remain within the parameters of your legal status within the United States.
  • Permanent residents; proof of your permanent residency including your lease, home ownership, bank accounts, recent tax returns. If employed, proof of your job, proof of your ongoing residence in the USA, which may even be something as mundane as your membership in a gym, your grocery store card, your utility bills, and documents of such import which will prove to the customs and border protection agents that you are genuinely a long-term and intending resident of the United States.

 

In short, allow additional time for processing at ports of entry. As stated above, every traveler will have to provide not only biometric scanning, but also facial recognition, and in some cases iris (eye) scans as well.

Therefore, the United States continues to flex its muscle while on the path of “making America safe again”. How this policy will work out in the future is uncertain, but it certainly will have a long-term effect on US tourism revenue. Given the fact that most businesses can conduct meetings by teleconference options, it will probably reduce business travel to and from the United States. The economic cost of the administration’s policy is inestimable at this point in time, as the long-term effects of this tighter restriction will be seen only in the coming months and years.

Stay tuned!

 

© Farhad Sethna, Attorney, 2025

Farhad Sethna has practiced law for over 30 years. He was awarded his JD in 1990 and his MBA in 1991, both from the University of Akron. Since 1996, he has also been an adjunct professor of Immigration Law at the University of Akron, School of Law, in Akron, Ohio, where he wrote and continues to use his own immigration textbook. Attorney Sethna is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education and professional development seminars on various immigration-related topics. His practice is limited to immigration and small business. He has won awards for excellence in teaching and for pro-bono service. With offices in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Attorney Sethna represents clients in all types of immigration cases before federal agencies and the immigration courts nationwide. A private pilot, it is Farhad’s goal to fly to each of Ohio’s 88 county airports. Our number is: (330) 384-8000. Please send your general immigration questions to farhad@sethnalaw.com. We will try to answer as many questions as possible.