U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rules for advance notification for flights into and out of the United States go went effect May 18.  As previously reported in ABS NEWS, pilots must submit passenger manifests no later than 60 minutes before taking off on a border-crossing flight, whether entering or departing the country.  DHS will check those manifests against terror watch li sts.

Pilots failing to meet these reporting requirements can be fined $5,000 for the first violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation.

Under the rule, all Part 91 operators must electronically submit–via the Electronic Advance Passenger Information System (e-APIS)–to U.S. Customs passenger manifest information for each individual traveling on board an aircraft arriving in the U.S. from another country or vice versa. Customs must receive the data no later than 60 minutes before the aircraft departs.

Private pilots or their designees need to enroll in e-APIS before being able to use the system, and those “seeking accounts should expect responses within five business days after submission of the enrollment request,” Customs said. User IDs for e-APIS have been sent out by the agency beginning early May.

Read the Final Rule here.  Register to gain access for filing manifests on the DHS website here.