Passport control

How it is used

There are usually separate lanes, for example for citizens and for foreign nationals, and e-gates for some passports. Officers may ask about the purpose and length of the visit and stamp or scan the passport. In American English the same place is often called immigration.

Example sentences

1. After passport control, follow the signs to baggage claim.

2. The queue at passport control was so long that we nearly missed our flight.

Common collocations

• go through passport control
• passport control queue
• passport control officer
• e-gates

Related terms

• passportAn official document issued by your country that proves who you are and what nationality you have, and lets you travel abroad.
• immigrationAt an airport or border, the checkpoint where officers decide whether visitors may enter the country; in general, moving to live in another country.
• visaOfficial permission from a country, usually a sticker in your passport or an electronic record, to enter, stay in or pass through it for a set purpose and time.
• customsThe government service that checks goods people bring into a country and collects taxes on them; also the airport area where this happens.
• arrival cardA short form some countries ask arriving visitors to fill in with their passport details, flight, address and reason for the visit.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• passport control · Immigration & Visas

More terms: Passport Control & Customs

• declare
• nothing to declare
• Schengen visa
• expiry date