Fly Through Immigration With MIA's Updated App

Passengers traveling through Miami International Airport (MIA) now have a new way to get through the US Customs and Border Protection process upon their return to the US much faster — and simpler. The airport announced the new feature of its official app, MIA Airport Official, Thursday at a press conference along with US Customs and Border Control agents.

At first glance, the app itself looks very similar to that of Mobile Passport. However, this is MIA-specific — the south Florida gateway is the first airport in the world to introduce such an option for travelers to use directly from its app. Best of all, the feature is free to use.

The new service, which is available for US citizens and Canadian visitors, is integrated in the existing app as its own passport feature. To use it, you'll need to download the MIA Airport Official app. Once it's been downloaded, the home page of the app has a box of text for Mobile Passport Control. Click the Tap to Start option.

From there, you'll have to acknowledge a disclaimer from the US CBP in order to advance. Once you accept, you'll be prompted to add travelers to the app.

You can choose to input traveler information manually or by scanning your passport. As a test, I chose the manual option and it asked for all the basic questions you're normally asked when filling out a customs form — name, gender, date of birth, passport information.

Once your profile has been created, you'll be asked to take a picture of yourself. Finally, you'll be asked the CBP questions you're normally asked when reentering the country — what you're bringing back with you, if you're declaring anything, etc.

This is a great add from the Miami Airport. The app's new feature is very easy to use and offers travelers a great opportunity to avoid the "normal" immigration line in favor of something that's free, quick and paperless. We hope other airports follow suit and introduce similar technology.