[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 8, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 8CFR273.3]

[Page 621]
 
                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
 
CHAPTER I--IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 
PART 273--CARRIER RESPONSIBILITIES AT FOREIGN PORTS OF EMBARKATION; REDUCING, REFUNDING, OR WAIVING FINES UNDER SECTION 273 OF THE ACT--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 273.3  Screening procedures.

    (a) Applicability. The terms and conditions contained in paragraph 
(b) of this section apply to those owners, operators, or agents of 
carriers which transport passengers to the United States.
    (b) Procedures at ports of embarkation. At each port of embarkation 
carriers shall take reasonable steps to prevent the boarding of 
improperly documented aliens destined to the United States by taking the 
following steps:
    (1) Screening of passengers by carrier personnel prior to boarding 
and examination of their travel documents to ensure that:
    (i) The passport or travel document presented is not expired and is 
valid for entry into the United States;
    (ii) The passenger is the rightful holder; and
    (iii) If the passenger requires a visa, the visa is valid for the 
holder and any other accompanying passengers named in the passport.
    (2) Refusing to board any passenger determined to be improperly 
documented. Failure to refuse boarding when advised to do so by a 
Service or Consular Officer may be considered by the Service as a factor 
in its evaluation of applications under Sec. 273.5.
    (3) Implementing additional safeguards such as, but not necessarily 
limited to, the following:
    (i) For instances in which the carrier suspects fraud, assessing the 
adequacy of the documents presented by asking additional, pertinent 
questions or by taking other appropriate steps to corroborate the 
identity of passengers, such as requesting secondary information.
    (ii) Conducting a second check of passenger documents, when 
necessary at high-risk ports of embarkation, at the time of boarding to 
verify that all passengers are properly documented consistent with 
paragraph (b)(1) of this section. This includes a recheck of documents 
at the final foreign port of embarkation for all passengers, including 
those originally boarded at a prior stop or who are being transported to 
the United States under the Transit Without Visa (TWOV) or 
International-to-International (ITI) Programs.
    (iii) Providing a reasonable level of security during the boarding 
process so that passengers are unable to circumvent any carrier document 
checks.