Flying private internationally

Flying private internationally is simpler than flying commercial in the places that matter: you do not queue, you do not go through a terminal, and customs comes to you on the ramp. It is not simpler on paper. The rules are federal, they have deadlines measured in minutes, and most of the ones that cause trouble are about who files what and when. Even the American territories are not simple: Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are both American, and only one is inside the customs territory.

This article follows a trip from the US to abroad and back, in the order the steps happen, and says what the passenger does and what the operator does. Which airspace the aircraft may cross on the way is a separate question; for the Gulf, see can you fly private to Dubai?

The short version

• Charter is “commercial” to CBP. Customs and Border Protection defines commercial aircraft as one “transporting passengers and/or cargo for some payment or other consideration”. A charter is commercial whatever the FAA part. Many articles describe the private-aircraft rules; they do not apply to a charter.
• The operator files, not you. Passenger manifests are due no later than 30 minutes before the aircraft is secured, and crew manifests 60 minutes before departure. You supply passport details in advance.
• Permission to land is separate from the manifest. The operator must contact the CBP port at the arrival airport directly. Filing the manifest does not do it.
• Foreign permits come first and take longest. Mexico, the Bahamas and the UK each require approvals for a US charter operator before the flight.
• A change after filing means filing again. A new tail number or an added passenger needs an updated manifest and reconfirmed permission to land.

Private versus charter

Whether the flight is private or charter decides which rules apply, and brokers and consumer articles often mix them up.

	Private (Part 91, owner flying)	Charter (Part 135 for hire)
How CBP classes it	Private aircraft	Commercial aircraft
Passenger and crew manifest	Through eAPIS, no later than 60 minutes before departure	Passengers: no later than 30 minutes before securing the aircraft. Crew: 60 minutes before departure
Annual decal	Required (the fee rose to $38.04 on October 1, 2026)	Does not apply
Who files	The pilot, who may authorise another party	The operator
Permission to land	Contact the arrival port	Contact the arrival port

The sources for this table are 19 CFR 122.22 (private), 122.49a and 122.49b (commercial arrivals) and 122.75a and 122.75b (commercial departures), together with CBP’s general aviation FAQs.

CBP’s own general aviation page states that APIS manifest transmissions are required for private and commercial aircraft arriving and departing alike, and it does not spell out how the commercial deadlines apply to a charter operator using the eAPIS system. The operator’s international handler is who knows the practice, and why we ask them to confirm the deadlines for each trip.

The sequence, from weeks out to the ramp

When	What happens	Who
Weeks before	Foreign permits and licences for a US charter operator	Operator and handler
Days before	Passenger passport details to the operator; landing rights if the arrival is not at a standard customs airport	You, then the operator
Within 72 hours of departure	Commercial general aviation departure clearance: the operator contacts the CBP port for the departure point	Operator
Before leaving the foreign airport	Permission to land from the US arrival port (no later than one hour before departure at Dallas Love Field, for example)	Operator
60 minutes before departure	Crew manifest	Operator
30 minutes before the aircraft is secured	Passenger manifest	Operator
On arrival	CBP meets the aircraft at the FBO or inspection facility	You and the crew

Foreign permits

A US charter operator does not simply fly to another country. The lead times below are stated by the sources noted, and your operator confirms them:

• Mexico. Charter operators need a blanket permit from Mexico’s civil aviation authority, AFAC, plus approval for each flight. Trade sources (Universal Aviation, 2025) put a charter flight request at 10 business days ahead and a new blanket permit at up to 90 business days. Peak-season customs delays at the Mexican side can reach 40 minutes. Dallas to Cabo shows how this looks on a real route.
• The Bahamas. Charter use files a General Declaration with customs, clearance within 24 hours, and a $29 departure tax per passenger. Teterboro to Nassau covers it.
• The United Kingdom. A non-UK carrier running a charter needs a Foreign Carrier Permit from the UK CAA, and a one-off charter uses an ad hoc permit. The CAA page does not state a lead time. Teterboro to London is the route guide, and a private jet to Europe from New York covers the EU and UK operator approvals that come first.

On the US side, a Part 135 operator flies abroad only in areas its FAA operations specifications allow. The FAA’s guide lists paragraph B050 for authorised areas of en route operations and B046 for the RVSM airspace over the Atlantic and elsewhere. Which paragraph a given destination needs we could not confirm, which is why the operator, not a broker, answers it.

Airports of entry, user-fee airports and landing rights

Not every airport can clear a flight. CBP distinguishes three kinds:

• International airports are designated ports of entry.
• User-fee airports are designated by CBP, usually in return for a fee, to receive flights that would otherwise go to a port of entry. Dallas Love Field and Addison are on the published list.
• Landing-rights airports are any other airport where CBP gives permission to land. A charter operator applies to the port director no less than 48 hours before the arrival (19 CFR 122.14), and CBP may refuse for lack of staff or facilities.

For a client choosing between two airports in the same city, this is often the deciding fact. The airport with customs available at the hour you land is the one that works.

Permission to land

CBP states that a pilot “MUST contact the responsible CBP port of arrival directly to secure permission to land” and that submitting an APIS manifest does not satisfy it. The deadline varies by port; at Dallas Love Field, CBP’s fact sheet says no later than one hour before departing the foreign airport, and for arrivals outside office hours, by 4:30 pm local time the previous working day. Weekend and holiday arrivals are requested by the preceding Friday or Thursday.

Permission to land is staff-dependent. A port that is busy, short-staffed or closed may not grant it for your hour, which is why the date and time of the return are chosen with the port’s hours in mind.

What passengers need

• A passport for everyone, children included. A US passport card is not valid for international air travel. Green card holders show the permanent resident card.
• Names that match. The manifest carries name, date of birth, gender, citizenship, residence, and the travel document type, number, country and expiry. A mismatch between the booking and the passport is the most common avoidable problem.
• Visas and entry authorisations for the destination. Rules differ by country and by passport. For Europe, the EU’s ETIAS system is not yet operating and has no official start date, so US citizens do not need it for now. Check the destination’s entry page for your passport.
• Mobile Passport Control. Since September 28, 2026, eligible travellers can use it at selected general aviation facilities, including Teterboro, Van Nuys and Dallas Love Field. Eligible travellers include US citizens, permanent residents and returning visa-waiver travellers with ESTA.
• Cash. Carrying any amount is legal. Anyone bringing more than $10,000 in currency or monetary instruments into or out of the US must report it to CBP on FinCEN Form 105, and family members’ amounts are added together.
• Pets. Animals are not on the manifest. The operator tells the arrival port when it requests permission to land, and dogs must meet CDC requirements. Our pet travel guide covers them.
• The CDC’s Ebola attestation. Since November 3, 2026, everyone on a flight into the US from abroad, crew included, signs a CDC statement before boarding, and the operator keeps it for 42 days; who signs it and how.

On arrival, passengers may not leave the aircraft area without CBP authorisation. CBP evaluates group size case by case and says there is no national passenger limit, though a large group is worth mentioning to the port early.

What slows a trip down

• A tail number change. CBP’s general aviation page says a tail number change or an added traveller needs an updated or amended APIS transmission and reconfirmed permission to land, and the commercial manifest rules require approval for changes inside the 60-minute window. This is the main reason an international replacement aircraft takes longer than a domestic one.
• An unrequested permission to land. Filing a manifest is not enough.
• A first landing on the way back from Mexico. Under 19 CFR 122.23 to 122.25, an aircraft arriving from Mexico must, unless CBP grants an exemption, first land at a designated airport near the border or coast, so the operator confirms the arrival plan with CBP. The same applies to arrivals from the Bahamas and the Caribbean; flying private to Mexico or Canada maps the airports and explains the exemption.
• A closed port. If the arrival port’s customs hours do not cover your landing, the flight waits or diverts.
• Late passport details. The operator cannot file a manifest it does not have.
• A foreign permit that does not cover the aircraft. The aircraft has to be listed on the permit, and the insurance has to match the registration exactly.

What you can do

1. Give the passport details when you book, not the day before.
2. Say who might change. A traveller who may drop out or join is worth flagging early.
3. Choose the return time with customs in mind. If the return is at night or at the weekend, ask what the port needs.
4. Allow time at both ends, for customs on arrival and for the manifest before departure.
5. Ask who holds the permits. If your operator does not hold the foreign permit, the trip depends on another operator that does.

What Jake does

Jake asks for destination and dates first, then asks the operator, before quoting, what it holds for that country, which airport it will land at on the return and which hours that airport’s customs covers. He collects passport details early, puts the permission-to-land deadline on the trip plan and tells you the name of the carrier before you commit. If the aircraft changes, the manifest and the permission are redone, and he tells you what that does to the timeline.

To plan an international trip, call +1 (862) 485-3510 or request a quote with the destination, the dates and the travellers’ nationalities.

For the domestic version of the airport experience, see do you go through TSA on a private jet?.

Sources

• 19 CFR 122.1, Definitions, including commercial and private aircraft, user-fee and landing-rights airports (eCFR, Title 19)
• 19 CFR 122.14, Landing rights airports (eCFR, Title 19)
• 19 CFR 122.15, Airports designated as user-fee airports (eCFR, Title 19)
• 19 CFR 122.22, Private aircraft: electronic manifest (eCFR, Title 19)
• 19 CFR 122.49a, Commercial aircraft: electronic passenger arrival manifest (eCFR, Title 19)
• 19 CFR 122.75a, Commercial aircraft: electronic passenger departure manifest (eCFR, Title 19)
• CBP: general aviation processing
• CBP: general aviation processing FAQs
• CBP: Dallas Love Field general aviation airport fact sheet
• CBP: Mobile Passport Control
• CBP: money and monetary instruments
• FAA: Oceanic and remote areas guide for certificated operators (operations specifications paragraphs B046 and B050)
• Universal Aviation: Mexico charter permit changes (2025)
• Bahamas Customs: private aircraft declarations
• UK Civil Aviation Authority: foreign carrier permits
• US Department of State: passport card versus passport book