TSA Watch Lists Clearance Procedures
 

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) compiles Watch Lists based on recommendations and information received from Federal agencies, including intelligence and law enforcement agencies.  We recognize that the implementation of the Watch Lists has occasionally led to frustrating delays at airports for individuals inadvertently impacted by the clearance procedures.  We regret this inconvenience and have developed a clearance protocol that should provide a more efficient process for you during the flight check-in.

If you would like to participate, we ask that you complete the TSA Passenger Identity Verification Form (PDF 110 KB)  Please forward the completed Passenger Identity Verification Form (PIVF) with your original signature and the requested notarized/certified copies of records to the following address:

Transportation Security Administration
TSA-901
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, VA  22202-4220

TSA will be unable to process your request without the information requested on the PIVF.  We will notify you in writing of our determination and will contact the appropriate parties, including the airlines, in an effort to streamline your check-in.

Please understand that the TSA clearance process will not remove a name from the Watch Lists.  Instead this process distinguishes passengers from persons who are in fact on the Watch Lists by placing their names and identifying information in a cleared portion of the Lists.  Airline personnel can then more quickly determine when implementing TSA-required identity verification procedures that these passengers are not the person of interest whose name is actually on the Watch Lists.  

Clearance by TSA may not eliminate the need to go to the ticket counter in order to check-in.  While TSA cannot ensure that this procedure will relieve all delays, we hope it will facilitate a more efficient check-in process for you. Additionally, TSA has issued guidance to the airlines to clarify further the Watch List clearance protocol.

TSA’s clearance procedures apply only to persons affected by the Watch Lists. There are other reasons that a passenger may experience delays, such as random selection for additional screening, alarming at the security checkpoint, or as a result of increased security levels requiring additional screening. These types of delays may not happen every time and this process cannot grant relief from these occasional delays.

Downloadable TSA Passenger Identity Verification Form (PDF 110 KB)

How the Process Works
 

• A passenger may contact the TSA Contact Center as specified above if delayed when checking in for a boarding pass due to the No Fly List or Selectee List clearance procedures.
• TSA will send a Passenger Identity Verification Form to the passenger.  
• TSA requests that the passenger submit the completed Passenger Identity Verification Form to TSA at the address shown on the letter.  This information may help TSA expedite the person’s check-in process for a boarding pass. Except in the case of minor children, only the person seeking expedited No Fly List and Selectee List clearance procedures may submit the Passenger Identity Verification Form.

What the Verification Form Covers

• The personal information requested on the Passenger Identity Verification Form consists of two parts.
  • The first part includes name, current address, gender, place of birth, date of birth, Social Security number, height, weight, hair color, eye color, and home and work telephone numbers.
  • The second part requires the passenger to submit notarized copies of at least three of the following documents: passport, including number and country; visa, including number and place of issuance; birth certificate, including number and place of issuance (if you submit a birth certificate, it must be a certified copy of the original); naturalization certificate; certificate of citizenship; voter registration card; military discharge paper; driver’s license (including number and state of issuance); government identity card (city, state or federal); or military identification card.
• The Passenger Identity Verification Form also requires the passenger to sign and date the submission, which will also include:  (i) a Privacy Act notice that explains the purpose and routine use of the information provided by the person; and (ii) a statement attesting to the truthfulness of the information and that knowingly and willfully making any materially false statement, or omission of a material fact, can be punished by fine, imprisonment, or both pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1001.

What Happens Next

TSA will review the submission and reach a determination of whether these procedures may aid in expediting a passenger’s check-in process for a boarding pass.

• If the clearance procedures will aid in expediting the person’s check-in process, TSA will notify the passenger of that finding, and contact the appropriate parties, such as the airlines, to help streamline this process for the passenger.  TSA will also notify the passenger in writing of its finding. While TSA cannot ensure that these clearance procedures will relieve all delays, the procedures should facilitate a more efficient check-in process.
• Passengers who have received TSA’s written notification that the check-in process for a boarding pass has been streamlined should be aware that clearance at the check-in counter is ultimately based on information that TSA provides to the airlines, not the notification letter.
• If a passenger continues to encounter delays in obtaining a boarding pass at the check-in counter, please contact TSA at (866) 289-9673, or E-mail: TSA-ContactCenter@dhs.gov.