The US is in discussions with various countries to smoothen travel and avoid incidents like the detaining of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, but insists that VIPs have to go through the usual immigration procedures like everyone else unless they have diplomatic exemption.
For “process for VIP arrivals, unless they have some type of, say, diplomatic visa or exemption, everyone would go through the same type of process,” a US official said.
“We don’t want it to be seen as a hassle,” John Wagner, executive director of US customs and border protection’s office of field operations, admissibility and passenger programs told foreign reporters in Washington DC on Thursday.
“It works on a reciprocal basis and some level of agreement on a level of background checks each country will do.”