CBP ROAM

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

About this app

The official CBP ROAM App (formerly OARS) from U.S. Customs and Border Protection allows pleasure boaters and other eligible travelers who arrive at remote locations to report their arrival online. In addition to submitting a report of arrival, pleasure boaters who are not currently enrolled in a Trusted Traveler Program, Local Boater Option, or I-68 program who are currently required to report in person may be eligible for a video inspection.
Disclaimer: This is a pilot version only for use in limited areas. Contact your local Port of Entry for guidance.
Create a trip by adding travelers, your mode of travel, your location, and contact information.
After you submit a trip, you may receive a push notification on your device to start a video chat with a CBP Officer to finish reporting your entry into the United States.

Note: In order to use this application, the Android device’s operating system needs to be Android 4.4 (KitKat) or above

Ratings and reviews

App would be great if it works, but needs improvement to be fully functional. Adding travelers manually has no way to add a photo of the document, which is a requirement to add a traveler. Adding a traveler by scanning their travel document works as long as it is as passport (it extracts the passport data and adds the picture of the passport at the same time). But documents like Nexus or Green Card don't work. Travelers are also not saved across devices (stored locally on the phone only).

Good idea but poorly executed. The app states it is beta and it certainly shows. The initial setup was quite painful. I almost uninstalled it and walked away. Once the setup is complete it was throwing permission errors which so many others have complained about. But all and all it seems to do what it supposed to do. My last complaint. The app has no shutdown option. It hijacks the entire screen and it's nearly impossible to shut it down with a reboot of the phone. Update: I just noticed it won't save passport issue dates in the travelers information.

Doesn't seem like the app was well thought out or tested. The text describing password requirements did not correctly describe that a strong password was needed. An email with confirmation link is sent, a text with one time code is then sent, and a guid-like security code is finally sent to register the device. The text control to enter the security code is very buggy, cursor jumped all around. And finally, you gotta save the code if you ever need to register another device. Haven't tried to report in yet, but, for the time being, I am saving the call in number.