Airport Immigration wait time

[Hillbeans]

What do you think or what is your experience of an expectation to wait to go through Immigration on the way back to the US from an Int'l Flight?

Today we flew through Houston from Cancun and our flight landed at 2:15pm. By 3:30 I was finally through Immigration because they only had two agents open for hundreds of people. I had to literally run through the airport and beg to get on the connection flight at 3:50. DH has Global Entry and got through in a second

Is this the norm or is the wait usually shorter, longer, etc?

 

[Poohforyou]

Last year we went to China and on the way back it took about 30 minutes for all 3 of us to get through customs in Newark. There were a lot of people but they probably had at least a dozen agents working.

 

[joviroxx]

Depends on the airport and time of day.

 

[Disney Daniel]

I very rarely pass through US Customs on American soil as most major Canadian airports have US Customs facilities inside and you clear US customs in Canada and arrive in the United States as though you were a domestic passenger (which as a general rule is a very efficient process).

That being said, I have passed through customs in a few major US airports and especially if you hit a time where two or three wide body jets arrive within a few minutes of each other, you can get some pretty big line-ups. I recall taking the better part of two hours to clear customs in Washington one day as two packed flights from Germany and India had landed within minutes of each other.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

The rule of thumb I've always heard is to give yourself at least 2.5 hours when arriving from an international flight, plus whatever time it would generally take to make a connection in that terminal. It will generally take less time than that, but better to sit in the terminal and play Angry Birds for a while than miss your connection.

 

[Pakey]

It really depends. I've entered on several airlines in many different airports and the experience is not consistent.

 

[drag n' fly]

What do you think or what is your experience of an expectation to wait to go through Immigration on the way back to the US from an Int'l Flight?

Today we flew through Houston from Cancun and our flight landed at 2:15pm. By 3:30 I was finally through Immigration because they only had two agents open for hundreds of people. I had to literally run through the airport and beg to get on the connection flight at 3:50. DH has Global Entry and got through in a second

Is this the norm or is the wait usually shorter, longer, etc?

Dh was just complaining about the exact same thing. He flew from Mexico to Houston today and had to clear customs there. He said there was 200 people waiting with 2 agents. IMO that is ridiculous they know when flights are coming in. He was rushed to the front of the line and even with that he had 3 minutes to spare to catch his connecting flight.

 

[Mom3girls]

My father was a US Customs Inspector for 30 years and you would be surprised at some of the things they catch! I would say to plan on the extra time it may take to get through security if it means the US is safer.

 

[nhpooh]

A couple of weeks ago we went to Mexico and flew into NJ, no problems at all. We saw that a few planes had just landed, so we walked really fast to try to get a head of most of them. We where not to far back in line, there were a lot of agents open and it moved really well.

 

[scrapquitler]

What do you think or what is your experience of an expectation to wait to go through Immigration on the way back to the US from an Int'l Flight?

Today we flew through Houston from Cancun and our flight landed at 2:15pm. By 3:30 I was finally through Immigration because they only had two agents open for hundreds of people. I had to literally run through the airport and beg to get on the connection flight at 3:50. DH has Global Entry and got through in a second

Is this the norm or is the wait usually shorter, longer, etc?

In my experience, it totally depends on how many flights arrive at the same time. It also depends on if the majority of people on the flight are American Citizens or foreigners, because you go in different lines depending on which you are.

I've been thru immigration in as little as 30 minutes, and it has taken as long as 3 hours. I would never schedule a connecting flight with less than 2 1/2 hours if I have to pass thru immigration between the flights, just to avoid the running thru the airport to make the flight scenario that you encountered.

 

[Squirlz]

Last time in Atlanta was about 3 minutes, but I was in line next to Oksana Baiul so I wish it had taken all day!