Arrive 2 hours before a domestic flight departure and 3 hours before an international flight departure to account for TSA security wait times and any possible delays. Track Flights, Search Fares, Locate Airlines. To have a realistic shot of making their connection, the immigration line needs to be under an hour for these passengers to collect bags, re-check them, re-clear security and get to their gate before departure. Within last six months, flying into SFO (normal non global entry) passport control line has been long, today was 40 min. Visitors must not bring any weapons, cameras, video, or recording equipment. (See Matthews photos of the line at the top of this post.). U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Airport Wait Times. After clearing immigration, proceed to the baggage reclaim area to collect your bags. He added that the situation at airport immigration halls is very fluid, and with the agency's limited resources, it is sometimes impossible to avoid back ups when planes are late, which causes staffing issues. We arrive at SFO on international (on UA, so International G), at least once per quarter. Scott McDaniel - email: Scott.McDaniel@usdoj.gov, Elizabeth L. Young,AssistantChief Immigration Judge. 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The 5 Best: Atlanta: Despite being the busiest airport in the world, ATL has managed to keep average immigration wait times below the 20-minute mark, and even during peak hours, waits rarely exceed 35 minutes. Where should I stay? ins.style.display='block';ins.style.minWidth=container.attributes.ezaw.value+'px';ins.style.width='100%';ins.style.height=container.attributes.ezah.value+'px';container.appendChild(ins);(adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({});window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId,'stat_source_id',44);window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId,'adsensetype',1);var lo=new MutationObserver(window.ezaslEvent);lo.observe(document.getElementById(slotId+'-asloaded'),{attributes:true}); * Wait times are estimates, subject to change, and may not be indicative of your experience.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'waittimesnow_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_9',110,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-waittimesnow_com-medrectangle-3-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'waittimesnow_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_10',110,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-waittimesnow_com-medrectangle-3-0_1');.medrectangle-3-multi-110{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:7px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:7px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:50px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}, For further information about, TSA, carry on bag screening, dining and security at SFO visit https://www.flysfo.com/, Home Airport Wait Times SFO TSA Security Wait Times. Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) 5. We checked the CBPs statistics: the worst time for U.S. citizens to have cleared on Sunday was between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. when the average wait time was 85 minutes in Concourse G nearly an hour and a half in line for some. SFO security line waits scores pretty well for a large US airport in terms of efficiency and layout and arriving 2 or 3 hours early might mean you have some to time to kill but better safe than sorry. "While understandable, a 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' staffing paradigm is unsustainable," the travel groups told the Senators. To maintain appropriate social distancing and best facilitate hearings, you may be asked to move or leave a particular area. If youre flying a short hop from the Bay Area, here are three letters for you: JSX. "With international travel increasing at a steady rate, lack of sufficient CBP officer staffing at airports due to temporary reassignment, compounded with lack of overtime funding, will certainly put considerable strain on CBP ports, harming both passengers and cargo throughput.". Just under one-third of SFO arrivals had to wait more than 30 minutes, and the maximum average waiting time was more than 55 minutes. With Global Entry, it takes us from 30-120 mins (most often in range of 45 mins from deplane to exiting Customs) to clear Immigration, retrieve luggage, then Customs. When necessary, information on immigration court closures or changes to the immigration courts operating hours is available at the following links: (1) Twitter and (2) Facebook. Once you're off the plane and in the International Terminal Arrivals Hall, you must proceed to U.S. Customs and Border Protection screening. San Francisco-based travel writer Chris McGinnis shared photos of seemingly endless SFO immigration lines, noting that it took travelers 2.5 hours to clear. More about last summer lines here. Please do not bring people with you into EOIR space unless they are required to be present for your hearing. JetBlue Policy for Minors Traveling Alone. Global Entry a is pre-screening program that gives low-risk travelers quick entry into the U.S. See hours below for CLEAR enrollment locations and hours at SFO. This button displays the currently selected search type. For more information about case processing times and reading your receipt notice, visit the More Information About Case Processing Times page. The top 10 worst airports for CBP line times out of the 41 that have international arrivals facilities include five in the Golden State, the study found: Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Fresno and Los Angeles. Please expect to wait up to at least ( mins) on average to go through security checkpoints at SFO. United, the largest airline at SFO, will allow passengers to book flights with as little as a 1:45-hour connection between their international inbound scheduled arrival and the scheduled departure of their next flight. Follow the signage toward the International Terminal A Gates. For cases assigned to this Docket, immigration judges will work to issue a decision within 300 days of the initial master calendar hearing. TheTransportation Security Administration (TSA) has information about the security checkpoint process. Most airlines' conditions of carriage state that with many of their tickets, failure to arrive at the check-in counter, the flight's departure gate and your assigned seat a prescribed amount of time before the flight's scheduled departure time may cause you to be denied boarding and cause you to forfeit any refund or other compensation due for the unused ticket even if you have advance seat assignments and advance boarding passes. The first group of Japanese Latin Americans arrived in San Francisco on April 20, 1942, on board the Etolin along with 360 ethnic Germans and 14 ethnic Italians from Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Make arrangements to arrive in advance of your hearing so you arrive to the courtroom on time. San Francisco International Airport is one of the dozens of locations in the U.S. offering Global Entry. Curious if travelers were being warned of possible long waits, I checked around. N-400 (Application for Naturalization) 13.5 Months. ), Related:How San Jose Airport uses facial recognition to speed lines. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. Consequently, busy periods will mean an awful lot of people trying to get through security at the same time. Just three minutes after I took that photo at the back of the long line, I took a photo of another disconcerting sight. 100 Montgomery Street, Suite 800 Her journey started in Cape Town, connected in Amsterdam and ended at San Francisco International. 2023 Red Cirrus, LLC. Wow, that's ridiculous. https://www.sfmta.com/https://www.bart.gov/http://www.caltrain.com/. The lengthy delays are catching travelers by surprise, forcing missed flight connections, and hassles for friends and family waiting to pick up arriving international passengers. Improve earnings, maximize rewards and track progress toward dream trips. Sign up here. I was seated a little more than halfway back, with 250 passengers onboard. Effective May 3, 2023, TSA will only accept state-issued drivers licenses or identification cards if they are issued by a REAL ID compliant state or a non-compliant state with an extension. The 151 men ten from Ecuador, the rest from Peru had volunteered for deportation believing they were to be repatriated to Japan. . Luckily, U.S. passport holders have options to get around the mess with programs like Mobile Passport and Global Entry, but that's not always the case for the non-U.S. passport crowd-- yes, those people who are coming to see America and spend money and go back to tell all their friends about it. The longer waits caught the attention of arriving passengers Sunday. Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences! A returning traveler uses a Global Entry kiosk to speed up Customs processing. The time that aspiring Americans must wait to be naturalized is now almost twice as long, 10 months, as it was two years ago. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website. So, what does Customs and Border Protection have to say? Not sure I just arrived on bad (busy) days at SFO since . According to the TSA, the enrollment center is open from 7:30 AM - 11:30AM and 12:00PM-4:00PM M-F. TSA PreCheck passengers can enjoy expedited screening at SFO, and in most cases you dont have to remove your: shoes, laptops, liquids, belts and light jackets. Thank you for highlighting this issue. Immigration court visitors and attorneys must not remain in the lobby area or near the entrance doors of the building, as it is a violation of the building policy. Kihyun Yoon checks in using the Global Entry computers at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the San Francisco International airport. View a complete list of identification documents accepted at TSA checkpoints. Using advanced data science, wait times for San Francisco SFO Airport are projected, that barring extreme outliers, are within five minutes in accuracy, as validated by large US airlines. Official websites use .gov Chen said his temperature was quickly screened at the Shanghai airport before he departed. 630 Sansome Street, 4th Floor, Room 475 Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. SFO's time to get through security is actually the longest on average of any airport in the country, according to the report. is a digital nomad who travels full-time. After completing the electronic questionnaire, I barely had to break stride as I handed my Global Entry receipt to the agent and was waved through to the baggage-claim area. The worst maximum TSA wait time is 28 minutes. wait time. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for hisFREE biweekly email updates! Check-in desks are located on the Departures Level of the Main Hall. * 30 minutes for connections between 2 Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz ** 25 minutes for connections between 2 Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz Passengers can connect to certain terminals without exiting and re-entering security. Mobile Passport (free or $15/year) is currently only for U.S. and some Canadian passport holders. In early May, frequent traveler Nancy Brown took a very long-haul flight to the U.S. from South Africa. For more information and to enroll/pre-enroll. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. Visit the TSA website for information about acceptable identification for travelers. London Heathrow immigration lines galore. This could be because seemingly-extraordinary immigration wait times aren't uncommon at SFO. I've seen lines at SFO immigration before, but nothing like this one.". Expedited security screening is available through participating airlines and airports. Its free. In the post-9/11 era of enhanced airport and airline security, travelers sometimes experience lengthy security checkpoints at U.S. airports upon arrival. This is a carousel. As always, travelers may use alternate forms of identification such as a passport, military ID, or permanent resident card. The Airport is busy during the morning hours between 7:00 am - 8:00 am and in the afternoon between 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm. The bus operates from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily, and passengers must show a boarding pass. You can also take CalTrain to the San Francisco stop. A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Airport traffic could be partly responsible for this, as it sees 44.43 passengers per booth, which is 18% more than the average. economy.". 24 Hours Before departure to and from the USA. This information can all be found on the Notice of Receipt that was mailed to you by the USCIS. He asked a staffer trying to manage the lines if this was normal, and was told "it's like this every afternoon. Chicago O'Hare (ORD) 4. If you see any information that you believe to be incorrect or out of date on our site please let us know. We'll run a soft credit check to find special offers, but it wont affect your credit score. Passengers connecting to a domestic flight in Terminals 1 . Took around 30 mins to clear Immigration. Chris McGinnis is the senior travel correspondent for SFGate. With U.S. government restrictions barring most people who have been in China from entering the country, travel demand between the two nations is in a free fall. Flying into LAX (the new Bradley Terminal) on UA from MEL, SYD and Eva air from Taiwan waits no longer than 5 minutes. Phalake left India at age 21 to attend Georgia Tech. Imagine that. DISCLOSURE: We may earn a commission when you use one of our coupons/links to make a purchase. Immigration experts said it would . Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office, Do Not Be a Victim of Immigration Fraud: Notarios, Visa Consultants, and Immigration Consultants are NOT Attorneys They CANNOT Represent You in Immigration Court, EOIRs Programs to Fight Fraud, Abuse, and Ineffective Representation in Immigration Proceedings. Terminal A and G Wait Times. Elevator wait times may be significantly longer than usual for this reason. Has anyone on this list been through the SFO process in late 2021 or 2022? From 12:35 to 1 pm we Looking at the holiday month of December, the average maximum wait time at customs for Terminal A was nearly 45 . On average, thats an additional six minutes to get through immigration. Please expect to wait up to at least ( mins) on average to go through security checkpoints at SFO. Best card for premium perks while traveling, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, The Business Platinum Card from American Express, The best places to see cherry blossoms around the US this spring, Looking back: How my points and miles strategy has changed over the years, The best increased card offers to sign up for this March. This is in my country and my state. Passengers moving through the security checkpoints should anticipate waiting on average for: Check your specific airlines advice but in general you should arrive 3 hours before an international flight or 2 hours before a domestic flight. 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Went ahead and took by baggage for customs. (AP Photo/Terry Chea). I can only imagine. You can view the open lanes for TSA PreCheck at the SFO terminals by looking at the table above. The U.S. Using data published by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency on passport control waiting times at SFO, we crunched the numbers and found the average time it took to clear immigration and . Please be sure to check with your airline for ticket counter wait times as well as possible changes to flight schedules, as these and other factors influence your decision regarding how early to arrive at SFO. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. DHS: Pre-9/11 and Post-9/11 Customer Service Outcomes at U.S. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) compiles data on wait times for 23 international airports, including San Francisco. Little did she know what awaited when she got off the plane and started walking down the long corridor toward immigration and customs.