I'm booking my plane ticket to enter the US on a K-1 visa and since there is a connection (Moncton to Toronto to Philadelphia) I need to know how much extra time I need as a layover to give myself lots of time to clear customs. Is there a lenthy process involved or is it quick and painless?

Thanks

I haven't done this personally, but I read today that you should leave 2-3hrs. I've tried looking for where I read that, but I can't find it. It's somewhere on the forums!

There is a customs pre-clearance in Toronto Canada, you may or may not have to clear there. It is best to give yourself 3 hours to clear immigrations at any POE.

When we flew into USA through Chicago, you get off airplane, go through the Visitors lines at immigrations, there is where they will ask some immigrations questions, and go through the sealed envelope, stamp passport, and send you to collect baggage and then go through customs for baggage check, after which you are either free to leave the airport, or check the baggage on to the domestic flight.

Thanks, the search function will not work for me and I needed to know rather sooner than later.

In Toronto you will pre-clear immigration AND customs before you depart....

Well now this Pre-Clerance is interesting - is this (if anyone knows) something done in Germany too?

Some people get through quickly, some people don't. There's really no set timeframe for that particular step; it depends on how many flights get in when yours does and where you get in line and how slow/thorough the examining officer is. It will be better to leave lots of time for this!

No only Canada has this as well as a few other locations such as Shannon and Dublin Ireland, and in the Caribbean.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contact...r_locations.xml

Also take into consideration whom you may get when you go through the POE. I Drove from NS and crossed in Houlton Maine, and the officer I went through had never processed a K1 visa before and so he had to take out the book and follow the guide step by step, so it took a bit longer than usual. You just never know when you get there who it will be and what their experience is with processing. Best to be safe than sorry and get the longest layover possible. I personally would rather get through quick and have to kill a few hours in an airport than miss my connecting flight.Just my thoughts. Freda

Just another thought...... How much more trouble would it be to go into Halifax and fly out of there? They now have pre-clearance there. You could get it over there. Might be easier to arrive early and go through there and have it done if it's an option.

Toronto has pre-clearance, just look at the link I provided in my previous post.

Thanks guys, the pre-clearance sounded interesting through Halifax but I ended up just booking the two legs of the trip individually with a long layover inbetween (Via Toronto). Enjoy my last few hours in Canada at the Swiss Chalet in Terminal 1 I guess

We had a 2 hour layover in Miami. That gave us time to clear immigration, customs, and get a bite to eat before hopping the next plane. It was just perfect. I wouldn't go much shorter.

We had one issue on ours in that the immigration officer did not take his brown envelope nor send us to be processed. Luckily, I asked another agent about it before we left the area. They escorted us to the interview area after that.