POE San Fransisco

[OKIE2 0]

how long to get through customs?

[TracyTN 237]

It isn't customs that takes up the time as much as immigration. Though you'll have to go through both to get to your connecting flight.

Moving to correct forum for more specific responses.

[JimVaPhuong 4,864]

how long to get through customs?

It took us about 10 minutes to go through immigration at SFO back in December. There were 4 of us - a K1, two K2's, and myself. It probably could have been done a little faster, but the CBP officer wasn't quite sure how to process a K1 entry, and kept having to shout out questions to his buddies working at other desks. There was an informational paper he was supposed to give us that describes the terms and conditions of K visas, but neither he nor the other CBP officers at the adjacent desks had a copy of it, so he just made sure we understood the requirements. He was very friendly, smiled the whole time, and engaged in casual conversation while he processed the paperwork. Overall, a pleasant experience.

Waiting for your bags takes the longest. I've waited up to 45 minutes for my bags to arrive at the carousel. Those big international flights take a long time to unload. Also, depending on which gate your plane parks at, you may have a long walk to the immigration counters.

After you get your bags, you go through another checkpoint where you hand in your customs declaration. At that point, you may be directed to a row of x-ray machines to have your bags inspected. This might add a few minutes to your total processing time. I've been lucky, though. I've never had to get my bags inspected. The customs officer always directs me to go around the machines. Only a small percentage of people are directed to the x-ray machines.

I'd say the average time, from the time you walk out of the plane to the time you leave the international terminal, is about an hour. I've done it 5 times now at SFO.

[Darnell 8,479]

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/poerevi...o&dfilter=0