CBP Publishes Wait Times at Various Ports of Entry

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) WebSite provides detailed and helpful information about the wait times at various U.S. ports of entry (POEs). While there can be considerable variation at any given port, the information provided by the CBP can be useful in making travel plans and setting reasonable expectations for expected delays.

Airport Wait Times at Busiest U.S. Airports

The CBP provides data from the busiest U.S. airports regarding the number of travelers processed and the amount of time needed to process individuals through a POE. This data is broken down by day and time, with travelers grouped into the various timeframes for processing. For example, those who arrived via an international flight on April 1, 2014 at Baltimore / Washington International Airport (BWI) between noon and 1:00 p.m., experienced an average wait time of 21 minutes. The majority of these individuals were processed in 15 minutes or less, with a maximum processing time of 43 minutes. Travelers flying into BWI at 6:00 p.m. that same evening, on the other hand, were all processed in 5 minutes or less. This type of information can be informative when planning a time of day for arrival at a particular airport. But, of course, the amount of time any particular person can expect to wait depends on a number of factors, such as the category of entry, the documents the individual has on hand, and his/her immigration history.

Wait Times at Land Ports

Similar wait time data is available for the various land ports at the northern and southern borders of the United States. As can be seen, at certain times of the day, there is very little or no backup for those crossing into the United States from Mexico or Canada. At other times, particularly on the southern border, hour-long wait times are not unusual.

Conclusion

The CBP is doing a good job of being transparent in making wait time information available to the public. While no one is assured of being processed through efficiently or promptly at a POE, there are locations and travel times where delays are far more likely to occur. Individuals with travel-related immigration questions or concerns are welcome to schedule a consultation with a Murthy Law Firm attorney.

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