The TSA urges all travelers to arrive at the airport well in advance of scheduled flight departures and has provided security checkpoint wait time information as a guide to assist in travel planning. San Francisco International Airport is one of the dozens of locations in the U.S. offering Global Entry. News, advice and insights for the most interesting man in the room. As always, travelers may use alternate forms of identification such as a passport, military ID, or permanent resident card. . This average wait time is based on the current time (Pacific Standard Time). International arrivals will all process through the International Terminal at SFO. While what I saw on Monday was bad enough, it seems like it was even worse a couple of days before. Airport traffic could be partly responsible for this, as it sees 44.43 passengers per booth, which is 18% more than the average. RELATED: Avoid customs & immigration waits with the miraculous Mobile Passport. As the TSA operates these special checkpoints, the hours may be different from the Terminal operating hours. Scott McDaniel - email: Scott.McDaniel@usdoj.gov, Elizabeth L. Young,AssistantChief Immigration Judge. This button displays the currently selected search type. SFO customs and immigration wait times in late 2021 or 2022? Plus, your own feed of TPG content. Case application wait times and immigration court queues have swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, slowing legal arrivals to the United States and undermining the entire immigration system. Current Average TSA Wait Time at SFO. ALL / ALL / Getting Here Flying into SFO after 24 hours in transit, and then being forced to wait another three hours at the airport along with thousands of other visitors in the same excruciating situation. San Francisco International Airport . Visitors must not bring any weapons, cameras, video, or recording equipment. Those screenings began January 18 at SFO, Los Angeles International Airport and New York-Kennedy for travelers arriving into the country from Wuhan, the central China city at the epicenter of the outbreak. New Report Finds SFO Has Longest 'Line Times' of Any Airport on - SFist I fly many times to SFO and had everything between 10min and 1.5h waiting in line time for immigration depending on how many inbound flights just arrived. EOIR Operational Status | Department of Justice 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. Terminal 2 or 3 passengers transferring to flights in the International Terminal "A" Gates should exit their arrival terminaland proceed to the International Terminal"A" Gates security checkpoint. San Francisco Airport SFO - iFly Global Entry a is pre-screening program that gives low-risk travelers quick entry into the U.S. Visit TSA Precheck for more information about the program. Will it affect your plans to travel internationally this year? The immigration court does not accept faxes or other electronic submissions unless the transmission has been specifically requested by the immigration Court staff or the Immigration Judge. To help travelers in planning their next flight, CBP is providing the public with historical data for the wait times at the busiest international airports that can be used to estimate possible wait times by airport and arrival terminal. SFO's combined average security and passport wait time (45 minutes, 56 seconds) is just a minute longer than the top two . wait with no APC for US Passport holders in use. CLEAR lanes are located in Terminal 1, Terminal 2, Terminal 3, and the International Terminal. The lines extended long past the people mover sidewalk and down the hallways!. U.S. Customs and Border Protection - San Francisco, CA Aside from a sometimes long-ish wait (both at Immigration and baggage claim) and the now $8 cost for a luggage cart (that's free in other international locations), I've had very little to complain about about. San Francisco Security Wait Times | SFO checkpoint delays - iFly The entrance to the connector is located post-security in Terminal 3 near Gate F1, and the exit is located post-security in International Terminal Boarding Area G near Gate G1. While SFO's website has a traveler alert at the top of its page about AirTrain closure, there's no mention of long CBP wait times. Please leave your thoughts in the comments. The longer waits caught the attention of arriving passengers Sunday. He also noted that San Francisco has added many new international flights over the last few years, compounding the problem. is a digital nomad who travels full-time. You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. CLEAR counters are located at Terminals 1, 2, 3 and the International Terminal. Due to very limited street parking, we recommend that immigration court visitors use public transportation to come to immigration court. USCIS Contact Center | USCIS Immigration official at SFO say that the lines are now like this nearly every afternoon. The airline on Tuesday announced it would suspend Hong Kong flights as well. The connecting flights are less than before COVID and Untied is not flying directly out of Houston at this time (usual airport). Flight arrival patterns can vary considerably by time of year and day of week, as well as by time of day. To remedy the situation, CBP is hiring aggressively across the country, according to the spokesperson, but it takes time to train new officers. How long to clear immigration/ customs at SFO. - Tripadvisor "This is a real problem across the country. And the wait time was not too long. The airport's social media team placed the blame on CBP and recommended the traveler file a complaint with them. TSA WAIT TIMES. Immigration Nightmare: How Global Entry Saved Me Hours At SFO on Monday mins. Ground transportation options are available. 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. . Though the usual passport control time is much shorter at just a . Certain household items may be dangerous when brought on an aircraft. Charlotte (CLT) 9. The immigration court is located in the financial downtown district near the Montgomery or Embarcadero BART stations and close to several bus stops on the Muni line. Has anyone on this list been through the SFO process in late 2021 or 2022? According to the report, which analyzed data from the TSA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, it's not much better for international travelers at SFO, who spend another 18 minutes, 8 seconds to clear passport control. Passengers not checked in for their onward flight should visit their airline's ticket counter in the International Terminal Main Hall. So she pulled out a book to read and joined the line for non-U.S. passport holders, had her interview with a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, searched for and eventually found her checked bag from a pile in baggage claim, and finally made it to the airport curb more than three hours after landing. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) - CBP Airport Wait Times (AWT) Passengers moving through the security checkpoints at San Francisco International Airport should anticipate waiting on average for: 5 minutes and 18 seconds* Report Your Time. Denver Airport WiFi Instructions Connect To DIA WiFi Free, US Canadian Border Finally Open (To Vaccinated Americans & Canadian Residents), US air travel numbers now half of normal levels. Travelers hand over documents to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. 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. It didn't seem to budge at all for over a minute. More information about security checkpoints and airport delays at SFO can be found below. In early May, frequent traveler Nancy Brown took a very long-haul flight to the U.S. from South Africa. TheTransportation Security Administration (TSA) has information about the security checkpoint process. You can transfer via the AirTrain: From Terminal 1, 2 or 3, take the elevator or escalator to Mezzanine - Level 3 and walk across the passenger skybridge Perks include free wine, beer and snacks onboard, legroom galore and two complimentary bags (small dogs also fly free in cabin carriers). San Francisco, CA 94102. Welcome to the United States, the Bay Area, and San Francisco! The San Francisco Immigration Court falls under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, which is a component of the Executive Office for Immigration Review under the Department of Justice. Immigration Nightmare: How Global Entry Saved Me Hours At SFO on Monday, This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for hisFREE biweekly email updates! I lived in Singapore for 5 years and not once did I see a line longer than 10 minutes there so it definitely can be done. Passengers ending their journey at SFO should exit the Federal Inspection Area through the doors marked "San Francisco" into the International Arrivals Meeting Area. Is it possible to clear immigration, get luggage and recheck in at SFO Check Wait Times | Homeland Security - DHS For more information and to enroll/pre-enroll. Last September, a frustrated traveler took to Twitter to complain about missing his connection due to a 100-minute wait. Immigration was taken to secondary screening. Please contact your airline for lost or damaged baggage. The longest line was for US citizens, followed by the visitor line, but the Mobile Passport line wasn't short either. How to Beat the Longest Wait Times on the West Coast - InsideHook Expedited security screening is available through participating airlines and airports. This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. At SFO - time to clear customs - San Francisco Forum - Tripadvisor Curious if travelers were being warned of possible long waits, I checked around. 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. 10.3 Airport Wait Times. I had heard so many horror stories about Heathrow immigration wait times lately. How to Renew a Canadian Passport in Paris, France. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, Travelers report hours-long waits at customs and immigration at SFO since coronavirus screenings began Jan 18. Little did she know what awaited when she got off the plane and started walking down the long corridor toward immigration and customs. ", The scene irked him, and he wrote, "These are people coming to the United States to visit family or friends and spend money. Arriving passengers from Wuhan were required to have their temperature checked and fill out questionnaires about their health and travel histories. We came up with a few additional strategies to try on your next flight. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics revealed that in July of a previous year, Terminal G saw an average maximum wait time of just over 49 minutes, while Terminal A was just over 51 minutes. After clearing immigration, proceed to the baggage reclaim area to collect your bags. Wait Times for Citizenship Have Doubled in the Last Two Years SFO immigration now longer than LAX? - FlyerTalk Forums Eighteen years later he is stuck in green card limbo. Be seated and wait until we call your number. Best of luck, Hunt. At this point you will present your customs declaration form and get in line for inspection, which means presenting your identification documents and talking with a customs agent. Backlogged Immigration Courts Could Get Help From Biden Plan - KQED