[tptacek]

I don't fly internationally all that often, but I do sometimes and just did this week, and I have never had an immigration experience that took longer than the baggage claim did. Is this a problem that only occurs at airports other than O'Hare, or am I just lucky?

[patio11]

The big variables are (rough order) entry airport, the mix of passengers on the exact aircraft you're on relative to your own citizenship/immigration status, the general business (or lack thereof) when the flight you're on gets in [+], and conditions at the airport on the day of your arrival.

If one very consistently flies exactly Delta 6 and is a US citizen, one will very rarely wait more than 15 minutes in Detroit.

It is, unfortunately, very, very easy to spend hours in line. (4th quartile for me is probably 2 hours; max was close to 5.) If one is selected for secondary screening, throw all estimates out window; you've transitioned from routine travel into an adversarial proceeding with the USFG.

[+] Since most airlines operate on schedules which do not change much on a week-to-week basis it is fairly predictable that e.g. 10 AM on a Tuesday, and hence $BAR Flight $BAZ's scheduled arrival window, will be busy, given that N flights from abroad arrive near that window.

[kasey_junk]

I've had immigration experiences at O'Hare that have taken 2 hours.

Even with Global Entry I've had immigration take 25 minutes at O'Hare.

[tptacek]

What part of the process did you end up waiting 2 hours at? (I'm just curious, and I guess feeling lucky).

[kasey_junk]

The line.

[tptacek]

Before or after bag pickup?

[kasey_junk]

Its been a few months since I've cleared at O'Hare vs Midway. But my memory is "long ass immigration line that is bad for US citizens without Global Entry and terrible for non US citizens" followed by baggage claim and "basically a cursory scan by customs".

The last time I did this I had Global Entry and 5 of the 10ish kiosks were broken so that took a fair bit of time as well (you skip immigration but not customs in that case).

[edit] the time I had a truly miserable experience the line for immigration stretched long down the hallway to the immigration hall. It took more than an hour to see where the citizens vs non-citizens lanes began.