Immigration at San Francisco

[Hughseysar]

Hello all
Just a quick question ... myself and DH are flying in to San Francisco on Thursday 5th September and wondered if anyone has had any recent experience of the queues at immigration?
Has been 5 years since we flew into SFO and that time we were 1st off the plane so managed to get through quite fast but I remember looking back and feeling sorry for the guys still waiting as only 2 desks were open and the queue was snaking right back to the airbridge.
So anyone who can let us know if it’s any different ? Just so we know what to expect ..
Thanks loads in advance

[Sew109]

I have not flown internationally there for years but we used to fly 2-3 times a year and never ever had a long wait there

[LOU LOU DISNEY]

We had a long queue in April this year. 1hour & 40 mins to get through it dragged on for ever & we could see our cases just sitting out in the middle of nowhere, I was just praying none lifted them.

[Twiga6]

We flew into SF on july 28th and queued for about an hour. That was fun since our flight was delayed for 4 hours 🙄

[Hughseysar]

Oh gosh ... we are flying on the VS19 and due to land about 2pm... we are upper class.. a treat as the trip is for our 30th wedding anniversary so hopefully will be off the plane quite fast .. Just hope not too may other international flights have landed just before us 😬

[landandword17]

Do they have the machines and do they speed things up at all? Google tells me they got them a few years ago but don’t know if like MCO they’ve ditched them since.

[Peko]

Originally Posted by landandword17

Do they have the machines and do they speed things up at all? Google tells me they got them a few years ago but don’t know if like MCO they’ve ditched them since.

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There are APC machines, or at least there were in April when I last went through SFO immigration.

I can't say they are always used, since I have Global Entry and only use the ESTA APC kiosks or normal CBP desks when travelling with my family, but in April they were used in the way that they were at MCO a couple of years ago, i.e. you went to them and used them, but still then had to join the regular line to see an officer, the machines just did some of the admin for them to reduce the time at the desk.

On the day we arrived, the CBP systems went down for about 30 mins, which rather extended the immigration wait. It took somewhere from 60-90 mins to get through overall, can't remember exactly. It's pot luck regarding the queue, we were first off the aircraft but other flights had come in at the same time.

[Pattfisherman]

This is not very helpful now as you flew today but we flew into SFO on Monday and there was a wait of about an hour. Completely depends on what planes have come in before you though. Hope it wasn’t too bad and that you enjoy San Fran. Would recommend visiting Sausalito if you have time.

[ian180]

Similar to others when we landed last month, there was a 2 hour wait, and the queues were almost from the landing gate where we disembarked the plane, it looked awful.

What isn't obvious however, and I only found out by scouting around and asking is, the very left hand queue by the left wall was for US nationals and 'returning ESTA's', which I asked if I could join as it wasn't very clear. She grunted yes, I could, so that saved a good 90 minutes I would say, so if you are eligible, keep an eye out if it looks bad when you get there.