KeaneJohn - 28/07/2011 17:21 GMT
OK so we have had a topic on US immigration so I would like to throw it open to the wise contributors as to which is the BEST immigration, customs and arrivals process that you have experienced.
For me it would have to be Muscat, Oman. I arrived here in March from Dubai on a short J class Swiss flight after a 3 day stop over in Dubai.
The Sultanate of Oman required that people obtain a visa on arrival if you have not already got one. This involves queuing up at the Travelex Visa desk paying approx £30 getting a visa then joining the queue for immigration.
There is however an arrangement in place that if you have a visa for the UAE or Sultanate of Oman and visit the other country on the same visit, the visa for one will be valid for BOTH locations. This works out better if you visit the UAE first as you do not have to pay for the visa given on arrival there.
Most people on the flight had deplaned in Dubai and all F&J pax were invited to disembark from the front of the aircraft and join one bus, Y pax disembarked from the rear.
Having come from the UAE I walked straight to the Business/First Immigration Counters not needing a VISA and with 1 person in front.
This took no longer than 5 minuted from aircraft doors being opened. When I got to the carousel my luggage was already on the belt so I picked this up and went to Customs so was out the airport within 8 minutes of landing.
The only other experience on a par with this was landing at LCY which I don't really count as there are hardly any people with hold luggage and CBP lines small.
Anybody else had any similarly quick times or good experiences.
NTarrant - 28/07/2011 17:34 GMT
John - I assume you are not a UK passport holder, as you don't need a visa for DXB from the UK, but of course do for Oman.
Probably traveling in Europe is the easiest, I invarably find AMS to be good, but outside I have experienced quick through put at SIN.
KeaneJohn - 28/07/2011 17:37 GMT
No I am a UK passport holder. I think the requirements for UAE is a VISA ON ARRIVAL. though it is just a stamp advising maximum visit allowed. I do know this caused confusion when I checked in for my flight at LCY.
I do know however that my stamp and stopover in Dubai saved me time and money.
RichHI1 - 28/07/2011 17:52 GMT
I have had some bad waits at AMS when coming in from PVG. My vote would go to HKG or poss NRT.
NTarrant - 28/07/2011 18:09 GMT
John - I think you could be right, I go to DXB around twice a year, the date stamp has arabic so that may say visa and then the seperate stamp with the number of days.The last time I went into Oman was to the Musendam region by road, there was a grou of us and the driver did the formalities at the boarder with out passports. It did cost but not £30.00, but it was three years ago.
Rich - I would also agree with you on HKG. It does depend on when you hit some of these places. DXB is usually a long queue, but if you are lucky it can be very good.
Danwolf - 28/07/2011 18:33 GMT
SIN is the most efficient one I've been through, Hkg is next best, and even better if you can get a frequent traveller pass (not sure what they call it officially), I should probably pick up one...
KeaneJohn - 28/07/2011 19:43 GMT
I have not been through SIN and only went through HKG 20 years ago at the old Kai Tak airport so can't really remember that.
I wasn't that impressed with the waits in DXB even flying J class as the priority queues did not seem to mean anything though it was around 75 mins from STA to arriving at hotel and we were just about on time so I guess that was reasonable.
I think Oman put its visa up to pretty recently with little or no notice.
Danwolf - 28/07/2011 19:47 GMT
I only went through muscat/Oman 1.5 months ago from LHR to bkk, so can't say about actually exiting the airport. I did notice the 'relaxed' attitude of X-ray, etc, but it was quick, and the biz lounge was nice for the short stopover, so shan't complain...
Perhaps "not applicable" would be more accurate than "best" for some of the tourist destinations in Spain such as Palma and Malaga, where I've experienced the token guy in the immigration kiosk just reading the paper and letting everyone walk past, or not there at all. Same again at customs. Same before and after Spain introduced the API, which just seemed such an irony.
Return to the UK on the other hand...
I have had some terrible experiences at AMS, so I'm not sure that's the best example. With European airports, I find it depends very much on which plane has got there before you. This is also true at LCY - fine if you're the first one off, and there's nobody in front of you, but 2-3 plane loads converging on border control at the same time can swamp the 2 immigration officers
Ironically, my best ("big airport") arrivals experiences are coming into the UK with a non-EU passport into bucket 'n' spade airports - particularly LGW, but also STN. No matter if several charter plane loads have disgorged themselves, there are hardly ever any ex-EU passport holders, so I always sail to the front of the line
Considering my rant about DFW, on the other thread, this may sound strange, but my top immigration clearnaces are:
1. LHR - with IRIS, never taken more than a few minutes
2. BKK - with a meet and greet VVIP service, never lined up behind anyone. Always an empty box
3. DFW, with the help of a BA staff member using the diplomatic channel, not one soul there, apart from the customs officer
4. Looking forward to trying Dublin/Shannon for USA clearance
5. Any other destination where you can buy your way to no Q
@MartynSinclair
Re: IRIS at LHR. This assumes that it is working. Arriving at T5 at 1am after an evening of weather delays and finding the IRIS machines out of order and an immigration queue that would put JFK and MIA to shame (because most of Border Control had gone home in spite of all the delayed arrivals) must rank as my worst immigration experience ever (yes, even worse than IAD, ORD and LAX)
City P, this thread is about the BEST, not the worse, keep in the spirit of things!!
NNoah16 - 29/07/2011 05:44 GMT
Landed in NYC last week, BA arrives at terminal 7; it took 12 minutes from door opening to sitting in a cab (hand luggage only). UK passport.
UK: Iris -great
UAE: egate - great
last trips to Beijing & Bengaluru - minutes through immigration
RichHI1 - 29/07/2011 09:17 GMT
If we are allowed to include US then LAX AA terminal every time, it is superb (for US or elsewhere) though bags are quicker at T3 LHR but I think they are world class
JordanD - 29/07/2011 14:32 GMT
At this risk of really setting the cat amongst the pigeons, the best clearance experiences have nearly always occured at locations where 'visa on arrival' is either granted or has to be purchased: from Istanbul to Kilimanjaro to Cairo, the fact that individuals have to visit 'another desk' first seems to even out the flow through to immigration and doesn't actually lengthen the overall process.
Even where that hasn't been the case, must comment on the excellent speed I was processed (along with a great deal of friendly banter with the official) at SFO. He was extremely friendly and completely changed my idea of what US Border Agency staff would be like. Kudos to him.
Capedoctor - 29/07/2011 16:34 GMT
Problem with iris is you have to pre register. The new digital passport clearance at LHR works exceptionally well. Doesn't allow kids under 18 due to changing facial structure.
RichHI1 - 29/07/2011 16:43 GMT
Glad to hear it, not seen it in T3. My experience in Lisbon is not so psitive but maybe Brits have doen it better. IS it limited to EFTA passports as in Portugal or is it open to anyone who meets entry requirements as IRIS is?
Nope, e-Passport is only EU/EFTA - a massive disadvantage vs IRIS - which is increasingly out-of-order at all times. It's a shame because many other countries have biometric passports, so there's no reason not to extend
Agree with the point that visa on arrival destinations are normally quite good at evening out the flow
Of the bigger, "conventional" airports, I'd say that SIN and HKG have always been pretty efficient in my experience, given the volume of passengers, and the number of "exotic" passports they have to deal with. I've also never had any problems or long waits in New Zealand (compared with, say, Australia - nightmare!)
RichHI1 - 29/07/2011 17:13 GMT
I think that IRIS in T3 probably works better as there are fewer BA flights in T3 than T5 and the level of IRIS members using T3 is much lower than T5, therefore it gets less use and works better. I have no issues with it in T3 and regard it as one of the best things done for UK Air Travellers.
