Clearing Custom at CDG
 

Assuming an on-time arrival of 7:45 AM at CDG, how long does it usually take to clear customs/immigration? Thanks.

Clearing customs at CDG usually requires a few ... seconds. Clearing immigration is another issue altogether, and it depends on your arrival time, whether it is a weekday or not, and your terminal.

Arriving 7:45 in the morning, on a Friday, terminal 2A.

Ditto...

I have actually NEVER seen anybody at Customs when arriving at CDG so early in the morning - which is virtually every time you fly transatlantic USA --> France.
They probably check in at 9:00 and start with a coffee break like most people here in France :p

Immigration should be longer but still okay, few flights arrive around this time. Mid-day is hell.
If I remember correctly, there should be the first customs checkpoint you run into right out of your plane (this one the most crowded), but keep walking further a little bit, like you're doing a circle around the terminal, and there should be another one, usually much less crowded.
@Jouy31 - do you confirm ??

Cheers,
J-

I can't tell you exactly how long (in minutes) it takes to clear, but our flight always arrives at about 7:45 AM out of PHL. Assuming this is a weekday, we pick up our checked bags, take a cab and are in downtown Paris before 9:00 AM unless traffic is really backed up. On Sat. and Sun there is virtually no traffic.

Bobette

So, if we are just visiting Paris for a week. we need only worry about customs, correct? If I recall when we visited Germany, as long as we didn't have anything to declare... it was "walk through that door, and go into the city"

D

Customs at CDG works in much the same way as at German commercial airports -- go through the designated channel as indicated by the signs and rarely get flagged for a check unless you selected and walked down the channel for "have something to declare".

Passport control (for immigration) at that time in the morning is usually not busy at all.

SO, when and where do we collect out souvenir passport stamp? :p

didn't get one at all in Berlin, Hamburg, or Barcelona.... but have at least ten from Amsterdam, and those were all for just passing through the airport.

D

I'd love to offer an answer but my last experience with French customs was when, due to a medical reason, I had to postpone a trip back to the states after checking in @ CDG.

The next morning, after being reticketed, I was told to go into the customs area to the AA baggage desk to get my baggage in order to re-check-in.

Picking up the baggage was no problem, but on the way out I was stopped by French Customs.. who searched my bag even though it had never left France!

Greg

Interesting...I actually went back to the "Stamp Guy" at CDG and asked him to stamp it again. He didn't the first time. A,nd for whatever reason (likely jet-lag) I got concerned US customs would hassle me on the return. Anyway, he glared at me (maybe that's a bit harsh...probably more amused), stamped it and I was on my way.

Is that being a bit too anal about foreign travel these days?

If you arrive in business class (at least aa had this feature) you get a "fasttrak" card (similar to LHR,) which allows you to go on the fast line. (This is a new feature, which I used in December 07.)

I wouldn't say 'anal', but it's certainly unnecessary. The sole purpose of the stamps is to check you don't overstay your allowed time in the country, and this is mostly recorded by computer now (when they swipe your passport) anyway.

I've flown into CDG 3 times in this past 10 days. Maybe it's just me, but luggage delivery at CDG seems to take longer than at most other airports.

Never flown into CDG 3 - thankfully - but, yes, luggage delivery at CDG is horrible. At CDG 1, it's at least 1 hour. At CDG 2 (Air France terminal), it's sometimes less... But overall the worst airport I fly into in terms of baggage delivery...

Not as bad as the BA flights into LHR T1 ...