PHI immigration lineup
Aug 30, 2006, 3:35 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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PHI immigration lineup
I am a Canadian, who is considering going between YOW and IST, via PHI on US Air next month.
If I come back, I would obviously have to go through US immigration and customs lines. What are the lineups, either for the US citizen/residents' lines, or for the nonUS resident line?
PS-As a Canadian, I am getting contradictory information as to whether I can use the US citizen and residents line,or the nonUS resident line (the issue being Canadians, besides Americans, do not need visas, are not on a visa waiver program, and do not have to be fingerprinted or retinal scanned - however, Canadians still are not "US citizens or residents" - a thread on the AC forum was giving contradictory information as to whether I had the ability to use the American line, or whether I had to go onto the nonAmerican line.
If I come back, I would obviously have to go through US immigration and customs lines. What are the lineups, either for the US citizen/residents' lines, or for the nonUS resident line?
PS-As a Canadian, I am getting contradictory information as to whether I can use the US citizen and residents line,or the nonUS resident line (the issue being Canadians, besides Americans, do not need visas, are not on a visa waiver program, and do not have to be fingerprinted or retinal scanned - however, Canadians still are not "US citizens or residents" - a thread on the AC forum was giving contradictory information as to whether I had the ability to use the American line, or whether I had to go onto the nonAmerican line.
Aug 30, 2006, 9:41 pm
#2
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Join Date: Apr 2006
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It's fast--at least that has been my experience. Both lines (US and visitors) seem to move pretty briskly.
Aug 30, 2006, 10:18 pm
#3
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Scottsdale AZ
Posts: 727
Don't even think about it. If you want to use the US citizen/ resident line, get a US passport or green card! Canadians are not Americans. That means you need to use the foreigner line. Got it?
I *hated* it when Canadians would try to sneak into the US citizen line at YYZ- the US citizen line is never more than 5 people with 2-3 immigration officials while the noncitizen line is like 45 minutes!
I *hated* it when Canadians would try to sneak into the US citizen line at YYZ- the US citizen line is never more than 5 people with 2-3 immigration officials while the noncitizen line is like 45 minutes!
Aug 30, 2006, 10:23 pm
#4
Moderator: American AAdvantage & Marriott Bonvoy
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Location: PHX
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Posts: 8,116
Originally Posted by schistosomiasis
Canadians are not Americans. That means you need to use the foreigner line. Got it?
Use the shortest line -- like most Americans would.
Aug 30, 2006, 11:09 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 11,377
Originally Posted by schistosomiasis
Don't even think about it. If you want to use the US citizen/ resident line, get a US passport or green card! Canadians are not Americans. That means you need to use the foreigner line. Got it?
In fact, US citizens can often use the "Citizens" line when travelling to many European countries (it's labelled as such). But you, schistosomiasis, shouldn't--because you can get an EU passport if you wanted to use that line.
Aug 31, 2006, 8:37 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Posts: 253
Originally Posted by schistosomiasis
Don't even think about it. If you want to use the US citizen/ resident line, get a US passport or green card! Canadians are not Americans. That means you need to use the foreigner line. Got it?
I *hated* it when Canadians would try to sneak into the US citizen line at YYZ- the US citizen line is never more than 5 people with 2-3 immigration officials while the noncitizen line is like 45 minutes!
I *hated* it when Canadians would try to sneak into the US citizen line at YYZ- the US citizen line is never more than 5 people with 2-3 immigration officials while the noncitizen line is like 45 minutes!
Aug 31, 2006, 8:54 am
#7
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Ontario, CAN
Posts: 5,813
Originally Posted by FlyerGoldII
I am a Canadian, who is considering going between YOW and IST, via PHI on US Air next month.
If I come back, I would obviously have to go through US immigration and customs lines. What are the lineups, either for the US citizen/residents' lines, or for the nonUS resident line?
PS-As a Canadian, I am getting contradictory information as to whether I can use the US citizen and residents line,or the nonUS resident line (the issue being Canadians, besides Americans, do not need visas, are not on a visa waiver program, and do not have to be fingerprinted or retinal scanned - however, Canadians still are not "US citizens or residents" - a thread on the AC forum was giving contradictory information as to whether I had the ability to use the American line, or whether I had to go onto the nonAmerican line.
If I come back, I would obviously have to go through US immigration and customs lines. What are the lineups, either for the US citizen/residents' lines, or for the nonUS resident line?
PS-As a Canadian, I am getting contradictory information as to whether I can use the US citizen and residents line,or the nonUS resident line (the issue being Canadians, besides Americans, do not need visas, are not on a visa waiver program, and do not have to be fingerprinted or retinal scanned - however, Canadians still are not "US citizens or residents" - a thread on the AC forum was giving contradictory information as to whether I had the ability to use the American line, or whether I had to go onto the nonAmerican line.
Aug 31, 2006, 8:58 am
#8
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Ontario, CAN
Posts: 5,813
Originally Posted by US_Usually
schistosomiasis, please don't post on this forum if you're going to write messages like this. It's unwelcome.
Aug 31, 2006, 5:28 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Originally Posted by CloudsBelow
My limited experience w/ PHL has shown it's entirely time dependant ... I think AMS, CDG, and FCO all come in ~ 3p. Insane lines when I came back from FCO (I am CDN too, btw).
Sep 1, 2006, 9:20 am
#10
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Ontario, CAN
Posts: 5,813
Originally Posted by FlyerGoldII
Which line do you use - the one for Americans, or the one for non-Americans?
Sep 1, 2006, 11:29 am
#11
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 73
In my experience, the lines move at about the same pace. Twenty minutes is the longest I've had to wait on about ten return trips from Europe. Also, the lines are almost faster in Europe.