Between the aircraft door and the exit there are two checks, in order, run by different agencies. Immigration decides whether you may enter; customs decides what may enter with you. On many itineraries both happen at your first point of entry rather than your final destination, which is why a connection through a hub is not the same as a connection at home.
The short version
- Immigration first, then luggage, then customs. That order is nearly universal.
- You clear at your first point of entry, which on a connecting itinerary is often not where you are going.
- Have the arrival address and onward ticket to hand. They are the two questions everybody is asked and the two nobody has ready.
- Biometric collection is increasingly routine, and 7 of the 211 destinations the State Department covers mention it in their entry information.
- Declaring costs a minute; not declaring is the offense.
What You Need to Know
Arrival is a sequence, and knowing it removes most of the anxiety. You leave the aircraft, follow signs to arrivals, queue for immigration, present your passport and any entry permission, answer a few questions, collect checked luggage, and pass through customs, where you either walk through or are asked to have a bag examined.
Some countries add steps: a health screening, an arrival card completed on the aircraft or online before departure, or a biometric capture at the desk. None of these is difficult; all of them are slower if you meet them for the first time at the front of a queue.
Where it happens
Your first point of entry into a country is where you clear it, not your final destination. Flying to a regional city via the national capital means clearing immigration and customs in the capital, collecting your bag there, and rechecking it for the domestic leg. That is a real amount of time and the commonest reason a connection that looked comfortable is not.
How It Works
Immigration
An officer establishes who you are, that you hold the permission you are relying on, and that your account of the visit matches it. The questions are ordinary: purpose, length of stay, where you are staying, how you are leaving. Answer briefly and accurately. Inconsistency between the answers and the visa is what the questions are for.
Many countries now use automated gates for some passports and biometric capture at the desk for others. Follow the signage rather than the queue that looks shortest; the wrong lane costs more than it saves.
Luggage
Between the two checks. Where you are connecting onward on the same ticket, you may still have to collect your bag here for customs and immediately recheck it at a transfer desk, which is usually just past the customs hall. Look for the signs before you leave the area.
Customs
A declaration, sometimes on a form and increasingly on a screen or an app completed before you land. The categories are consistent: food, plant and animal products, quantities of alcohol and tobacco above an allowance, goods above a value threshold, currency above a declaration limit, and anything on a country-specific prohibited list. Customs and immigration basics covers what each is looking for.
What to Do Before Your Trip
- Write down the address you are staying at and carry it on paper. It is the first thing an arrival form asks and the phone is usually off.
- Keep the onward or return ticket reachable without an internet connection.
- Find out whether an arrival card or online form is required, and whether it must be completed before departure.
- Empty food from your bags before you land. It is the most common fine and the easiest to avoid.
- Check whether you must collect and recheck luggage at your point of entry, because it changes your connection.
- Have the passport and any entry permission in your hand, not in the overhead locker.
Arriving with a group? Twenty travelers clearing two checks is a scheduling problem before it is a compliance one, and the arrival-day plan is usually what pays for underestimating it.
Explore group travel planningImportant Considerations
The queue is the variable
How long arrival takes is set almost entirely by how many wide-body aircraft landed in the same half hour. This is why one traveler reports twenty minutes and another two hours at the same airport, and why a connection should be judged on the bad case rather than the average.
Answer for yourself
Each traveler answers their own questions, including children where the officer asks them. A group leader answering on behalf of an adult traveler creates precisely the impression the questions are designed to surface.
Biometrics
Fingerprint and facial capture on entry is now routine in many countries and is mentioned explicitly in the entry information for 7 of the 211 destinations the State Department covers. It adds a few seconds per passenger and nothing else, and it is not a reason for concern; it is simply worth knowing it will happen so it is not a surprise at the desk.
Exit checks exist too
Many countries check documents on departure, and some charge a departure tax at the airport. Leaving is not always the formality it is at home.
Tips for Group Travelers
- Brief the group before landing: the sequence, the questions, the address, and where to wait after customs.
- Fix a meeting point past customs, and tell everyone that the group re-forms there rather than in the hall.
- Give every traveler the accommodation address on paper for the arrival form.
- Allow a realistic clearance time in the arrival-day schedule, especially where a visa-on-arrival desk comes first.
- Warn the group about food in bags, which is where group fines actually come from.
- Do not hold everyone’s documents. Each traveler presents their own.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Not knowing the address you are staying at. It is the first question on the form.
- Assuming you clear at your final destination. You clear at your first point of entry.
- Not allowing for collecting and rechecking luggage on a connecting itinerary.
- Carrying food through without thinking. Fruit from the aircraft counts.
- Treating the declaration form as a formality. It is a legal statement.
- Packing the passport in a bag that goes into the hold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I clear immigration at my connecting airport or my destination?
At your first point of entry into that country, which on a connecting itinerary is frequently the hub rather than your destination. Where the connection is to a domestic flight, expect to clear immigration, collect your bag, pass customs and recheck the bag before continuing. Build that into the connection time.
What will I be asked at immigration?
Why you are visiting, how long you are staying, where you are staying, and how you are leaving. Answer briefly and accurately and have the address and onward ticket to hand. The questions are simple; what the officer is listening for is whether the answers are consistent with the permission you hold.
Do I have to collect my luggage if I am connecting?
Sometimes, even on a single ticket, because customs requires the bag to be presented at the point of entry. There is normally a transfer desk immediately after customs to recheck it. Ask at your first check-in desk where the bag is tagged to, and look at the signage on arrival rather than assuming.
Will my fingerprints be taken?
In many countries, yes, and the entry information for 7 of the 211 destinations the State Department covers mentions biometric collection specifically. It takes a few seconds and applies to most arriving visitors. It is worth knowing about only so that it is not unexpected.
What if I am not sure whether to declare something?
Declare it. An item that turns out to be permitted costs you a minute at the desk. Failing to declare an item that turns out to be prohibited is itself the offense, and the penalty frequently does not depend on the value of the item. This is the single most useful thing to understand about customs.
Related Travel Tips
- Flights and airports, the section this guide belongs to.
- Customs and Immigration Basics. The two checks in more detail, including allowances.
- Minimum Connection Times. Why clearing entry mid-journey changes the arithmetic.
- Passport Validity Requirements. What is checked when the passport is presented.
Plan Your Trip With LABUSA Travel
Arrival is the part of an itinerary most likely to run long and least likely to have been planned in detail, and for a group it sets the whole first day. LABUSA Travel builds realistic clearance times into arrival days and briefs groups before they are standing in the hall.
Talk with a LABUSA Travel advisor about a trip you are considering, or read about our group travel service if you are arriving with a party.
Verify Before You Travel
Entry procedures, arrival forms and customs allowances are set by each country and change. Confirm them with your destination’s embassy or consulate and with the U.S. Department of State, and read U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Know Before You Go guidance for the return journey. This page is general guidance, not advice about your specific trip.
Travel requirements, health guidance and safety conditions can change. Always confirm current requirements with the appropriate government or official authority before departure.