Time for processing immigrant visa at US airport.?

Question

Will be coming to the US (landing in Chicago) with an immigrant visa. I have 2 hours to catch my connecting flight. Do I have enough time? How long will immigration take to process my immigrant visa?

Answer 1

Two hours is the bare minimum you should allow if you are hoping to catch a connecting flight from an international flight.

Chicago O'Hare is one the busiest airports in the U.S. as far as international travel is concerned, it is right up there with JFK, LAX and MIA. It is also an airport which I use quite a number of times a year and I can tell you that with only two hours, you are going to struggle getting through immigration, collecting your baggage and changing terminals within two-hours. The last time I entered O'Hare I had 1h 50minutes to make my connecting flight to Denver, if on it hadn't been for delays to that flight, I would have missed it, easily.

It really depends on the time of year, the time of day you land and thus how many people are waiting to go through immigration. It really is hit and miss, I always plan for a three hour time frame to catch connecting flights, if that means an extra long layover, then so be it. I would rather wait four-five hours than miss a flight and not getting a seat on the next one.

Answer 2

If there are no problems with your visa, it should not take long at all.

Answer 3

It will take AT LEAST an hour if there are not any problems----you should really allow yourself more time to make the connection.  You don't want to be stressed when the immigration officer is asking you questions.

Answer 4

You really should allow 4 hours for the connection.

You might make it in 2 hours. It has been done before.

When you arrive at immigration you will be sent to secondary processing and the wait there depends on how many people are waiting. It can be a long wait at bust times and there is nothing you can do to hurry it up. If you arrive at a time when the airport is quiet and there are few other's waiting for secondary processing you could be out of there in 15 minutes. If it's busy you will have to wait. If you cause a fuss because you might miss your connecting flight you won't get through any faster, in fact this might delay you more. All you can do is hope for the best.