Have Heathrow immigration queue times stabilized since the Olympics?
score:4
Accepted answer
Honestly, it depends on when your flight arrives (it could be late or early), how many staff are on at that time, and whether other flights have arrived late or early. Peak times are also worse.
The official site is diplomatic and states:
With tougher checks now in place at the border, you may have to wait a little longer to get into the United Kingdom, especially at peak times.
Several news articles talk about waits of 1-4 hours depending on staff, strikes, students, and many other factors.
At Heathrow, Stansted and others, I also take the non-EU queue. Some days I've been lucky to walk straight up and through, other times I've waited hours.
Even if the flights are 'as expected' you could have a contingent of students with messed up visas or something ahead of you, which cause a delay.
Generally Terminal 1 is less busy than Terminal 3 and 5 in terms of passengers, but has the second-most flights. However even if it had the fewest passengers, it might also have the fewest staff rostered on, and so you get a delay.
Long story short; allow for lots and be happy if it's not :)
More post
- 📝 Long distance relationship: UK resident staying in Germany for 6 months?
- 📝 Do we require a transit visa to connect through Abu Dhabi, UAE?
- 📝 Can I hire a scooter in Spain on a UK provisional license?
- 📝 I am a Romanian married to a Dominican and we want to travel to Romania what visa does he need?
- 📝 VWP status for stays longer than 90 days in Mexico
- 📝 Return to UK as a tourist on multi entry business standard visitor visa
- 📝 Ticket types and tips for complex Europe/Asia flights
- 📝 Skiing near Frankfurt 18-23 February
- 📝 What did I do wrong in my interview for a US tourist visa? What can I do to avoid refusal in the future?
- 📝 Expired US Passport / Dual Citizenship Traveling
- 📝 Is it cheaper and/or easier to buy a cheap tent and sleeping bag in Turkey or Bulgaria?
- 📝 Included baggage for long haul flight with Lufthansa
- 📝 Madrid Barajas to Toledo transfer
- 📝 Can KLM Checked-in baggage be **not suitcase**?
- 📝 Frankfurt to Buenos Aires to Santiago de Chile, can I buy Nutella in Frankfurt Duty free and not haven taken away in Buenos Aires?
- 📝 Chamonix - Mont Blanc
- 📝 How can I find out all the stores in a particular street before going there?
- 📝 How I can travel with a 576Wh single‑cell lithium‑ion battery (or 12Ah with 48V) from mainland France to Guadeloupe in the French West Indies?
- 📝 I-94 record on entry from Puerto Rico to US mainland
- 📝 What is a "boarding shoulder" and how does it relate to ferry check-in closing?
- 📝 Refugees situation in Macedonia
- 📝 What's the most up to date search engine for transit within the UK?
- 📝 Driving in the US but lost UK paper licence
- 📝 No free internet in Sydney Kingsford-Smith airport
- 📝 How long do I have to stay outside of the Schengen Area?
- 📝 EU Blue card applied and travel back to India
- 📝 What is the correct visa for a spouse?
- 📝 Can I bring prescription cream to the US?
- 📝 Two one-way tickets from Sweden to Mexico via the US
- 📝 Does the introduction of paid fast lane as replacement of the carpool lane increase or decrease the traffic speed?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Have Heathrow immigration queue times stabilized since the Olympics?
- 📝 Does one have to keep the printed e-Visa on which the immigration agent wrote the visa expiry date?
- 📝 Do I have to go through Canadian immigration before crossing the border by walk to the US?
- 📝 What are the immigration times like at Entebbe airport?
- 📝 Is it compulsory to have a boarding pass at the immigration booth?
- 📝 How long does one have to keep the immigration paper given by Chilean immigration upon entering Chile?
- 📝 If an international flight is turned around mid-air, do the passengers have to pass the immigration and customs upon arrival?
- 📝 Do I have to stick to the length of stay mentioned to the immigration officer during my entry to the US?
- 📝 What to do for Immigration check when you have US visa & the parent company has changed its name?
- 📝 Do I have to go through customs, immigration during my Heathrow layover? I'm switching airlines.
- 📝 Can I have two Schengen visas in the same time since I lost my first one?
- 📝 Do I have a Schengen entry ban if I was arrested in the UK for immigration violation?
- 📝 How many times have airline passengers been restrained in flight in the last year, and is it increasing?
- 📝 "How many times have you been to the UK in the last 10 years?" - For multiple entries during postgraduate study program
- 📝 I travelled on a visit visa to the USA but then have been rejected 5 times
- 📝 Is it possible to buy a combined train ticket to Heathrow that takes the railair?
- 📝 Can I visit Canada without a Canadian visa if I have both the USA B-1/B-2 and F-1 visa?
- 📝 Do the immigration agencies of EU member states keep records of EU citizens entry/exit from the Schengen zone?
- 📝 How is the Louvre queue on free sunday?
- 📝 Different documents shown when entering and exiting the UK - could this lead to immigration assuming I've overstayed?
- 📝 Do I have to book accommodation for the entire stay of a long-term visa before applying for it?
- 📝 If I have a multiple entry visa for China, do I need to provide an itinerary for the second and subsequent entries?
- 📝 Will a green card holder have problems returning to the USA after more than six months away?
- 📝 In-room TV has a USB port, but the provided remote doesn't have buttons for it. Can I use a universal remote to solve the problem during my next trip?
- 📝 Do I have enough time to do tourist things in London during a 9 hour layover at Heathrow Airport?
- 📝 Do I have to leave the Schengen area if I have a short term (C) visa that will expire right before my National Visa (D) officially starts?
- 📝 When entering the US on VWP, are you required to have proof of onward travel within the 90 days?
- 📝 Entered the US by land, left by Mexican land border. Had a flight booked but didn't take it. Will I have problems entering the US again?
- 📝 UK visa refused because the immigration officer has misinterpreted my documents. How do I appeal his decision?
- 📝 Do the Canary Islands always have high waves?