How long does it take to clear customs at Seatac

[pscot]

My wife is returning from Europe. She has a connecting flight at O'Hare. Where will she go through customs and how long will it take.

[gateley]

1. I'm thinking she'll go through Customs in Chicago.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

2. If she is

white with an American passport, 30 mins max.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. If she first hits America in Chicago, she'll clear customs there. It depends on how many

international passengers arrive at around the same time as to how long it will take. I've gone through customs in the middle of the night in about 30 minutes and waited in line for hours at other times.

Travel people will usually recommend 3 hours between international flight arrival and connection to some other city.

[rsdsharp]

4. When i returned from China about 20 years ago

we landed at SeaTac and then flew on to O'Hare. We cleared customs at SeaTac -- it took about 30 seconds for my wife and I to clear. There were a few minutes waiting in line to get to the customs agent.

Since she will apparently be landing in Chicago first, I think she'll go through customs there.

[pscot]

5. In the dear departed past it was never an issue

Nowadays, who knows?

[uppityperson]

6. First place you land in the USA you clear customs and passport control.

It depends on how many people they have working and how bad a day they are having. I've never done O'Hare but typically under 1/2 hour for the whole group. The worst was somewhere in TX (Houston I think) when the power failed after hiking halfway through the airport. Yes, that meant the escalators no longer worked either. So, up the stairs, carrying everything by hand, across the airport to another place they could check us. Still I was through in 1/2 hr.

[pscot]

7. Both legs of her flight are on United

so hopefully they'll expedite things. And traffic should be light on Monday evening. She's an experienced traveler, but this is her first trip in about 10 years, and of course age makes everything more challenging.