realgirl58

I have read that it is taking 2-4 hours to get through passport control when arriving in Lisbon from the US. I assume passport control takes place before passengers pick up their luggage. I can't make our seats be any closer to the front of the plane, so we deplane when we deplane. I guess we can make sure we use the restroom before we deplane, so we don't have to make that pitstop.

Does anyone have any tips? Otherwise, it is what it is and I will prepare my husband for a long wait.

Thanks!

crellston

In many airports (and I don't suppose it is any different in Lisbon) it is possible to pay for a fast track service. Just google fast track Lisbon Airport. If you are flying business class it may already be included in your ticket.

Maribel

Fast track won't help when arriving in Lisbon from a direct flight from the US to get through passport control/immigration more quickly.

We've used it, though, when departing Lisbon for the US or Spain to speed us up through security, like the TSA pre-check. For your return to the US, if returning from Lisbon or Porto, you can purchase Fast Track online on the airport web page or on the ANA ap.

https://www.aeroportolisboa.pt/en/li...ces/fast-track

https://www.aeroportoporto.pt/en/opo...ces/fast-track.

hetismij2

Lisbon for US visitors sounds very similar to almost any US airport for Europeans, except they probably make you feel welcome once you finally reach the person checking the passport and don't treat you as a potential criminal with fingerprinting , mug shots and nosy questions.
Sorry. No sympathy from me for that sort of wait.

aulop

Hi
The short answer is no, except if you have a biometric Portuguese passport or a diplomatic passport.

There are several reasons for the wait times at airport:
- the number of flights that preceded yours that are still being processed.
- flights from drug producing/ trafficking countries, require closer attention and that takes time
- individuals that exhibit certain behaviors require closer attention and thus cause delays ( without revealing any confidential info, there's a reason why officials at airports/ borders talk the way they do).
- the number of airport officials available at any particular time.

Hopefully your flight is not preceded by a large number of flights from drug countries with individuals exhibiting security triggering behavior on a day that lots of staff are off with a illness - that you'd be most of your day in line.

Happy travels

realgirl58

Thanks, everyone. I guess I was hoping for the sort of advice one might receive on a Disney forum, e.g. "the line on the far right always moves the fastest." I'll make sure we eat whatever is offered for breakfast on the plane, and pack our patience.

bilboburgler

certainly it might help (might) with less luggage (so you don't kill time picking up bags, but Lisbon can be fast), less overall weird clothing (not saying you do wear it just ... don't) biometrics might help but sometimes they get backed up because people get confused, it is a queue, suck it up

realgirl58

Right. When traveling, I always try to look unremarkable. I remember one time returning from Europe, my husband hadn't shaved in a few days. He received a lot more questions from US passport control than I did.

And yes, suck it up we shall.

progol

We managed to avoid it entirely because we flew from NY into Brussels, a Schengen country, where we went through passport control. It was only when we avoided passport control entering Lisbon that we discovered that entering one Schengen country meant we didn’t need to go through passport control again. I was happily surprised. But it’s only when you stop in a Schengen country.

mike1728

We went Boston to Lisbon 10 days ago via Madrid. So Lisbon was a breeze, 5 minutes from plane to airport exit. Sounds great? Noooo. Missed our connecting flight to Lisbon because of Passport Control in Madrid. Has to be a better way, although Iberia giving us 1 hour time between flights is what caused our missed flight.

realgirl58

Mike, a few years back we were traveling to Budapest, with connections at O'Hare and Heathrow...BA, starting on AA. At the BA counter at ORD the agent told us we would definitely miss our connection at Heathrow because only 90 minutes were scheduled between flights. Don't know why they schedule flights like that.

progol

[QUOTE=mike1728;17363052]We went Boston to Lisbon 10 days ago via Madrid. So Lisbon was a breeze, 5 minutes from plane to airport exit. Sounds great? Noooo. Missed our connecting flight to Lisbon because of Passport Control in Madrid. Has to be a better way, although Iberia giving us 1 hour time between flights is what caused our missed flight.[/

Sorry about that. It took us all of 5-minutes to go through passport control in Brussels. I was sure something was wrong when we just walked off the plane and out the door since I was expecting a 2 hour wait to enter Lisbon.

pkt63

FYI, went through passport control in Lisbon a couple of days ago and it took just over 1 hour. And we were just about the last people from our plane to get in line, so it could have been faster if we had been luckier, etc.

realgirl58

Good to hear. We'll mentally prepare for 4 hours and be happy if it's just one.

rialtogrl

I am with three people who flew non stop from SFO to Lisbon last week, and they said they had no wait at all. No one asked for their tests, either.

Lunalove

If your flight is coming from London Heathrow? Would you be able to get the fast track? We will be flying from Miami with a layover in Heathrow. Wondering if you can get the fast track this way?

realgirl58

Just to report back, we stood in line for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Had a conversation with a nice couple behind us.

suze

Thanks for writing back. Always nice when people take the time to do that.

I was curious, as I'd never heard of waiting 4 hours anywhere for Immigration/Customs.