ian-mstm

I suggest you get a new friend. The one you have is an idiot.

Ian

A I

That was not directed at me, and it still hurt...(take it as a compliment to the effectiveness of your comment - it made me laugh out loud)

crg

I'm still trying to figure out what a non national citizen is.......

The US categories include US citizens, immigrant aliens, nonimmigrant aliens, refugees, asylees to name a few. If there was a line for non citizen US nationals, I suspect there would be cob webs all over it.

rpjs

American Samoans are non-citizen US nationals.

rpjs

I noticed the last couple of times going through JFK that the LPR line appears to be fastest of all as there's so few people using it. I have been advocating flying through Dublin to do US immigration there, but my last experience with Aer Lingus was so bad (delays meant my flight from Dublin missed US pre-clearance and EI lost my bag which took four days to turn up) that I think if I fly again this side of naturalization I'll go direct to JFK.

crg

Yes, some are and some Swains Islanders too. I suspect a lot of them are US citizens by birth or parentage. The cob web aspect is because they're rarely going to be seen at JFK. The State Department doesn't even bother developing a distinct travel document or certificate for them.

To roughly put in in context, if all 55,000 people in American Samoa were nationals then a line dedicated for US resident albinos would still see 3500% more traveler's than a line for nationals.

Flabound oneday

last trip and the next one I have flown with BA and gone London city-JFK with a stop at Shannon where you clear immigration. its brilliant and you arrive at JFK as a domestic pax. you are off the plane and away in less than 5 minutes

kimilseung

The big clue is that you will be on a visa.

A citizen doesn't need a visa, a resident doesn't need a visa. Visas are for foreigners seeking entry, get in line with the rest of the hoi polloi

RICH

Actually, the real issue is, how many people are in front of you. The people directing the queues, are not just there to make sure you are in "the right line", but to make it more efficient.

I was at Miami last year, and the "Citizen line" was gone, so they directed people to those booths with Officers free. Still, people were reluctant to leave their "right" line, and go through the "wrong" one!

crg

Our child became ill on a flight to Miami and needed a change of clothes as did my spouse. We made a bee line for the airline crew queue which was unoccupied and made it right through to baggage claim. Perhaps the border guard had kids...

Learned something new that day. Dry coffee grounds sprinkled liberally can take care of odors on board of an aircraft.

RICH

I REALLY feel sorry for the people behind you, then

RICH

Not exactly what I as getting at. The bulk of a UK flight will likely be VWP, by definition, straight forward visit. A visa holder is outside of the norm.

notshipman

It really depends on which terminal you land it and at what time that determines your queue length. There is a website that gives you an idea. If you arrive late in the evening more than likely you will be fine with very little wait!