View Full Version : IRIS SCANNING & FINGERPRINTING
Anyone had recent experience of the queues we are likely to experience to do this for the first time since 1st October? Not looking forward to it with 4 kids including a tired 3 year old!!![:O]
Thanks
Nikki
Calamity Jane
08-12-2004, 17:15
We went to New York a few weeks ago, the queues moved pretty quickly, dont know about anywhere else though, it depends on how many other flights have come in, in front of you I would imagine.
DarrenShort
08-12-2004, 17:19
We were at Orlando International a few weeks ago, the fingerprinting and picture taking are very quick - maybe 30secs per person !!!
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
08-12-2004, 17:19
We flew into MCO last week and had all this done. To be honest we did not notice a difference in the wait times at all.
They have very obvious instructions on big signs just before you step up to the immigration desk - basically right index finger, left index finger and then smile for your photo to be taken [msnsmile2]
linda allen
08-12-2004, 17:28
We didn't experience any difference either, we went through MCO in November.
Nostromo
08-12-2004, 17:41
I think queues were slow at first. My wife went to New York on 2nd October and it took her over 3 hours to get through. But like everything new, people are getting used to this system and things are speeding up.:)
I flew through Phoenix a couple of weeks ago and it was no problem at all.
Also, I found an immigration officer with a sense of humour, in fact he was actually comical!!
Matt
No difference in getting in on 13th November.
In fact we actually had a happy joking immigration officer, who told my Mum that she could not work in the US on the visa waiver even babysitting for free....and winked.
Brizzle.
SunLover
08-12-2004, 17:58
Assuming not all flights arrive at the same time as yours, you wont notice any difference in processing times.
chrizzy100
08-12-2004, 18:02
There was a big thing made about the waits on the news in the USA a few months ago......they were worried it would put people off coming because there were reports of very long waits.....so if no-one is having trouble they must of got their acts together.....:)
Lesley S
08-12-2004, 18:17
No difference in queue time, we in fact thought it was quicker. Children do not have their fingerprints or photos taken, only the adults.
Sorry sunnyside, beg to differ there. We were second in the queue at MCO in Nov behind a family with 5 children ranging from teens to tots and they all had their fingerprints and photos taken - including the crying tot!!
caroline
08-12-2004, 18:30
We were told over 14's only have their photos and finger prints taken, our 13 year old was waved through.
Sounds like our officer was a bit of a jobs worth then - he took ages[msnsad]
caroline
08-12-2004, 20:25
It maybe that the family in front of you were travelling on VISA's rather than the Visa Waiver Scheme - I don't know for sure but maybe anybody travelling on a Visa get's fingerprinted??
ujpest doza
08-12-2004, 20:29
It should only be those aged 14 and over.
Mo Green
08-12-2004, 20:36
We flew in via Atlanta on Saturday and went through very quickly. Only problem was the machine did not read my finger prints at first - said I may have got a bit de-hydrated on the plane? Had to rub my finger behind my ear and the machine read it OK then. Had a bit of a jokey officer who said he would let me in anyway as Cliff was OK and he did not want to cause a divorce.[laugh]
Cruella DeVilla
08-12-2004, 20:51
We made sure we were first off the plane last week! We were first in the queue. Have booked seats near the door again for Sunday to ensure we do not have a plane load infront of us. No guarantee we don't hit another plane load of passengers though!!!!
Nostromo
08-12-2004, 21:01
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Cruella DeVilla
We made sure we were first off the plane last week! We were first in the queue. Have booked seats near the door again for Sunday to ensure we do not have a plane load infront of us. No guarantee we don't hit another plane load of passengers though!!!!
[/quote]
CDV, you don't need to book seats near the door. They'll take one look at you and stand aside and let you pass![msnwink]
Lesley S
08-12-2004, 21:28
Trina, our 6 year old was definitely not finger printed or had her photo taken and this was only 2 weeks ago. Agree with Caroline, it was for 14 and above.
Your officer Trina must have been having a bad day then!!!!!!
Cruella DeVilla
09-12-2004, 12:20
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Cruella DeVilla
We made sure we were first off the plane last week! We were first in the queue. Have booked seats near the door again for Sunday to ensure we do not have a plane load infront of us. No guarantee we don't hit another plane load of passengers though!!!!
[/quote]
We can only hope!:D
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
09-12-2004, 12:30
When we arrived at MCO last week our flight was late so one of the Gatwick flights had just beaten us there and so the queues were quite long. It still did not take long to get through - no more than 20 minutes.
djdigitald
09-12-2004, 13:22
When i went on November 11th to MCO it was an absolute Joke, it took us nearly 1.5 hours to get from the plane toactually having our fingerprint etc.. done. It has severely put us off flying to Orlando again. We all thought how obnoxious the US Customs official were, ok they are only doing their job but they do not have to be rude about it at the same time. :(
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
09-12-2004, 13:55
I'm not sure what happened there but we have never had anything but a pretty quick trip through MCO. I guess everywhere has their bad days and it looks like you may have got one [msnsad].
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by djdigitald
When i went on November 11th to MCO it was an absolute Joke, it took us nearly 1.5 hours to get from the plane toactually having our fingerprint etc.. done. It has severely put us off flying to Orlando again. We all thought how obnoxious the US Customs official were, ok they are only doing their job but they do not have to be rude about it at the same time. :(
[/quote]
Sounds like things have improved since our last visit. We arrived at Sanford on 30th Sept. which was the first day of the new procedures. After a nine hour flight we were held on the plane for a further hour before being ushered into a holding lounge where we stayed for another hour. We then came to the main Immigration Hall where the queues reminded me of Disney in peak season. It took 45 mins to get to the officer dealing, but just a few minutes to get the photo and fingerprints. They had the presence of mind to have a couple of officers do a precheck of the documents before you reached the box.After that we collected the cases and went through customs checks. Finally collected the hire car at 9:30 pm (plane arrived 5:30 pm). With luck next time we go it should be more organised. [clap]
I think this is correct because when we went Sept 18th they were only finger-printing and iris checking people WITH visas.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by caroline
It maybe that the family in front of you were travelling on VISA's rather than the Visa Waiver Scheme - I don't know for sure but maybe anybody travelling on a Visa get's fingerprinted??
[/quote]
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
09-12-2004, 18:05
Everyone, including those on a Visa Waiver now gets done.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by george
I think this is correct because when we went Sept 18th they were only finger-printing and iris checking people WITH visas.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by caroline
It maybe that the family in front of you were travelling on VISA's rather than the Visa Waiver Scheme - I don't know for sure but maybe anybody travelling on a Visa get's fingerprinted??
[/quote]
[/quote]
Southsider
09-12-2004, 18:19
Is it done every time you travel?
Tricia
caroline
09-12-2004, 19:24
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by floridadreamvilla.co.uk
Everyone, including those on a Visa Waiver now gets done.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by george
I think this is correct because when we went Sept 18th they were only finger-printing and iris checking people WITH visas.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by caroline
It maybe that the family in front of you were travelling on VISA's rather than the Visa Waiver Scheme - I don't know for sure but maybe anybody travelling on a Visa get's fingerprinted??
[/quote]
[/quote]
[/quote]
Sorry I didn't make myself very clear - What I meant to say was maybe children under 14 travelling on a Visa do get fingerprinted etc as oppose to children under 14 travelling on the visa waiver scheme who don't
djdigitald
09-12-2004, 20:12
John, unfortunately we had a bad everything on that day, it wasn't just the customs. See my report.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by floridadreamvilla.co.uk
I'm not sure what happened there but we have never had anything but a pretty quick trip through MCO. I guess everywhere has their bad days and it looks like you may have got one [msnsad].
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by djdigitald
When i went on November 11th to MCO it was an absolute Joke, it took us nearly 1.5 hours to get from the plane toactually having our fingerprint etc.. done. It has severely put us off flying to Orlando again. We all thought how obnoxious the US Customs official were, ok they are only doing their job but they do not have to be rude about it at the same time. :(
[/quote]
[/quote]
diverdrew
09-12-2004, 20:16
In order to clear the 'muddy-waters', see the link below:
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/US-VISIT_USVISITFactSheet_08232004.pdf
Cheers
Drew
We were in San Francisco and L.A. last month the lines were no longet than b4, we were with my parents and they go fast tracked did not see any kids scanned
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
10-12-2004, 01:12
That's what I was meaning - everyone apart from children [msnsmile]<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by caroline
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by floridadreamvilla.co.uk
Everyone, including those on a Visa Waiver now gets done.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by george
I think this is correct because when we went Sept 18th they were only finger-printing and iris checking people WITH visas.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by caroline
It maybe that the family in front of you were travelling on VISA's rather than the Visa Waiver Scheme - I don't know for sure but maybe anybody travelling on a Visa get's fingerprinted??
[/quote]
[/quote]
[/quote]
Sorry I didn't make myself very clear - What I meant to say was maybe children under 14 travelling on a Visa do get fingerprinted etc as oppose to children under 14 travelling on the visa waiver scheme who don't
[/quote]
caroline
10-12-2004, 01:32
John - I don't if I'm confusing you or you're confusing me - but I think we're both saying the same thing??;)
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
10-12-2004, 01:37
We are - it's been a long day here [msnwink][msnwink][msnwink]<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by caroline
John - I don't if I'm confusing you or you're confusing me - but I think we're both saying the same thing??;)
[/quote]
Its not the finger printing and scanning that takes the time at MCO, its waiting at the carousel for your luggage. Arrived 23/11/04 at 1630hrs and then waited an hour for luggage, this isn't the first time this has happened at MCO, never have this problem at Sandford always a quick getaway there.
Then we arrive back at LGW 20 minutes early on Virgin to sit on the plane for 40 minutes waiting for a tug to pull the plane 20ft and the buses to ferry us to the South terminal. Then we were told there would be a further delay as there was a problem with the luggage. We arrived at LGW at 8.30am evetually left at 10.15am. My daughter flew in from MCO on a BA flight the week before, arrived at North terminal and within 10 minutes had disembarked collected her luggage and was on her way to college. Thats the way to do it.
pieman790
11-12-2004, 03:15
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by florida
Its not the finger printing and scanning that takes the time at MCO, its waiting at the carousel for your luggage. Arrived 23/11/04 at 1630hrs and then waited an hour for luggage, this isn't the first time this has happened at MCO, never have this problem at Sandford always a quick getaway there.
[/quote]
My sister in law arrived in November at MCO from Chicago. It took them almost 3 hours to get the luggage to the carousel and this was an internal flight.
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
11-12-2004, 03:26
Your experience below is just from a domestic flight which is not really related to this thread. Sometimes bags take a while to arrive at the baggage carousel at most airports. Having said this, we go to MCO all the time and have never experienced this.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by pieman790
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by florida
Its not the finger printing and scanning that takes the time at MCO, its waiting at the carousel for your luggage. Arrived 23/11/04 at 1630hrs and then waited an hour for luggage, this isn't the first time this has happened at MCO, never have this problem at Sandford always a quick getaway there.
[/quote]
My sister in law arrived in November at MCO from Chicago. It took them almost 3 hours to get the luggage to the carousel and this was an internal flight.
[/quote]
We arrived at MCO on the Virgin flight from Manchester on November 5th. It took us an hour and a half to get through immigration.
The finger printing and iris scanning was quick for us when we finally got to the front of the queue but unfortunatley there was a problem with a party in front of us. We moved to a different line then the same thing happened again. They seemed to be training new staff with 2 immigration officers per terminal, one watching over the others shoulder to see that they were doing things correctly. Every time something out of the ordinary happened the queue just ground to a halt. In the end we joined a queue with only one officer and it moved fine.
We did get to have a chat with the couple behind us who were also getting very fed up. We told them all about our new villa and even managed to give them a leaflet. I also told them about this site and how useful it was when you were booking a Florida holiday so it wasn't a complete waste of time [msnwink].
did it all on Wednesday and took 5mins - very speedy - got through and my bags were waiting for me
caroline
11-12-2004, 12:25
We go to Florida at least twice a year and have never waited more than 10 minutes for our bags :) touch wood it remains like this!
Magical Dreams
09-01-2005, 22:16
Even though we have never had a problem, we always feel this is the most stressful part of the holiday!
Not that streeful either.
You know what I mean!!
No problems!
[msnsmile2]
LiesaAnna
09-01-2005, 22:50
went though smoothly, altho the queue was slow, not to bad, only over 14 were photographed and finger printed, that was dec 04, didnt take anywhere as long as anticipated! and had lovely pair on immigration desk, very funny as one was being trained they were lovely, we normally get panicky at this point but i dont know why?
We flew into Miami at Christmas, and it did not seem an excessively long wait - the finger print and photo bit is very quick - in fact the whole process was quicker than when we went in August, with no finger prints or photos.
We were told by our immigration officer that both finger prints and photos will have to be done each time you enter the US, so no getting away from it in the future.
However, I am sure they will get quicker as time goes by, but that won't stop the normal sort of delays by Immigration Officers who are very thorough, and take their time. Any delays with those people in front of us did not seem related to either the finger printing or the photographing - it was more to do with normal documentation, which could happen at any time, unfortunately.