Crossing the border this holiday? Here are some tips for reducing wait time

PHOENIX — Planning to cross the border this Thanksgiving holiday?

Teresa Small, public affairs liaison for the Tucson Field Office for U.S Customs and Border Protection, shared a few tips for reducing wait times with KTAR News 92.3 FM on Friday.

Travelers should make sure they have their passports, permits and other travel documents ready when approaching a border agent.

“(Travelers) are searching for (documents) as they’re already in front of the officers, so these little things all multiplied by the thousands of cars that we deal with everyday, these small little things do add up,” Small said.

People who need an I-94 form, also known as a permit, to cross the border are encouraged to provide the needed information and pay the $6 fee online up to seven days before travel.

Travelers with radio frequency identification-enabled documents may pass through “ready lanes” that can save them up to 20 percent of the time spent in general lanes, Small said.

“If they have the RFID type of document, that helps even more, because then the officers don’t have to manually input the person’s information,” she said.

Wait times for various border entry points are available on the agency’s website, so travelers can monitor their options and choose one with less traffic.

Small said it is also helpful when travelers declare all of their goods, including food, when passing through customs.

“There is many times that the agriculture products they may be bringing may actually contain pests or diseases, so we want to make sure that what they’re bringing is something that is permissible,” she said.

Small said there’s no way of telling what the wait times throughout the holidays may be, so travelers should give themselves plenty of time to get to their destinations.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Taylor Kinnerup contributed to this report. 

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