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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We're foreigners (now green card applicants too!) and it's not a double immigration he has to do - just the long line, with the grumpy officers who hate you and automatically think you're out to defraud the United States :-) My kids slept on the floor when they were little, in the line. We're treated like cattle.

If he's unlucky, he or any other foreigner (regardless of whether they're on a visa waiver, visa or green card application) will be asked to wait in a second area to answer more questions. My EU parents on a visa waiver once had to do that, while I waited for 4 hours at Arrivals not knowing what they were up to. But that's rare.

I would consult Waze for the most accurate driving time estimate, then plan to arrive an hour after the plane lands. At that time of the day, a lot of international planes land at Dulles, so there's practically no chance he'll be waiting for you. -and if he does, no big deal, he's safely arrived. But it might cut short your own waiting time, if his immigration process takes longer. I would never tell my college kid to take Metro after landing at Dulles. I would brave any amount of traffic. Bring a book and a travel mug of tea, or something :-) When I was waiting for my college kid at Dulles, I bought him balloons, ha! He's a dual citizen, but the airline lost his luggage, so even though he had no immigration process, it still took a while for him to make it out!

(I'd worry more about Border Control taking issue with his travel authorization, to be honest. The emergency number. That risk decreases massively if he's already traveled on his travel authorization without issue.)

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I'm sorry Green Card applicant... citizens are treated like cattle too, and I have been in the International line where the foreign visa holders had twice as many agents helping them as the citizens.  Get over yourself.  And guess what... hundreds of thousands of Visa overstays occur each year, so there are a lot of people out to defraud the U.S.[/quote]

What matters is ratio of agents to travelers. The international line takes at least double the wait time of the citizen lines nearly 100% of the time. In the afternoon rush of international plane arrivals, it's more like triple, quadruple or more! I use Dulles often. This is from lived experience.

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Secondary immigration is even worse and can feel like a holding pen. When we travel as a family, we go through it with him. Nothing worse than the interminable waiting when there is one agent processing passengers but 4 or 5 others having a chat over a coffee in the background. Certainly makes me aware of my white privilege as everyone else is usually from less developed countries (hence being referred for secondary screening) and probably encounter this a lot. At some stage, another agent finishes their break and ambles over.

Contrast with BWI where it once took us TWENTY MINUTES from disembarking to doing both immigrations, picking up our checked bags and making it outside. The gods surely smiled upon us.  The agent used to work at IAD and said it is a nightmare. Unfortunately it wasn’t an option this time.

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