I am travelling to Cincinnati from Lester B Pearson Intl airport with a layover in Detroit. I have a B1/B2 visa. I am also a Canadian PR. Will I have to go through customs when I land in Detroit? If yes, my layover time is 48 mins. Is that enough time to finish going through customs and all other procedures?

Thanks in advance for the help!

  • 1
    You will go through customs in Canada, in what is known as pre-clearance. – choster Nov 26 '14 at 2:29

Most major Canadian airports have a US border post in them, including Pearson. For direct flights from these airports to the US (Detroit) you'll pass through the US border pre-clearance after check-in and before getting to the departure gate in Toronto. You'll want to arrive a little bit early to the airport in Toronto to account for the time it'll take you to go through the US border before your flight departs.

(A notable Canadian airport without US pre-clearance is Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto. Porter Airlines' US-bound passengers complete immigration on arrival like those from any other non pre-clearance airport in the world.)

In Detroit your flight will arrive alongside domestic US flights inside the departures security area. You can proceed directly to the gate of your connecting flight. You should have plenty of time.

  • 1
    I am afraid you are incorrect, in a nit-picky way. MOST Canadian airports do not have a US border post in them. There are literally thousands of airports in Canada. – CGCampbell Mar 1 '16 at 14:46
  • @DJClayworth there are nine preclearance locations in Canada. Does Canada really have 17 or fewer international airports? The answer depends on the definition of international airport, which seems to be surprisingly difficult to pin down. At least, there are 27 with a name that includes the string "international airport": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_airports_in_Canada – phoog Mar 1 '16 at 17:24
  • @CGCampbell of which nine currently have US preclearance. See cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance. – phoog Mar 1 '16 at 17:26
  • 1
    @phoog: Note that one of those preclearance locations (Victoria) is a cruise ship terminal. Only eight airports have preclearance facilities; I counted an additional six airports (Billy Bishop, Victoria, Kelowna, Quebec City, Saskatoon, Regina) that have year-round cross-border service but no preclearance facilities. (Plus a few smaller airports with seasonal service to places like Orlando.) – Michael Seifert Mar 1 '16 at 17:48
  • 1
    Region of Waterloo also has year-round cross-border services. But I don't think anybody is going to call it 'major'. – DJClayworth Mar 1 '16 at 19:56

Pearson airport has a US customs pre-clearance. I have traveled from US-Canada-Back through Pearson several times on my student visa + Canadian PR. After you check in your bags at Pearson you'll go through security clearance and then US CBP (immigration). You might wanna arrive at Pearson atleast 3 hours in advance, since last time it took me 1 hour or so to go through US customs at Pearson. Once you clear US preclearance you are technically in US domestic terminal even though you are physically in Toronto. Thereafter you do not need to go through US customs and immigration again.

As to whether the 48 minutes at Detroit are enough, I would think so, based on extensive domestic travel experience. Really depends on how far you have to walk from gate to gate, in Detroit.

Check out this link for preclearance Canada locations: https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance

Your Answer

