I refer the letter on JFK airport “A very far way to go” by Leon Suseran with great interest. (Chronicle Saturday 25/08).
I visit the United States and Guyana on a yearly basis travelling on a European Union passport.
To the United States, I mainly use JFK, Newark and Orlando airports.
On none of my many visits, did I ever experience the “stepping off the plane to getting through immigration takes no longer than three minutes” scenario that Mr. Suseran wrote about. In fact, I was delayed once for over three hours.
It takes more than three minutes to even get to the arrivals lounge at any one of the U.S. airports.
Then the queue starts! This queue snakes on forever. On several occasions, I have had to ask for assistance as I risked missing my connecting flights because of the immigration delays.
The immigration desk routine has even got longer. I am always asked what is the purpose of my visit; how long do I plan to stay; what is my relationship with my hosts, etc. I then have my fingerprints taken, my iris photographed and only then told “have a good vacation.”
All the questioning takes place in such an officious way, that my attempt once at a joke resulted in being called back for further questioning.  On average, getting out of this queue takes a minimum of 30 minutes.
Then the customs officer ordeal begins another not-too-pleasant experience.
I accept the delays as I know security is what it is all about.
I have been travelling to Guyana since 1970. My last visit was less than a year ago and I was very impressed with the ongoing improvements at the CJIA, especially with the Immigration Officers. They were not only very professional but also very pleasant.
Within fifteen minutes of disembarking at the CJIA, I was leaving the airport with my hosts.
There is no comparison with U.S. airports and CJIA other than they are both international airports. However, I find the people skills at CJIA far more people friendly than at U.S. airports.
Caribbean airports, now that is another story! Most of them and especially the airport with the Guyana bench which has beach tourists from all over the world would benefit from attending the same charm school as the Guyanese immigration/customs officers.

I am pleased that Mr. Suseran had such an exemplary service, but the majority of visitors to the U.S. will say he is the one in a million.