Arrival in Lisbon - Passport control lines?

I assume you mean passport control rather than customs. If you have nothing to declare, customs takes no time but passport control, especially for non EU, does get backed up. I have traveled to Lisbon, and also through Lisbon on TAP airlines several times in recent years. The longest it took was over an hour; other times ranged from 20-45 minutes. However, each time I have been there, there have been deparate people asking to jump the line because they are about to miss a connecting flight.. There have also been some strikes by airport workers that led to delays. I would not hesitate to go to or through Lisbon airport again, but I wouldn't do it on a tight schedule to be safe.

I looked at the Reddit post about the 4 hour delays. No one there claimed actually having a 4 hour or multi hour delay. Those who mentioned actual experiences, reported much shorter times .Mostly the thread was about living with the deficiencies of an airport that is too small for its volume while waiting for a second airport to be built someday.

Thanks for the response! I will stop stressing about this then. :) And I updated the wording in my original post to read passport control instead of customs.

I think it took me about 30 minutes in March 2024. US passport holders were able to use the e-gates at that time, but not all of them were open. Also, some people had problems using them correctly and there were no airport workers to help. So, that slowed things down a bit.

It looks like your tour starts in Lisbon, so I would definitely fly in there.

My trip report details my airport experience. You might find it helpful. It was not my favorite airport.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-lisbon-portugal-my-trip-report

Have a great trip!!

A complicating factor recently had been the introduction of the EES, a new border measure in all Schengen countries in Europe. It’s a new process where by all non-EU residents are required to go through a new machine that takes a photo and fingerprints. A good portion of the machines in Lisbon didn’t work when they first opened, causing embarrassing and frustrating delays.

By the times you come, hopefully, the process will be much smoother. But, as a previous poster mentioned, the Lisbon airport is very over crowded and not equipped to handle the wave of tourists in recent years. I just read an article yesterday of the government assigning new ministers to try to help, but no guarantees.

I have been waiting for 3.5 + hours in line waiting to get my passport checked with at least 30-45 minutes left- the reports of 4+ hour delays at Lisbon airport to just get your passport checked are true! It’s not even that busy. Someone in line suggested flying into Spain and taking a train- will probably try to avoid this airport in the future!

Fortunately, unlike most other EU countries, Portugal is reciprocal with the UK in allowing UK citizens to use the e-gates. When I arrived at Lisbon last month my heart sank when I saw the queues at immigration until I saw the e-gate sign. I really wouldn't have wanted to be in the 'third country' line as it was very long and moving very slowly. The amount of suitcases piling up in the baggage collection was testament to how long people were waiting to clear immigration.

You ask specifically about arrival passport control - I haven't had any issues. In October 2025 they directed us to e-gates that worked fine, through in a minute and then a quick check by a passport officer. In previous visits I've gone to e-gates which were a bit slow because people had trouble using them, and since then when I have a choice at arrivals I've gone to All Passports and got through in about 20 minutes.

I do want to distinguish the arrival experience from Lisbon Terminal 1 departure passport control for the N gates (when leaving Portugal for e.g. the US). In my last visit in October departure passport control was very slow, it took me an hour to get through. When flying out from Lisbon airport you'd want to head to passport control at least 2 hours before your plane's boarding time to be sure to have enough time. I would ignore the wait times posted on the screens, at least when I was there the wait times were not accurate.

The passport control issues at Lisbon airport are significant enough that on December 30, 2025 the government announced it would temporarily suspend European Entry/Exit System (EES) for three months and boost capacity by 30%. See Contingency measures strengthened at Humberto Delgado airport.

Though I was in Portugal last month (Dec. 2025), I had luckily used the Porto airport; but I learned from the local news that at the time (mid-month), passport control at the Lisbon airport was indeed something of a disaster. I don't know whether anyone waited as long as four hours, but one news broadcast mentioned waits of up to three. But presumably this was a temporary matter, due, as mentioned in a response above, to a botched implementation of a new Entry-Exit System. If it isn't already fixed by now, it likely will be when you travel next June. My advice would be to find one or two Portuguese news sources on the internet (there are probably English-language ones available if you don't read Portuguese) and monitor them periodically.

I don't know whether the Porto airport is otherwise "better" than the Lisbon one in any objective way, but it is very nice.