Border Crossing Queue Times (Immigration)

Source

Immigration Department (IMMD)

Arrivals Queue: https://secure1.info.gov.hk/immd/mobileapps/2bb9ae17/data/CPQueueTimeR.json
Departures Queue: https://secure1.info.gov.hk/immd/mobileapps/2bb9ae17/data/CPQueueTimeV.json
API Docs: https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/services/service-border-control-points.html

Format

JSON Updated every ~5 minutes. No API key.

~5 min

Update Interval

Land Border Posts

Free

No Auth

Schema / Fields

Field	Type	Example	Description
`CONTROL_POINT`	string	`"Lo Wu"`	Border crossing name
`ARRIVAL_TYPE`	string	`"Mainland Residents"`	Traveller category
`QUEUE_TIME`	string	`"5 - 10 mins"`	Current queue time range
`UPDATE_TIME`	string	`"08:25"`	Last update time
`STATUS`	string	`"Open"`	Post operating status

Control Points

Post	Connection	Key Usage
Lo Wu	East Rail Line (EAL)	Highest volume
Lok Ma Chau	Shuttle train	Second highest
Man Kam To	Road only	Commercial traffic
Sha Tau Kok	Road	Lower volume
Shenzhen Bay	Road (SZ Bay Bridge)	Western corridor
Hung Hom	High-speed rail (XRL)	Premium travellers

Example API Call

# Arrivals queue times
curl "https://secure1.info.gov.hk/immd/mobileapps/2bb9ae17/data/CPQueueTimeR.json" \
  | jq '.controlPoint[] | {name: .name, queue: .detail[].queueTime}'

# Departures queue times
curl "https://secure1.info.gov.hk/immd/mobileapps/2bb9ae17/data/CPQueueTimeV.json"

Example Response

{
  "updateTime": "08:25",
  "controlPoint": [
    {
      "name": "Lo Wu",
      "status": "Open",
      "detail": [
        {
          "type": "Mainland Residents",
          "queueTime": "5 - 10 mins"
        },
        {
          "type": "Other Visitors",
          "queueTime": "10 - 20 mins"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Shenzhen Bay",
      "status": "Open",
      "detail": [
        {
          "type": "Mainland Residents",
          "queueTime": "< 5 mins"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Used By

Model	How
Tourist & Mainland Visitor Flow	Long queues (>20 min) = high incoming mainland visitor volume that day
LLM-Powered Agents	Border queue data informs “mainland tourist” agent population size on a given day

Notes / Gotchas

Queue times are qualitative ranges, not exact minutes — convert to numeric mid-points for analysis
Lo Wu is the dominant crossing by volume: its queue time is the best proxy for overall mainland visitor load
Data only covers land border crossings — visitors arriving by air or sea (cruise) are not captured
High queue times positively correlate with tourist spending in retail/restaurant districts like Sheung Wan