Already in the queue: what to do next

How to work out your own wait from your position, not the headline figure, whether to switch crossings, what to do when the queue stops, and how to tell us.

All the advice about choosing a crossing and a departure time ends the moment you join the queue. From there the decisions are different: how long is really left, whether leaving the queue makes sense, whom to call when the column has not moved for an hour. This page is about those decisions.

Updated: 2 September 2026.

Calculate your own time, not the overall one

The figure on the crossing page is the time for someone joining the back of the queue now. Your time is shorter, and you should calculate it from your position:

your time ≈ minimum processing time + cars ahead × the crossing's pace

The pace in our calibration for cars leaving Ukraine: 4 minutes per car at Krakivets and Ustyluh, 6 at Shehyni, Rava-Ruska, Uzhhorod and Porubne, 10 at the small Transcarpathian crossings and some Moldovan ones. Minimum processing time is 15 minutes.

Counting the cars ahead is easier than it seems: a queue rarely flows steadily, it advances in batches of 5–10 cars whenever a group leaves the processing lane. Time the gap between two such batches and count the cars in them, and you have the actual pace right now, more precise than our calibration.

Where the figure comes from once you are standing there

The number on the site combines three sources: official data from the State Border Guard Service, which publishes the number of cars in front of checkpoints, reports from travellers standing in the same queue, and our 60-day history, which builds the typical week. Updates arrive roughly every ten minutes; the age of the figure is printed beneath it.

Once you are in the queue you have something no source has: you can see the queue with your own eyes. If our number and your estimate differ by a factor of two, trust your eyes and tell us, as described below.

Tell us how many cars you see

Every crossing page has a "Report" block. Two things worth entering: how many cars are ahead of you and how long you have been standing. The report goes into the data immediately, without moderation, and it is what corrects the figure when the official source is silent or late.

One report every few minutes is enough; repeats from the same car are not counted. The most valuable report is the one sent from the middle of the queue, not from its head.

Whether to switch to the neighbouring crossing

The rule for those still driving is in How to choose a border crossing: a detour makes sense when the difference in waiting exceeds twice the driving time. For someone already standing, the rule is stricter, because the lost position is added to the driving time.

The arithmetic: your time in this queue by position (not the overall figure) against the full time at the neighbouring crossing plus the drive there. Leave only if the second number is at least an hour smaller than the first: in an hour the neighbouring queue will have changed, and yours here will have moved.

In practice, leaving the queue pays off in two cases: the crossing ahead of you has stopped for a known reason (below), or you joined the back of a Friday peak at a big crossing and there is a small one with a zero queue 40 kilometres away. A simple "ten cars fewer over there" never pays off.

The queue is not moving: why, and what to do

A queue that has stood 30–40 minutes without moving almost always has one of four causes:

1. Shift change at the checkpoint. Processing stops for 20–40 minutes, then resumes.
2. System outage. EES registration on the EU side and database checks on the Ukrainian side depend on connectivity; when it drops, processing goes manual and several times slower. Such delays have become more frequent since the EES launch in 2025; what to expect at the kiosk is covered in EES and ETIAS.
3. An incident at the crossing: a detention, a search, a breakdown in the lane. Unpredictable duration.
4. Air-raid alert. During an alert, exit checkpoints may suspend processing; the crossing page shows the alert status for its region.

What to do: wait 40 minutes before deciding anything; check the crossing page for an updated figure or status; call the Border Guard Service hotline 1598 and ask whether the crossing is operating. Official notices about closures and restrictions are published on the Service's website; rumours in the queue chat usually rest on nothing.

What not to do in the queue

• Do not overtake the column. The approach to most checkpoints has two lanes, and the left one is usually for officials or oncoming traffic. A border guard may send a car to the back of the queue; a conflict with your neighbours in the queue costs more than an hour.
• Do not leave the car for long. The queue advances in batches, and ten minutes away can mean fifty metres of empty tarmac ahead and horns behind.
• Do not keep the engine running for three hours straight unless it is freezing or sweltering. On the approach to a big crossing the tank empties noticeably; where to fill up on either side is shown in the fuel section.
• Do not prepare documents at the last moment. Everyone's passports, the registration certificate, the Green Card, the power of attorney, all in one place and out of their covers. What is checked at each of the four stages is described in Documents and Driving abroad.

With a child in the car, add water, food and a toilet plan; that is covered separately in Crossing the border with a child.

Priority passage

Certain categories have the right to pass the checkpoint outside the general queue, including people with disabilities holding the relevant document. The list and conditions are set by the Border Guard Service, and how such passage is organised differs by crossing: a separate lane at some, a word with the officers at the head of the queue at others. If you belong to such a category, ask 1598 before departure how it works at your crossing, rather than finding out in the queue.

At the checkpoint itself

When the queue ends, processing only begins: the Ukrainian border guard, Ukrainian customs, the EU border guard with EES registration, EU customs. The 15 minutes of minimum time in our formula is a quick pass with no questions. With a first EES registration for a family of four, a full boot or questions about the power of attorney, processing takes 30–60 minutes, and it is worth budgeting for that.

After the border

If you open the crossing page from the other side and see that our figure did not match your actual time, tell us in the same "Report" block. Discrepancies are what we calibrate each crossing's pace against; how, exactly, is in How we calculate waiting time.

In short

1. Calculate by position: 15 minutes plus cars ahead times the pace.
2. Time the real pace from two batches of movement.
3. Report the car count and your waiting time to us.
4. Leave the queue only for a gap of more than an hour, drive included.
5. 40 minutes without movement: wait, check the crossing page, call 1598.
6. Do not overtake, do not vanish for long, keep documents ready.

Page updated 2026-09-02