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We just enter Israel from Jordan via the King Hussein crossing yesterday. I haven't seen much info about the border crossing experience on the forum so I am sharing our experience.

Getting From Amman to the Jordanian Boarder
We took a taxi to the North Station (same station where you take the Airport Express) to catch a mini-bus to the King Hussein boarder. The mini-bus cost us 3 JD per person. People should be able to direct you where the mini-bus is at the station if you tell them you want to go to King Hussein bridge. The mini-bus doesn't go until it is fill so it is your luck how long of a wait it will take. We only have to wait for 20 minutes.

You will be dropped off at the entrance to the King Hussein bridge where you will walk in and go to the officers with the sign "Departure". The process isn't clear but it involve x-ray your luggage and going through a so-call security before you get into the building. You will then need to go to counter 1 to have your passport checked. The officer will ask you to fill out a sheet of paper with your name and passport # where they will stamp the exit stamp instead of the passport. They did it automatically when we crossed. Then, they took our passport and we go to counter 3 to pay for the 8 JD exit fee. You will get a voucher as a proof that you pay which later you will need to give it to another officer on the bus. Afterward, you have to wait for who knows how long for a bus to take you to the Israeli side of the boarder.

We waited for 2 hours. Then, we have to pay 4 JD per person to take the bus and 1.3 JD per luggage stored at the luggage compartment of the bus. Payment is done on the bus. The bus take Euro and US if you don't have JD. Your passport will be given to you at this time on the bus.

An officer will collect the voucher of the exit fee on the bus before you enter the Israeli boarder.

Your luggage will be unload whereever before you get off (it is messy) when the bus get to the entrance of the office building of the Israeli boarder. You will get off to retrieve your luggage on the side of the road. Then, your large luggage will be taken away from you along with your passport. Your luggage will go through security while you go through custom and retrieve after you pass the custom successfully. A ticket of your luggage will be placed on your passport and returned to you.

You will then go into the building with another security check. Then, you will wait in a group for the officer to let you into the area to line up for custom. When you see the custom officer, you can tell them you want to have the entry stamp not be stamped in the passport before you give them your passport. Be prepared to give them a reason. You will need to fill out a form there where they will stamp the entry stamp.

My boyfriend and I have a stamp from Lebanon. I passed the custom fine but he was asked to wait in an area for an officer and fill out a form with details of where he has been, personal contact and personal info. We waited for over an hour and then have his passport returned and be told we can go.

After custom, you will go through another gate where an officer will scan the luggage ticket at the back of your passport to determine whether your luggage was chosen to have a thorough check. We were lucky that our luggage weren't selected.

After that, you will go through another gate where an officer will collect your "gate pass" that were given to you at the custom.

After all that, you can find your luggage all scattered at a lobby.

We were told that the only way to get out of the Allenby Boarder is with car. You cannot walk out the area. There are bus to go to Jericho for 13 shekel per person and 3 shekel per luggage. If you want to go to Jerusalem, the only option from there is shared taxi that will drop you off close by the Herold Gate in the old town for 38 shekel per person and 4 shekel per luggage. Or you can take a taxi to the highway and catch a bus to Jerusalem.

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1

Thank you for the detailed report.

Just as an FYI - there actually have been many such reports posted here within the last couple years and several of them have stated that Israeli immigrations authorities have stamped their passports; even when they were asked not to.

I mention that only to let everyone know that it is not guaranteed that you won't get an Israeli stamp in your passport.

Thanks again.

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2

Just a silly question: is it reasonable to think you might want to go back to Amman? I mean, if I am staying in Amman and would like to go for 1/2 days to Jerusalem and then back, would that be humanly feasible?

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3

Under ordinary circumstances Jerusalem is not a day trip from Amman. The problem is not the distance, it's the time.

As you can see from the OP it can take as much as four or five hours to get from one city to the next depending upon how long it takes to cross the border. The border is not open 24 hours which means you can't really cross in the morning, see Jerusalem and then return in time to get back to Amman.

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4

Ok, sorry I misexpressed my question: leaving beside the time needed, is it feasible that you cross the land border IN and then OUT of Israel without being X-rayed for couple of days and blacklisted?

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5

Sure. People cross between the two countries all the time; some on the same day.

You may be asked to explain why, but as long as you have a legitimate reason that doesn't raise concerns you should be fine.

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6

Ok, thank you. The last time I've been there the situation was definitely worse.

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7

I had a very similar experience to the OP about a month ago. Took a very long time because of all the waiting. I actually lucked out at one point by being selected for extra questioning. Was sent to a room and a young Israeli officer asks me questions in broken English that I wasn't sure how to answer because of his broken English. But it turned out alright and I got to skip waiting in that long line I was pulled out of. But then he pointed me to the next line, but there were two lines, one for Palestinians, one for everyone else. So after waiting in the Palestinian line for some minutes, I get told to go back to the other line, so the time I made up was lost. Very confusing at times, just follow whatever group that you probably fit into the best. A lot of pushing and shoving near the end of the Israeli side process, gets more chaotic as you near the exit.

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