diff --git a/src/defs.h b/src/defs.h
index 05b9efb..66be6ab 100644
--- a/src/defs.h
+++ b/src/defs.h
@@ -315,6 +315,7 @@
    int port;
    int seq;
    int table_id;
+   int delay;
    char *server;
    char *username;
    char *password;
diff --git a/src/import.c b/src/import.c
index 601c9b8..94b59dc 100644
--- a/src/import.c
+++ b/src/import.c
@@ -25,6 +25,14 @@
    struct parser_state state;
    struct counters counters;
 
+   if(data->import->delay > 0){
+      struct timespec req;
+
+      req.tv_sec = 0;
+      req.tv_nsec = 1000000 * data->import->delay;
+
+      nanosleep(&req, NULL);
+   }
 
    init_session_data(sdata, cfg);
 
diff --git a/src/pilerimport.c b/src/pilerimport.c
index 3602760..3af3250 100644
--- a/src/pilerimport.c
+++ b/src/pilerimport.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
    printf("    -j <failed folder>                Move failed to import emails to this folder\n");
    printf("    -a <recipient>                    Add recipient to the To:/Cc: list\n");
    printf("    -T <id>                           Update import table at id=<id>\n");
+   printf("    -Z <ms>                           Delay Z milliseconds in between emails being imported\n");
    printf("    -D                                Dry-run, do not import anything\n");
    printf("    -y                                Read pilerexport data from stdin\n");
    printf("    -o                                Only download emails for POP3/IMAP import\n");
@@ -100,6 +101,7 @@
    import.tot_msgs = 0;
    import.table_id = 0;
    import.folder = NULL;
+   import.delay = 0;
 
    data.import = &import;
 
@@ -136,6 +138,7 @@
             {"timeout",      required_argument,  0,  't' },
             {"start-position",required_argument,  0,  's' },
             {"table-id",     required_argument,  0,  'T' },
+            {"delay",        required_argument,  0,  'Z' },
             {"quiet",        no_argument,        0,  'q' },
             {"recursive",    no_argument,        0,  'R' },
             {"remove-after-import",no_argument,  0,  'r' },
@@ -150,9 +153,9 @@
 
       int option_index = 0;
 
-      int c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "c:m:M:e:d:i:K:u:p:P:x:F:f:a:b:t:s:g:j:T:yDRroqh?", long_options, &option_index);
+      int c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "c:m:M:e:d:i:K:u:p:P:x:F:f:a:b:t:s:g:j:T:Z:yDRroqh?", long_options, &option_index);
 #else
-      int c = getopt(argc, argv, "c:m:M:e:d:i:K:u:p:P:x:F:f:a:b:t:s:g:j:T:yDRroqh?");
+      int c = getopt(argc, argv, "c:m:M:e:d:i:K:u:p:P:x:F:f:a:b:t:s:g:j:T:Z:yDRroqh?");
 #endif
 
       if(c == -1) break;
@@ -271,6 +274,15 @@
                     data.import->table_id = atoi(optarg);
                     break;
 
+         case 'Z' :
+                    if(atoi(optarg) < 1){
+                       printf("invalid delay value: %s\n", optarg);
+                       return -1;
+                    }
+
+                    data.import->delay = atoi(optarg);
+                    break;
+
          case 'y' :
                     read_from_pilerexport = 1;
                     break;