diff --git a/internal/handlers/import_video_handler_test.go b/internal/handlers/import_video_handler_test.go
index 25b2ba1..b97883b 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/import_video_handler_test.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/import_video_handler_test.go
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ func TestImportFromVideo_Accepted_AndPoll(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Poll the status endpoint until the async job completes.
 	path := "/recipes/import/video/" + itoa(accepted.Job.ID)
-	deadline := time.Now().Add(3 * time.Second)
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(testutil.AsyncDeadline)
 	var lastStatus string
 	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
 		gw := httptest.NewRecorder()
diff --git a/internal/service/import_video_test.go b/internal/service/import_video_test.go
index 65d8004..4a110d2 100644
--- a/internal/service/import_video_test.go
+++ b/internal/service/import_video_test.go
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ func newVideoTestService(repo *testutil.MockRecipeRepo, vrepo *testutil.MockVide
 // waitForVideoJob polls until the job reaches a terminal state or times out.
 func waitForVideoJob(t *testing.T, svc *ImportService, id uint) *models.VideoImport {
 	t.Helper()
-	deadline := time.Now().Add(3 * time.Second)
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(testutil.AsyncDeadline)
 	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
 		job, err := svc.GetVideoImport(id)
 		if err == nil && (job.Status == models.VideoImportDone || job.Status == models.VideoImportFailed) {
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ func TestVideoImport_RefundsQuotaOnFailure(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	// The refund runs in the goroutine after the job is marked failed; poll the
 	// lock-synchronized counter until it lands.
-	deadline := time.Now().Add(2 * time.Second)
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(testutil.AsyncDeadline)
 	for time.Now().Before(deadline) && userRepo.SubscriptionUsage(user.ID, "video_imports_used") != 0 {
 		time.Sleep(5 * time.Millisecond)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/service/multi_recipe_resolver_test.go b/internal/service/multi_recipe_resolver_test.go
index 695be6f..1c4e7d3 100644
--- a/internal/service/multi_recipe_resolver_test.go
+++ b/internal/service/multi_recipe_resolver_test.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func newResolverForTest(preview ai.TextProvider, canonicalRepo *testutil.MockCan
 // waitResolved polls the entry until background extraction finishes.
 func waitResolved(t *testing.T, entry *MultiRecipeEntry) {
 	t.Helper()
-	deadline := time.Now().Add(3 * time.Second)
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(testutil.AsyncDeadline)
 	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
 		if entry.GetStatus() == "resolved" {
 			return
diff --git a/internal/testutil/async.go b/internal/testutil/async.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..11f87a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/testutil/async.go
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package testutil
+
+import "time"
+
+// AsyncDeadline bounds the test helpers that poll for a background goroutine to
+// finish (video import jobs, multi-recipe resolution, hub room teardown).
+//
+// It is deliberately generous, and that costs nothing: every one of those loops
+// exits the moment the work lands, so the happy path is unaffected. The deadline
+// only decides how long a genuinely stuck test waits before failing.
+//
+// A tight bound here is really a timing assertion on the Go scheduler. Under a
+// loaded parallel suite — `go test ./...` compiling and running every package at
+// once, which is exactly what the CI deploy gate does — a background goroutine
+// can be starved for seconds. That is how TestVideoImport_NativeVideoUsed failed
+// at a 3-second deadline while passing in isolation: nothing was broken, the
+// machine was just busy. Flaky gates get ignored, so buy the margin.
+const AsyncDeadline = 30 * time.Second
diff --git a/internal/ws/hub_rooms_test.go b/internal/ws/hub_rooms_test.go
index eaea47d..969ab83 100644
--- a/internal/ws/hub_rooms_test.go
+++ b/internal/ws/hub_rooms_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package ws
 import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/windoze95/saltybytes-api/internal/testutil"
 )
 
 // roomExists checks the hub's room map under its lock.
@@ -16,7 +18,7 @@ func roomExists(h *Hub, roomID string) bool {
 // waitForRoomGone polls until the room disappears from the hub or times out.
 func waitForRoomGone(t *testing.T, h *Hub, roomID string) {
 	t.Helper()
-	deadline := time.Now().Add(2 * time.Second)
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(testutil.AsyncDeadline)
 	for roomExists(h, roomID) {
 		if time.Now().After(deadline) {
 			t.Fatalf("room %q was not removed from the hub", roomID)