diff --git a/engine/engine.go b/engine/engine.go
index c838e0d..56f5ed3 100644
--- a/engine/engine.go
+++ b/engine/engine.go
@@ -102,9 +102,11 @@ func (e *engine) dispatch(p io.Packet) bool {
 		_ = e.io.SetVerdict(p, io.VerdictAcceptStream, nil)
 		return true
 	}
+	// Convert to gopacket.Packet
+	packet := gopacket.NewPacket(data, layerType, gopacket.DecodeOptions{Lazy: true, NoCopy: true})
+	packet.Metadata().Timestamp = p.Timestamp()
 	// Load balance by stream ID
 	index := p.StreamID() % uint32(len(e.workers))
-	packet := gopacket.NewPacket(data, layerType, gopacket.DecodeOptions{Lazy: true, NoCopy: true})
 	e.workers[index].Feed(&workerPacket{
 		StreamID: p.StreamID(),
 		Packet:   packet,
diff --git a/io/interface.go b/io/interface.go
index 35aa886..af7e1e7 100644
--- a/io/interface.go
+++ b/io/interface.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package io
 import (
 	"context"
 	"net"
+	"time"
 )
 
 type Verdict int
@@ -24,6 +25,8 @@ const (
 type Packet interface {
 	// StreamID is the ID of the stream the packet belongs to.
 	StreamID() uint32
+	// Timestamp is the time the packet was received.
+	Timestamp() time.Time
 	// Data is the raw packet data, starting with the IP header.
 	Data() []byte
 }
diff --git a/io/nfqueue.go b/io/nfqueue.go
index 543f247..e84a0bb 100644
--- a/io/nfqueue.go
+++ b/io/nfqueue.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/coreos/go-iptables/iptables"
 	"github.com/florianl/go-nfqueue"
@@ -189,6 +190,12 @@ func (n *nfqueuePacketIO) Register(ctx context.Context, cb PacketCallback) error
 				streamID: ctIDFromCtBytes(*a.Ct),
 				data:     *a.Payload,
 			}
+			// Use timestamp from attribute if available, otherwise use current time as fallback
+			if a.Timestamp != nil {
+				p.timestamp = *a.Timestamp
+			} else {
+				p.timestamp = time.Now()
+			}
 			return okBoolToInt(cb(p, nil))
 		},
 		func(e error) int {
@@ -312,15 +319,20 @@ func (n *nfqueuePacketIO) setupIpt(local, rst, remove bool) error {
 var _ Packet = (*nfqueuePacket)(nil)
 
 type nfqueuePacket struct {
-	id       uint32
-	streamID uint32
-	data     []byte
+	id        uint32
+	streamID  uint32
+	timestamp time.Time
+	data      []byte
 }
 
 func (p *nfqueuePacket) StreamID() uint32 {
 	return p.streamID
 }
 
+func (p *nfqueuePacket) Timestamp() time.Time {
+	return p.timestamp
+}
+
 func (p *nfqueuePacket) Data() []byte {
 	return p.data
 }