Nobody went to Heaven until Jesus led captivity (O.T.saints (believers)) from Paradise, when He was resurrected. They were all, including the thief on the cross, preserved in Paradise, under the Old Testament until the resurrection. The thief on the cross died before the resurrection, as the soldiers broke the legs of those crucified with Jesus, so they would die more quickly, before the Sabbath. So, then, the thief was with Jesus that same day, in Paradise, awaiting the resurrection, when he, along with all believers throughout the previous history, were translated from Paradise to Heaven.
Biblically speaking there are no people in heaven yet. That happens at the return of Christ.
1Ti 6:15 His appearing will be brought about at the right time by God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
1Ti 6:16 He alone is immortal; he lives in the light that no one can approach. No one has ever seen him; no one can ever see him. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.
Right now, as those verses tell us, only Jesus is immortal...only Jesus sits on a throne in heaven.
Speaking to Christians Paul says:
1Co 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—
1Co 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
This occurs at the last trumpet, which heralds the return of Christ. He desribes it just a bit differently here:
1Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
The return of Christ is when Christians are resurrected to glory and enter the heavenly realm. Not before.