V-Flyer

They are also re-opening the enrolment centre at the US embassy in London. For 60 days this time.

link

Thank you!!!

As a long time lurker on this forum, I felt compelled to finally log in andl say thank you!

We'd literally just made our GE interviews at Miami half an hour ago when we spotted this....frantic keyboard bashing later, all re-arranged now for London, which means

a -an unplanned weekend away in London (yay bonus), and..
b - hopefully we should get to use the GE access when we next fly out

Hey all,
Apologies if this is answered elsewhere in the thread. But I was wondering the GE process is when arriving at the airport? I'm going to be arriving into LAX next Thursday (25th), using GE for the first time. I assume I just proceed to the GE terminals. After that, do I still need to present myself to an immigration officer? Or just go straight through to customs?

Once you've finished at the terminal, you get a little receipt with your mug on it, then you show it to the official at the end of the GE area, and you're done.
Don't forget there is an expedited GE lane to exit the customs hall should there be a long line.

Hamster wrote:They are also re-opening the enrolment centre at the US embassy in London. For 60 days this time.

For anyone still hoping to take advantage, looks like all the London slots are now gone so unless you happen upon a cancellation it's back to US interviews only.

I managed to get one in early october.

Just a reminder that those with GE are treated to a zero tolerance policy with regard to the questions you have to tick off. The whole idea is that you are now 'trusted' and, thus, held to a higher standard.

The problem is if - say - you don't declare a chocolate bar (my case). Non-GE pax are given a pass, maybe a little lecture. GE pax are patronizingly told they've lied to a government official, can't be trusted anymore and then have their bags manually searched.

I was then left in the position of 'explaining' (begging) to the CBP official why I shouldn't have my GE status revoked (which - according to him would happen automatically unless there was an extremely compelling reason).

I see GE pax pulled out at the last minute (just before clearing customs) at EWR and JFK and treated to a patronizing Q&A more and more.

So I now I declare EVERYTHING at the GE kiosk which just, er, adds time to my immigration processing.

NYLON wrote:Just a reminder that those with GE are treated to a zero tolerance policy with regard to the questions you have to tick off. The whole idea is that you are now 'trusted' and, thus, held to a higher standard.

The problem is if - say - you don't declare a chocolate bar (my case). Non-GE pax are given a pass, maybe a little lecture. GE pax are patronizingly told they've lied to a government official, can't be trusted anymore and then have their bags manually searched.

I was then left in the position of 'explaining' (begging) to the TSA official why I shouldn't have my GE status revoked (which - according to him would happen automatically unless there was an extremely compelling reason).

I see GE pax pulled out at the last minute (just before clearing customs) at EWR and JFK and treated to a patronizing Q&A more and more.

So I now I declare EVERYTHING at the GE kiosk which just, er, adds time to my immigration processing.

How come TSA got involved? Usually it is only CBP that I encounter.

NYLON wrote:So I now I declare EVERYTHING at the GE kiosk which just, er, adds time to my immigration processing.

So what happens when you do? I'm returning to the USA in a few months with chocolate (Wispa Biscuits actually, my family loves them!) and i should be GE by then.

Silver Fox wrote:

NYLON wrote:Just a reminder that those with GE are treated to a zero tolerance policy with regard to the questions you have to tick off. The whole idea is that you are now 'trusted' and, thus, held to a higher standard.

The problem is if - say - you don't declare a chocolate bar (my case). Non-GE pax are given a pass, maybe a little lecture. GE pax are patronizingly told they've lied to a government official, can't be trusted anymore and then have their bags manually searched.

I was then left in the position of 'explaining' (begging) to the TSA official why I shouldn't have my GE status revoked (which - according to him would happen automatically unless there was an extremely compelling reason).

I see GE pax pulled out at the last minute (just before clearing customs) at EWR and JFK and treated to a patronizing Q&A more and more.

So I now I declare EVERYTHING at the GE kiosk which just, er, adds time to my immigration processing.

How come TSA got involved? Usually it is only CBP that I encounter.

My bad, I meant CBP. Will correct now.

fusionblue wrote:

NYLON wrote:So I now I declare EVERYTHING at the GE kiosk which just, er, adds time to my immigration processing.

So what happens when you do? I'm returning to the USA in a few months with chocolate (Wispa Biscuits actually, my family loves them!) and i should be GE by then.

It depends on the CBP official. I've had a range of responses from "why on earth are you even declaring this?" to "OK, thanks, please come to the counter, and we'll go through your bags."

I thought I was just unlucky, but then I started looking online for other examples of GE pax being held to a higher standard at customs and found quite a bit, even law firms 'specializing' in reversing GE revocation.

And CBP likes to boast about it now (rice, peanuts): https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-medi ... eler-fails

Banana: http://pointsmilesandmartinis.boardinga ... ds-banana/

Honey: http://hackcreditcards.com/how-i-got-my ... h-customs/

I heard all the uk appointments are now gone. I was too slow to apply, and was off to the US until today...

Well, we had our interviews in London yesterday and were accepted - point of note, as you'd expect - security is very tight - airport type security but more so. You do get a list of prohibited items, but it may not be comprehensive - i had a blue tooth keyboard for my iPad - nope that couldn't go. The security chaps were all very helpful and pointed out somewhere a few minutes away that you could hire lockers. Anyway, if anyone is going to Grosvenor Square, carry as little tech as possible

Dobbin512 wrote:Well, we had our interviews in London yesterday and were accepted - point of note, as you'd expect - security is very tight - airport type security but more so. You do get a list of prohibited items, but it may not be comprehensive - i had a blue tooth keyboard for my iPad - nope that couldn't go. The security chaps were all very helpful and pointed out somewhere a few minutes away that you could hire lockers. Anyway, if anyone is going to Grosvenor Square, carry as little tech as possible

We have to get passports/visas renewed there and the last time you could not even take car remote control key fobs. Just for reference for anyone in the future this gives the list of items that are prohibited: https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/niv-london/

So, it's got to that strange period, where my ESTA is just due to expire, but I'm considering Global Entry (seems to be releasing interview dates in London still, but I know my timewindow is slipping).

Do you need a current valid working ESTA to apply? Anyone know?

Smid wrote:So, it's got to that strange period, where my ESTA is just due to expire, but I'm considering Global Entry (seems to be releasing interview dates in London still, but I know my timewindow is slipping).

Do you need a current valid working ESTA to apply? Anyone know?

Yes, even with global entry, you still need an ESTA.

David

David wrote:

Smid wrote:So, it's got to that strange period, where my ESTA is just due to expire, but I'm considering Global Entry (seems to be releasing interview dates in London still, but I know my timewindow is slipping).

Do you need a current valid working ESTA to apply? Anyone know?

Yes, even with global entry, you still need an ESTA.

David

That was not my question...

"Do you need to have an ESTA before applying for Global Entry?"

Not:

"Do I need an ESTA when I _have_ Global Entry?"

Smid wrote:

David wrote:

Smid wrote:So, it's got to that strange period, where my ESTA is just due to expire, but I'm considering Global Entry (seems to be releasing interview dates in London still, but I know my timewindow is slipping).

Do you need a current valid working ESTA to apply? Anyone know?

Yes, even with global entry, you still need an ESTA.

David

That was not my question...

"Do you need to have an ESTA before applying for Global Entry?"

Not:

"Do I need an ESTA when I _have_ Global Entry?"

I didn't have an ESTA on one of my passports when I got GE on them both. If it has changed then, sorry, I am not aware of it.

Silver Fox wrote:I didn't have an ESTA on one of my passports when I got GE on them both. If it has changed then, sorry, I am not aware of it.

Thanks, booked a 2 for 1 now in April, so I suppose its worth proceeding.

You can't really get an ESTA without a hotel of arrival nowadays though, right? So need to have a flight and a first night before booking a new one?

You need to give a first night address when you apply, yes, but if you don't know at the time you could put down any hotel and just change it once you've booked one.

Not much point applying for an ESTA until a couple of weeks before you go anyway (some people leave it later but there's always a risk of being rejected so it's sensible to leave enough time for a visit to the embassy just in case).

I couldn't really find much information about this question, so hopefully I can help a few people out who might be in a similar situation with Global Entry.

I recently got a visa to work in the US, and entered last week using GE but it still came up with WT/WB/Other as my entry options so I'm going to CBP GE Office in SFO to see if I can change my entry options when I re-enter the country. The visa category is not restricted for GE use so hopefully I will have an answer later today and that might help should anyone get a US visa and still want to use GE.

RyanJW wrote:I couldn't really find much information about this question, so hopefully I can help a few people out who might be in a similar situation with Global Entry.

I recently got a visa to work in the US, and entered last week using GE but it still came up with WT/WB/Other as my entry options so I'm going to CBP GE Office in SFO to see if I can change my entry options when I re-enter the country. The visa category is not restricted for GE use so hopefully I will have an answer later today and that might help should anyone get a US visa and still want to use GE.

I have a visa as well and they told me to check the "business" option. It has not been an issue, but it is always wise to check.

I signed up for this the day it got announced/made available, got cleared very quickly on the UK and US side due to some clearances I have in the UK, got an interview scheduled for 2 hours after I landed on my next trip, and was GE about 3 weeks after application! It has save me HOURS.
The only downside for me is that GE also comes with TSA Pre - but flying VA, not being a US airline has meant I have not been able to take advantage of it on my long haul flights. All the little internal flights in the US I do, yes, but I will be very happy when VA finally get it sorted - I have been told by the US VS check in staff that it is being sorted, and they hope to have TSA Pre capability in the next couple of months - which will make me v.happy!!!

It is an absolute godsend on longhaul on the airports I usually go through - SFO, LAS, IAH, ORD ! What would happen if you booked the Virgin flight via Delta, would you get it then? Not sure how it would work with a codeshare though but I am sure someone will.

Delta had the capability to do it, and I added my KTN to the check in process, but due to a cock up between VS and DL booking systems, my name was wrong at DL's end, and as a consequence TSA Pre didnt accept it, so had to go through the usual priority lane - which funnily enough, for the 1st time ever in JFK was quicker!