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Global Entry for Green Card holders

Global Entry for Green Card holders

Old Jul 7, 2010, 4:23 am
  #1  
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Global Entry for Green Card holders

I know that they're technically eligible (GE requirements state US residence as a requirement as far as I recall) but can anyone share any experiences, positive or otherwise?
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Old Jul 7, 2010, 5:48 am
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I'm a green card holder and have Global Entry. My process was just like everyone else, in effect no problem.
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Old Jul 7, 2010, 1:36 pm
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Not only are green card holders able to get GE, but I believe they can also get a NEXUS card without much issue.
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Old Jul 8, 2010, 6:51 am
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Originally Posted by martona
I know that they're technically eligible (GE requirements state US residence as a requirement as far as I recall) but can anyone share any experiences, positive or otherwise?
I am a green card holder and have GE. My "interview" was more like an interrogation, the CBP officer, who to his credit didn't raise his voice or make threats, wouldn't approve me at the end of the interrogation or give me the sticker (at one point he put the sticker on my green card and told me to dispose of it if I was not approved, but then changed his mind and removed it) but two weeks later to my utter surprise, the GE website said I was approved.

When I went to ORD a few weeks later with a long layover, I got the sticker. More on that later.

At the LAX interview was asked a lot of impertinent questions such as why I arranged my interview at LAX instead of at ORD where my 2 hour wait in line (due to ORD at the time putting green card holders in the visitors line) for passport control stimulated me to get GE, or why I travel so much within the USA. He asked why I didn't list Canada as one of the countries I've visited recently in my online application (answer: because the website says: "except for Canada [and Mexico I believe] list the countries you've visited"). He asked why I didn't listed my previous home addresses or employers in the application (answer: because the website says to only list previous addresses or employers if at the current address or employer for less than a certain number of years). He asked me to name the countries I'd visited recently. By the end of the interrogation I was pretty zoned out and listed all but one, but said I know I am forgetting one.

Basically, he wanted to see if my answers on the application matched my verbal answers. I suggest printing a copy of your application and studying your answers before the interview. And if you find any errors, absolutely bring those up with the interrogator at the start. You absolutely cannot lie to CBP ever if you want to attain and retain GE.

He also asked if I'd ever been hassled by his colleagues upon entry into the USA. Answer: yes because until a few years ago I had a green card with no expiration date. BTW, you cannot use GE unless you have new green card with the 10 year expiration; the GE kiosk needs to be able to read it. The process for getting a replacement green card is now much more streamlined and can be done online, except for the visit to the CBP office to get re-printed and photographed.

He was also interested in why I went to India a lot. Answer: my employer has large site there.

The question that stunned me: "Did someone pay you to apply for GE?".

As noted, I did not have a CBP sticker, and on this forum, experience says without the sticker, you can get a hassle at some airports. So on the day I left the USA for a trip, I stopped at the CBP office to get a sticker. This ended up being another interrogation, as at first the officer didn't seem to buy my story about how I could be approved for GE and not have my sticker (I made sure to print my GE approval letter and I carry it with me at all times). The officer put the sticker on my passport instead of my green card, stating the the sticker has been known to mess up the GE kiosk.

I've used GE ever since, except this week when I returned with my wife who does not have GE. I presented my passport with the CBP sticker showing (some CBP officers insist the sticker goes on the foreign passport, some insist it goes on the green card. Just go with the flow and if challenged, say that the CBP officer named "xxx" at airport ABC placed the sticker there). The CBP officer was extremely polite and efficient and didn't require a finger print scan and photo (which would make the CBP officer at ORD who gave me my sticker very unhappy).

But as a guest worker in the USA, it is an extreme relief to rarely deal with the CBP. I strongly recommend you go for it. As a green card holder, you've already surrendered much of your privacy so the kiosk finger print scans and detailed interrogation are not an issue . You get to avoid a CBP officer (who might challenge your residency privileges: "how long were you gone") and thus won't ask questions that further compromise your privacy. Just be absolutely truthful with the kiosk's questions.

Last edited by mre5765; Jul 8, 2010 at 6:57 am
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Old Jul 8, 2010, 1:45 pm
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Wow my interview at ORD was 180 degrees different than the last poster. It was a woman and we discussed a lot of trivial things not related to my application. When she got down to business she only explained how the system worked and we discussed the food issue (GE does not allow for any food regular lines allow food if it is on the allowed list ie Cookies are allowed meat is not.)

Yes, green card holders can get Nexus - I have that as well. If you decide to get both get Nexus first and then GE is free.
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Old Jul 8, 2010, 4:41 pm
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Originally Posted by mre5765
But as a guest worker in the USA, it is an extreme relief to rarely deal with the CBP. I strongly recommend you go for it. As a green card holder, you've already surrendered much of your privacy so the kiosk finger print scans and detailed interrogation are not an issue . You get to avoid a CBP officer (who might challenge your residency privileges: "how long were you gone") and thus won't ask questions that further compromise your privacy. Just be absolutely truthful with the kiosk's questions.
I am curious. Why do you refer to yourself as a guest worker if you are a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States? A guest worker seems to imply a non-immigrant status.

FB
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Old Jul 8, 2010, 5:33 pm
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Originally Posted by Firebug4
I am curious. Why do you refer to yourself as a guest worker if you are a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States? A guest worker seems to imply a non-immigrant status.

FB
LPR is tenuous status, kind of like a guest in ones house. Plus your colleagues seem intensely interested in who I work for each time I deal with them. So guest worker seems like the right moniker.

EDIT: And the requirement to fingerprint and photo LPRs upon re-entry into a non-GE lane reinforces the message CBP is sending that LPRs are guest workers. That official CBP policy is to fingerprint/photo Canadian LPRs upon re-entry but not Canadians traveling to the U.S. to visit solidifies the message (though to the credit of an apparent majority of CBP officers, the absurdity of this policy as it applies to Canadians is apparently not lost; I haven't been fingerprinted through a non-GE lane in about a year; we'll see what happens next month).

Originally Posted by MikeFly
Wow my interview at ORD was 180 degrees different than the last poster.
Out of curiosity, where did the CBP officer place your CBP sticker: green card or passport?

Originally Posted by MikeFly
we discussed the food issue (GE does not allow for any food regular lines allow food if it is on the allowed list ie Cookies are allowed meat is not.)
The GE kiosk questions have changed and appear to be in harmony with the paper declaration form. But because they have changed, and are always subject to change, one should always read the questions closely. Note that answering yes to a food question is no big deal; it will delay you a couple minutes at most as you get head of line privileges in the a special passport control lane (at ORD this week, there was a lane reserved for GE users who had an X on their receipt; other times that lane might be the crew/diplomat lane).

Last edited by mre5765; Jul 9, 2010 at 6:42 am
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Old Jul 11, 2010, 11:19 am
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Originally Posted by mre5765

Out of curiosity, where did the CBP officer place your CBP sticker: green card or passport?
The CBP sticker was put on my "Green Card"

I'm amazed that the questions changed that quickly - my interview was in April.
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Old Jul 12, 2010, 2:25 am
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Originally Posted by MikeFly
When she got down to business she only explained how the system worked and we discussed the food issue (GE does not allow for any food regular lines allow food if it is on the allowed list ie Cookies are allowed meat is not.)
What in the world? Who was this? I was told by both my NEXUS CBP interviewer and by the agent who put my sticker in my passport and scanned it into the system that anything brought in through the regular lines is similarly allowed in GE. Not to mention the fact that the GE kiosk was updated to reflect the information on the blue form.
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Old Jul 12, 2010, 5:48 am
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Originally Posted by MikeFly
The CBP sticker was put on my "Green Card"

I'm amazed that the questions changed that quickly - my interview was in April.
The questions changed as of March, 2010, when I used GE at IAH. Perhaps not all kiosks in all airports have been updated. Just another example of "consistency" in DHS; different agency, same crap.
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Old Jul 30, 2011, 2:13 pm
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I received my new green card recently.
Do I still need to get a CBP sticker? My old one has it on the back.
I wonder where it should be placed on the new green card.
My old green card has the machine readable numbers on the front side, so the sticker is placed on the back. The new green card has the numbers on the back, and there is no space for the sticker on the back...
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Old Jul 31, 2011, 2:17 pm
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Originally Posted by MrJBoy
I received my new green card recently.
Do I still need to get a CBP sticker? My old one has it on the back.
I wonder where it should be placed on the new green card.
My old green card has the machine readable numbers on the front side, so the sticker is placed on the back. The new green card has the numbers on the back, and there is no space for the sticker on the back...
You need a CBP sticker for your passport or green card. Go to a CBP GE office, and let the CBP officer affix it.
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Old Aug 2, 2011, 11:14 am
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Originally Posted by MrJBoy
I received my new green card recently.
Do I still need to get a CBP sticker? My old one has it on the back.
I wonder where it should be placed on the new green card.
My old green card has the machine readable numbers on the front side, so the sticker is placed on the back. The new green card has the numbers on the back, and there is no space for the sticker on the back...
Also, when you get a new passport, make sure to have it updated in their system. I believe you can do this on GOES, but I did it during at an airport CBP office.
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Old Aug 2, 2011, 11:29 am
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Thanks for the info.
I will get a sticker next weekend when I have layover at LAX.
Yes, I can change passport and green card info at GOES website.
I did that when I received the new green card and also the old one was extended while I was waiting for the new one.
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Old Aug 10, 2011, 5:08 am
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Originally Posted by mre5765
You need a CBP sticker for your passport or green card. Go to a CBP GE office, and let the CBP officer affix it.

Do I need an appointment to get the CBP sticker?
I have a only 1hr45min layover at LAX this weekend, and I'm not sure if I can make it bacause I will land at Terminal 7, go to Tom Bradley Terminal to get the sticker, then come back to Terminal 7 to catch my flight to NRT.

I have never been asked to show the CBP sticker at LAX and SFO before, so I hope they don't ask when I come back via SFO if I can't get the sticker this time.
However, at ORD and IAD they always asked me to show the sticker... Maybe I just show my old GC if they ask???
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