Originally Posted by
Erik Jacobsen
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- Challenged the arrest in court and the charges were withdrawn. <snip>
- Applied for NEXUS in 2013 (11 years later) and was asked the "have you ever been arrested" question by both the Canadians and the US--NOTE: This was back when you not only did separate interviews, but did the US interview on the US side of the border... then went through customs to the other side, did your interview on the other side and then went back through customs to return.
- Answered truthfully (as you ALWAYS should) that I'd been arrested ~11 years prior, but it was an illegal arrest and charges had been withdrawn.
- Canadians asked what the nature of the arrest was, and when it didn't fall into the category of a Canadian Felony, they stopped caring.
- US CBP wanted ALL the details. When I told the officer the whole story, when was half laughing at me and half rolling his eyes. I think his exact comment was "That's what you get for visiting XX state. You couldn't pay me to go there!"
- I was approved and received my NEXUS card.
- No problems entering Canada or leaving the country.
- Entering the [United States -- [i]ed.] I kept getting flagged for additional screening (the dreaded X) and having to go to an interview room. In every case I was asked about the arrest, I provided the same answers and was eventually cleared to re-enter the US.
- I kept asking why I was getting flagged and every time, I was told: "It's just random." or "You aren't eligible for Global Entry." (Yes, I'm aware I have NEXUS... but it comes with GE and they kept confusing them.)
- FINALLY, after about 6 months of this... to the point where I was pretty fed up... a very nice secondary screening CBP officer at YYZ told me the following (as close as I can remember): Even though you are eligible for GE based on your never having been convicted, if you are arrested then your fingerprints are in the national database and our access to the database only shows that they were taken, not anything that happened after. Usually, if you were never convicted you will get flagged for secondary screening the first two to three times you use GE, but after that you should not get flagged again except randomly. If you have been flagged more than three times in a row, then you need to apply for a "demotion" to have the flag overridden.
- I called the NEXUS office that had approved me and they had no idea what a "demotion" was. But, I explained the situation and they told me I had to mail my NEXUS card, passport, court certified proof of dismissal, and the full arrest records to them so that they could review the "evidence" and determine what to do. They would not give me a time-frame or an assurance as to when OR EVEN IF I would receive ANY of the documents back. "You'll just have to send them to me and wait and see." She further told me that she could legally refuse to return any of them. Finally, she told me that she had to see the physical originals of all of them before she could decide whether to submit them to Washington DC for review.
- I was unwilling to send all that info--especially my PASSPORT--without any assurance that it would ever be returned. So, I figured that I'd just happily keep my Entering Canada and my PRECheck privileges and not worry about expedited return to the US.
- I was flying through Seattle and my connection had a major delay. On a whim, I walked by the Trusted Traveler office there and there was no wait. I explained everything, including what the CBP agent I had spoken with over the phone had told me. The CBP agent was as <redacted>ing as I was over her demand I send them to her, personally and that I had to send my NEXUS Card, Passport, etc. He told me that "the rules" in "rare" cases like mine where the automated system failed was that a simple fax of the dismissal would suffice.
- He scanned my dismissal letter and electronically uploaded it. Typed a few things and then told me that I shouldn't have the secondary screening problem any more. Total time: ~10 min. Best 10 min I've ever spent because...
- I've used GE probably 30+ times since then and never once been flagged for secondary screening.
My takeaways:
- An arrest is not enough to get you denied GE/NEXUS BUT you have to be up front about it.
- Even after being approved, you may have difficulty re-entering the US. If that happens, after your third reentry... the system is supposed to automatically remove your flag. (I think what happens is that the CBP officers see a synopsis of your explanation given at your interview and they either check "this is what s/he told me" or "gave a different story" box on the computer screen. Assuming your explanation is consistent... as it should be, you're telling the truth!... then after three verifications you get automatically unflaged.)
- Sometimes the automated system doesn't work and to fix it, go in person to a trusted traveler office with certified documentation.
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