IMWMN

I am not sure if this is the correct forum for this question or not...

I just read in today's (Aug. 16) Chicago Tribune, that there are 32 new customs kiosks at O'Hare - to be used by US citizens. This will reduce the wait times for the customs officers.
The article was not clear if this replaces the current Global Entry program - or ...?
Will non Global Entry people still have to go through regular passport control, and then use the kiosks for customs?

I have used the Global Entry kiosks at O'Hare for passport control, received the paper from the kiosk that permitted me to side step the immigration officer. Once I had claimed my bag at baggage claim, (if I remember correctly) I did not have to go through any more formalities. The last time I used Global Entry was in January 2013 so my mind is a bit fuzzy!

My question is, "How do these new kiosks impact the Global Entry program lines?"

Thanks!

pinniped

We used the kiosks on Sunday. They replace the immigration queue before you retrieve luggage and pass through customs.

The area around the kiosks was a total zoo, but the total queue time was likely shorter than waiting for agents. The kiosks are crowded very close together. The kiosk takes a photo of each adult in your traveling party, and the space is so tight that everybody with you had to duck or lean well to the side to avoiding photobombing everyone else.

At the end of the day, it's a bit like using a self-checkout at the grocery store. When there are no queues anywhere at all, it's slower than dealing with a human. When things are busy, it's a good alternative. People who get used to the system will be faster. People who aren't will be slower.

When we arrived, U.S. citizens were all required to use the kiosks. There was no choice to wait in a standard queue for an agent. We were arriving from DUB on EI, where they did not use preclearance like it appears that US, UA, and DL do.

incognitoMD

Will arrive in Chicago from an international flight later this week, so I will get to experience this.

I was also planning on applying for Global Entry later this year. I, too, am wondering how this differs from Global Entry.

pinniped

One other thing I noticed: there are two large immigration areas at ORD, separated by a wall. We walked through and past the first one, and I did not notice any kiosks there. The only reason I sort of half-looked is because I walked first towards the U.S. citizen line on that side before noticing it was closed.

Thus it's *possible* that if both sets of queues are open, one side might still have regular agents. We arrived at 6PM, well past the main TATL rush, so I'm not sure what things look like a few hours earlier when the place is much more crowded.

IMWMN

I am the original poster and emailed the reporter who wrote the article. This is his reply:
Global Entry is still active and it is separated from the automated passport control kiosks, so you can continue using Global Entry.

The kiosks are free and no pre-registration is required. So when your Global Entry membership expires in five years, you can decide whether to renew or try the free kiosks.

You are correct that Global Entry does have the advantage of not having to appear before a customs officer, because members are pre-screened in the background checks they underwent.

With 32 kiosks at O'Hare, I observed all U.S. passport-holders accommodated by the kiosks within 15 minutes. And that was during a major international arrival push when banks of planes arrived from Asia at about the same time. We will see how the program works over time.

So, it appears from his clarification that Global Entry has its' own line ensuring a quicker exit.

Hope this helps others.

Thanks for your additional replies!

Palal

Speaking of the NEW GE kiosks -- I managed to forget my passport in one a few weeks ago at CLT. Thankfully this was an early arrival from GIG and there were not too many people there. The problem is that the new GE kiosks are the same color as the passport, and you insert the passport face down, making it easy to forget after an int'l redeye.

I was stopped at the exit by a CBP customs officer and asked for my passport. After an "Oh, sh!t!" I ran back and got my passport.

minhaoxue

A question i have regarding the new passport control kiosk is if it issues you a receipt to pass through customs or do you need to complete a customs form?

If your traveling with a family, only one customs form per family is needed. So how does the customs officer at baggage know you went through the kiosk if there is no type of receipt like GE?

obscure2k

Please continue to follow this thread in the FT Chicago Forum
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

ords

They don't, you still use the GE kiosks.

pinniped

The kiosk spits out one receipt per person. We had also filled out the traditional customs form.

wolfie52

I passed through Immigration/customs at ORD last Wed (8/14/13). There were 2 kiosks in the front, which were for anyone who only had carryon luggage. There was NO wait, however as a GE member I didn't have my customs forms so I opted to skip this procedure. There were 2 banks of (about 7 each) GE machines. For some reason there was a line waiting to use one of the banks, while I went to the second bank which NO one was using (people tend to be like sheep). Took seconds to use the machine, which gave us the paper slip, which we had to show at a booth, and then they took it at the exit. It took about 10 minutes to clear the customs area for us, but we did have no bags to pick up. (Pack light-we spent 16 days in Europe and were able to used bags that could be carried on, and a small backpack.) Saved a lot of hassle!

incognitoMD

Went through this yesterday.

In addition to what wolfie52 said, I wanted to add that this seems more efficient than the original everyone-wait-in-a-line with like 10 CBP processing officers. Now, there are 4 officers that look at your printed receipt, and ask you the normal questions before letting you retrieve your luggage. It is faster in that they do not do the electronic checks on your passport (done by the machines now).

Also, I noticed that CBP officer will stamp your receipt that is collected before you leave, and not stamp your passport. For those who like to collect stamps in their passports, this may be a bad change

ords

I'll give a little notice. We've been seeing CBP relaxing on staff early morning and it's been impacting Visitors lines.

For those using the kiosks, ANY feedback is welcome.