That's exactly why you have to have it. Some stations will be unhappy if you don't have the CBP sticker. As with anything involving the travel and government indistry, if you get the answer you don't like or know is wrong, ask somewhere else. Next time OP is in a station like LAX or ORD, go to the landside GE office and get the sticker, but be prepared for it to take an hour.

I disagree. A card would be more crap to lose. If anything, Global Entry should be completely document-less. Just scan your fingerprints, match to identity. Done.

As far as the process for transitioning to GE, the only thing you need to do is go online to GOES and apply for GE. Since you are already a NEXUS member, you should receive instant approval. I've heard it's been as fast as twenty minutes... Then you go to a US airport and they will show you how to use the machine and then slap the sticker on your passport and you are on your way... My interview only took twenty minutes from the time I walked in the door, until I left...

interview
 

So what is the purpose of the interview? Is it just a meet and greet to give you a sticker? I have to drive quite a distance to get a sticker.
:)
wopr21

Update on DocD's NEXUS and GE
 

Hi gang:

Did my NEXUS interview at YYZ on 24 December. Went pretty smoothly except I, believe it or not, forgot my new Canadian passport at my in-laws in Mississauga! The Canadian agent was very understanding. We did the interview stuff while my sister-in-law drove the passport to YYZ. Interview, etc took about 20 minutes. Had troubles getting my irises to register in the system. The USA side of the interview was a bit longer with more questions, warnings about cheating, and form to fill out. Passport arrived about ten minutes after the interview, was logged and voila, all done! USA agent said card should be coming from California in mid January. Also, they mentioned that they no longer care about the car registration info as all passengers have to be NEXUS anyway.

When I got home I logged into GOES and did the GE forms. Was pretty painless except I had to redo my countries visited section.. Got approval back in about an hour. No mention of stickers or further interviews.

Cheers and thanks everyone for their very useful comments and suggestions. First international flight will be in Feb (probably from NRT to ORD or DFW). Will report back then.

Happy New Year all.
DocD

My passport will have to be renewed about 1 year from now. At my interview (several months ago) for GE, the agent said that I would have to bring in my new passport to be updated into the system. When I asked if I had to make an appointment, his response was NO, just come in and it will be taken care of. I hope I won't have to wait one hour.:confused: [When I got my "conditional approval" email, on the day I chose (I went to T4 of JFK), there were no blocked times--I could have chosen any time that day--they were not very busy.

I did a walk-in at ORD and had no porblem.

My passport expires in the summer of 2011 and I am likely to pick up a NEXUS card because I am planning on being in Canada about 10 times a year, not to mention that it is cheaper than Global Entry and gets you access to both. My question is what do I need to do once I renew?

Go to a NEXUS enrollment center with your new passport, I believe. Is that practical for you given your travel pattern?

You can also carry your birth certificate with you if you are not traveling by air if you can't get yourself to an erollent center before your next trip. But you do have to update it at some point.

So the NEXUS validity is not based on the validity of the passport?

I originally applied for NEXUS, doing the required interview + biometric scans.

My passport subsequently expired; I renewed but forgot about updating NEXUS. A year later, I get a mail saying I am automatically approved for Global Entry and can use GOES kiosks immediately. I went online and saw both expired and renewed passports inventoried under "Citizenship Info" and "Admissibility Docs" in both NEXUS and GOES profiles.

It appears the State Dept's systems talk to each other and update the online profiles with new passport info, no need to go into the NEXUS office to update them. The NEXUS and GOES renewal dates remain unchanged after renewal.

I live in LAX, so I went to LAX when I was nearby and the agents were a little crabby about me not having made an appointment, because they thought I had to be interviewed and wanted to know where my letter was. I explained, as second time, that I have a NEXUS card and the guy is like "oh, let me see your NEXUS card." I guess not too many NEXUS holders at LAX. In the end, it took about 20 minutes or so including him putting my sticker on the inside back cover (I know we are keep a tally here) and showing me the machine.

Actually, I don't get why they don't copy the Canucks and do iris scans. Fingerprints are old fashioned and more easily faked anyway. Also, given that many people already have finger prints that have been live scanned (all members of the California Bar do), why can't they just take them from that database?

If you have NEXUS already, there is no interview. They just verify you, scan your passport to make sure it is in the system, put the sticker in and show you how to use the machine.

That is really interesting, since my passport expires next year. Hopefully it is an automatic process. I think I will still confirm with NEXUS and GE anyway.

Used the GE kiosk on arrival at JFK with the renewed passport (auto-updated in the GOES online profile). No problems whatsoever, bypassed 99% of the arrival hordes on a late Sun evening. Very cool to not even need the customs form.

I had to tell the man directing arriving passengers into lines, Global Entry, Global Entry, Global Entry, several times before he understood what I meant. I seemed the only one out of 500+ arriving bodies to use the kiosk.

That had to be nice. I hope GE grows enough that they keep it around forever, but not so much that it starts backing up like the current passport desk lines.

The big question is when are they going to expand Global Entry to Canadian NEXUS holders. Although I usually enter the States through YYZ or by land, it would be very nice not to have to talk to CBP when transiting back from somewhere overseas.

Ahhh....so do you mean the GOES profile automatically displayed your new passport number at some point after you received your passport in the mail? Or did you have to log in and type in the new number yourself?

Also, given that this thread is about the NEXUS-GE connection: are you a NEXUS member too? And did you have to go back to a Canadian airport to get your new passport re-updated in the CBSA system? (or did it happen in GOES automatically as well?)


THANKS! This is important info for me, since my passport is expiring in 2012 and I'd really rather not make a special trip up to YYZ just to have my new passport details recorded in the system. (although that's exactly what the CBSA officer told me I would have to do every time I received new passports)