International arrival - Global entry for parents but not kids
 

We have 3 and 7 year old kids that do not have Global entry while both the parents do have it. We're arriving from Paris to Minneapolis.

1. Will the kids be allowed thru Global Entry? - My guess is No since they don't have any record in the computer
2. Will the kids be able to use APC at the entry?

If they can't do either then what is our best option to complete immigration in a faster way? We have short layover and would prefer to not rush for the connection.

1. no

You will have to go through with them in the regular line for US citizens, Canadian citizens and prior ESTA users. This means using the (non-GE) APC kiosks.

2. Yes, the family group use the APC kiosks the same as all Canadians and most EU/Schengen country citizens.

The line for and after APC kiosks at MSP can be very slow sometimes.

I have a related question...

We did sign our kids up for Global Entry, but our youngest kid was an infant at the time, and his finger prints did not get entered properly into his record. He is now 4 years old, and when I called to see about setting up an appointment to re-fingerprint him, the office told me that they would not be able to do it. The explanation given was that they would still not be able to get valid prints in the system, because he is still too young. However, his brother's prints do work, and he was 3 when we signed him up.

The agent I spoke with said we could still go through the GE line, and that we would just need to go up to the GE desk to be manually processed instead of using the kiosk.

This seemed like a clunky solution to me. Why can't we just try our luck at getting new prints for the younger kid? We have to go in anyway, because Older Kid got a new passport.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm annoyed that we paid for GE for our youngest kid and aren't able to fully utilize it. :/

There is no age limit I think. no reason why you can't make a new appointment. FYI - You don't need to go in for a new passport. You can change the passport info on-line.

Sounds like I spoke with someone there who had no idea what they were talking about. I thought that might've been the case.

Thanks for your reply. I didn't mention in OP that both my wife and I are permanent residents and not US citizens. Thus, we can't use the APC kiosks.
Can we use GE for wife & I while using APC for the kids?

Call three times, get three different answers !

There are ways to do that at MSP, but not without potentially delaying yourself at MSP and perhaps even annoying some of the Cbp employees there. For this situation at MSP, I'd suggest using the same line together and that the line be the one that US LPRs use when without GE.

the officer who attends global entry line at least here at LAX has the same setup as any other station - long time ago before we got GE for kids we asked the same question and they were processed right there (kids were 2 or 3 so perhaps we got a break)... ymmv of course

They can process the children at the GE line at MSP too, but it has annoyed some there before.

As others have observed, everybody needs GE, no exceptions. If you don't want to get the kids GE (very easy, although it may take a while to get approved as the fingerprints often don't scan correctly as pointed out above), I *strongly* recommend the mobile passport app.

In fact, in several instances we've found it faster than the GE line--and our entire family has GE. Just use it when you land, and then you can assess the lines when you enter the arrivals hall and decide which way to go that day...

MSP has Mobile Passport Control, and it's currently nearly as fast as GE -- and sometimes even faster -- and is much faster than APC kiosks on average.

When I brought my then 2 year old and 4 year old for their GE appointments, the officer tried mightily to get their prints. He said he was pretty confident he got the 4 year old's but that the 2 year old's were dicey. I would have thought the "machine" either gave a +/yes/accepted or -/no/rejected on the prints with no possibility of "pretty confident" or "dicey." But, who am I to tell the guy with the gun his opinion in my favor isn't right.

Anywho the officer said that the kids could use the GE system but that they could get rejected on the prints at the kiosk. He said if that happens, just go to the first available officer.

It's never been an issue. Some of the kiosk photos of my kids are hilarious as I've held them up for the camera. 1/2 a face, just chin, sometimes perfect, you name it. We've always gotten through and never had to see an officer. Even with the "bad" photos, the post-baggage claim officers accepting our receipts has never had an issue.