jx99

Has anyone applied for global entry for an infant (<1 yr)? On the GOES website it just state that parental consent required but I am not sure if the biometrics will work with an infant.

14940674

You must be 14 or over to be eligible for Global Entry. The brochure says: "Children under the age of fourteen are not eligible to participate in the test."

http://www.globalentry.gov/pdfs/GE_InfoGuide.pdf

The parental consent is relevant for those individuals between 14 and 18 years of age.

jx99

Thanks for the information.

14940674

There still is some hope for you. CBP agent told me that, assuming both you and your traveling companion are members of GE, you can bring your child under 12 years old through the GE channel with you. Also, presumably, GE will eventually lose its pilot program label and become a regular program, for which any age group can apply.

FlyingHoustonian

IAH has let me through with under my 2 year old children YMMV.

railroadtycoon

How does that work exactly? I mean wouldn't someone under 14 going through a regular line with the family also have their passport scanned and information entered into the CBP officer's computer? Even babies need passport, since I never traveled with a baby I'm not sure if they get their passports scanned in the computer by the immigration officer or not, but I would assume it does.

If someone under 14 is going to the kiosk and not registered with GE , wouldn't they still need to enter their passport information and verification somehow? Since their information is not in the GE database they wouldn't be able to use their passport etc at the GE kiosks, and if they didn't have their passport information verified somehow there would be no record of verification and entrance into the US.

squeakr

just curious....

14940674

It certainly was at inception, and, as far as I know, still is a pilot program.

FlyingHoustonian knows for sure, but I believe that you take your whole family to the Global Entry area, but instead of using the kiosk, you use the "cut-in-front-of-the-line" privileges of Global Entry to see the nearest available officer, who conducts passport checks in the conventional manner at his or her desk.

fly-yul

I was told not to do this and that travellers with children cant use GE.

Annoying since i have 3 kids under 6 - all enrolled in NEXUS.

dbaker

Arrived IAH last night with my wife and three month old. Asked the immigration officer at the dedicated GE area if we could use GE since my wife and I are members -- he said that was no problem as long as I had filled out a customs declaration for the baby (which I had already completed). We used GE kiosks and when we presented our receipts, he keyed in my daughter's DOB and looked at her passport. Easy.

We went through the dedicated crew/GE customs line after getting luggage and the customs officer was skeptical of our eligibility since we had two GE receipts and three passports. I explained that the immigration guy said it was fine, so he kind of eye-rolled and then waved us along.

Between the immigration and customs line, it saved us 90-120 minutes. However, I'm not sure what the official policy is.

schwarm

I just had my interview today (and approved). I was told by the agent that small children could not be brought along if both my wife and I were registered - it was without question against policy.

I suppose one could always go to the kiosk and ask.

He also said that it was unlikely that small children would ever be able to be part of the program since fingerprint scanning (and I suppose facial recognition) would be difficult over the course of years for a rapidly growing kid.

14940674

Global Entry does not use facial recognition, but the fingerprints certainly make it difficult for small kids. Regardless, I see little reason why kids over 5 could not use Global Entry.

fly-yul

They have figured out a way for kids to use NEXUS. Why cant they do the same for GE?

14940674

NEXUS uses an iris scan, not fingerprints, for identification. I believe that the iris of a child produces a useable image, while the prints of a child are not sufficient for identification.

fly-yul

I should have provided more info. NEXUS allows you to enroll small children without a scan on file. They place a sticker on the back of the person's NEXUS card to indicate that they don't have a scan on file. The kids need to be seen by an agent but I'm allowed to use the dedicated NEXUS line or the crew / diplomatic line.