adamj023

Global Entry qualifies you for TSA Precheck. DHS controls both agencies.

abaheti

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9930; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.580 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Listed every country within the timespan requested, even if just connecting to another flight. I couldn't determine what they meant so went overboard to make sure they couldn't question my not listing a country.

As for customer service, what can I tell you? I was happy.

I had a trip coming up, didn't see any slots online, and just called in hopes of a cancellation opening... Was told they were booked, but to show up and ask for a specific agent. The interview was easy, logical, rational, and with humor. I even did it side-by-side jointly with my spouse. He asked for some followup documentation before final approval, and gave me his email and cell. When I sent a clarification question, he said he had already cleared thing with his supervisor and we were both approved and ready to go. Not what I expected, but my experience at LAX was simply fantastic. YMMV.

Dubai Stu

I find it interesting that the letter says if you had a pardon from any country you are ineligible. Compare this with their own slide show:

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

Look at page 62 of the slide show. I'm only citing to this because their own statements are conflicting, they don't give a great deal of guidance, and if we guess wrong we have demonstrated "bad moral character" by engaging in deceptive behavior.

drewguy

It's difficult to imagine that CBP has a systematic bias on GE for gay men.

It is not so difficult to imagine that some CBP agents have an anti-gay bias that might lead them to reject an applicant on that basis. If that was the case in this instance, he might want to seek a transfer away from SFO however.

SeriouslyLost

That.

Yoshi212

Bolding mine. Some members of the SF 49ers should take that advice too.

Loren Pechtel

Long ago I was on two trips that involved many countries each. Faced with the fairly small blank on the customs form and a list of countries far too big to squeeze in my father simply listed continents and let the guy ask if he wanted to. They didn't.

Loren Pechtel

Yet another agreement.

GUWonder

I use two or three letter country codes when I have that kind of issue.

RandomBaritone

Well, the verdict is in. My fiancé -- he of the former federal government security clearance, he who wore his clerical attire to his interview so there'd be no mistaking that he's a clergyman -- was also denied Global Entry.

His interview proceeded much like mine: rude, accusatory, and filled with false information apparently intended to trip him up, as if he were a threat. At one point the interviewer loudly said "Why is there a gap in your reported address list?" causing the other interviewees in the room to turn and listen. Of course there was no gap -- the GE employee had simply misread the dates -- but it really flustered my fiancé.

Again, he had a basic security clearance as a full-time Peace Corps recruiter, since he had to go digging into the lives of potential volunteers. He's even more of a Boy Scout than I am, and was ordained an Episcopal priest last year. He's a hospital chaplain, helping people through the most difficult times of their lives. Neither of us has ever had the slightest problem with the law or with any customs agency. And now CBP claims we're not trustworthy enough to handle our own customs declaration, or use the TSA Pre-Check line?

I'm sorry, but in a democracy we're entitled to know the reason behind insulting, boneheaded decisions such as these.

lovely15

I am wondering if you were perhaps denied based on your behavior during the interview? Nervous, shifty, etc?

abaheti

Any response on your prior FOIA request or complaint to the ombudsman? I assume he'll file a FOIA request as well? Depending on who your Representative/Senator is, this also may be a good time to ask a district office case worker to look into it for you as they tend to get better/faster responses.

Please keep us updated.

RandomBaritone

Nope, and to be clear, it was fairly obvious from the moment both of us walked in that our interviews were going to be different from everyone else's present. We were asked more in-depth questions, even were both fed false information to try to trip us up. I'd only experienced that once before, when I flew El Al in college! I laughed it off with my GE interviewer, assuming I'd "passed" his little behavioral trick. Apparently passing wasn't an option for either of us.

No response to the ombudsman request; apparently those take 4-6 months.

We may write our Congressperson, especially given Kevin's status as a former federal employee, returned Peace Corps volunteer, and member of the clergy.

I got a response to the FOIA request after a month asking for a sworn, notarized statement attesting to my identity. Of course I would gladly have provided it at the outset, but nowhere on the form I filled in was that listed as a requirement. One can begin to see how they use attrition to limit the number of incoming requests.

I'm gonna go read some Kafka now....

Yoshi212

Keep up the fight and bury them in paperwork.
I prefer watching Space Balls to reading Kafka.

RandomBaritone

Thanks for the great advice, both here and in private messages. Our working theory is that some combination of being two single males living together combined with our moving a lot -- the worst stretch was five moves in five years just after Kevin returned from Peace Corps -- triggered some algorithm that thinks we're too shifty for GE. Not exactly the most modern sentiment, given that we've been together 14 years and our moves were mostly for new jobs, doing our part to keep the economy afloat!

It would appear that this kind of case is exactly what the ombudsman is for. Here's hoping either their office or contacting our Congressperson provides some answers.