Denied after interview for a marijuana arrest
 

have a marijuana arrest on my record from 6 years ago. I was never charged and it has since been expunged. I received conditional approval and just had my interview last Friday. The officer told me I would be approved and 48 hours later in denied. I reached out to the local office and they told me all Marijuana arrests even if no charges are filed are automatically denied because it's a schedule 1 drug. Has anyone else heard this because it sounds fishy?

Thx guys for any information. I filed my appeal so we will see how that goes and how long that takes.

Long read ...Wow - what a journey ... but happy to say, it's over

Recap:

02/10/19 - My boyfriend applied for GE ... after 23 1/2 weeks and numerous escalations, emails and phone calls, he’s been denied - reason was: “You have been found to have violated CBP laws, regulations or other related laws - you do not meet the program eligibility requirements” - WTH!!!! Can they be any less specific? He’s never been arrested, has low level security clearance for work (same as me). The only thing that we can think of is that about 5 years ago, we were flagged debarking the cruise ship for having more than the allotted amount of cartons of cigarettes... he’s been flagged to see customs for alcohol or cigarettes occasionally (because the ship sends customs a list of those who buy more than the allowance) and once he goes to talk to customs officers, he either pays the duty or they waive it ... no citations, tickets, arrests, anything ... no biggie - he doesn’t mind paying duty. (original post under this thread)

11/27/19 - Requested FOIA documentation (advise from FlyerTalk members)

04/29/20 - Received FOIA response (below)

This is a final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). You were denied the program because of a 2014 short form seizure of cigarettes, however, you should consider to file a reconsideration request to the Ombudsman as it appears it was an abandonment by you. We conducted a comprehensive search of files within the CBP databases for records that would be responsive to your request. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate or identify any responsive records, based upon the information you provided in your request.

06/26/20 - Reconsideration submitted (he didn’t see the email from FIOA – went to spam)
07/09/20 - CA approval received

09/08/20 – GE interview:

The CBP agent took his passport and ID (this is standard) and then my boyfriend hears the agent and his supervisor talking … she is saying ‘that is an automatic denial’ and call him back. They said that ‘failing to declare is an automatic denial’. My boyfriend questioned it and said even though the ombudsman approved it? The agent at that time looked in his file and sure enough, it was all there - all of his correspondence was in his file including the recommendation from the ombudsman & FOIA documentation. The supervisor was getting curt with him saying that the CBP had in his file the following: Mr. XXX REFUSED to declare & pay duty on 6 cartons of cigarettes. Of course, that was not true and my boyfriend proceeded to explain that he (we) weren’t given the opportunity to hand over our declarations because we hadn’t even gotten off the ship yet – they pulled us from the line when scanning our cards for the last time BEFORE going through customs. We had our declarations in hand and the CBP agents did not want to look at them and proceeded to have my boyfriend sign the ‘witness of disposal’ form signed at which the CBP then destroyed the cigarettes. After all of this (and of course thankfully the letter from ombudsman and FIOA), the supervisor stated that his GE was approved, but any ‘mistake in declaring’ in the future will cause his GE to be revoked. So, what usually takes 10 minutes max (GE interview) ended up taking 45 minutes … he had his email within 5 minutes of leaving the interview.



Anyway – it does pay to be persistent and patient (not my virtue) … all in all, almost 19 months to the day from application to final approval.

I wanted to thank everyone on this thread (as well as a couple other FlyerTalk threads) that have helped, guided, supported us through this exhausting journey. You all have been a wealth of information!



Thank you again!

I remember this story and I'm glad he got it. I'm just curious how or why CBP destroyed the cigarettes when in your first writing it sounded like they just required you to pay duty., which you fully expected, just that they did it before actual customs and taking the declaration form.

They never asked for the declarations and did not give us the opportunity to pay duty (we were expecting to pay once we got to customs) - They literally pulled us from line while still on the ship and escorted us (along with several others) to a back room - One by one, each 'guest/family' was brought to the tables - we had passports & declarations in hand (always place our declarations inside our passports and hand over to CBP) - they took our passports handed back declarations - they questioned us as they did each 'guest/family' regarding their purchases (don't know the people after us - could have been another reason) - they went through our luggage, allowed us to keep the 'permitted amount' and took the overage and destroyed the rest - packed up our suitcases, they then escorted out the back door (which lead to the parking lot).

Why was the arrest "expunged"? Was it because there was a determination that there were insufficient facts, a legal problem with the case, or something else? That may make a difference in putting together a package for "appeal." CBP cares a whole lot more about whether you possessed marijuana than whether you were convicted of the possession.

There are a number of federal agencies which have chosen to take the position that because the possession of marijuana was and remains a federal crime, that the fact that a state or local law has now "decriminalized" possession does not matter. That might include expunging arrests. That is an unfortunate situation, but might be addressable in a carefully worded "appeal" if the expungement is because you did not possess marijuana.

The very specific details, of course, omitting identifying information, would be most helpful.

I see, that's a very strange way for them to do it--either take the duty or issue a citation. What happened when you protested that you don't want your cigarettes to be destroyed and were willing to pay duty & had planned to validly declare them?

Yes, it was very strange and honestly, we didn't know any better - it was very 'locked up abroad' feeling. CBP did not allow us to pay duty - we asked and they said no that they were going to destroy them ... we didn't get a citation, warning, anything - just had him sign the 'witness of destruction' form and sent us on our way ... we didn't get a copy of the form or anything - all I remember is that it was the size of a 1/2 sheet of paper, so not sure -- the FIOA called it 'abandonment' ... who really knows... this was in 2014 and just glad all of this is behind us now

Moderator's Note: Topic Drift
 

While some limited deviation from the subject of the thread is perfectly fine, for indexing and future search purposes, please let's keep the focus of the discussion on dealing with denials of Global Entry applications.

Thank you,

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

I wanted to share a bizarre denial. My father applied for GE back in April 2020 and just received a pre-interview background check denial today October 2020. I want to share that instead waiting for a six to seven month for an FOIA research which may or may not yield any answers, he was successful in calling a local GE enrollment center and speak to a kind supervisor who actually gave me a lot of extra information on even a pre-interview appointment background check denial.

If no one picks up the phone at your nearest GE office, just keep calling the next one down the list until you get an office that actually answers calls :) For example, the BOS office never answers their phones so don't think waste your time calling that location!

On a side note, does anyone know if the success rate of applying for TSA Precheck in the event of a GE denial? I'm curious about the eligibility criteria used by the 2 programs or if they are linked (i.e. a GE denial will always result in a separate new precheck application)

I don't know the 'rate', but I've heard a lot of data points of people that were denied for Global Entry getting approved for TSA precheck.

Is there a recommended Dos and Donts for contacting ombuds through request reconsideration? Things we should say or shouldnt say, should it be very basic or should we include detail? Explanation of circumstance? Apologize? Explain why Sentri is important due to disability?

For me personally, in regards to an arrest in 2009 made by toxic and abusive parents for accidentally breaking a window

My son applied for renewal in Oct 2020 (GE expired Feb 2021). Was originally denied - he appealed in Dec 2020. His reconsideration request was approved in Jan 2021 and the original denial was overturned. Status said he would receive a separate notification of the next step but three months later, nothing. So he went into his account and reapply for the renewal and explained what happened. Is this the correct procedure? Thanks

Global Entry Denial
 

Hi All,
So my wife got her Global Entry denial after the interviewing officer realized that I overstayed my visitor visa (I overstayed at age of 11 and was part of DACA before we married). Basically her photo was taken, finger prints done and she says that interview was almost done but then the officer said "oh you lived with undocumented immigrant, as you filed for your husband". She answered yes but he is a GC holder now the officer said that "this is not in his record" and therefore she was denied. I guess I have 2 questions:
1) What are the odds of me getting denied if I go to my interview.
2) Would re applying for GE be faster than submitting a claim? We will use a credit card that waives the fee.

Cheers

100%.

IIRC - Your wife's denial is based on "Have been found in violation of any customs, immigration or agriculture regulations or laws in any country;" Specifically, 8 U.S.C. § 1324.

In your case, you have the following potential reason in addition - "Are inadmissible to the United States under immigration regulation, including applicants with approved waivers of inadmissibility or parole documentation; or"

You are welcome to try whatever you see fit. But AFAICT - this is a lifetime ban. So focusing on TSA PreCheck may be a better choice.

Moderator's Note
 

Please provide a source or citation to support this claim.

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator