I suggest going to a CBP GE office to get your CBP sticker and ask for a quick tutoring on the kiosk they have in the office for teaching new GE members. You'll know pretty quick if you are good to go.

Had my GE interview last week... the agent perused his computer screen, and then made some comment about speeding tickets. Now I haven't had a speeding ticket in a real long time, so naturally I asked "When was that?"

"1994", he replied. I mustered up lots of willpower and refrained from saying something very disrespectful.

I asked some questions about what is disqualifying... any felony conviction ever, and any misdemeanor in the last 10 years. I made a comment that anyone with a conviction history and a valid passport gets through the regular lines without difficulty, so I didn't understand the big deal. And he basically agreed, saying that he didn't make the rules.

I then asked something non-GE related that has always puzzled me: "Why do US citizens get their passports stamped on arrival back in their own country?" Many of us run out of pages much quicker because of that. He replied that many people want their passports stamped, but that there was no requirement to stamp a US passport holder on return to the USA.

So were you approved or is there an issue because if the tickets?

Yup, approved. No issue with the tickets... that is why I cannot even figure out why he mentioned a 1994 traffic ticket, unless he was simply trying to show me how much info he had at his disposal.

all right myself and Mrs. Pokeable submitted our apps tonight.

Hopefully we'll get approved before our trip to Belize at the end of the month.

Incoming at TBIT: Just say "Excuse me" repeatedly and have any waiting crew sort of step aside and work your way around them to the front of the line where you can escape to the kiosks off to the side of the CBP officer desk. That's what I do. No need to wait around in the crew queue! The mostly-Asian crews standing in line will be rather baffled though, but they won't challenge or block you if you act like you know what you're doing. :D Note to TBIT immigration: reorganize the stanchions in this area so GE members have a clear path to the kiosks!

Happened to me at ATL. Got the dreaded X, so had to queue up. The officer working the crew line called me to stand at the head of the line immediately. The KLM crew standing there was really confused :)

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Flew into ORD from FRA yesterday. Customs hall was empty, and nobody was using the four GE machines on the left side of the hall. I was carrying some Haribo gummy bears :D and a chocolate bar from one of the FAs. Was about to declare food, but I did not see anything that would match the ingredients of the items I had.. Seems like the food question has gotten a bit more detailed..

I'm used to the IAD set-up where the terminals are before the immigration booths, so if you get the X, it's easy to cut in line up front and get processed, or just walk through with the X.

Last night coming in through JFK, I found it interesting, that they use a lane for the terminals and that the GE terminal was after the (staffed) immigration booth. I guess if you get an X, you go backwards to go in front of the guy sitting there, but it'd be a traffic jam if more than one person was getting an X or people were waiting for the machine (has yet to happen to me).

Flew into ORD from LHR yesterday, with a scheduled landing of 3:10 or so, and reservations for our final GE interviews at 4 pm (I know, tight planning, but it was our best opportunity to be at a GE airport for the right length of time for quite a while). The plane was ~40 minutes late, so we booked it to passport control, only to find a long line for immigration. We explained the situation to the agent manning the military/diplomat/etc. line, and she let us get into that one (which was very, very nice of her), which meant only a 5 minute wait or so. We ended up making it to the interview by 4:10, and the agents couldn't have been nicer about it. Both my husband and myself were processed in an efficient and friendly manner, and we received our final confirmation email by 10 pm last night.

Whew! So, a bit of an adventure at the end, and I'm very much looking forward to being able to use GE for our future entries.

Although I'm not so sure that's true, CBP has the opportunity to conduct a face to face interview at the booth and may be more likely to screen you further.

The point of GE is that it is a *trusted* traveler program. There is a reason not to accord as much trust to someone who has committed a felony or a misdemeanor (recently) and disqualify them through the program. If not these criteria, what would be disqualifying? Only people who are caught smuggling drugs?

That said, 17 year old speeding tickets don't seem like a reason for rejection, although it doesn't surprise me that it shows up on a thorough search.

Absolutely agree. The whole program is based on trust. Even though commiting a felony or a misdemeanor in the past doesn't necessarily mean that one would violate Immigration or Customs regulations, a line has to be drawn somewhere. All we need is a few people to get caught betraying that trust and the program would go away.

Had my interview today, the whole thing took about 10 minutes and was very pleasant.

I was honest about the question of illegal drug use. The agent didn't ask what, only when. I said it was 30 years ago. He didn't even break his rhythm, continued with the questions and then showed me how to use the kiosk and sent me on my way with my CBP sticker.

He said I would get a confirmation email in a few days. I'm guessing everything was ok, but I hope my honesty doesn't disqualify me.

Doubt they would have showed you how to use the kiosk, sticker your PP, etc, if you had been disqualified. If you login to GOES, what does it say next to GE?

If he put the sticker on your PP, you're all set.

joe