Same thing happened to me in late July at IAD. The CBP officer to whom I handed the GE ticket told me it was random, and I got only the ag screening. Biggest annoyance was having to wait for the Ag screeners to get done inputing whatever they were doing rather than handling me. Asked about food, and I told them gum (abundance of caution). Put my bags on a belt and away I went.

Received an email from DHS today trumpeting the Global Entry Card and the procedure to get one.

Actually, it hasn't been normal at all at five different entry points I've used GE at. This isn't the officer standing at the exit from immigration area - you're talking about standing in line for an immigration officer *after* using aGE kiosk and not getting an X?

I've never heard of such a thing.

I agree. The only line I have ever waited in after the kiosk was Customs after picking up my checked bags.

Received an email this morning announcing that Global Entry terminals are now installed at several Canadian airports which was timely since I was returning from Ottawa this afternoon.

The DHS in YOW doesn't seem to understand the program. I got .....ed out for not filling out the declaration paperwork. I told him, um that's not how global entry works dude. The agent responded we're in canada and we just do it different here.

He wanted me to go back through the full line, fill in the paperwork and then come back!! Clearly the YOW team needs training in how the program works.

Fortunately I had my 90% filled out card in my passport (per the training from the interview) and I just signed it and filled in the flight # and handed it to him right there.

If you're coming through Canada be prepared for clueless agents.

The one time I came in at SFO there was an officer verifying receipts and customs forms before getting to the baggage carousels. It was a particularly light day though, so I don't know if this is standard, but SFO is the only place where I had to show the receipt twice. I've only used GE at ORD and LAX besides SFO, and at those two airports I only had to show the receipt as I was exiting the customs hall and turning in the receipt to the CBP officer.

Okay, I'm 99% certain that even though it says "food" on the blue form, pre-packaged goods are fine. Chewing gum is fine. Coffee and tea are fine. Fresh fruit is not fine. A suitcase filled with zebra meat is not fine.

If you really have trouble determining what's fine and not fine for the food question, think of whether the item would pass as a Duty Free purchase.

Same here. Used the Crew Line at YYZ Terminal 1. Regular line was a couple rows deep at noon. Crew line had 2 other ppl in it. Very awesome.
Still not sure why they don't put a sign saying "Global Entry". Go figure.

It is not a question of which foods are "fine" and which are not; the question is whether you must declare, and if using the blue form, the answer is YES.

I would agree with your assessment of those specific items. However, in order to comply with U.S. Customs regulations when using the blue paper form, you still MUST DECLARE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING you are carrying that could be consumed as food, EVEN IF you know those items are permitted. Not to declare is to risk huge fines and red flags on your record if they decide to search you and find undeclared items, even if they are permitted items. Declare means declare, period. When I used to bring in cookies using the paper declaration form and checked "yes," the officer would ask me "what food?" and I would hold up my bag of cookies. The officer stamped the form and off I went. That's the way to do it.


One huge advantage of GlobalEntry is that you do NOT have to declare anything and everything that can be consumed as food. Instead, the kiosk asks more specifically about fruit, meat, etc. In other words, the government trusts you to know what kinds of things need to be declared. Not so for the average traveler using the paper declaration form.


I suspect that a large number of frequent travelers put themselves at risk every day by not declaring permitted food items for the sake of convenience. If I were you, I would not make that mistake. A lie of omission is still a lie, which in this case also happens to be a federal offense. All it would take is one random secondary inspection (discovering undeclared items) and you could face unpleasant entries to the USA for a long time in the future--again, EVEN IF THOSE ITEMS WERE PERMITTED. If the form asks about it, you must answer truthfully.

But you are 99% wrong. Food is food; don't declare it on the blue form and get caught, you open up a whole world of hurt. There is plenty of discussion on the Nexus thread about declaring a mint or a piece of chocolate. One guideline is if it leaves your body as solid waste, declare it. If it leaves your body as liquid waste, do not.

It happend to me at LAX Terminal 2
 

There is a lane that you must go though right after the kiosk at Terminal 2 where an officer checked my receipt. I thought it odd... <shrug>

This was March 29, 2011 Terminal 2

Yesterday at EWR Term C (where there were only four kiosks, one of which was broken) at final bag exit they only took the receipt no passport check. last week IAH still checking all passports, albeit quickly, upon exit of the no checked bag kiosk area. Love the program, but it does seem that different airports are still doing things a bit differently several years into this.

No -- it's 100% wrong. The blue form asks about food. If you have any food and use the blue form you must declare it. Now, I've used the blue form and written on it that I had cookies or chocolate, etc. and had that crossed off by the inspector. I've then been told not to bother telling them of things that I knew were okay on the blue form and to just check, "no." But, as noted above, if I followed that advice and I were subsequently searched and found to have food I'd be making a false declaration. That w:(uld be bad(TM). The GE kiosk has a different food question for just this reason.

He was 99% sure that it was ok, so 1% sure it was not. He was thus 99% incorrect, and 1% correct.

Newbie GE question: do I ever need the wallet card outside of Canada/Mexico travel??
 

I've tried to read all 148 pages of this thread but may well have missed it. I'm a GE newbie -- have had my interview, rehersed with the practice kiosk, and received the wallet card with the RFID chip, so apparently everything is now live. What I'm trying to understand is, other than ground travel returning from Canada/Mexico, do I ever actually need the wallet card? The documentation that comes with it is vague on this point. I had assumed all that is need for use of the kiosk for an air arrival into the US was a passport, and the wallet card stays home unless you are making a surface return to the US -- is this right?