Can someone help me answer this
I signed up (and was approved) for Nexus and GE, I had my interview at the Detroit bridge crossing.

They didn't have a retina scanner there, and he mentioned something that I needed to have a retina scan before using GE. Does that sound right?

When I look at the documentation for using GE, it seems like it's just a scan of the passport and fingerprints on the machine, no retina scan.

Any ideas?

That doesn't sound right. GE uses digital fingerprints, not the iris scan. The iris scan is used for NEXUS Air only (the NEXUS kiosks at select major Canadian airports for entering Canada and the USA).

When you had your interview at the Detroit location, was there a CBP officer who interviewed and took your digital fingerprints? If so, and as long as GOES says "approved" for GlobalEntry, then you should be able to use GlobalEntry kiosks to enter the USA.

Then, the next time you find yourself at one of the major Canadian airports, simply stop by a NEXUS Enrolment Centre to have your irises scanned, so that you can use the NEXUS kiosks as well.

You can do the iris scans at Canada Customs facilities at many land border crossings, too. I did mine at Fort Erie, ON (opposite Buffalo, NY). I expect they can do them in Windsor, ON too.

I'm pleased to report that the last 4-5 times I entered at LAX T4 (starting about late November or thereabouts), it is now much improved.

The right kiosk (there are only two) seems to be permanently out of order, and there is still a sign at the kiosks instructing GE people to see the first agent. A couple of times, the first agent was busy, but saw me waiting with a GE receipt, and waved me through.

The customs exit now has a clearly marked diplomatic and GE sign, with an agent keeping guard. This is a major improvement.

I just arrived at LAX a few days ago (HKG-LAX on CX882) and it was a total breeze. I had a semi-tight connection to an AA flight, so when I got off the plane there were CX staff handing out those neon orange "Connection Express" envelopes with my AA boarding pass inside.

When I got to immigration they saw the CE envelope and tried to direct me to an agent but there was already quite a line. I opted to walk all the way to the far end to use GE. IIRC they had 4 machines and they all worked fine, no line or waiting.

Got to the baggage carousel just as my bag was coming out (elapsed time since leaving the plane about 5 minutes, hehe). Got the bag and headed for the "middle" exit lane. It had a sign saying it was closed but when the guard saw my orange CE card she shuffled me through. I'm not sure if they would have done that if I didn't have that CE or not. No way to test it out now.

Anyway, I went straight to the front of the (very long) exit line, no wait.

http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/25485?c=border_security

Homeland Security is expanding GlobalEntry to CLT, PHX, MSP and DEN.

This is great news for people who fly out of my airport (YQR) as our non-stop US flights are to PHX, LAS, DEN, MSP and ORD so by the time this is done, all of our flights will be GlobalEntry-eligible. (No US pre-clearance at YQR.) This will be great for those flying out of YXE too, as well as other Canadian airports, not to mention several non-US airports that serve these destinations.

My wife and I have been GE users for several years now and LOVE it. We are adopting two Ukrainian boys. They will have US Passports and citizenship when we bring them home for the first time. Obviously, they will not be GE members. Do you guys think we could get away with using the GE kiosks for the two of us, and then go through the crew/diplomat line with the two kids (like we got an "X")? Or should we wait in the regular line with the 1000s of other people for 2 hours?

I don't think you have a choice. All passengers have to be GE for your family to use the kiosks.

There might be an exception if your children are infants - but you'd be best to research it first.

CBP's stated policy seems to be that you must use the lines, but a number of people have posted success in going to the front of the line with their kids, and I was told when I went to get a new sticker that at least that agent (at IAD) would let me bring my 8 yo daughter to the front of the line with me.

1 time at IAD, for supplemental Ag inspection (5 total uses forme I think)

(Sorry, I am new here and posted this question in a different thread about Global Entry, and then found this thread by googling, so I apologize if you saw my question twice)

My husband and I were both approved a few years ago, when Global Entry was new. We've come into the U.S. a few times since then and we are just not seeing the advantage. You do get to bypass Immigration, but Immigration lines usually move quite quickly anyway. Plus with more and more people getting Global Entry, isn't it just a matter of time till the lines at the scanners grow longer?

So then you get your luggage and then you stand in the same bloody Customs lines as everyone else, even if your Global Entry card cleared you for Customs.

And most people don't get questioned at Customs anyway. They just get waived through.

And even if you got the Customs Clearance at the kiosk, they can still question you or send you to Ag inspection.

So what is the point of Global Entry? And why doesn't Customs set up a separate line for Global Entry passengers?

The queue and line speed are highly variable. For example, I've landed at LAX T4 on AA 137 from LHR quite a few times over the past few years. Sometimes immigration is empty and GE doesn't make any difference. But sometimes it's a complete zoo, absolutely packed and moving slowly. In any event, GE means not having to fill out a paper form.

You're correct that as more people get GE, there will start being lines for the kiosks. LAX T4 has only two kiosks, and one has been out of order for several months, so there is often a line.

I find there is more often a massive queue for customs. There is supposed to be a marked GE exit at most locations, and if not, you're supposed to be able to cut to the head of the line. LAX T4 has really improved in this area -- there is now a sign and separate exit lane for GE, just recently added. In contrast, in MIA the marked GE lane was closed, and anyway, there was such a massive chaotic sea of people that it was impossible to cut through.

True. And if they catch you with anything, the penalty will be bad, or so we were sternly admonished when we enrolled in GE.

The point of GE is to make C&BI's job easier. They are in essence looking for a needle (someone who shouldn't be admitted or someone smuggling in contraband) in a haystack (huge amount of people entering the country, almost all of whom are fine). The goal is GE is reduce the amount of hay C&BI needs to examine. Less hay means an easier time finding the needle. By pre-screening people at very low risk of being a problem, they can spend more time looking at everyone else.

The point is 8 minutes from door open at JFK to outside customs and heading out to my car. Or similar at ORD and changing to a connection home 2 hours earlier than the one I was booked on. I have sen really long lines at immigration. I'm not in them now. And that's a good thing.

This is why it is worth it. You must be getting really lucky to not be seeing an advantage (i.e. whatever airport you are coming into must be really non-busy when you happen to land). Often times at large international airport many flights are coming in at the same time which absolutely swamps immigration and customs. I think when coming back from Turkey we had at least our flight, a KE flight, and I think one more all hitting Bradley in LAX at once and it was not pretty. If we had GE at that point we probably would have shaved off an hour of time in the airport.

I've only used GE once (it's an additional benefit to NEXUS, which I do use more) but when I did use it at ORD last May, I was the last one off my YQR-ORD flight but the first passenger from that flight onto the train to T1. If I hadn't had a checked bag I would have only spent a minute clearing Customs. With the bag it was more like five minutes but I still saved who knows how long. For all I know those passengers are still stuck in there.

There will be times when it provides no benefit and there are times when it provides staggering benefit.

Adding in my NEXUS experiences (in both directions, since I can use it entering Canada or the US) I'd say that it saves me significant time (>5 minutes) about 75% of the time, maybe more.