I don't think you "need" the material . . . the issue is that they did a search and you must have turned up with arrests for these offenses. That means they'll ask you about them. Based on others' postings, they records that showed up in the search are inconclusive -- they can't really tell if you were caught at a bar with a fake ID or if you were caught using a fake ID to open a bank account or something, so they asked you and now you may need to substantiate that.

If you read through this thread, and another one on being denied, you are likely to have the opportunity to appeal if you are denied by providing additional information.

I would wait to see what happens and then pursue the appeal.

Yup, true that, and while I may not like its current laws, that is NOT the issue here.

Again, the issue is this:

I am saying I was not aware of the fact that this would even be a part of this process. As far as I can tell, there was no mention made to me that I would need to bring in anything nor disclose anything about such past activity in my life. HAD THERE BEEN NOTICE OF IT, I would have then decided whether or not to go into the process to begin with.

So I am not arguing the laws of this here--or whether or not I think I should get approved or denied. No, I am stating that I should have been made more aware of what is considered so that I could have (A) looked into my past records to see what, if anything is on there or not--before even deciding to apply, and (B) I could have decided on my own to apply and risk the denial or not apply and save the funds for another user such as my wife.

See what I am saying?

The question is: Does anyone here know if the GE application process ever mentions that you need to bring in things about past possible criminal activity? I did not think it did. (although I admit I may have missed something). I can say that I certainly saw nothing on the sheet where they remind you to bring in things like your passport, license and something proving where you live. So that's what I brought with me and nothing more.

there's a difference.

Yes that makes sense too. And I will wait. Heck I may even get lucky--I dunno. But again my issue is that I really kinda sorta wished this was something I could have been prepared to face. then I may not even have bothered doing it if I figured I could not get the darn thing right now. See?

I don't know if it says something different for GE, and this was after paying the application fee, but after I was conditionally approved for NEXUS and scheduled my interview, at the bottom of the "Interview Scheduled" page was this sentence:

But again, that wouldn't help you decide in advance whether or not to apply.

I used my GE for the first time in December, coming back from Beijing and clearing customs in ORD. I can tell you that the line for the standard customs was at least 90mins and snaked through the hallways. I stood in line for 10 minutes since the line was growing by the second, until I finally decided to chance it and headed for the front of the line -- hoping nobody would take a swing at me for jumping the line ;-)
I found the GE kiosk and was on my way to baggage claim within 5 minutes. Definitely worth the $100 for that trip alone. On the downside, there is a 3 to 4 month wait to schedule an interview at IAD, *after* you receive the approval letter. Due to travel, I was able to schedule an interview at IAH within 10 days -- I arrived two hours early for it and they still saw me within 10 minutes. Overall very pleased with GE.

I have a printout of the GOES page I saw in the system... can try to find electronic copy... but theres NOTHING saying that on it anywhere.

From the GE website:

"Q: Is criminal history a disqualifier for Global Entry?

A: Global Entry is a risk-based approach to facilitate the entry of pre-approved U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents of the United States and citizens of certain other countries. Applicants may not qualify for participation in the Global Entry program if any of the following conditions are applicable:

They provide false or incomplete information on the application;
They have been convicted of any criminal offense or have pending criminal charges to include outstanding warrants;
They have been found in violation of any Customs, Immigration, or Agriculture regulations or laws in any country;
They are subjects of an investigation by any Federal, state, or local law enforcement agency;
They are inadmissible to the United States under Immigration regulation, including applicants with approved waivers of inadmissibility or parole documentation; or
They cannot satisfy CBP of their low-risk status or meet other program requirements."

Interesting. Must be different for GE than for NEXUS, or perhaps even different depending on the interview location (this page also had directions to the enrollment center). I don't recall seeing such a statement anywhere else on GOES. I did find the following statement in the Information Guide for the GE pilot program (revised June 2008):

Couldn't find a similar statement in a quick search of the current brochures, though.

Thanks to FlyerTalk, though, I knew to expect to be asked if I had ever been arrested, and indeed they did ask.

Seems that if this is indeed on there, then I should have seen it and if I did not then I digress and this is a non-issue. I could have then decided to look up my distant past and found out more as to whether I have anything relevant. Therefore yes, they told me in advance and I made my mistakes. So be it.

And now, I will just have to wait and see--thereby letting their decision be the means through which I find out what is on my past records if anything. No need to call around, etc. I will just wait til GE tells me the results. Oh well.

yes I think I should have also looked in FT first and I might have known.

Well, ya cant win em all. At least I know I don't have to go huffing and puffing about over it.

Although I still do find the rules a bit silly, but that's for another topic I think. I mean, we cant do much about it in here but seriously, why does it matter what someone did in college with beer and parties, etc when they wanna travel with convenience now--25 years later? All I did was get caught at it. I mean some people may have done the same things who DID NOT get caught! Does it all come down to what's been documented? Really? And then, there are some who never did anything wrong, so yeah they should be better off than some poor sap like me anyway--I don't discount that, but the fact that old things like that can come up to haunt you all these years later really bothers me. Especially since there appears to be no way to ever expunge it or cleanse it or even pay a fee to override it (if it was minor enough to warrant this sort of thing). I guess someone thought it all did matter, so there ya go--in this sense I'm not much different than the unfortunate executive I mentioned as an example in my earlier post. I'll be sure to look into how to change those things with votes over time--I dunno. I guess that's all for an entirely other part of the forum--and other forums anyway.

But for this, for now, with the way the laws stand today, I guess I'll just wait and see--and will report back.

Thanks

:)MM

On their FAQ page:

http://www.globalentry.gov/faq.html

It's been a couple of years since I did my GE application, but it seems to me that there was an explicit question on the application about whether one had been convicted or not.

See page 58 of this CPB PDF: http://www.globalentry.gov/pdfs/GE_StepByStep_final.pdf

yup... so that's just me having a blonde moment.
Oh well, now I know.
We shall see what comes of it

That's true. But it doesn't say anything about arrests that didn't result in a conviction, which they will ask about at the interview.

...which IS a bad thing because what if you were arrested and then the case was thrown out in which case you should have never been arrested in the first place? That could hurt your ability to get these services like GE, etc.

I mean it's kinda the same as how some towns so stupidly publish things like that in their local newspaper police blotters... You may have seen such stuff: And if they do, now your rep is tarnished but if the case is dismissed or you are found not guilty anyway, it could still harm you that such a thing was published in a local newspaper or if you later apply for one of these things. Not too right in my mind.

Why, if you take this to the Nth degree, someone could almost decide to purposely arrest someone JUST TO mess them up for such future endeavors! Fortunately I do not know of any such case but gee, it is possible, right?

Yes, it is possible, and LEOs in some places recognize that. Together with the "you can beat the rap but you can't beat the ride" attitude, many folks don't know that in some respects we are "one strike and you're out". Be very cautious.