Last November at JFK, no passport check at immigration. Last week at EWR terminal 2, there was a guy checking everyone's passport and had a list of flights coming in that day. I always miss the timing to take a photo and the receipt always shows my face down and cannot really see if that's actually me but immigration and customs officers never had any problem with that

I also have had several different experiences depending on when and where I entered immigration. At IAD (the airport in question), there is almost never anyone around.

The point I was making is don't stop and stand there if no one is around AND there is no sign telling you to wait. At airports other than IAD, sometimes there will be an agent posted either at a desk or just standing up as you go toward the baggage claim facility. If you are asked for your passport and receipt, show it to them.

At the GE Customs line (after you pick up your baggage), you always are supposed to have your passport and receipt, and the customs officer will take that receipt.

I should have been more clear. On some occasions, the kiosks were unmanned. I or someone ahead of me got the slip (in my case, no 'X') and headed for customs - only to be stopped by the agent at the nearest booth or an agent appearing from the other side of the booths (previously not visible) yelling something like 'Hey! Where do you think you're going? Stop right now!'

I don't want or need that kind of attention. In the absence of sign directing me to proceed to customs unless I have an 'X', I go to the nearest agent. I have yet to be told "You're OK, you didn't need to stop here".

I've only been asked to stop and show my receipt and PP when going through Pre-clearance at YVR, YYC, & YYZ. All other entry points, with the exception of LAX*, have not made me stop.

In January, LAX had the lines assembled so you had to stop and talk to an agent..

I suspected this was coming. One of the best things about GE was automating the process and speeding it up. Too good to last.

Most of my experience is at IAD, and I've never seen anyone near the kiosks. I move like I own the place and just keep going to customs. Most recent time he wanted only my slip, and didn't check passport (seems superfluous anyway as I've already been checked for passport and there's a picture on GE slip). At IAH I had to show slip immediately after getting it from kiosk.

The pic on the receipt at CLT was really crapy. Out of curiosity, was the pic on the receipts printed at IAD decent?

I didn't look at it carefully after a long international flight. But it certainly seems to show me clearly enough that I couldn't just pass it to anyone for their use (perhaps if they had a similar t-shirt and hairline it might work).

I assume the photo is solely to prevent the passing of the receipt to a less trusted traveler to facilitate customs violations so really all it needs to do is verify you haven't changed in the last 5-10 minutes.

CBP to start soon pre-clearance facilities in the UAE similar to the ones in Ireland and CAD ^^ :

http://www.btnews.co.uk/article/6387

Well...if you read that article, it says there's going to be a fight, and most likely it won't happen.

Deleted.... this was cross posted in another forum

Hi, can you tell me where is the link or button or whatever to apply for SES on GOES? I've already been approved for Global Entry a while ago and now i am trying to add SES, but I can't seem to find where to apply. I've looked everywhere on GOES.

-henry

Click "Manage Membership". The SES link should be at the top.

Is there any difference between the Global Entry kiosks and the new self-service kiosks at ORD? If not, what's the point of GE for those of us based in Chicago?

If you check the FAQs on the CBP page announcing the program, you will see that the new automated passenger processing kiosks are not replacing GlobalEntry, and they are DIFFERENT from the GlobalEntry kiosks. Indeed, they look very different, according to the photos I have seen. The new kiosks are available to any US passport holder, and they replace the paper declaration. As I understand it, the new program is designed to reduce the amount of time that the average pax spends in front of a CBP officer. For US passport holders, all the officer at Primary generally does is swipe the passport, check in the computer for any flags or active warrants in the databases, and then send the pax onward to baggage claim and customs. What the kiosk does is automate the process of checking the databases, and moving the responsibility for swiping over to the passenger. That way, only those (very few) US Citizen passengers with issues to resolve, like flags on their record, have to speak to an officer at Primary. The rest can be on their way and keep the lines moving.

This process is different from GlobalEntry in that GlobalEntry members are pre-approved, low-risk travelers who have undergone a background check. They are KNOWN not to have any issues on their record or else they wouldn't have GE membership. So all the kiosk needs to do is confirm their identity and allow them to answer the declaration questions.

The one thing that I am not sure about is how identity is verified for the new program. GlobalEntry members use biometrics captured during the interview (namely, fingerprints). But the new program kiosks do not seem to use fingerprinting. So, what would prevent somebody from inserting somebody else's passport, running through the questions, and printing a receipt with that person's details and then walking through? (especially if the officers at the Customs exit do not always check the kiosk receipt against the passport ID page) Global Entry members could not get away with it because of the fingerprint check, but the average traveler is different...no biometrics on file for many travelers.