Went in for my "interview" yesterday - was there for 5 minutes, if that. Very happy with the process overall, couldn't have been easier. Approved and on my way home faster than expected! I was even 40 minutes early for my appointment and they took my right when I arrived.

I'm glad it worked out well, it does seem to be pretty straightforward. I hope your GE and TSA Pre experiences are as good.

Thank you! Looking forward to using it in a few weeks!

Might be....not a US resident and today got:
ER: report to passport control

GE - customs
 

Could someone educate me on GE and customs (not immigration). The last few times I have gone through LAX and JFK immigration has sucked but customs has sucked even more so.

I travel internationally just enough that getting GE might be worth it if GE will also expedite customs. I am getting mixed info on what is does for one. Thanks.

With GE you do Immigration & your customs declaration at the kiosk. You scan your passport, scan your fingerprints and confirm the flight you arrived on and then answer the customs declaration info. It's a list of "yes" or "no" questions. After completing that a receipt is printed out. You get your bags and head to the exit where you handover your receipt. If you get selected for secondary you'll have a large X printed on your receipt and the agent will question you and/or inspect your bags. On a trip back from Mexico with my family my parents didn't have GE yet but my Brother, Sister in Law and I did. I was back in my apartment in Manhattan (from EWR) before my parents were done with Immigration & Customs.

http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/video-ga...s-global-entry

Edit: Some airline programs & credit cards cover the cost of GE. Nexus is 50$ for a 5 year enrollment but you have to do the interview at a border location & have to be able to pass the Canadian requirements too (no DUI ect).

Thanks … when you say exit, obviously that is the exit from customs. Is that the same exit that everyone else uses? Or is there usually a GE exit from customs? The last time I came through LAX there was a single exit from customs (that I saw). So having GE would not seemed to have helped.

It's typically the same exit but you don't wait in the line. There is usually a sign that says Global Entry Exit and the agents give GE recipients priority in my experiences.

I'd say my average time from plane door to airport exit is under 20 minutes. Without checked bags that time is drastically reduced.

At BOS there is a separate line (signed for GE and crew) that feeds to the same exit. It's saved me a lot of time.

Just hold your receipt up, walk to the front of the line, and try to ignore the scourge and dirty looks from everyone else.

At $100 for 5 years, GE is worth it if you fly 1x/year. It has the additional benefit of acting as a KTN for TSA pre-check access and that makes it doubly worth it.

Arriving in LAX with checked luggage it has been: walk up to kiosk, feed passport, fingerprints and data, go to carousel, retrieve bags , proceed to clearly marked GE exit and bypass the huge queues, give the customs officer my kiosk receipt and am out of there shortly.

Thanks for the replies - it is the line skipping that option that I was mainly wondering about. Of course if I get GE so will the wife as it is one thing to walk past other line and another thing to leave the wife in the other line :D.

So now that I signed up I have some options with my interview. How long do they typically take. I want to schedule it on my way to the airport so need to leave time enough time for everything.

Now that you've made the decision I wouldn't repeat my reasoning as to why I went GE other than it was the best solution for me. As for the interview I can say it couldn't have gone quicker or smoother, taking all of about 10 minutes. With our extensive travel to Europe, mostly the Med, over the pass three years our list of visited countries was long and included many off and on hotspot non-EU countries. Never came up. The agent asked "You still live at the same address on your application?", "You still semi-retired/working for the Army?", and "Any questions about GE?". Hard to say that's typical but we are pretty "dull" folks without any previous arrests, DUIs, or run-ins with TSA or CBP so nothing in our backgrounds to raise any read flags.