So it isn't only me. I have been asked (and not in a joking fashion) what drugs and stds did i bring back to USA, obviously neither.

Not sure how those questions apply when their mandate states they are to be courteous.

I agree. I rarely have to wait more than a couple of minutes at SFO for immigration, so I don't think it would be worth it (also don't think this would cover my family when traveling with me).

However, if you were traveling through more inept locations like IAD and IAH then I could see how this would be well worth the $.

Nb. They never question me anymore (though we'll see if that changes after my next trip to Nigeria :rolleyes:), must be something suspicious about how you look :D or your itinerary.

Wait. CBP is at a non-border post doing ID checks? This sounds a lot like those "Papers, Comrade!" posts along some of the major highways. As much as the TSA should be told to pound sand when they ask non-airplane security related questions (i.e. those about money and reason for traveling), so should CBP when pulling that garbage.

According to the ACLU, under DHS regulations established after 9/11, internal ICE / Border Patrol checkpoints are allowed within 100 miles of any U.S. border, land (Mexico or Canada) OR water (international waters). So, basically, immigration/customs checkpoints are allowed where the vast majority of the U.S. population lives, including both coasts up to 100 miles inland, within 100 miles of the land borders, and the Great Lakes. What major population areas are left? Denver? Dallas? Atlanta? Not much else.


The point is, in the scenario listed above, at IAD (or any airport or other location within 100 miles of the border or coast), federal LEOs working for DHS are allowed to approach you and ask you for proof of citizenship. Whether you respond is up to you.

That would be Dulles. One of the worst TSA airports in the nation. Rude, obnoxious, uninformed, and on a real power trip.

I recently heard one of the lead screeners screaming at a passenger that the passenger had no right to say ANYTHING at the checkpoint unless he was directly answering a question posed by a screener. The passenger kept asking "so I have no First Amendment right to free speech?" and the lead screener kept getting angrier and yelling louder about the passenger not having any right to say anything. The screener threatened to call the police to "make sure they question you for a couple of hours so you'll miss your flight" and the passenger merely responded "so I have no First Amendment right to free speech".

I was very proud of the passenger.

IME, the CBP folks at the land-side GE office in ORD will be happy to give you a lesson, especially if you explain that you never got a lesson when your GE application was approved. Be sure to bring a copy of the letter that says you are approved for GE.

As much as I hate to give info to Big Brother, this program sounds like it will save a lot of time and hassle.

Am I correct to assume that, if I have NEXUS, I won't have to pay any additional fees for GE? Does that mean I would get 5 years of GE without fee or just one or??

Thank you!

I posted a link earlier in this thread about a SENTRI question. From that link, IIRC, NEXUS/SENTRI users can gain access to GE for no additional fees. However, your GE status expiration is tied to your NEXUS/SENTRI expiration.

Excellent - thanks for the answer!

Very true indeed. GlobalEntry membership doesn't help your bags get delivered any more quickly. There is a simple solution: DON'T CHECK BAGS! Just my $0.02. It's easier (and increasingly cheaper) to ship stuff in advance of your trip than to check it as luggage on your flights.


Yes, I think the #2 benefit (while #1 is skipping the lines for passport control) is being exempt from routine primary questioning. I travel a ton, and often very short trips (MRs), so I'm just as happy to use a kiosk and be on my way without anybody asking me about my trip.

You know you're on the right track when you see the pilots from your aircraft (who do this for a living) using the kiosks too!

I also have been told that my GE will expire when my Nexus Card does, which is in 2012, however I recieved my GE in Nov 0f 2009, and in my profile it states that the GE will expire in 2014. Will be interesting to see what happens in 2012

For me GE works very well since I travel carry on only 95% of the time. I never take any liquids along and just buy toothpaste etc. and abandon it. Or for our international offices I store it with somebody there until I return next time.

I believe those were before 9/11 as well. I remember them long ago, and I think it was pre-9/11 along the southern border.

I don't agree with them, but I don't think it was 100% because of 9/11.

I'd much rather spend the time staring at a baggage carousel than slowly moving forward 12 inches at a time behind 100 loud people in shorts and pointy straw hats straight from a mission trip to China. That experience at ORD had me running for the GOES website.

I also like not being welcomed back by the CBP guy behind the desk.

(1) With judicious choices of what you take, it is amazing how little one can get by with [someone attending a "formal" affair, may need more.
[A travel note I came across (directed at first time travelers), make a list of the bare minimum you think you need and take half of that.]
(2)I generally arrive (via aa) at JFK terminal 8, there have been times when 3 flights had just arrived and mine was #4; the CBP people had not had a break in a while and so only half the stations were manned--45 minutes later they got to me; who knows how long the non-usa group took.
(3)$20/year is a small expense not to have to wait in long lines.