On the flip side, the $50 I paid for both NEXUS and GE for nearly 6 years (it expires on your birthday) has already paid for itself over and over again.

Not to mention provided for good fodder on here, given the idiocy of TSA.

According to both my NEXUS interviewer and GE trainer, you do not declare permissible food products, as long as you aren't over your general monetary value exemption. Of course, if you are in doubt, you should always declare, but the knowledge of the traveler is part of the whole GE program. They expect you not to waste their time with stuff you know is completely legal to bring in.

I think it's 4 visits in a year or 3 in 6 months. It's (normally) good for 2 years, then expires and you have to reregister/renew. If your travel drops off, you can keep using it up until the expiration date.

IIRC, the expiration date prints on the receipt.

Just had my interview today. It was less than 20 minutes; completely pleasant. The guy was friendly and unassuming. He asked for my business card and looked at my phone bill only because I brought it. The questions were not terribly intrusive, and it was all quite simple.

I was told to expect an email within 72 hours to tell me if I'm approved. The approval email was already in my inbox by the time I returned home from the airport.

I wrote CBP on the subject as I almost always travel with food in my carry on and I found the responses at the NEXUS interviews and later with a CBP GE officer and here inconsistent .

Here are excerpts from their response:

Response

First of all, at the kiosk you must respond that you have food. If you do not, you can receive a fine of $300 and lose your NEXUS status. There is no such thing as a de minimis amount of food.

The apple would be ok if it has a sticker saying Grown in or Product of Canada. Canada imports apples from all over the world and they are not required to have marking of country of origin, so unless that sticker is on the apple, we would take it. Everything else that the CBPO told you looks correct - although lamb (even cooked) is not admissible at this time from Canada.

Thank you for contacting Customs and Border Protection's CBP INFO Center. If you have any other questions or would like clarification on this response, please feel free to contact us either by calling our toll free number 877 CBP-5511 (227-5511) or if calling from outside the United States our toll number 703-526-4200 and speak with a Public Information Officer. Our hours of operation are Monday thru Friday from 8:30am-5:00pm Eastern Time

In my inquiry, I wrote that I had spoken with a CBP officer in Miami when picking up my Global Entry sticker and he indicated that it really was not necessary to answer yes for small amounts of food and that: Any fish sandwich is ok, even if there is some cheese or vegetable in it. A side salad or french fries is ok Any cooked meat sandwich or chicken sandwich is ok, Baguettes are OK even with cheese and salmon A personal vegetable salad Is OK Snacks are OK
Pastries such as Danish are ok. A Canadian grown apple be OK

I also inquired: if I have small amounts (e.g. one sandwich each) do I respond to the NEXUS machine that I have meat or dairy products as what I have is really de minimis

So when the machine asks you, you must answer yes and then speak to the nice officer behind the counter. Those long lines make me want to do anything reasonable to avoid losing this benefit.

Do you have to return to a GE site to get the sticket for the passport or will they mail this to you after approval?

In my case, I upgraded from NEXUS and had to go to the GE location to get the sticker. No appointment was necessary and it just took a few minutes to verify I was in the system. I had Mrs. Oceanrider's passport with me too and they put in a sticker for her as well, even though she was not physically present

I had my passport back with me after I left the interview. No mailing necessary.

When I had my GE interview at MCO in November 2009, the CBP officer verified my identity, added my DL to the system, showed me how to use the kiosk, and slapped a sticker on the back cover of my passport. You will receive an email from GOES immediately after the interview, welcoming you to the program..

Good to know- so you could go to the interview and then fly out later the same day.

Id assume so as long as you are totally approved by the time you come back.

:confused: One has nothing to do with the other --- yes, you could depart immediately from the interview. Upon return, if your approval was processed, use GE station otherwise stand in line like you have been doing

I am thinking the same way- the point is, you could not fly out internationally if they needed to keep your passport for any reason: based on this thread, it seems their is no need to keep your passport, menaing you could have the interview, and fly to Frankfurt later the same afternoon for example.

For those of you who have done the appointment scheduling, what are the earliest and latest appointments scheduled at wherever you did/are doing yours--8 am to 3 pm? I presume only Mondays-Fridays, no weekends, right?

There is no reason for them to keep your passport. I did fly into Washington, had my interview and continued on to Zurich. Returned 4 days later and did use GE. If for some reason it does not show approved yet just stay in the regular line.

Interview locations?
 

I'm in the process of applying, but live in Nashville which has no local GE. Will I be able to interview here or will I have to arrrange the interview when I fly to a GE site like PHL?