So take a blank form and stick it in with your passport for the unlikely but "just in case" moment of the system being down at a GE airport, but there is no requirement to fill that thing out each trip. And btw - if the system was down for some reason, I still expect to cut the line and escape quickly.

I always carry a partially filled out form in my bag with me. It is just missing the information that can change (e.g. flight number) but has all the rest (name, passport number etc.) filled in. I was also told during my interview to have a form in case the machines don't work. They did tell me about line cutting in this case as well. Never had the situation yet.

If your a GE member then your time must be valuable and one of the reasons you are a GE member I would suspect is that you do not want to waste time in customs. So..why would you take a blank form to the customs area, only to have to take the time to fill it out there if the kiosks were down. Would it not be more prudent to fill it out on the aircraft prior to landing? And your expectations of cutting in line and escaping quickly are just that expectations. But then if you don't get to cut in line, and you must join all the others waiting to clear, then of course you will have plenty of time to fill out the blue customs form.

Does anyone know when they plan to make GE available to EU country citizens? I read on their site that they already accept citizens of The Netherlands who are already registered in their country's equivalent system.

Curious about what Homeland Security considers as 'place of residence' when filling in a Global Entry application.

I was on a work assignment in Asia for most of 2009. But was "living" in an apart-hotel that was paid for directly by my company. I still maintained my residence in the US, and was paid in US dollars direct-deposited into my US bank account.

Will having 3 and 6 month stays in Asia stamped into my passport raise eyebrows if I don't list it as a place of residence in my application?

I'm not sure if the long stays won't result in some questions, but I imagine answers to questions like:

1) Do you have permanent residence status in another country?
2) Where are you registered to vote?
3) What state do you have your drivers license from?
and
4) What address do you use when filling out your taxes?

will help to shape the answer to where you are a resident in the eyes of the CBP.

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Just used it for the first time at IAD. Went very smoothly. Minutes to go from gate to connection security. Lines were short and I was still probably the first through from my flight.

What was your status in that Asian country? Immigrant, non-immigrant, or citizen of that country?

If you were a non-immigrant, then you aren't a resident of that country.

I was there on a non-immigrant work visa...and maintained voter registration, drivers license, taxes, mortgage, etc here in the US while I was there. I just wanted to make sure they were talking about "legal residence" vs. where you laid your head on the pillow since I was there on long stays.

Edit to add: Looking at the Enrollment screen..it asks "If you have lived at your current address for less than five years, you must provide details on all of your addresses going back 5 years." I'll guess I'll stick with the premise my legal residence being where I "lived" and anywhere else simply being places I "stayed".

Be careful about this statement--it isn't true. For instance, I'm not an immigrant to China, but I'm certainly a resident here. Even the US gov't agrees RE: my annual taxes. Works the other way too: there are plenty of (legally) non-immigrant foreigners in the USA who are nevertheless "residents."


Your situation is not really the same as a true US expat that really has their life primarily outside the USA. You're just on long TDY (temporary duty status) overseas, so you should just use your US residence. I presume you have continued to file your tax forms as a US resident not as a US citizen abroad (Forms 2555, etc.). While CBP has nothing to do with taxes, it's pretty irrefutable evidence that you consider your legal residence to be the USA and supports the reasonableness of using that as your address on the GE application. I doubt it will cause any issues in getting Conditional Approval. It might come up in the Interview where they look at the dates of your entry/exits and see long stays outside the USA. That will be your opportunity to explain as necessary. It's actually pretty common to see this kind of pattern these days, so I wouldn't worry about it.

I just used GE for the first time coming into DFW yesterday. I read and re-read the questions regarding food. It asked if I was carrying meat, poultry, food with dairy, but did NOT say that I had to declare ANY food. Only if it contained the ingredients listed. Thus a bag of chips, which did not contain anything listed, to me, did not need to be declared.

However looking back on this thread, it seems people say you must declare ANYTHING that is food? The question I read at the kiosk SPECIFICALLY said which types of foods must be declared - so why would I have to declare something like a granola bar that has nothing listed on the kiosk question?

Or did the kiosk question change in the past year?

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The form and the screen got more specific - you did what we've been told with regards to food and should be fine

I don't know about any extensions, and the deal with the Netherlands is not automatic, you need to register for both Global Entry and Privium and pay 2 fees. I originally went through the process and was approved, but the annual fee for Privium was so high that I let the offer lapse without actually going in to register.

There is talk of extending this to other countries, but I haven't heard anything specific.

You are correct. The kiosk questions have been updated in the past year to ask about specific kinds of food (fruits, veggies, meats, dairy, etc.). BUT, THE PAPER FORM HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED....it still includes the word "FOOD" in addition to the specific items listed. If you were using the PAPER form and would like to obey the law, you would need to check "YES" if you had ANYTHING in your possession that could be consumed as food.

So, I think what you could do is to follow the kiosk first, and say "no" if you have only candies/chocolates/etc. But, if the kiosks are inoperative and you are forced to fill out a paper form, you would have to check "YES" and declare the items even though you know they are permitted under current regulations. Sound good? That way, you are covered in either eventuality.


Of course, the easiest solution is just NOT TO BRING IN ANY FORM OF FOOD, PERIOD! That's what I've decided to do for the time being, until we get a formal clarification on this issue from CBP.

This makes sense, and it's probably what I'll continue to do (try to avoid food altogether). As for the "dairy" part. I remember the question in the kiosk asking for dairy or anything with dairy IN it, and it seems to me that pastries or cookies with butter in them, or milk chocolate would count since technically the ingredients include dairy even if it's prepackaged. They may not care but could technically get you in trouble perhaps, until they formally give clarification.