Two of Customs and Border Patrol’s Trusted Traveler programs — NEXUS and Global Entry — have been getting a lot of press lately as a way to speed up entry back into the U.S. at major airports. I’ve had extensive experience with these programs, and found them immensely helpful.
NEXUS:
NEXUS originally started as CANPASS, a way for travelers arriving in Canadian airports to bypass the immigration lines and use an iris scan at a kiosk to prove identity and enter customs and immigration. At the time I signed up for this in 2004, I was going to Toronto somewhat frequently, and was annoyed at the questioning I would get from Canadian immigration officials. I wasn’t up to anything nefarious – just being a tourist, drinking beer and being social. After the third time of being grilled, I found out about the CANPASS program and signed up. It saved me time; instead of the 20 minute wait at immigration, it took 2 minutes and I wouldn’t get anxious about being grilled. That $50 Canadian for 5 years was the best investment I’d ever spent. The registration involved took about 20 minutes, and required a scan of my passport, drivers license and both irises.
The CANPASS program was eventually expanded into NEXUS Air in 2005, allowing one back into the U.S. at Immigration Pre-clearance in Vancouver with an iris scan. Theoretically, I could fly between the U.S. and Canada sans passport and just use my eyes to prove identity. Neat, I thought. At the time, additional registration with Customs and Border Patrol involved fingerprinting of my index fingers and more passport scans. The additional cost was $20 US to transfer my CANPASS to NEXUS Air. Within a year, the NEXUS program expanded to all points of entry between the U.S. and Canada so my membership in the Air program allows me to cross land and sea borders as well.
This recently came in handy a month ago when I joined a group of Chicago Fire fans on a road trip to Toronto. As with all road trips on a chartered bus, vast amounts of alcohol was consumed and we were in pretty sorry shape at the Port Huron border crossing at 4am. Everyone had their passports out, but I reached for the NEXUS card and wanted to see if it worked for me not getting harassed as much — being a “trusted traveler” — because I was in no position to articulate anything coherently, let alone get into a discussion with a Canadian Immigration officer about my intentions in Canada. He saw the card, said “wow, you’ve got one of those” and let me be. Not that I make it a goal to cross borders while under the influence, but the NEXUS card saved my booze-addled brain from having to think at a time when I couldn’t. On the return trip, the less than pleasant U.S. CBP officer at Port Huron was grilling everyone, but the NEXUS card saved me from someone who really had nothing better to do than to be mean to soccer fans.
Verdict: If you travel between the U.S. and Canada a few times a year and want to avoid the hassle by both the U.S. and Canadian Immigration authorities, then sign up.
Global Entry:
The Global Entry program is designed for frequent travelers to minimize their time in U.S. Immigration and Customs upon return to the U.S. At this time, it’s only valid at the following airports: JFK, O’Hare, LAX, Miami International, Dulles, Atlanta and Houston (George Bush). Instead of the waiting in line and the routine questioning by CBP, you get to deal with a kiosk, which may or may not give you a friendlier experience. At this time, the program is only available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Since 90% of my border entries are at O’Hare, I figured that this was worth the enrollment. (After a long flight, I just want to go home quickly.)
Enrollment was completed online, and I was given a tentative approval pending an interview in under 90 minutes from the start of the enrollment process. Interviews are to be conducted at the airports listed above, so I scheduled a Friday afternoon interview at O’Hare. The overall process took about 30 minutes, and it involved a questionnaire, being fingerprinted, and having documents scanned. I guess having my fingerprints taken pretty much rules out my aspirations to be a crime lord, but that’s OK. What bothered me the most (in a good way) was how nice and friendly the CBP officers were. I didn’t expect it at all, but it was very welcome. The background check, including my fingerprints being run through IAFIS, came back within minutes.
So now upon arrival at O’Hare, I go to a kiosk, scan my passport, have a picture taken of me by a webcam-looking thing, scan my left and right index fingers and fill out the blue Customs form on the computer. What was interesting to me was that the passenger data should pre-populate the form, so if I flew back to Chicago on AA flight 242, for example, the electronic Customs form would have that already available. In the event that the kiosk is broken or something comes up (like me declaring an excessive dutiable amount), I get priority over others in line and can go straight to the CBP officer to get it taken care of. To differentiate me as a Global Entry member, I get a thumbnail-sized sticker on the back cover of my passport with CBP in big blue letters. A little odd, but whatever works.
During the interview process, CBP did make it a point to tell me that the program had zero-tolerance, so if I ever got arrested or got caught trying to avoid paying duty on imported goods, I’d be kicked out of the program. Makes sense to me, but it was a little weird having to emphasize this, as if I were going to look at this program as a way for me to sneak in thousands of dollars of illicit goods.
Verdict: If you arrive back in the U.S. through the above listed airports more than a few times a year and saving time is worth $100 for 5 years, this might be for you. Yes, it’s intrusive (who likes their fingerprints being taken anyway?), but everything is a trade-off with regard to travel. If passengers checked baggage, using Global Entry, they will just be stuck waiting longer at baggage claim. With not all major airports being listed as Global Entry sites (Boston, Dallas and San Francisco are the ones I noticed immediately), I could see this being pretty useless for someone who lives in those areas. Global Entry is in one of those Catch-22 situations: the program won’t catch on unless people sign up, and people won’t sign up until it’s everywhere.
