Good news for regular UK travellers to the US. I will definitely be applying.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/...08092013_3.xml
Good news for regular UK travellers to the US. I will definitely be applying.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/...08092013_3.xml
Last edited by Katys Grandad; 10-08-2013 at 22:42.
Sounds great - I got really jealous when they advertised the USA-only version of this for something silly like $20 or thereabouts. The name of that scheme is an acronym that escapes me right now.
I'd definitely be looking into it.
This is the part that may be a sticking point.
It looks like there will only be a small number of invited UK citizens to applyCitizens participating in Korea’s Smart Entry System (SES), Germany’s Automated and Biometrics-Supported Border Controls (ABG) Plus, and select Qatar and United Kingdom citizens may be able to receive Global Entry benefits.
Are you still travelling on either your Visa or Esta, but just getting through customs quicker?
Lyn
It cost $100 - is that for life or a limited period ie you need to renew at a further $100 every few years. Expensive for a whole family !
It is valid for 5 years it says, I'd rather pay for that "Fastpass" than the Universal ones which people seem quite happy to pay $50 a day for
But appears to also require an "interview" which would probably be London ????
You're going to have to pay well in excess of $100 for something of dubious merit.....
I think the interview happens at one of the CBP locations in the US, curiously enough once you are inside the US. So you apply for the GE accreditation, pay your $100, submit all the docs (I think there are lots, including a police report that I think costs £40), and then if CBP are happy they pre-approve you. The next time you travel to the US you enter on a visa waiver or visa as usual, then once in the US you make an appointment to visit a CBP location for your interview. Then on the back of that you are awarded your GE status, which allows you to breeze through immigration the next time you travel and for the next five years.
For holiday travel to the US the big question is whether you really need it. If you have checked luggage will you just end up waiting for that rather than waiting to clear immigration? If you can travel hand luggage only it would be wonderful.
We have been fortunate and never had a long wait at immigration. We have always travelled with our disabled daughter and immigration officers are always very helpful and put us through a US line if the general lines are longer than 15 min or so. So we wont be getting these.
As you say, maybe worth it if you are travelling on your own with only hand luggage, but not for a family with lots of cases etc. and not relevant for most of our guests who only travel once every few years to the US.
What is really needed is more staff at immigration at busy times of the day.
Sue
It will be worth it for me I think. I stood in line at Miami a few days ago and watched people do little more than walk straight through the GE entry. I'd have paid the $100 then and there if I could have.
I fly a lot to the US (I'm posting this from 20,000 feet above Nevada) and usually with hand baggage only so, provided it isn't too much hassle to get, i'll give it ago.
Last edited by Katys Grandad; 11-08-2013 at 15:56.
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