mrfatboy - 2-2-2015 at 02:37 PM
Hello Nomads.
I have a couple Global Entry and Sentri questions that hopefully somebody can clarify for me. My wife and I both have Sentri cards. At the time of
signing up we did nothing with Global Entry. This was about 2-3 years ago.
My passport has the RFID chip in it while hers does not. Hers was issued in 2006.
She is going to be traveling to Hong Kong and wanted to be able to use Global Entry (on way back) as she heard Sentri members can now use Global
Entry. Her GOES account states this:
Global Entry Benefit: As a SENTRI member, you can now use the Global Entry kiosks located at the top 20 major U.S. international airports to
enter the U.S. To use the Global Entry kiosks, you must use a valid machine readable U.S. passport. Do not use your SENTRI card in the kiosk, but you
may wish to carry it with you. There is no additional cost to use Global Entry, and you may use it for the duration of your SENTRI membership.
Additional information about Global Entry can be found at http://www.GlobalEntry.gov/. If you do not wish to use Global Entry kiosks, please disregard this message.
So from this it looks like she can't use the Sentri card in the Global Entry kiosks and her 'non RFID' passport is not going to work either. Can she
be issued a Global Entry card (cost?) or does she just renew her passport a year early so she gets the RFID chip?
Is there something I'm missing?
bajaguy - 2-2-2015 at 02:49 PM
When we renewed our SENTRI, they signed us up for Global Entry. there is no Global Entry card.
At the bottom of the inside back cover/page of the passport book is a bar code and your passport number. Above that we have a little white sticker
that just says CBP in blue letters.....
I think the bar code is machine readable at the kiosk, and you have to have your fingerprints scanned at the kiosk
[Edited on 2-2-2015 by bajaguy]
Pacifico - 2-2-2015 at 03:24 PM
The Global Entry works by looking at your passport (placing it facedown on a screen) at the kiosk. My old passport did not have a RFID chip in it, so
I don't think the chip does anything at the kiosk. Like Bajaguy said, when you get the Global Entry they put a barcode/numbers in the back of your
passport. This part doesn't even get scanned. Therefore, I think the Global Entry is linked to your passport number as well as identifying you
through your fingerprints when scanned. Your wife should be good to go with just her passport for use at the kiosk. However, it wouldn't hurt for her
to carry her Sentri card as well. Good luck!
mrfatboy - 2-2-2015 at 03:53 PM
Thanks for the info. I checked both of our passports and they both (RFID and non RFID) have the white sticker on the back with the barcode and
passport number.
Since it looks like GE will work with her currently passport she will give it a shot.
She did remind me 3 years ago that when she came back from Vietnam LAX passport control did not let her use her Sentri card. I guess the two programs
were not linked at that time.
gallesram - 2-2-2015 at 04:09 PM
You can't use your SENTRI card at the kiosk; it doesn't work. It's a different machine than the one you may have used at the pedestrian entry into
the US from Mexico; that one lets you just put your SENTRI card onto a small mirrored surface and then you are directed to an agent. The machine at
LAX requires that you insert your passport face down on the page with your picture & the bar code on the bottom. Then you confirm your flight
info (it usually appears on screen), put your hand on the reader so it scans your fingerprints. The machine spits out a small piece of paper that you
show to the customs agent when you leave baggage claim.
It used to be that you had to have a separate interview to become enrolled in the Global Entry program; I had to go to LAX to do it after I received
my SENTRI card years ago. They don't require that anymore. I never received a Global Entry card at that time, nor did I receive a different
passport. They also didn't put anything in my passport so the machine could read it. There's no point in your wife taking her SENTRI card; just one
more thing to lose while she's traveling.
If for some reason the machine doesn't work she just gets in line with everyone else. One time at the San Diego airport it couldn't read my
fingerprints so I finally gave up; not a big deal. Next time at DFW it worked fine.
55steve - 2-2-2015 at 04:20 PM
My wife & I have Sentri - I got mine before her and Global Entry wasn't an option. When she went for her interview they asked if she wanted GE.
They told me to bring my passport down so they could scan it and add it to the global entry database. The guy tried his hardest to get the Sentri
passport image to transfer to the GE database to no avail.
[Edited on 2-2-2015 by 55steve]
mrfatboy - 2-2-2015 at 04:46 PM
I have read that you must check your GOES account for your GE status. I could not find anything specific except for that bolded excerpt in my
original post. I'm assuming everything is linked correctly without doing any extra effort to add our Sentri cards to the GE database.
boe4fun - 2-4-2015 at 09:18 AM
Not sure if this helps, but: when purchasing airline tickets on line add your Sentri/Goes information to get TSA pre approval, this saves you from
having to stand in the long TSA line.