Viajero Confiable, Mexico's Global Entry program

[Mike]

Love, love, love Global Entry! It's worth every single penny spent. When we went through Houston in November on our way back from Coz on Thanksgiving weekend (100's of people in the regular immigration/customs line), we were through immigration/customs and collected and rechecked our bags---all within about 15 minutes. Also, if you have GE you are also a Trusted Traveler. This means that you can get in a "special" TSA security line at the airport where you don't have to take off your shoes or take your computer out of your bag. Just make sure your TT# (which is different from your GE# but it's on the back of your GE card) is printed on your boarding pass.

Ditto.

However, I'm not sure if I'm sold on buying additional GOES like membership all over the world now at every country. I personally don't see the customs process as very daunting at the Cozumel airport compared to some others, so not sure I'm ready to pony up the $100 and especially the mess of scheduling the interview.

And like you islanddream I think the TSA Pre-screen is really the gem of GOES and the customs thing is really the secondary benefit.

Have to see how this plays out. Will be watching for CVchief's reports.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

So why waste money on the kiosks? Just let all the GE people who paid their money jump to the head of the line.

Because when the kiosks are working, you don't even stop at a booth unless you get the random X on your receipt.

 

[Mossman]

And like you islanddream I think the TSA Pre-screen is really the gem of GOES and the customs thing is really the secondary benefit.

You can sign up for TSA Pre-Check without signing up for GOES. Heck, even someone like me is eligible for TSA Pre-Check. Whereas GOES requires a completely clean record, not even ever an arrest in one's lifetime let alone a conviction (whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty!), the TSA Pre-Check Application only requires that one not be convicted of a enumerated list of serious crimes. Even then, the convictions expire after a time.

For instance, someone like President George W. Bush would be denied GOES clearance because of his 1976 DUI arrest. Rosa Parks would be denied GOES because she was arrested for her civil disobedience.

On the other hand, if you have been convicted of minor crimes like arson, rape, assault with intent to kill, bribery, smuggling, or distribution of a controlled substance, you can get TSA Pre-Check clearance if it's been over 5 years since you were released from prison. Murderers, however, are out of luck so at least you don't have to worry that the your fellow traveler who is also allowed to keep his shoes on is a convicted killer!

Seriously, here are the ridiculous eligibility requirements for TSA Pre-Check:

Eligibility Requirements for the TSA Pre?? Application Program | Transportation Security Administration

 

[mstevens]

Hmmmm. I thought the point was to avoid unnecessary screening when it is proven that here is no need to. Paying $100 just to get ahead of everyone else in line to go through the same screening (and only US citizens need apply) looks like something else entirely.

Correct. If there isn't a kiosk, one can wave the special sticker to get through immigration and customs. Given that, there's no reason to wait in line for a screening that isn't going to happen.

---------- Post added February 11th, 2014 at 11:22 AM ----------

GOES

GOES is the Global Online Enrollment System, which is just the application website for a number of different trusted traveler programs. Global Entry is the name of the program you're probably thinking of.

Mexico's program is not available in Cozumel and may not ever be.

---------- Post added February 11th, 2014 at 11:25 AM ----------

So why waste money on the kiosks? Just let all the GE people who paid their money jump to the head of the line.

Because the whole point of the program is to screen travelers before travel (background checks, fingerprinting, etc.) so as to free up agents to pay more attention to travelers who haven't been prescreened. The deal is that I give up a degree of privacy and cover the cost of investigating me in return for being trusted more when I travel. It's not the same as paying to jump to the head of a line.

There are two lines in any event: immigration and customs. Both are part of the Global Entry program.

---------- Post added February 11th, 2014 at 11:26 AM ----------

only US citizens need apply

This is incorrect.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

FYI they are no longer giving stickers for your passport. I enrolled in December at ORD and the CBP officer told me that had been discontinued some time ago.

Also, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Korea can enroll, along with a huge list of US visa types.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[Mossman]

Because the whole point of the program is to screen travelers before travel (background checks, fingerprinting, etc.) so as to free up agents to pay more attention to travelers who haven't been prescreened. The deal is that I give up a degree of privacy and cover the cost of investigating me in return for being trusted more when I travel. It's not the same as paying to jump to the head of a line.

I would disagree that you give up a degree of privacy. Anytime you re-enter the country, you are agreeing to give up privacy. I've been through secondary inspections that have gone through my underwear. Nothing is more private than that!

It just seems to me that the qualifications are a bit off. Why should someone like George W. Bush who got a DUI when he was much younger be denied GOES clearance if he's been clean ever since? Does an almost 40-year-old DUI really pose more of a risk that that person would enter our country illegally or try to smuggle something through customs than someone who drinks and drives regularly but has never been caught? On the other hand, shouldn't the ex-con released from jail five years ago after a sentence for assault with intent to kill be someone that TSA would want to pay special attention to and not let board with TSA Pre-Check clearance?

Wacky.

 

[cvchief]

Ditto.

However, I'm not sure if I'm sold on buying additional GOES like membership all over the world now at every country. I personally don't see the customs process as very daunting at the Cozumel airport compared to some others, so not sure I'm ready to pony up the $100 and especially the mess of scheduling the interview.

And like you islanddream I think the TSA Pre-screen is really the gem of GOES and the customs thing is really the secondary benefit.

Have to see how this plays out. Will be watching for CVchief's reports.

Well currently this MX thing is only CUN not CZM. It took me all of 15 minutes to sign up for me and the missus and that included picking the wrong month and going back, cancelling that appointment and getting the right date. It prints a map and a copy of the app with a bar code you have to bring with your passport. The map make it look like it is right there by arrivals, but I haven't studied it in detail. it was easier than GE.

Last trip to CUN the line was so freakin long at IMN you had to tell people to get the H out of the way of the escalator as there was no room for the people coming down. IMN did swing to action quick and move people in a hurry though. For me, at least three trips a year, exclusively through CUN at this point, makes it like 6 bucks maybe to avoid the sweaty herds of AI people and their oversize overweight suitcases. I am in.

And if my standard timetable remains, I only need to save like 2 minutes in the process to make the next ferry. No matter when I land now, I miss the ferry by 1.5 minutes.

More to tell on the 25th though.

Oh and I am getting crappola on the pre-screen thing from my GE. I don't think I can get that on airtran? (Probably do get it with southwest, but then I got herd seating....) If I could just leave the laptop in the bag, like in CUN, I would be relatively happy. Course the naked feet is a little icky. I dont want fungus or whatever...

---------- Post added February 11th, 2014 at 02:03 PM ----------

I would disagree that you give up a degree of privacy. .

Well there is the whole iris scan and fingerprints with MX and prints with GE. Of course that never bothered me as mine are accessible anyway, but I can see the never printed feeling a little edgy.

Looking in your shorts is less a permanent record. Permanently scarring I am sure, but not a permanent record.

 

[mstevens]

Also, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Korea can enroll

Citizens of those countries can enroll in Global Entry, but only citizens of Mexico and the USA can enroll in Viajero Confiable (the subject of this thread).

---------- Post added February 11th, 2014 at 02:12 PM ----------

I would disagree that you give up a degree of privacy.

Disagree away. What you did not give up merely by re-entering the country was the right not to undergo a background check that could be as invasive as they liked, fingerprints that are kept on file, and so on.

It just seems to me that the qualifications are a bit off. Why should someone like George W. Bush who got a DUI when he was much younger be denied if he's been clean ever since? Does an almost 40-year-old DUI really pose more of a risk that that person would enter our country illegally or try to smuggle something through customs than someone who drinks and drives regularly but has never been caught?.

It really sounds as if you think you wouldn't pass the investigation and are resentful of that.

I can't speak for the gummint, but my understanding is that this is limited to those with clean records because they avoided getting in trouble in the first place. They're not punishing crackheads like Bush, they're rewarding people who never used cocaine like me. The program is for the kind of people who are more likely to stop, consider consequences, then make the sort of decisions that would avoid such consequences.

GOES clearance

There is no such thing as GOES clearance, a GOES program, or GOES membership. GOES is, literally, just the name for a website that processes applications for a number of different programs.

 

[Mossman]

Disagree away. What you did not give up merely by re-entering the country was the right not to undergo a background check that could be as invasive as they liked, fingerprints that are kept on file, and so on.

I'm not so sure they couldn't require an extensive background check and fingerprints kept on file for anyone entering the country if they so chose. TSA can certainly check the hard drive of your laptop for secrets and porn. GOES didn't require examining your hard drive, did they? (There's a recent 9th circuit opinion against allowing such searches, but they're fair in other jurisdictions.)

It really sounds as if you think you wouldn't pass the investigation and are resentful of that.

I wouldn't even get to the investigation phase. It's OK. I enjoy standing in line with the common folk whom I never get to see when I'm flying in first class.

I can't speak for the gummint, but my understanding is that this is limited to those with clean records because they avoided getting in trouble in the first place. They're not punishing crackheads like Bush, they're rewarding people who never used cocaine like me. The program is for the kind of people who are more likely to stop, consider consequences, then make the sort of decisions that would avoid such consequences.

It's also for people who never got caught. If they really wanted to prevent crackheads like Bush from getting pre-clearance, they would demand hair follicle tests of all applicants as well as subject all applicants to polygraph tests asking whether they've ever committed any crimes like smoking crack or driving while over the influence. This program seems to reward the lucky, as well as the 17 or so Americans who actually haven't ever committed even the teeniest misdemeanor. And I do resent programs that reward the lucky. We already have that in this country and it's called the lottery.

Don't forget, not everyone who has been arrested has committed a crime. If that were the case, we'd simply dispense with judge and jury. In fact, I'm surprised this program hasn't been attacked on a racial basis. Because of racial profiling or whatever, 49% of black men have been arrested by age 23. I bet that trusted traveler line looks mighty white.

 

[TSandM]

Thank you for posting this. We go to MX often enough (and fly into Cancun) that it might be worth it.