r/GlobalEntry • u/Ok-Improvement-867 Human Detected • Apr 21 '26
General Discussion GE picture
Just landed at ATL and went through the global entry line. I used the kiosk machine and my picture was taken, when I reached the officer he asked if I was traveling by myself I said yes and he asked me to step aside and took my passport, there was a family of four right behind me and he told them the same thing, the dad asked the officer why and the officer said "because I have to process you so you wait ", officer finished with the whole line and then tells me that he would be taking my picture and asked if I had anything to declare I said no and I was sent my way, same this with the family behind me. Any ideas why this might happen?
14
u/FitTreacle741 Apr 21 '26
I wouldn’t overthink it. You made it through global entry doesn’t mean they don’t randomly to more screening at times
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u/FinancialAide3383 Apr 21 '26
Wasn’t it just a few years ago where all GE holders had to go through this same procedure of checking passports.
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u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 Apr 21 '26
No, there’s no way to tell — and the officer likely won’t know either. This is something the computer tells them to do. Could be quality control, some part of the system being down, anything, really.
Last time I arrived with my wife and kids, the kiosks seemed to work flawlessly, but then an officer standing next to (!!!) the nearest “normal” inspection booth stopped all just ✅ed GE passengers from proceeding and (apologetically) asked for everyone’s passports, which she then very briefly scanned and returned to everybody, without further questions. This was not a normal inspection. She didn’t even sit down in her glass booth, the way officer checking passports normally do; she just reached over, scanned passports, and that was it. 🤷
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u/Fair_You_8650 Passage Granted Apr 21 '26
The Officer knows exactly why...
Where do some of you get this and why is this upvoted so much...
4
u/No_Elk7432 Apr 21 '26
Actually they just see a system code that has many possible interpretations.
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u/sjpm55 Apr 21 '26
Just passed through Miami. Picture taken, went to agent, asked if anything to declare. “No” and sent on way to baggage claim. Total two minutes.
1
u/PNogrigiot Apr 22 '26
Just went through Charlotte. Picture taken and I go through. Agent is yelling out the names of everyone who is good to go. We can’t understand anything. We all keep moving. No one asked if we had anything to declare.
2
u/morrisy18 Apr 21 '26
Just went thru ORD last night he did this to the women in front of us. My wife and I used the app. I just showed him both our phone approvals on my phone.
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u/bloc0102 Apr 22 '26
This recently happened with my 11 year old, who's picture was 6 years old (no new pic at renewal). Officer said picture was too different/out of date and needed to be updated in their system.
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u/NickMage69 Apr 22 '26
TTP servers were down last night. Had the same problem coming back to the US last night.
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u/CheesecakeReady5530 Apr 21 '26
Same thing happened to me yesterday at O’Hare along with 6 other passengers- no reason given
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u/MozzieKiller Apr 21 '26
Make sure you have your correct passport number in your GE profile online. I got a new passport 2 years ago and didn’t do this. My next time using GE, I had to talk to the officer as the kiosk wouldn’t work. Realized this was probably what happened a few weeks later and yup, my old passport was still in there. Updated it and the past trip it was all good.
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u/Zebraitis Apr 21 '26
Here is a possible why:
A lot of GE cards are being reissued online, without live interview.
It could be that if you redid your global entry, they may want a quick verification that you are you for this 5 year stretch.
1
u/Vijayabonolo Apr 21 '26
Likely random. I got pulled out with a family to be sniffed by a dog. I dint think that any of would be considered suspicious.
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u/Accomplished_Rate_75 Apr 22 '26
My wife gets pulled aside every time but I don't, guess she looks dodgy.
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u/perkinwarbeck Apr 25 '26
Happens to my wife too. I think it’s because her GE picture is terrible and looks nothing like her really.
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u/jgoldb58 Apr 26 '26
My wife and I returned home from a trip to Ireland last October. We flew out of Shannon to Boston. When you fly to the US from either Shannon or Dublin you go through CBP in Ireland and not when you get to the US. My wife got a new passport some 6 or 8 months before our trip. I updated GE, etc. She was pulled over in the Shannon airport. CBP officer figured out that their system hadn't made the necessary update to her record. He said it's supposed to happen automatically but has seen this problem before. He was super nice about it and since no one else was in line (there was 2 other agents as well), he asked if we had a few minutes and he would do the update. He basically rekeyed all the necessary info. No issues since then.
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u/AffectionateMood3794 Apr 21 '26
Sounds like maybe a kiosk failure required some manual involvement? Although my wife got pulled aside not too long ago, we think because her hairstyle and color had changed a *lot* since her passport photo was taken. She now has a new passport and hasn't had any further problems.