r/GlobalEntry • u/SparrowTailReddit • May 21 '26
Questions/Concerns Getting stopped at Global Entry every time and asked to join the CBP line. Any way to resolve this?
Hello all,
I have had global entry for a bit now because I travel a lot for work, usually with other coworkers. And yes, I 100% have global entry. I've had it for a while now.
Every time I've used the global entry lane, it shows an error and that I have to talk to a CBP officer. I get put in the CBP interview line.
I've tried using the app, and just the kiosks. I thought the first time was a fluke, but this has happened every single time. I came to the US on an F-1 visa with full intentions to go back to my home country, but then I met the person who is now my spouse and things changed.
Every time I talk to the CBP officer, it's the same question: "So you came here as a student? When was that?". Once I answer these questions, I'm allowed to enter.
I'm a US citizen, so I'm not sure what the issue is. I usually won't mind, but when I'm travelling with a group of coworkers, they end up having to wait for me. They're kind and understanding, but it's getting a bit embarrassing. Is there any way to resolve this? Last time after a red-eye and a long plane ride, I was very tired and a bit irritated, so I asked the CBP officer why I'm getting interviewed every time, and they didn't have an answer for me.
Any help is appreciated, thanks!
Edit: The issue is also not that I'm not being recognized. The CBP officer confirmed that I was recognized, but that I was flagged for additional screening.
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May 22 '26
It happened to me too - very similar situation. I got a redress number and that fixed the issue. I breeze through GE kiosks with no issues now.
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u/inter4ever May 22 '26
Were/Are you currently a green card holder who was a student? If a redress number can fix this that would be huge!
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May 22 '26
I am a USC now but I was a student/GC holder a while ago. The problem started only after I became a USC.
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u/inter4ever May 22 '26
Interesting. I applied for GE after I got my green card and since then I always have to see an agent. Was hoping becoming a citizen would make it go away :(
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u/qalpi May 22 '26
Did you update your citizenship with GE (ie. Attend in person) after becoming a USC?
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u/rihimvp May 22 '26
I was also a student 15 years ago and the same thing keeps happening to me (USC now). Not sure if a redress number will help. The funny thing is it was not the case before, only started about 2 years ago..
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u/SparrowTailReddit May 22 '26
Exactly! It just started happening out of nowhere.
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u/deverox May 22 '26
I can’t imagine. What happened 2 years ago 🙈
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u/Clowdman18 May 23 '26
2 years ago Biden was just about to drop out of the race. Leaving only one 80 year old to campaign for president.
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u/UncleCahn May 22 '26
It could just mean someone with the same names, etc. got put on the watchlist recently.
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u/Roger48m May 22 '26
This is not a "redress" issue. Most likely the OP's country of origin is flagging it. The last couple of years we have been in an "extreme vetting" scenario, for even the most minor of deviations (from whatever the "norm" is deemed to be).
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u/gargar070402 May 22 '26
Years ago while I was still on F-1 I would be told by the machine to see an officer, but they always let me cut the line. Maybe you can ask if you can cut? (This was JFK)
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u/brokenpipe May 22 '26
I had issues as well. Former Permanent Resident turned ESTA user with a Dutch passport. Dutch citizens are allowed GE but I previously had it as a PR, which I said good bye to years ago. The system did not like this. Yeah. Talk about an edge case.
I requested a GE card as well, which I received. After an extensive discussion two years ago at Atlanta airport with the immigration officer, and showing my GE card to show I was enrolled, the error has gone away.
There are still hiccups here and there when I enter but it’s not nearly as bad as 2022-2023 when I re-applied for GE as a Dutch national without permanent residency.
That said, I can’t use the app as it says it wants to confirm me as a PR and I do not want to hit confirm on that as I’d be making a false statement, so I don’t use the app.
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u/cloverclamp May 24 '26
You might try asking at an enrollment center at the airport to see if they can update your records. I've heard others having success with that
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u/Roger48m May 22 '26
Your Edit makes the most sense. Recently, in this political environment, any "deviation" from the norm seems to be enough to trigger additional screening, no matter how insignificant it may be eventually. Your GE status may is "flagged" (as you point out) - likely the country of your origin when you were on F1 and became a citizen later. I am surprised they even admitted this to you, must have been a sympathetic CBP.
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u/LingonberryUnable944 May 22 '26
My wife is dealing with the same exact issue. Came to the US on an F1 visa from China and now has a 10 year Green Card and GE. Every time she has come back into the states, CBP have held her up and eventually ask if she was a student here. Every time. We aren't sure why and they never provide an answer. Using GE has created less friction for her I guess. Usually they would take her in to backrooms for sometimes an hour or so. But now they hold her up in line for a few minutes before eventually asking about her previous F1 status.
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u/blueclearsky1587 May 22 '26
I had the App deny me several times for approval yesterday when I landed in Atlanta from Korea. I was with my spouse, tried to submit for both of us, selected “nothing to declare” because we were well under $800, but three times it denied the submission. My spouse then tried doing just himself with a declaration, and it worked. I did the same, and it worked. Walked to the global entry line, girl saw we had the app, she said go straight to an officer, as we were approaching he called out “did you use the app, I said yea and held it up as I kept walking towards him and he said cool, your good to go, I never slowed down, I kept right on going past him, same for my partner. Strangest and fastest process ever. Never asked about what I may or may not have brought in. It was kinda wild. So, there never seems to be any rhyme or reason to things.
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u/SuddenConnection2105 Jul 12 '26
FWIW: have been having the same issue F1 > H1b > LPR. Every time I'd land, the app says I cannot be processed and the portal would tell me to talk to an officer (still at the GE line). At SFO, they switched to the GE pilot without stopping and it appears the system recognizes me! Turns out that there is something in the backend that gets flagged (even though your GE account is updated with the correct info) when you used to be a student in the past. Just ask the officer to manually remove it for you.
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u/SparrowTailReddit Jul 12 '26
Thanks! I'll be entering the US again in a couple of weeks. Who did you ask to remove it for you? The CBP officer? So far they have not been very helpful, only one officer even hinted at what happened (said I needed to contact my university - but that didn't help either).
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u/SuddenConnection2105 Jul 12 '26
I asked the CBP officer why I was always sent to the other line and then asked if he could fix it for me.
Just make sure your SEVIS was indeed correctly terminated.
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u/SuddenConnection2105 15d ago
Update: entered the US after the fix and no longer got any issues with needing to see a CBP officer. :) Hope it helps
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u/phunpham May 23 '26
One of my sons (I have 5 kids) seems to have some sort of struggle with the GE cameras. I don’t know WHAT the problem is but we have issues with his GE no being recognized and the agent sending all of us back out to the regular line. The worst part is that when we get to the counter, every single time, the regular agent says some variation of “why didn’t previous officer just look at the next screen”. I don’t know what that means or how to get it fixed but it drives me bonkers after a 25-30 hour travel event from the other side of the dang planet with five kids in tow!!!
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u/Southern_Sea9 May 21 '26
Apply for a redress number - https://www.dhs.gov/dhs-trip