The officer at global entry in EWR is always positively annoyed when I try to declare the food I brought back from England. The form - paper or digital would be better.

However they have sniffer dogs in baggage claim where my wife has fallen foul twice - having a piece of fruit she kept from the plane or lounge.
they also have big bag X-rays on the way out and randomly pick people to go through that way.

I have not used it yet, but there is now. Global Entry App as well: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/global...e/id6446152466

It looks like you can make your declarations on there:




I believe it is to replace the GE kiosk, so you take a selfie etc..

My wife and I both have Global Entry but our kids don’t. Used the MPC app at LAX when flying back from Europe on a very busy 1st January, and glad I did. Short queue (very short compared to the regular line) and total time to get through was on par with using a GE kiosk. Would use it again when travelling with the kids.

how old are your kids? they changed Global recently to allow kids under 18 to join for free if parents have.

Old enough that they’ll have to apply on their own soon enough. But good to know, wasn’t aware of that.

do it whilst its free and its good for 5 years

The MPC App asks these customs-related questions as well.

but then you go through a different line I assume. The GE app looks like it’s meant to replace the GE kiosk and printed bit of paper.

I was addressing solely the Customs aspect of this, namely that even you go the MPC route (or GE...) you do still make a Customs declaration.

My point about customs was, you are no longer challenged / searched. It's all very well asking people to 'self-report' (whether on paper forms or in sexy new apps), but that doesn't exactly catch someone aiming to avoid detection (be it fruits, currency, merchandise)! There used to be a slight chance you'd be asked to open your bag back in the 'old days'. So I wonder if there's some pretty sophisticated scanning going on these days. The time from landing to 'out on the street' has become remarkably shorter these days (ironically, the time before departure has grown longer but the time after arrival has shrunk). There's obviously a ton of attention now to 'pre-flight' security, looking for weapons/bombs/etc, but there just doesn't seem to be the time available to do much on arrival.

Yes they usually have sniffer dogs in baggage claim and they often have scanners before you exit which some people are asked to put their bag through.

a blanket one when you sign up to GE maybe, but on entry the amount of questions went to zero. You used to have to confirm the flight number and answer no to everything… my most recent ones in pre clearance in Canada they scan your face, don’t print anything and then you show you passport to the officer who may ask you a question, bit you don’t explicitly fill out a customs form…

Just came back through EWR from Europe last weekend, expecting crazy lines due to shutdown. landed around 3:30pm and no lines in terminal B.

I switched from GE to NEXUS in May. This still includes GE and Pre but has the additional benefit of faster entry when I fly to Canada.

Went to GE line. All the machines are now cordoned off. You have your photo taken. It goes green and you proceed to office. They ask if you have anything to declare and then you walk on, no papers work or receipt. At customs you just walk out. Aircraft door to out was 5 min or so.

I've started using the GE app, which is good because you can declare things easily in there without having to go and find a CBP officer. I take the selfie while waiting to exit the aircraft and breeze right through.

The wife and I recently came through LAX from the UK. We thought we give the MPC app try for the first time, and submitted everything electronically upon arrival. When we got to the MPC gates and were asked to show the MPC submission on our phone (they were screening we were in the right line), we were then asked “are you US Citizens?” We said yes, and then were told “the MPC line is about 30 minutes, you can use this line (now called “Simplified Arrival”) which is much faster. So we took that line. The line was moving really quickly - fast walking pace. We literally walked right up to the facial recognition station (there were several, being overseen by a few CBP officers) and we literally walked out of the airport. We didn’t need to show our passports, no customs questions, and spoke to no one. This was around 5PM on a Saturday. Not bad, but IDK if that’s the norm.