Yesterday we returned from an international trip. We flew into FLL, which has Mobile Passport. Worried that there would be a long wait due to staffing shortages, I decided to give it a try, even though we also have Global Entry. Sure enough, we breezed through. Global Entry had some folks in line, regular immigration had a moderate queue.
After we collected our luggage I looked and saw lines everywhere except Global Entry so I went there. Wrong choice. The agent asked for our doc, which we didn’t have and sent us down the inspection line. The agent there told us we weren’t entitled to use Global Entry unless we first used it for immigration, then told us the immigration agent didn’t process our entry at all. He took our passports and we sat and waited for about 10 minutes. He returned, gave us back the passports, asked a few questions, and let us go. They were all very nice, friendly, smiles, and helpful, and gave us a bit of advice before letting us go,
He said that Mobile Passport was good for cruise trips, which he called “circular immigration” - where passengers just got on and off in the US and never really left except to “ship around the Caribbean”. He also said an overseas trip to the US was “real immigration”, that Global Passport “cost money” so that’s where they put their focus and energy, and it was “hands down” the best way to enter the US.
Thinking about it, everything he said makes sense, and I’m not sure why I didn’t see that when we were getting ready for our return trip. Lesson learned for me.
After we collected our luggage I looked and saw lines everywhere except Global Entry so I went there. Wrong choice. The agent asked for our doc, which we didn’t have and sent us down the inspection line. The agent there told us we weren’t entitled to use Global Entry unless we first used it for immigration, then told us the immigration agent didn’t process our entry at all. He took our passports and we sat and waited for about 10 minutes. He returned, gave us back the passports, asked a few questions, and let us go. They were all very nice, friendly, smiles, and helpful, and gave us a bit of advice before letting us go,
He said that Mobile Passport was good for cruise trips, which he called “circular immigration” - where passengers just got on and off in the US and never really left except to “ship around the Caribbean”. He also said an overseas trip to the US was “real immigration”, that Global Passport “cost money” so that’s where they put their focus and energy, and it was “hands down” the best way to enter the US.
Thinking about it, everything he said makes sense, and I’m not sure why I didn’t see that when we were getting ready for our return trip. Lesson learned for me.