Global Entry for entry/return to/from Canada/US?
April 1, 2017 7:00 PM Subscribe
It's Saturday night. I'm flying to Buffalo tomorrow with plans to cross the border into Canada via car with a group of colleagues on Monday morning. I thought I had both my passport and my Global Entry card with me but it turns out that I only have the Global Entry card and can't get my passport in my hands in time for the planned border crossing. My colleagues will all have their passports. The Customs and Border Patrol website is pretty opaque about whether the Global Entry card will be sufficient for me to enter Canada and return to the U.S. Looking for anyone who can clarify whether the absence of a passport is likely to be a problem in either direction. Specific knowledge of the Peace Park border crossing gets extra points.
Global Entry kiosks are only in airports. Ah yes, but getting into Canada seems a problem.
posted by unknowncommand at 8:51 PM on April 1, 2017
posted by unknowncommand at 8:51 PM on April 1, 2017
I'm assuming you don't have an Enhanced Driver's License, which works as proof of citizenship?
posted by zachlipton at 9:15 PM on April 1, 2017
posted by zachlipton at 9:15 PM on April 1, 2017
Response by poster: No Enhanced Drivers License but the Global Entry card does list my citizenship as U.S.
posted by Wisco72 at 9:48 PM on April 1, 2017
posted by Wisco72 at 9:48 PM on April 1, 2017
I am a NEXUS member (trusted traveler program with Canada and the US). NEXUS membership provides Global Entry but the reverse is not automatically true.
Unless you have been interviewed by Canadian border authorities and been admitted to NEXUS (which is made almost automatic by having GE), you may only use a Global Entry card to enter the US from Canada (and Mexico); you can't enter Canada from the US with it.
posted by fireoyster at 11:53 PM on April 1, 2017
Unless you have been interviewed by Canadian border authorities and been admitted to NEXUS (which is made almost automatic by having GE), you may only use a Global Entry card to enter the US from Canada (and Mexico); you can't enter Canada from the US with it.
posted by fireoyster at 11:53 PM on April 1, 2017
(FWIW, those are the official rules. I'd say you have a 60/40 chance in favor of being allowed to cross with just a GE card because Canadian officials know how to tell if the card is valid even if they can't automatically pull up your biographical data. The risk is, IMO, small but you might disagree.)
posted by fireoyster at 11:58 PM on April 1, 2017
posted by fireoyster at 11:58 PM on April 1, 2017
Canada may take a different view, but CBP says, "The Global Entry (GE) card is only an ENTRY document and may not be used to enter Canada, Mexico or Adjacent Island."
posted by ddbeck at 3:25 AM on April 2, 2017
posted by ddbeck at 3:25 AM on April 2, 2017
"FWIW, those are the official rules. I'd say you have a 60/40 chance in favor of being allowed to cross with just a GE card because Canadian officials know how to tell..."
The above is correct. (Well, as correct as something probabilistic can be.) Canada is a lot more lenient letting people in than the US. My wife has gone into Canada on a completely expired passport before (at the Peace Bridge, no less). They will give you some crap, but they're generally willing to allow you to cross, especially if you're with a group. Getting back into the US is what's hard, and you've got that taken care of.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:17 AM on April 2, 2017
The above is correct. (Well, as correct as something probabilistic can be.) Canada is a lot more lenient letting people in than the US. My wife has gone into Canada on a completely expired passport before (at the Peace Bridge, no less). They will give you some crap, but they're generally willing to allow you to cross, especially if you're with a group. Getting back into the US is what's hard, and you've got that taken care of.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:17 AM on April 2, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
Only passports are accepted at Global Entry kiosks. The Global Entry card cannot be used at Global Entry kiosks.
The Global entry cards are only for use at the SENTRI and NEXUS travel lanes. SENTRI looks like it is only on the southern border and the card is specifically not valid for entry into Canada via Nexus lanes.
posted by metahawk at 8:23 PM on April 1, 2017