Travelers who have found the Global Entry system a bit cranky to use may be in for a new age as the Immigration service switches its machines over from passport and fingertip scanners to new sensors that take a picture and compare it to the stored passport image.
Global Entry, which requires sign-up and interview to qualify for a five-year ticket to bypassing long immigration lines at airports (and also includes PreCheck) has previously required returning travelers to scan their passports (usually successfully) and to lay fingerprints on a scanner glass (which is so finicky that many of the machines have had stickers suggesting oiling fingers in your hair to improve the impression.
The new machines have been installed in a number of airports already, including Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York’s JFK and Newark. As with the old system, if the machine is unsuccessful in matching the traveler, it issues a slip that must be taken to an officer. But if successful, the traveler is free to go.
Also still available is the Mobile Passport App, available for Android and iOS, which does not require signup; users fill out their flight and address information, passport information and the app takes a selfie. On landing, it generates a QR code that can be taken directly to an express lane. No fee.
