New government program welcome news for international travelers

By Peter LaSorsa Usually when the government gets involved two things happen.  First, the process slows down with the bureaucracy and second the process slows down with the….you get the point. Well for those of us that travel outside the United States the government hit a home run with its Global Entry program. I lecture on a regular basis for four major cruise ship companies and left the United States a dozen times last year lecturing. The return to the United States is always dreaded because of long lines at passport control. Well the no more with the new Global Entry program. Here is how the program works. You pay a $100 application fee, go to the airport and get your picture and fingerprints taken. These are then kept on file and unless you have a real problem in your background ( in which case you probably didn’t pass the character and fitness application process), you can move to the head of the line at passport control when you arrive back in the country. In essence you will go in front of a kiosk and swipe your passport, put your hands in the fingerprint reader and the camera will take your picture. The information is compared to what is on file and you can declare any items brought into the country at the kiosk and be on your way. The great thing about the program is there isn’t a minimum amount of travel required to submit the application. For $100 you can save countless time at passport control, which means more time to bill clients. Click on the hyperlink to get to the Global Entry program website. For those of you who travel outside the United States, this program should be given serious consideration. Peter LaSorsa can be reached at lasorsalaw.com. He also publishes a blog at www.illinoissexualharassmentattorneyblog.com