I already had TSA Precheck, but thought, why not go a little further and get the Global Entry, especially if my credit card reimburses for one of these programs every five years and we plan to travel more internationally.
What is Global Entry? The US Customs and Border Protection offers the Global Entry program to allow pre-approved, low risk travelers enter the United States in a more expedited way. Instead of waiting in the long lines, members may use automatic kiosks to scan their passports, their fingerprints and complete a customs declaration. A receipt is generated and off to baggage claim and the airport exit.
The online application is no joke. Aside from the basic information like name, other names, email, gender, eye color, height, language, date, place of birth, current address, phone numbers and criminal records. I knew I’d need my driver’s license and passport information, easy enough. I had to dig out past resumes to get employment history for last five years not just where I worked but dates, address, phone numbers. Same with my address history for the last five years. This might be easy if you’ve stayed at the same job and home…but I had a big move and several jobs, and a chunk of time not working – so my timing was a little more complicated. I looked through my passport to determine my 5 year travel history. The fee is due at the time of application.
After you submit the application you will need to keep logging into the system to wait for the conditional approval. Some people said they received an email saying they had mail in the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) portal, I did not. This conditional approval is the OK to schedule your in-person interview. This took about 2 weeks.
After getting the OK to schedule the interview, you look through the calendar, narrowed by location, and pick a date/time. You will need to print out your letter for the interview. The first available appointment in my city was three months away. If there is a long wait, and you are already flying domestic it is worth looking into another airport you will be at on that day to see about their availability, If you are going to be traveling internationally you can have your interview on your way back into the United States.
I arrived at my interview destination about 20 minutes early. There was a small crowd lingering near the locked door near the international arrivals. My location required us to pick up the telephone on the wall to check-in. Around the designated time, the door opened and personnel called about ten names. We had a seat and waited to be called. Only one person was working, and he slowly went through the list, and had about 6 minute interviews with each person. I was able to clearly hear all the questions and responses. I was number 7 in my group so I had my responses all ready. Other locations have more private interview rooms.
The agent took my passport and licence to verify my identity. He did not ask for my letter. He asked several questions about why I wanted to be a member, my future travel plans, any arrests and then some questions that varied by person based on their application – like why did I move a year ago? When he was satisfied, he fingerprinted me and took my photo. He informed me I would get notice within three weeks if my application would be approved. I got notice a day later.
About two weeks later I received my Global Entry card. This card is only needed for land travel – like if you are driving to/from Mexico. When you arrive by air, you just use your passport.
Since I already had a Known Traveler Number with TSA Precheck, and now a different number with Global Entry…either will work for domestic travel, but if you travel internationally you’ll want to be sure you enter your Global Entry number in that field.
Cost of the program is $100 vs $80 for TSA Precheck both for a period of five years. If you travel internationally, paying an extra $20, or $4 a year, you will want to look into Global Entry.
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