Global Entry is an incredibly useful program for anyone who travels internationally with any frequency. I’ve had Global Entry for nearly 15 years now. While I renewed my Global Entry in early 2022, I just went through the process of helping Ford renew his (or mainly, I just asked if I could help, so that I could report back on the experience). 😉
In this post, I want to outline the process of renewing a Global Entry membership, since it’s something that frequent travelers have to do periodically. I’ve separately written about how to apply for Global Entry.
In this post:
What is Global Entry?
For those not familiar, Global Entry is a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States (or at CBP Preclearance facilities). With this program, approved members can enter the United States using automatic kiosks at virtually all international airports.
Nowadays the kiosks typically just use biometric data. So you just go up to one of the Global Entry kiosks, it scans your face, and then you can proceed to the baggage claim area and exit (unless you’re selected for additional screening). Sometimes an immigration officer will also ask if you have anything to declare.
Over the years, Global Entry has probably saved me dozens of hours. Back in the day I’d be stressed when landing back in the United States, wondering if I’d be stuck in an hour-long immigration queue. Nowadays I can just breeze right through.
Global Entry renewal basics
Before I share a step-by-step guide of my Global Entry renewal experience, let me share some basics about the timeline, how much it costs, etc.
How long is Global Entry valid for?
Global Entry is valid for roughly five years after you’re approved. The reason I say “roughly” is because it’s valid for five years from your next birthday. In other words, if your birthday is December 1, and you apply January 1, 2025, your membership would be valid through December 1, 2030.
If you strategically apply for Global Entry, you can get it for almost six years with one membership. Just apply shortly after your birthday.
How do you determine when your Global Entry expires?
Generally speaking you’ll get an email six months before your Global Entry expires informing you of the upcoming expiration. If you want to look for it in your email, that usually comes from [email protected].
Alternatively you can log into your Trusted Traveler Program dashboard, and go to the section that lists your program status. You’ll see the expiration date listed there.
When can you renew your Global Entry?
You can apply to have your Global Entry renewed up to a year before the expiration date. There’s no penalty for renewing early, in the sense that it will still be valid for five years from when your membership currently expires, and not five years from when you’re approved. So you might as well renew early.
You won’t want to let your membership lapse, since the process is more complicated for a lapsed membership. Be sure to apply for renewal well before your Global Entry is set to expire.
Is there a grace period for Global Entry renewal?
There is a grace period for Global Entry renewal, as long as you submit your renewal application before your membership expires. Specifically, there’s a grace period of up to 24 months, which is super long. Back in the day, the grace period was only six months, but that has been increased considerably over time.
If you do submit your application but aren’t approved before the expiration, you’ll continue to be able to use Global Entry the same way as before during that period.
How much does it cost to renew Global Entry?
It costs $120 to renew Global Entry. Fortunately, many credit cards offer a fee credit toward Global Entry renewal. Note that in all cases, you can use your credit for anyone — so if you have extra credits, you can use them for friends and family to renew their Global Entry.
Do you have to be interviewed for Global Entry renewal?
When you first apply for Global Entry you have to be interviewed, either in-person or virtually. Do you need to be interviewed when you renew? It depends:
- Some people who apply for renewal get a full approval without having to attend an in-person interview
- Some people who apply for renewal have to attend an interview
- The good news is that if you do need to attend an interview, you can simply do so when you return to the United States with your next trip
What happens to Global Entry if your passport expires?
While only tangentially related, what happens if you have to renew your passport before your Global Entry expires? The good news is that it’s a really easy process.
You just have to log into your account on the Trusted Traveler Programs website and update your passport number there. Your Global Entry will then continue to apply with the new passport up until the Global Entry expiration date. See this post for more details on how that works.
Step-by-step guide to renewing Global Entry
On July 16, 2025, I started helping Ford renew his Global Entry. His current membership expires on October 14, 2025, though as long as the application was submitted before then, he’d have a grace period of two years.
To renew your Global Entry membership, you’ll want to go to the Trusted Traveler Programs website, and click “LOG IN” at the top right under the “Returning GE/NEXUS/SENTRI/FAST Member/Applicants” heading.
Note that back in 2017 the government migrated from the Global Online Enrollment System (GOES). So if you don’t yet have a new Trusted Traveler Programs profile, you’ll have to set that up first, which is a quick process (though at this point I imagine that virtually everyone has transitioned).
Once logged in you’ll see your current Global Entry membership, and underneath that you should see a “Renew Membership” option listed, assuming you’re within the renewal period.
There you’ll be able to select the program you want to apply for or renew, which in this case would be Global Entry.
Essentially the Global Entry renewal application contains all the information you submitted the last time around, so you just have to confirm that it’s correct, and update any outdated information.
This includes reviewing your personal information, documents, driver’s license, address, employment info, travel history, and more.
You do have to upload a copy of your passport during the process (assuming your passport number changed since your last application, which will likely be the case half of the time for adults, since passports are usually valid for 10 years, while Global Entry is valid for five or so years).
The only slightly complicated part of this process is having to update your travel history, as you have to list all of the countries that you’ve been to since the last time that you applied. So yeah, that can take a second, if you’re a frequent traveler.
At some points the process of reviewing info isn’t very intuitive, as you have to click a lot of unnecessary buttons confirming that nothing has changed. But it’s pretty self explanatory. I’d say the whole process up until this point took me about 15 minutes, and that includes having to recall all the counties from the past five years (which is quite a few).
To finish off the process you just have to certify that all of the information that you’re providing is accurate, and then you have to pay.
When you pay, make sure you use a credit card that has a Global Entry fee credit, assuming you have one.
I used my Amex Business Platinum, and the fee reimbursed within a couple of days.
How long did the Global Entry renewal take?
As mentioned above, we submitted the Global Entry application on July 16, 2025. Then on July 23, 2025 — seven days later — we received an email indicating that there had been an application status change on the renewal. The email came from [email protected] with the subject line “TTP Application Status Change.”
The email as such doesn’t tell you a whole lot, so you have to log into your account again to see the status. There we found out that the application was approved, meaning that there was no need to take part in an interview.
Experiences seem to be mixed as to whether an interview is required for renewals. For example, during my last renewal, I did need to get an interview, while during my renewal before that, I didn’t need to get an interview. This time around, Ford didn’t need an interview.
The good news is that if you do need to be interviewed, you can typically just do so when you return from an international trip. When I did it, it took less than a minute.
Bottom line
We just went through the process of renewing Global Entry, and it was pretty easy. You basically just have to confirm that all the information during your last application is still accurate, add all the countries you’ve been to since then, and pay a fee.
This time around, the application was processed in a week, and there was a full approval, so no interview was required. However, don’t be surprised if you do need an interview, as that happened to me during my last renewal.
Hopefully this is useful for anyone else who has a Global Entry renewal coming up soon.
If you’ve had to renew your Global Entry, what was your experience like?
Please write a bit more detail about how to get interviewed at an airport upon re-entry to the US. Do you just ask the officer? Can you do so from a year before expiration to the end of the 24 month grace period?
Please write a bit more detail about how to get interviewed at an airport upon re-entry to the US. Do you just ask the officer? Can you do so from a year before expiration to the end of the 24 month grace period? I presume you have to first fill out the renewal info and wait for conditional approval?
I renewed mine a year or two ago and fortunately I didn't have to get another interview (I was notified a day or two earlier that an interview was no longer needed) but it's really a pain in the ass if you haven't logged in your Trusted Traveler Program in a while and you change your number. You basically have to delete your account and create a new one.
I renewed last year. Waited 6 months, only to be conditionally approved. No appointments available for interview in BOS, so did re-interview on arrival in BOS. Could not use the Global Entry kiosks since it technically expired (was still good for precheck), so I downloaded Mobile passport and used it. Had to wait 20 minutes for my re-interview on arrival. Not the easiest or smoothest. When my spouse renewed, approved in 2 days, no interview.
Mine was pending for 6 months before conditional approval and still required an interview so YMMV.
Post says "When you first apply for Global Entry you have to be interviewed, either in-person or virtually."
I think virtual interviews are only available for renewal, not first-time applicants.
@ LP -- My mistake, thank you. Fixed.
Just noting since I happened to do this today, Ben writes, "You do have to upload a copy of your passport during the process," but I didn't have to (so you could do this without having your passport at hand) -- perhaps because I have the same passport I did when I last renewed Global Entry.
@ DiogenesTheCynic -- Good point, I added that to the post to clarify, since presumably it varies based on whether you have a new passport since your last renewal.
Just entered in Boston using Global Entry. Long line past the machines since the one agent processing people was requiring passports to be shown and was asking questions.
Best part is kids are free now! Was pretty easy to renew for the kids as well (did not need an interview either) and didn’t have to pay once linked to my GE account. Although it now makes having more than two global entry fee reimbursement cards redundant (for that purpose at least). :-)
Ben, did you apply for your son? I know it’s now free and supposedly you can get it for your child when you apply but I didn’t see a way to do it when I renewed.
My first renewal 3 years ago required another 5 minute “interview”. Hoping the next one doesn’t. I will be renewing my passport a year prior. Not sure if that has anything to do with it.