Global Entry is an awesome program that can save eligible travelers time at immigration when entering the United States from abroad. In order to enroll in the program, you need to first fill out an application, and then once you’re conditionally approved, you need to conduct an enrollment interview.
The catch is that getting an appointment for an interview can be challenging. There’s a lot of demand, and very few appointments available. Fortunately there’s one alternative to scheduling an interview that sounds awesome on the surface, but might not be very useful in practice…
In this post:
The Global Entry Enrollment on Arrival concept
Global Entry Enrollment on Arrival is a Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Agency program that allows Global Entry applicants who are conditionally approved to complete their enrollment interview upon arrival in the United States.
This is available at virtually all US airport CBP checkpoints. When you enter the immigration hall, just look for the Global Entry Enrollment on Arrival signage.
This sounds great:
- You don’t have to worry about scheduling an interview, as it can be tough to find availability
- You’re killing two birds with one stone, since you don’t have to make an extra trip for an interview, but rather can have it conducted when you’re entering the United States anyway
CBP describes this program as fast, simple, and convenient.
Don’t expect Global Entry Enrollment on Arrival to go smoothly
We recently enrolled our son in Global Entry (even infants need their own membership, and can’t go through with parents), and my plan was to complete his interview on arrival. Along those lines, I wanted to provide a bit of a warning…
Upon landing at Miami Airport last night from an international flight, I took our son to the Global Entry Enrollment on Arrival area, which was easy to find, and was at the far end of the immigration hall. An officer took our son’s passport, and placed it somewhere behind the desk, and asked us to wait.
As I tried to scope out the situation, I realized that there were dozens and dozens of people in the Global Entry Enrollment on Arrival area, and there was a single immigration officer processing these interviews. I was curious to see how long each interview would take. It must have taken about 15 minutes for the first person to be processed.
As you might expect, a lot of the people being enrolled were little kids traveling with their parents (probably a similar situation to us). A few people just asked for the passports back, and said they didn’t have time to wait, and would do it some other time.
After about 15 minutes and seeing that just one person had been processed, I did the same, because I knew that if we had to wait for hours, our son would (understandably) have a meltdown. On the plus side, as a parent you won’t feel bad if your little one makes some noises in this area, because the whole Enrollment on Arrival center might as well be a kids play pen.
So that brings me to my question — is Global Entry Enrollment on Arrival always this much of a mess, or does this just reflect traveling in summer? I’m going to try to schedule an interview for our son somewhere. I just figured I’d provide this warning, for anyone else who was considering using this method for enrollment.
On the plus side, this experience caused me to finally try Mobile Passport Control, which is awesome, and is something I’ll be writing about in a separate post.
Bottom line
In theory it’s nice that Global Entry has an Enrollment on Arrival concept, that allows you to conduct your enrollment interview without having to schedule an appointment. Unfortunately at least based on my experience, this isn’t so great in practice.
I tried to do this at Miami Airport, and there was a single person conducting these “interviews,” with dozens of people waiting. Given that most people waiting to be enrolled were little children, this wasn’t a great situation, and it’s probably worth trying to make an appointment.
I’m curious, did we just have bad luck, or is Global Entry Enrollment on Arrival always a mess?
Two words: Miami Airport
Nothing else to say. Nothing works there.
It’s awful at JFK as well, I was the only person in line and waited for an hour before anyone said anything to me
But custom agents at JFK are notoriously awful
In which Terminal did you have your bad experience? Was id D or J?
I tried Global Entry on Arrival at JFK a couple of weeks ago, arriving around 9pm from France. A cheery customs agent directed me to the desk far down the hall where I was told "they were closed because there is already over a two hour wait of people who are waiting to be processed." I left. I continually try to book an appointment online in NYC but the earliest slots are MONTHS away, which makes the Global Entry system pretty much useless and a waste of time.
Yes, in March @ LAX, There was no “on arrival” GE line so I waited in the regular *Foreigners* line for > an hour. /:
Last year in September I tried to have my interview for a renewal (my renewal was provisionally approved) when landing from an international flight at SFO. The quoted wait time was 3-4 hours, so I passed.
I still hadn't been able to confirm an appointment, but this week I landed at DFW, spoke with the officer at the Global Entry line, and did my "interview." It consisted of having my picture and fingerprints taken, and...
Last year in September I tried to have my interview for a renewal (my renewal was provisionally approved) when landing from an international flight at SFO. The quoted wait time was 3-4 hours, so I passed.
I still hadn't been able to confirm an appointment, but this week I landed at DFW, spoke with the officer at the Global Entry line, and did my "interview." It consisted of having my picture and fingerprints taken, and took all of 90 seconds.
Maybe I was lucky since it was an interview for a renewal (no idea why it was needed) vs. for initial enrollment?
We came into DFW after the official area had closed and found out that any of the officers could complete the process. At first he was reluctant because he said if other people saw him do it for us he would have to do it for them but then he finally gave in. No interview all we did was fingerprints and two photographs. Took my spouse and I about 7 minutes total and we had...
We came into DFW after the official area had closed and found out that any of the officers could complete the process. At first he was reluctant because he said if other people saw him do it for us he would have to do it for them but then he finally gave in. No interview all we did was fingerprints and two photographs. Took my spouse and I about 7 minutes total and we had our full approval emailed to us two days later.
In short, sounds like every entry point is different.
My husband and I did it at LAX last August and it didn’t take that long. There was a line and three agents and it probably took us about 30-45 minutes to wrap up and be admitted with our interview done.
I did interview on arrival for my 3 month old in December at PHX around 8pm. Immigration was a zoo with massive lines so we were bracing for the worst- but it ended up being super fast— waited in a short GE line, our “interview” took about 5 minutes- and most of that was spent trying to get picture of an infant that can barely hold her head up without a parent photobombing it. Sounds like you got caught in the summer family travel vortex.
We arrived at Houston Hobby this past June and planned on having 5 family members do interview on arrival. Customs was vacant, hardly anyone around, and they refused to do it. Family came through customs without doing the interview but I urged them to go back and press the issue. The customs agents begrudgingly did it, took about 10 mins total for all 5 of them.
I renewed my GE at LAX on arrival in 2019 and it took about an hour IIRC. Similar length of time per customer, but not many people waiting. It was worth it, but could have been better.
On the day of my arrival in SEA last December from Japan, I was delighted to receive an email stating that my Global Entry application was approved conditioned upon an interview. After I cleared custom and immigration, the Officer brought me to an area and the wait took less than half an hour and the interview was even shorter.
I can't stand some of the comments made by people who just love to complain about their feelings being hurt and everything else. Get over it. If you don't like the posts then don't read them and find another post to complain about.
Yes not an easy process sometimes but on the whole over the many years of renewing, I can’t complain. Also well worth the time and effort. For me with a CAD passport it makes life so much easier both entering and leaving Canada and on arrival in the USA. A game changer.
Save yourself sometime I and my cousins used https://www.ttptracker.com/ to be alerted of new appointments. It made the whole process much easier. The interview on-arrival stuff doesn't always work like people claimed to because sometimes they send you back.
Global Entry is always a mess.
Sometimes it's even slower than the regular line.
It's just too many people have Global Entry and those CBP people still have to check your passport.
I can't say it's always this way, but our experience with Global Entry on Arrival was less than stellar. This was a few years prior to COVID, BTW. We had a 3.5 hour layover in ATL, and figured we'd do our stuff there/then. Contrary to the Global Entry info website, there was NO signage/etc. at ATL for Global Entry on Arrival. Every agent we asked (while walking towards customs) gave a different answer. We get...
I can't say it's always this way, but our experience with Global Entry on Arrival was less than stellar. This was a few years prior to COVID, BTW. We had a 3.5 hour layover in ATL, and figured we'd do our stuff there/then. Contrary to the Global Entry info website, there was NO signage/etc. at ATL for Global Entry on Arrival. Every agent we asked (while walking towards customs) gave a different answer. We get in line and ask the actual customs agent and he was like "oh, you need to be over there" and kindly took us over to the other agent. Who, it seems, decided to go on break just then. Ugh. So we wait (we're first in line). While waiting for lunch break to be over, about another 5 people showed up behind us. The lady finally came back. Took about 30 minutes for her to get situated at her desk, log in and finally see us. Partner took about 20 minutes to be processed (maybe she was new, I don't know). Then my turn. Our 3.5 hours (thank goodness) left us with about 45 minutes to get to the gate before our flight boarded, so we had to hustle. Unfortunately neither app was immediately approved, both got stuck somehow on the fingerprint verification portion, so we had to call in (direct to ATL) weeks later and they finally manually got unstuck. Overall, a total mess, IMO. Almost 2 hours to process 2 people "on arrival". Eeesh. The people behind us had been trying to get processed for almost a year (they lived in like South Dakota or something where there was nothing close by). They either missed their connection in ATL or just gave up (by the time we were done I think they had 45 minutes left to make their plane, and at the speed the agent was going, there was no way she was going to process both of them in under 15 minutes).
My wife and I made a weekend trip to Detroit from STL using her SWA companion pass and got it all taken care of in less than an hour. Another compounding issue is the lack of appointments in each city. In STL for example, it was almost a year out to get a “scheduled” interview.
We did this at IAD in the peak of summer in late June. There was no one doing these, so they had to take a CBP employee from another station to do the interview for us. We waited about 1 minutes. Took about 10 minutes total (infant twins). Might just be MIA.
We had the same experience at ORD, but there was a distinct queue, so we had a clear sense of how many people were waiting ahead of us. There were about twenty. After half an hour, there were about twenty. We were about to bail, but over the next half hour, about half the line did just that, and we thought we had a chance. But half an hour after that, there were still 8...
We had the same experience at ORD, but there was a distinct queue, so we had a clear sense of how many people were waiting ahead of us. There were about twenty. After half an hour, there were about twenty. We were about to bail, but over the next half hour, about half the line did just that, and we thought we had a chance. But half an hour after that, there were still 8 people ahead of us, and what looked like an easy 3’20” connection was beginning to seem uncomfortable. We left. In the hour and twenty minutes we were there, they got through 5 applicants. Sigh.
Isn't this pretty obvious? No appointment and most people would think it is convenient to do upon the return. They should have the officer when you return do the interview at the same time. It would save on time and resources.
I did the on arrival interview at LAX on a weekday. Got in line arond 6pm, didn't leave the terminal until after 7:15-7:30. There were 3 agents doing the interviews although one of them got tied up with someone and left with him, not sure what happened to the guy didn't see either of them again. About 20 people ahead of me, 10-15 minutes per person.
I came through SFO from Amsterdam and I was lucky. It took me less time to get through with the interview than people on my flight. Tgere were a half dozen people ahead of me and 2 doing interviews.
I did the Global Entry interview in EWR arriving from Singapore around 6am. Despite being "open at 5am" there was no one there and gruff CBP agents couldn't tell us when an agent would actually arrive. Fortunately, there was only one other person ahead of me waiting and I recall it took about 10 - 15 min to process that one person. I was lucky. My parents tried having their interview in Terminal 7 of...
I did the Global Entry interview in EWR arriving from Singapore around 6am. Despite being "open at 5am" there was no one there and gruff CBP agents couldn't tell us when an agent would actually arrive. Fortunately, there was only one other person ahead of me waiting and I recall it took about 10 - 15 min to process that one person. I was lucky. My parents tried having their interview in Terminal 7 of JFK one morning and no agent arrived. After waiting 30 min, they bounced. What a mess.
We had a GE child enroll on arrival in Phoenix two weeks ago. I did not see a GE on arrival area, so we joined the normal line for US arrivals. About 5 minutes later we had our agent, everyone scanned in quickly and the officer checked with each kid by name. When coming to the GE pending interview child noted the situation and proactively interviewed on the spot. Asked 2 questions and did the...
We had a GE child enroll on arrival in Phoenix two weeks ago. I did not see a GE on arrival area, so we joined the normal line for US arrivals. About 5 minutes later we had our agent, everyone scanned in quickly and the officer checked with each kid by name. When coming to the GE pending interview child noted the situation and proactively interviewed on the spot. Asked 2 questions and did the comprehensive fingerprinting on the little green scanner. Took 3 extra minutes. Still was at bag claim before the bags.
This happened with our oldest a number of years ago at IAH. Super easy.
We arrived from Heathrow into SFO in early June. We both had Global Entry so went quickly through the line with facial recognition. The enrollment on entry line was immediately adjacent and there was no one in the line. The agent was calling people over from other lines to help out.
Mobile Passport Control is the way to go. Set it up prior to arriving in the USA and you clear thru the same line as GE passengers. Won’t waste my time trying to set up an interview.
I used interview-on-arrival at LAX and it was quick and easy...and friendly. I was on line and out the door in no more 15 minutes. I live about two-and-a-half hours from LAX, so this was a great alternative for me.
Last year my wife tried twice for a Global Entry interview on arrival for her second GE renewal. Both times, at CLT and PHL, we arrived during standard business hours but the on arrival interview service was closed. She ended up paying a third party service to find her an interview at CLT.
The term "interview" isn't always appropriate. I was required to have an "interview" for my first GE renewal. It consisted solely of taking my fingerprints again.
btw - how long is conditional approval status taking? 2 months + counting for me...
I've been waiting 9 months for conditional approval on a renewal... I emailed cbp and their response was:
We are currently experiencing high demand and processing volumes. Processing times vary by applicant, but on average you can expect your application to be processed as follows:
• GE: up to 11 months
• NEXUS: 18-20 months
• SENTRI: 16-18 months
These are average times. Unfortunately, we cannot anticipate a date of completion for...
I've been waiting 9 months for conditional approval on a renewal... I emailed cbp and their response was:
We are currently experiencing high demand and processing volumes. Processing times vary by applicant, but on average you can expect your application to be processed as follows:
• GE: up to 11 months
• NEXUS: 18-20 months
• SENTRI: 16-18 months
These are average times. Unfortunately, we cannot anticipate a date of completion for your specific application at this time.
I’ve been waiting nearly a year for a then two year old’s application
LAX - any feedback on lines there around 2:30 in the afternoon on a Sunday?
Yes Ben, it's ALWAYS that bad. Last year I tried 3 times upon returning from Geneva, Zurich, and Madrid. I live in DFW, but the 2 Switzerland flights were through PHL & CLT, the Madrid was direct back to DFW. In Philadelphia they told me at the counter that "they ran out of federal funding so they stopped last week". Then a couple months later, CLT said a similar thing. Then in DFW they were...
Yes Ben, it's ALWAYS that bad. Last year I tried 3 times upon returning from Geneva, Zurich, and Madrid. I live in DFW, but the 2 Switzerland flights were through PHL & CLT, the Madrid was direct back to DFW. In Philadelphia they told me at the counter that "they ran out of federal funding so they stopped last week". Then a couple months later, CLT said a similar thing. Then in DFW they were short staffed as well. Ended up paying for an app that fi ds cancelations near me and got a last minute appointment FIBALLY. Hate CBP and TSA. Buffoons.
My husband did his Global Entry interview on arrival in Newark and it was a breeze.
This was a funny article to read, because it is exactly the same situation we encounters in Miami in March coming back from Europe. We were escorted into the holding area and saw that there were at least five other families waiting for an interview, which were being conducted by one person,and not very quickly. We were tired from our overseas flight and after about 10 minutes, decided that we would just get our passports...
This was a funny article to read, because it is exactly the same situation we encounters in Miami in March coming back from Europe. We were escorted into the holding area and saw that there were at least five other families waiting for an interview, which were being conducted by one person,and not very quickly. We were tired from our overseas flight and after about 10 minutes, decided that we would just get our passports back and head home. Estimate that we would have been there for about an hour. Henry decided to stay.
I enter via global entry at Dulles regulary. The Enrollment on Arrival lane is right next to global entry and there are generally half a dozen people in line. However, I suspect there's only one officer working the line. So that's probably a 90 minute long line. I've personally never seen the line move while waiting to clear global entry.
Can confirm this line moves very slow. We did this a few years ago at Dulles for my wife’s renewal, during August 2021 when travel was still very low due to Covid, and had to wait over an hour. On the other hand we flew into JFK later that year and did GE on arrival for my daughter and it took 5 minutes. So maybe some airports are better than others or we just got lucky.
I would not do it at a busy airport knowing their staffing levels. I did it at preclearance in Ottawa. Easy and quick
Experienced significant delay entering USA at PHL several times on BA. Don't know why!
We went through the Global Entry on arrival att JFK the other day for my wife and son. It was super fast and easy. Took about 5 minutes each ans they got a notification approval the next day.
Same experience here, super fast, only one person attending and one person ahead of us.
I had issues because no one was on duty at the time at JFK despite being told that they are open at that time
I enrolled on arrival to JFK two weeks ago. Luckily there was only one person in front of me. Took maybe 20 minutes max. I was approved.
I'm a UK citizen so an interview on arrival was my only option. Waited 3.5 hours in Chicago last year. Two people processing a line that was no more than 20 people deep. One of the agents spent over an hour with a single person. Thankfully I had the time to spare.
The attitude of the two officers was really unpleasant. Mine spent some time asking why I wasn't a member of the "UK equivalent...
I'm a UK citizen so an interview on arrival was my only option. Waited 3.5 hours in Chicago last year. Two people processing a line that was no more than 20 people deep. One of the agents spent over an hour with a single person. Thankfully I had the time to spare.
The attitude of the two officers was really unpleasant. Mine spent some time asking why I wasn't a member of the "UK equivalent of Global Entry". I explained that we didn't have one. "Uh it's called Registered Traveller". I replied that UK passport holders and others who can already use the e-gates aren't eligible. "Oh so you know my job better than me do you?".
I said I'd look into it and my application was finally processed. 3.5 hours of waiting and being talked down to. I've recouped that on my four subsequent visits.
Before someone replies that UK Immigration Officers can be just as unpleasant; yes, I agree. I just don't have to deal with them.
You're right, UK immigration officials are downright unpleasant. And so are the hostile Australians! Oddly enough, I've yet to experience a truly unpleasant American. All the American immigration officials I've encountered were mostly bored or tired, but not unpleasant. The ones in Hawaii are actually a bit nice and friendly. Singapore has the friendliest, most professional officials, in my experience.
Guess it depends when you arrive? I did it at MIA - took about 15 minutes - but I could see where it could be much worse.
I'm thinking of doing this at one of the international CBP outstations, like Nassau, in the offseason. Hopefully it will go a bit more smoothly.
It's way smoother at preclearance, (though I'd avoid doing 8t at YYZ.. too busy)
I don't think it is Global Entry on Arrival per se-I think it is trying to do it at Miami. That airport is a total disaster for anything! I arrived there from Cozumel flying first class needing to collect my luggage to make my connection. My luggage was the last off the plane despite my flying first class. I have Global Entry and TSA Precheck. I had a 2 1/2 hour layover time, and still...
I don't think it is Global Entry on Arrival per se-I think it is trying to do it at Miami. That airport is a total disaster for anything! I arrived there from Cozumel flying first class needing to collect my luggage to make my connection. My luggage was the last off the plane despite my flying first class. I have Global Entry and TSA Precheck. I had a 2 1/2 hour layover time, and still barely made my flight-having to run to make my connection. Another time I arrived having to check in for my flight as my prior flight arrived the night before. I was flying business class. The business class check in line was the length of a regular check in line, and the economy line was incredibly long! I make it a point to try to avoid Miami if possible now.
Wife and I did this coming back from Spain through JFK. Best decision I ever made. Easy peasy. 10 minutes total for both of us.
We actually had to do it twice. We went through DFW back in Oct for our daughter’s GE. The guy at the counter was pretty rude and short. Turns out, he didn’t even do it right to begin with. When we came through GE at IAH in Dec, we were directed to the GE officer for our daughter’s. Turns out the guy back in Oct didn’t save it properly or save her photo. We got...
We actually had to do it twice. We went through DFW back in Oct for our daughter’s GE. The guy at the counter was pretty rude and short. Turns out, he didn’t even do it right to begin with. When we came through GE at IAH in Dec, we were directed to the GE officer for our daughter’s. Turns out the guy back in Oct didn’t save it properly or save her photo. We got lucky and had to go back to the Enrollment on Arrival desk and the guy there fixed it and sent us on our way. YRMV
When will folks learn that traveling during the peak summer months will result in bedlam. During the school year, there aren't any kids traveling. Both myself (IAH on returning from Dubai in March) and my partner (ATL returning from MUC in October), breezed right through the interviews---even though she had 1 person ahead of her and I had none. I was also on a short connection to CVG and told the CBP officer that and...
When will folks learn that traveling during the peak summer months will result in bedlam. During the school year, there aren't any kids traveling. Both myself (IAH on returning from Dubai in March) and my partner (ATL returning from MUC in October), breezed right through the interviews---even though she had 1 person ahead of her and I had none. I was also on a short connection to CVG and told the CBP officer that and he completed everything within less than 10 minutes. It's a great program and a quick, easy way to complete the interview.
Depends on the time of day, but it seems like its always just one officer working. It took me 30-45 minutes at LAX last year, that was only thanks to multiple people giving up.
I renewed on arrival at sfo about a year ago. It took 20 minutes with 2 officers doing the interviews.
I would suggest trying to do enrollment on arrival at a pre-clearance location, such as Nassau Bahamas. We had a great experience doing this with our kids. Since you are going through CBP screening prior to the flight home, you are generally already at the airport and going to have to wait somewhere.
When we enrolled our kids in Nassau, we were given a time to return to the CBP area, went to the...
I would suggest trying to do enrollment on arrival at a pre-clearance location, such as Nassau Bahamas. We had a great experience doing this with our kids. Since you are going through CBP screening prior to the flight home, you are generally already at the airport and going to have to wait somewhere.
When we enrolled our kids in Nassau, we were given a time to return to the CBP area, went to the club to wait and have a snack, and went back downstairs to CBP at the appointment time. Definitely the best way to go.
You never know. I did this with my two kids on arrival to PHL from FCO. I think the priority of the officers are to process everyone coming off the flight. Therefore despite being in business and being at the front of the line, we entered the “enrollment upon arrival” line which was staffed by only one officer. There were two families in front of us. It also took something like 20 minutes per family....
You never know. I did this with my two kids on arrival to PHL from FCO. I think the priority of the officers are to process everyone coming off the flight. Therefore despite being in business and being at the front of the line, we entered the “enrollment upon arrival” line which was staffed by only one officer. There were two families in front of us. It also took something like 20 minutes per family. One family was frankly too chatty and wasting everyone’s time. Eventually a second line opened up we were taken care of. Ultimately they don’t dedicate many officers to this process and the time it takes is a matter of luck based upon the number of other families needing this to be done.
I did mine on arrival in Houston and it didn't take more than an extra 5 minutes. Sounds like the author is desperate for content.
Because your individual experience wqs fine “the author is desperate for content”? Right, ok.
Think of it as a possible walk in appointment, not a rapid check.
When the kid is 5 or 10, Global Entry can be dangerous because the kid might try to sneak a piece of fruit. If one family member gets Global Entry revoked, all family members will sometimes get it revoked. They say it's not collective punishment but rather risk assessment .
Sorry to hear about the tough experience for Miles. I did EoA at my home airport IAD and the process couldn’t have been easier. Arrived at peak int’l arrivals time so the normal lines were jam packed, but the EoA line had maybe 5-6 people with each person taking no more than 3-4 minutes (with just one immigrations officer). Was an absolute breeze
I had the same experience at IAD.
My wife was “conditionally approved” for her last renewal when we flew through Abu Dhabi. The agent there voluntarily asked if she wanted to get the interview over with when going through the pre clearance facility and we were done in no time. I think he may have only offered because we were on the flight to Dulles which was the last flight US of the morning at the time, and there was no one...
My wife was “conditionally approved” for her last renewal when we flew through Abu Dhabi. The agent there voluntarily asked if she wanted to get the interview over with when going through the pre clearance facility and we were done in no time. I think he may have only offered because we were on the flight to Dulles which was the last flight US of the morning at the time, and there was no one behind us in line.
I’ve never done it in ATL but I’ve also never seen a line quite like what you described when passing through.
Arrived LAX around noon a month ago, and it took us ~40 minutes to complete our son's entry on arrival. There were about 6 groups in front of us when we got in line, 2 dropped out because the line moved slowly, and the # of cpb officials doing these interviews reduced from 3 to 2 while we were in line (after the length of the line had gotten longer).
Longer than I expected, but ok as we had a long layover. My son's interview (he was 9 months) took under 5 minutes.
MIAMI...may as well be another country, they think they are.
And it has gotten worse since Ron DeSanctimonious has been the Governor.
More basic question - with the effective end of customs at most US airports, and the spread of Mobile Passport Control, is Global Entry really useful anymore? In most cases I am through immigration in a couple of minutes, and I don’t have Global Entry
“Effective end of customs…”???
Sounds like some kind of conspiracy theory
At least in Dallas last time I flew in there was no customs. Everyone exited the baggage area without handing in a form or being asked questions. The global entry kiosk did not ask any questions or print a receipt
So it does seem like customs is ending at least at some airports.
We did this at JFK last month. Similar situation - enrolling our infant son after arrival from an internation flight. The process could not have been easier. One person in front of us, we were done including wait time, in under 5 minutes.
Did my renewal interview in person at MIA back in April, and it took 5 minutes at 8p on a Sunday night.
I did it at LAX a year ago and it took 5 minutes.
Currently on my second renewal- first renewal, I didn't require another interview and was automatically renewed. This time I have been "pending review" for over 3 months. Anybody experienced something similar ?
My brother's renewal was stuck in "pending approval" for like 8 months. It finally moved to conditional approval about a week ago - prompting him to drive 7 hours to Laredo for his interview because he couldn't find an appointment anywhere else...
Probably easier and cheaper to book a cheap flight to Mexico and do the interview when you land back to the US.
Our last round at SFO took maybe 15 minutes total for 4 of us.
I’ve had GE for years but my wife and kids did not. They applied about a month before our late May trip to Europe and were almost immediately pre-approved and we decided to try GE enrollment on arrival at IAD. I went to get our luggage and was ready to settle in for hours. Remarkably, they were all through in about 30 mins. I was shocked!
It’s Miami, Ben. I wouldn’t expect it to be any better regardless of time/date. You’ll honestly be better off trying it at another gateway
We had an appointment at IAD in April but tried to do it earlier at the preclearance facility in Aruba for my in-laws. They’d only do it there during the morning when they have enough staff. The afternoon crowds are too much. So we kept the April slots.
The quality of experience varies by airport and CBP staffing at the specific time you arrive. Someone I know did it at LAX and it was a breeze. Another person did it at SJC and it was a long wait.
Yeah I think you just got un-lucky. I do think it’s airport specific but also time specific. If your flight lands when not many do, you may be in for a much easier time. I did mine at Newark while returning from Europe on one of the last flights of the ‘banked’ arrivals. 2 people ahead of me, it took about 3-4 minutes per person and mine was very smooth (and I’m not even a...
Yeah I think you just got un-lucky. I do think it’s airport specific but also time specific. If your flight lands when not many do, you may be in for a much easier time. I did mine at Newark while returning from Europe on one of the last flights of the ‘banked’ arrivals. 2 people ahead of me, it took about 3-4 minutes per person and mine was very smooth (and I’m not even a US citizen). What sometimes also matters is if first port of entry is the end destination or not. People are more risk averse to join the line if they have a connection to make.
I renewed my Global Entry last year and I was so glad I was re-approved without the need for an interview. Your experience is what unfortunately the US has become, a zero customer service country. They extended Global Entry to several countries and have no resources to process all that. Good luck in getting anything done.
We've used Global Entry on Arrival for the interview for all 3 of our kids in the last few years and twice we were done in less than 5 minutes, the third time when there were a few people in front of us it probably took half an hour. If you can avoid peak times then I think it's generally pretty efficient.
Might be a 2023 thing. I did an arrival interview in the summer of 2021 in ATL and it went very smoothly, taking about 5 minutes total (if that).
On the other hand, I arrived into ATL last Wednesday night on a BA flight, and Atlanta Global Entry wasn't even operating. I asked an immigration official why and he said they didn't have enough people! Wasn't a huge problem as it took only about 10 minutes to get through.
I just did this on Friday 07-21 at JFK Terminal 1. I already have Global Entry for about 9 years, so I was conditionally approved to renew my membership.
I was told I have to wait on the regular line just to exit customs and could not use the kiosk. The regular line took 45 minutes. Then I had to wait over an hour in the Enrollment Office as my situation was similar to yours....
I just did this on Friday 07-21 at JFK Terminal 1. I already have Global Entry for about 9 years, so I was conditionally approved to renew my membership.
I was told I have to wait on the regular line just to exit customs and could not use the kiosk. The regular line took 45 minutes. Then I had to wait over an hour in the Enrollment Office as my situation was similar to yours. There was one agent processing and each one took about 15 minutes, and there were a few people ahead.
He is not talking about using global entry ; which is great. I’ve used it 15-20 times and never had an issue. The only time I ever had to wait 90 seconds was because a family of Hasidic Jews at jfk with children went in line causing confusion.
The article is about ENROLLMENT on the spot during travel and complaining about the lengthy process. Just make an appointment and coke to the airport on...
He is not talking about using global entry ; which is great. I’ve used it 15-20 times and never had an issue. The only time I ever had to wait 90 seconds was because a family of Hasidic Jews at jfk with children went in line causing confusion.
The article is about ENROLLMENT on the spot during travel and complaining about the lengthy process. Just make an appointment and coke to the airport on your own time. You know this Ben. And especially children need screening. There is human trafficking. Children are smuggled into the US and forced into prostitution.
There is no need to write the religious level of the people on line. Please be more sensitive and inclusive.
You did say this was at Miami. Not sure why you expected anything to be fast and efficient at MIA. A renewal appointment “on arrival” at Aruba preclearance took circa 5 minutes with two people in front of me.
I think you unfortunately had a bad experience and got unlucky. My experience was similar (even quicker) than Betty’s. “Interview” on arrival at SFO for my then 9-month old last May took about 90 seconds. The CBP agent asked us to lift her out of her stroller, he took a look at her and her passport photo, asked us to confirm travel plans, and that was it. Would be intrigued to know if the process is handled differently at each airport.
My on arrival interview took less than 10 minutes at JFK. No problem at all.
What time at night did you arrive? I went through LAX this past Friday afternoon and there were at least 3 CBP officers in the enrollment on arrival area. Each line had maybe 4 people.
As a point of reference, I did my son’s global entry when he was 1.5 years old. We scheduled an appointment and he was done in like 3 minutes.
Can't complain. Did the interview on arrival at SFO last year. Took me 15 minutes to wait and another 10 minutes to finish everything. I was faster through immigration than other people from my flight.
i have used it an newark airport. short line which went quickly..
Same thing for me at Newark. Painless and quick.