Global Entry – International Travel Hacks

If you’re perusing this article, it’s likely you googled a phrase like “real global entry wait time”, or “is global entry approval immediate after my interview.” Sure, the state department website lists the “official” responses to these FAQs, in a manner geared to buy them maximum response time, but like me you’re probably looking for a few “real world” case studies from people who have actually gone through the process.

But let me begin with what this blog is about, and why you want Global Entry in the first place. I began Smart Asia Getaways because I enjoy being a guinea pig – the guy who will try, fail until he succeeds, then report. This blog is dedicated to location reviews and “travel hacks”, useful shortcuts or simple lessons I’ve learned, and Global Entry makes the grade for two reasons.

First, the official reason – if you travel internationally once-a-year or more, you know the hassle of queuing up for customs, often after an arduous ten-plus-hour flight. (My return leg from Hong Kong to JFK will be sixteen hours.) Though customs reserves the right to ask you to pass through a normal line, Global Entry will, in most cases, allow you to end-run the entire process and go directly to a kiosk that allows you to complete the process in a few minutes with minimal hassle.

Second, and more importantly to me, the unofficial one – if you travel domestically as much as I do, you’re likely wary of removing your shoes and dumping out your slurpee at every checkpoint, and approval for Global Entry automatically clears you for TSA Pre check, allowing you to enter a “trusted traveler” number when booking flights that will, about 70% of the time, according to the agent who interviewed me, result in being cleared and allowed to proceed to a special, pre-Orwellian, security line.

Now, for just the briefest of moments, let me expound on my attitude about TSA Pre. TSA Pre is a program that allows you, for a $100 fee, to get yourself background-checked, and, if you qualify, to skip the normal TSA checkpoints, at participating airports, in most cases. Here’s the catch – you have to be invited to apply. If TSA deems you worthy, they’ll contact you and offer you the opportunity to apply. Never mind that I find the idea of paying extra money to be treated like a citizen of a free country odious, but the whole “don’t call us, we’ll call you” thing is hard to rely on for a frequent traveler.

With Global Entry, you kill two birds with one proverbial stone, and you can apply affirmatively – any US citizen or legal permanent resident is eligible. Once cleared, you receive the dual benefit of skipping the customs line and getting a good shot at bypassing the indignity of normal TSA checkpoints.

Now, I’ll describe the process, and address some of the FAQs from above.

Getting Cleared

If you’re a frequent traveler who’s a US citizen or legal permanent resident, with a valid passport no crime in your past, just visit the Global Entry website and begin an application. You’ll need to enter data from your passport or green card, and residence and employment information for the past five years. The fee is $100, payable by credit card, and, if approved, lasts five years from the approval date. $25-a-year is not a bad price for peace-of-mind.

The burning question in my mind, since I’m a rampant procrastinator (I like to call it “Parkinson’s Law” but my wife has a less complimentary characterization), was “how long does it take to get approved?” Well, officially it’s six weeks, and I can’t vouch any experience but my own and those of the other bloggers whose accounts I read, but after submitting my online application, I received my conditional approval email in less than a week.

It’s here that I offer my most emphatic bit of advice – schedule your interview the minute you receive the email. Interview locations book up fast. I waited three days, and nearly missed my window. Only because my wife got lucky was she able to schedule her interview before our eminent overseas trip. If you live in New York, you’ll have to go out to JFK, but it’s not an unpleasant trip on the LIRR and the Air Train.

For me, the interview process was painless. I arrived on time to-the-minute, and was ushered behind the interviewer’s desk after just a few moments in the waiting room. After I was fingerprinted there were two basic questions – employment and reasons for travel – but the real interview was conducted in subtext, as the guy “sized me up” to look for evidence of suspicious behavior or inconsistent stories. To that end, he conversed randomly with me for a few minutes before signing off.

Now, the question everyone wants to know the answer to – was approval immediate?

In my case it was. The interviewer informed me I’d soon be receiving a welcome letter and government ID card in the mail, but that approval was immediate, and the only document I would need was my passport.

Now, the question everyone wants to know the answer to – was approval immediate?

My wife completed the interview two days later and described an even more relaxed atmosphere than I had encountered.

Before I left, the agents handed me a pile of brochures and invited me to watch the instructional video playing in the waiting room, which described how to use the kiosks, and reiterated that approval for Global Entry can be suspended if you’re caught violating customs laws – pretty “common sense” stuff.

As I said above, I can’t vouch that my experience will be everyone’s, but hopefully this article provides you with a useful case-study to help you better understand the process.