Most flyers who have Global Entry (and TSA PreCheck as an added bonus) know that just because they were granted access into the program, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have access to it for life.
Besides the fact that both Global Entry and PreCheck are only 5-year programs, even once you have access, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll keep them for all 5 years—the government is watching every member. Daily. Even when they’re not traveling. And if they mess up, their access could be revoked.
The same thing can be said of people from other countries who have Global Entry and PreCheck.
Yes, Non-U.S. Citizens Can Get Global Entry
Oh yes. The U.S. has been granting access to Global Entry and PreCheck to people from select countries for years.
Honestly, it had never really dawned on me, as a U.S. citizen, to see if, when, or how Global Entry and TSA PreCheck were available to non-U.S. citizens (really, why would I, y’know?). But then I read something on Facebook about how a U.K. citizen had Global Entry. And the SAME DAY, a friend of mine, also a U.K. citizen but who spends a decent amount of time in the U.S. and even owns a house here with his partner, asked me about TSA PreCheck for Brits. So I started looking around and, as it turned out, there are a BUNCH of countries where, as citizens of those respective countries, you can get the U.S.A.’s Global Entry and, therefore, TSA PreCheck, as well.
The process varies from country to country. For some, you only have to apply for entry through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Trusted Traveler Program and schedule an interview with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer (which is the same thing U.S. citizens do). For other countries, the process is more complicated—you may need to complete certain paperwork and be vetted by your home country first, and THEN apply for entry, schedule the interview, etc. But even if you have to jump through a few hoops, it’s still worth it in the end if you pass, especially if you travel to/from/within the U.S. on a regular or even semi-regular basis.
Easy come, easy go
Just like Americans, it looks like people from other countries can lose their Global Entry status, too.
I admittedly didn’t know the process of how you would lose it—say, if you were arrested, made a big fuss at the airport, etc.—in your home country. (After I looked it up, the rules are pretty much the same as they are for us: if you do something bad, the U.S. government will find out and you’ll lose membership.) But after watching the list of eligible countries grow for years, I recently noticed that it’s suddenly…different.
As of August 2024, there were 21 countries whose citizens were potentially eligible to get Global Entry.
And when I checked today, most of the countries were still on there—and a couple more had been added, which would be typical. A few more countries are added every year. This time it’s:
- El Salvador
- United Arab Emirates
But a few who were in the midst of “Global Entry pilot programs” had been removed:
- Israel
- Qatar
No word anywhere on what happened or why they’re no longer pilot programs.
New Zealand is also gone from the roster, but CBP has a page that addresses that:
As we’ve said in the past, we don’t think that nationals from other countries have a huge impact on the size of the queues at CBP; there just aren’t enough of them to be more than a drop in the bucket. But it’s always interesting to see who has access and who doesn’t.
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