For the past several years, citizens of the United States and nearly a dozen other countries have been able to use Global Entry, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Members enter the United States through automatic kiosks at select airports. The program is considered to be very successful, having saved travelers multiple hours of standing in line when entering the U.S.
Unfortunately, the success of the program is its greatest liability – CBP is receiving as many as 7,000 Global Entry applications per day and the government is currently having a hard time keeping up. In fact, the backlog, which CBP said was about 300,000 applications earlier this year, is now closer to about 350,000. So delays of upwards of 4 months before a new applicant could get an interview hasn’t been unusual in recent months, and even trying to get a renewal has frequently taken months.
That’s the bad news. But there’s some good news, too…
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that if you’re renewing your Global Entry and have submitted your application, if your status continues to say “pending,” you will be given a grace period and your privileges will last one year beyond the original expiration date.
Well, I guess that’s one way to put a band-aid on the problem?
There’s actually some other good news (well, sort of) with that report – USA Today wrote the same thing this past September (actually they reported at that time that the grace period was increasing from 6 months to a year). Not that it’s a good thing that they’re still backlogged or that their way of dealing with it is to just let people get another year without whatever rigamarole is supposed to be done, but at least the government has figured out a way for those of us who are renewing to not have to worry about losing our Global Entry status once we have it, simply because the government can’t get their act together.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
11 comments
Like Mobile Passport, TSA Pre, GE or even CLEAR, eventually the masses will catch up. Kind of like when everyone is Elite, no one is Elite. Or when everyone can get into the lounge it’s not fun anymore. In the case of GE they could just add more machines which would take care of the number of people coming through GE but they need to get the interview process figured out it seems.
Oh, absolutely. But part of the problem is that lots of Border Patrol employees have been moved around to help with the (cough) “severely dangerous issues at our southern border” (cough). If the government employees were dispersed a little more appropriately, this would be less of an issue. That’s what I think, anyway. YMMV.
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It’s not just a four month wait anymore. A friend recently received Conditional Approval, but there are zero appointments available at ANY US airport at ANY date, through 2020. There are 5 stations along the southern and northern border with some, but zero elsewhere.
Yeah, it’s a mess. Trying to schedule an interview to get GE status in the first place is ridiculous and could be a whole post unto itself.
I applied last June never recieved anything but a receipt. Travelled out if the country this past November and upon arrival at Baltimore Washington International and asked for an interview only to be told they didnt have anyone. Three days later I called the field office and left a message. A few days later revived an email saying it’s been canceled and I would not get a refund. I may add as an government employee I had it when I left the government along with a top secret clearance. At the very least I can’t say anything positive about the agency.
My renewal application status said “pending” for 5 months. As above, no interviews available anywhere near my home in California.
Luckily, I was able to do an interview when I arrived at Honolulu for Tokyo. That gives then another 3 years to get sorted.
You can renew it up to one year. I put in the application 7 months prior. They requested an interview around 3 months prior. Next available appointment was a couple of months away at a Florida airport. I went in as a walk in at BWI a week after they requested. Waited 15 minutes, had my interview–all good and done.
My application has been “pending” since 7/16/19 and at the ATL the local CBP pulled Mobile Passport. 🤨
My renewal took exactly 7 days. Extended to 2025. Actually took longer to get my Amex GE credit!
I just renewed last month. Interviews were wide open in San Juan, PR, and I had one scheduled there before going on a cruise. But before that, I ended up going through HNL from Sydney and found out I could just wait there for my interview and did just that.