Global Entry application

We are finally completing our applications for Global Entry. It is asking for all the countries we have visited outside of US, Canada, Mexico and Virgin Islands in the past 5 years. I verified you have to list all ports of call from cruising. My question is what if you miss a country or 2 when you complete the list? We've traveled a fair amount in the past 5 years and DH travels even more for work outside the US. I know I didn't possibly remember them all.

?????

I don’t think it’s a big deal if you miss a country. My wife and I just finished the final interview last week and are awaiting our cards in the mail. I forgot to list one of the places we had been on a cruise and evidently it wasn’t noticed.

What kind of questions did they ask in the interview?

There were ports they weren't even interested in, if I remember correctly. It's 5 years and I thought I had to review ours this summer as it was 5 years since we got them so I was also going crazy trying to remember where we went! As it turns out they expire on our birthdays next year, so all that remembering will have to work for next year!

Not a big deal if you miss some as long as they are not on the list of countries that the state department has on their watch list. They will ask about those. I do not know the whole list off hand but it includes Iran, Turkey, Syria among others. They may ask if you have ever been to them, my BIL was asked and he had been to Turkey over 10 years ago and it was not a problem.

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They will look at your list of countries and raise their eyebrows. And you will respond..."We cruise" .

And it all makes more sense to everyone. The interviewer is certainly more concerned about some places, rather than vacation stops.

There were ports they weren't even interested in, if I remember correctly. It's 5 years and I thought I had to review ours this summer as it was 5 years since we got them so I was also going crazy trying to remember where we went! As it turns out they expire on our birthdays next year, so all that remembering will have to work for next year!

Always expires on your birthday. The first time you get it, if you get it just after your birthday you get almost a free year as the 5 years starts on your birthday. Mine expires in 6 months and I already saw last month I can start the renewal just need to get my list together.

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I actually listed more than 5 years worth. And those included places like Russia and Tunisia. The examiner hardly noticed.

What kind of questions did they ask in the interview?

Basically none. They asked for my birthdate, email address and physical address, snapped my picture and took fingerprints and checked my passport. That was it.

It is not really an interview. They show you a video on how to use the machines. Scan your passport or passports and scan your finger prints. I forget if they do a photo.

We travel a lot in my office, and one of my colleagues asked about missing a country or two. The CBP officer said, "It is OK, we KNOW where you have been." :D

 

We travel a lot in my office, and one of my colleagues asked about missing a country or two. The CBP officer said, "It is OK, we KNOW where you have been." :D

And if you have ever held a security clearance they know way more than the last 5 years! When a security clearance is obtained or renewed the government expects you to include all the details of any foreign travel.

Got my global entry a year ago. I did my best to list all the countries (and cruising does add a lot). I am sure I missed a few but nobody seemed to care and the interviewer certainly never asked.

We completed ours yesterday. How long did the preliminary approval take?

Less than a month. I remember being pleasantly surprised. Within two weeks from that initial approval I had my interview appointment. However, mine was at the Pittsburgh airport. My sister in Philadelphia did this two years ago and had a 5 week wait after approval just to get an interview appointment there so maybe it depends on your location.

We completed ours yesterday. How long did the preliminary approval take?

You completed what? The application? The interview?

You completed what? The application? The interview?

The application.

We completed ours yesterday. How long did the preliminary approval take?

Ours only took about 2 weeks.

They didn't ask me any questions either. I expect that they would only ask questions if the background checking they did raised some issues.

I recently renewed mine for the first time.

The renewal form also asks for a list of countries visited in the last 5 years, so you might want to keep track to make filling that out easier. I hadn't, so had to go through my passport plus check records of some periodic business meetings I attend to make sure I had a reasonably complete list. BTW, renewal was pretty fast - less than a couple of weeks. The info said can ask you to go in for another interview to complete the process, but they didn't. The new card just showed up in the mail.

We completed ours yesterday. How long did the preliminary approval take?

Approval can be quick, but depending where you want to go for your interview, the wait for that can be really really long.

When I did mine, the first available interview in San Francisco (nearest to me) was months out. I had a business trip to Chicago coming up so checked there and was able to schedule an interview that worked with the time for my flight home. My husband applied for Global Entry in April 2017. In his case too, the first available interview in San Francisco was months away - it would have been after our August cruise. We started checking airports that were a direct short flight away. It was the same for LAX and several other airports we tried. Los Vegas had availability so he booked cheap Southwest flights for a day trip there.

They call it an interview, but I think it is only to get you there in person for a picture and fingerprints.

They call it an interview, but I think it is only to get you there in person for a picture and fingerprints.

Yeap.

Thanks for all the answers. From what I've seen the wait for an interview in Pittsburgh is pretty short, 2 weeks or so.

I don't remember being asked that stuff when I applied.

I'll say this, though, FWIW: They say you need to bring documentation to support everything you've claimed as true on your application, right? So if you claim US citizenship, you need to bring as passport or whatever to prove it? Well, I noted that I have UK citizenship as well, I brought the proof, and she never asked to see it. I watched the stupid video, she asked for my passport, and we went through an arduous process of doing the photo and fingerprints. That was it.

What I'm getting at is that I doubt they're going to lose sleep over someone missing a port or two on the form, especially if it's not a destination that they'd be worried about, like an "enemy" country. What record is there that you even went there, anyway? You don't get stamped on cruises, generally--you show your passport to board, but you're not normally asked for it everywhere you stop.

I filled out my application online Sun afternoon. Friday morning I received my email saying I’m temporarily approved and to go online to schedule my interview. I submitted my husband’s application at the same time and still no invite to schedule the interview. Interesting.

W What record is there that you even went there, anyway? You don't get stamped on cruises, generally--you show your passport to board, but you're not normally asked for it everywhere you stop.

If the cruise departed or arrived in the US, the manifest, with passport info, was provided to CBP. So they know you were on X cruise, and what ports X cruise stopped at.

What they would not know is, if you flew in Paris, traveled around Europe by car or train, and flew back from Paris. They would know you went to France, but not the other countries.