Global Entry - Enrollment On Arrival

[wrk2cruise]

Our local airport doesn't participate plus I've not done an international flight in a few years.  We got conditional approval in early November 2018 and when I checked the nearest airport (3 hrs away) they were booked through April and no calendar after that.  We were taking a cruise in late January from San Juan so I thought to check the calendar there.  It was wide open so made an appointment very early on the day the cruise sailed (we arrived the day before).  Well then the government shutdown happened and a week before the cruise we got an email saying the appointment was cancelled due to the shutdown.  Well 2 days later the shutdown was over.  I called on that Friday to see if we could get the Tuesday AM appointment reinstated.  They were very nice but said they didn't know what was going on  yet and to call on Monday (our travel day).  When we arrived at SJU I called again and after getting transferred a couple of times ended up with the SJU GE program manager who was sympathetic but couldn't process without it being on the calendar and the calendar wasn't opened up yet.  She took my number and said she would call me back.  Within an hour she called and said she had worked everything out and our original 8 am appointments were good to go.

 

I can't say enough about how helpful they were.  We knew it was a long shot but thought the CBP at SJU did everything possible to accommodate us.  I'd say above and beyond considering they hadn't been paid for over a month.

[Jim_Iain]

A tip for those that find long waiting times at their local airport.

 

I initially had an appointment for 4 months from when I made an appointment.   I started checking once or twice a day and was able to pick up a cancellation and have my interview within a week.   I did the same for my partner and got a second appointment for a couple days later.  

 

I was also told by the agent at SFO that they also allow walk-ins on an availability basis.   Not guaranteed but they were really good about taking care of walk ins while we were there.

[TeeRick]

There is a major credit card for those who "venture" to find it that reimburses the $100 fee if you use it for your application.

[C-Dragons]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

There is a major credit card for those who "venture" to find it that reimburses the $100 fee if you use it for your application.

There are several other credit cards that offer the same reimbursement. 😊

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Our whole process at the interview was so quick the parking service didn't even charge us for parking. We had our approval email before we got home. Being a smaller city we didn't even have an issue getting an appointment.

[catspaw1]

I am a retired Fed with active secret clearance. I worked for DHS when they rolled out GE. I retired from another Fed agency but not DHS. My GE needed to be renewed & they asked me to come in for an interview! My husband, a nonFed did not. So can't figure that out. They "claim" they needed my new fingerprints on file. Since I have already been fingerprinted as a Fed & am already in the database, I can't figure out why I needed to come in again. They asked me zero questions. The right hand doesn't tell the left hand what's going on.

[dodger1964]

On 4/13/2019 at 10:13 AM, TFree said:

True.  My wife and I applied initially at the same time 5 years ago, and we have traveled to exactly the same places together in the 4+ years since.  When we both applied for renewal last fall (after our fifth year had started), she got her renewal card in the mail, while I was required to appear for an interview, which I handled via walk-up "interview" at LAX through the Enrollment on Arrival program.  The interview could not have taken even an extra 5 minutes over just going through Global Entry without the interview.

 

Tom & Judy

EXACT same with us...(only thing different was my wife has same passport as when originally applied and mine renewed last year..she didn't need interview, I do.)...I plan on doing my interview coming back to U.S. next month....hopefully it goes smooth...our layover isn't that long in our arrival city.

[BridgeMates]

My passport is expiring soon.  Does anyone know, hen you renew your passport do you have to go thru the personal interview with TSA again?

I remember when I got my GE a couple years ago, they said to bring it back out to have them scan in the new passport, which means a special trip out to DFW again.  

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

53 minutes ago, BridgeMates said:

My passport is expiring soon.  Does anyone know, hen you renew your passport do you have to go thru the personal interview with TSA again?

I remember when I got my GE a couple years ago, they said to bring it back out to have them scan in the new passport, which means a special trip out to DFW again.  

 

 

 

 

No you do not need to go back through a personal interview.    After you get you new passport you log back into your account and there is a place where you need to input your new passport #, issue date and expiration date.   Takes about a minute.

 

We renewed a couple years ago.

Edited April 15, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[catspaw1]

I'm a retired Fed so let me update some inaccurate information posted by Jim Iain. I used to work for DHS- Homeland security.

 

A passport is issued by DOS= State Dept.   GE is issued by CBP - customs & border. Both components are part of DHS- Homeland Security.  So they are two entirely different components of DHS.

 

You do not need an interview for a passport- remember that's state dept- but you may need an interview with CBP for GE renewal. I doubt CBP will ask you to come for another interview just because you received a new passport but with the government anything is possible, as many systems don't talk to each other. I got called for a new GE renewal interview even though I have active secret clearance- so figure that one out!

[Jim_Iain]

59 minutes ago, catspaw1 said:

I'm a retired Fed so let me update some inaccurate information posted by Jim Iain. I used to work for DHS- Homeland security.

 

A passport is issued by DOS= State Dept.   GE is issued by CBP - customs & border. Both components are part of DHS- Homeland Security.  So they are two entirely different components of DHS.

 

You do not need an interview for a passport- remember that's state dept- but you may need an interview with CBP for GE renewal. I doubt CBP will ask you to come for another interview just because you received a new passport but with the government anything is possible, as many systems don't talk to each other. I got called for a new GE renewal interview even though I have active secret clearance- so figure that one out!

 

With all due respect I believe that is what I said.   I was answering the question of "do you need to show up for an interview when you renew your passport" and was not responding about having to have an interview to obtain a passport.   The assumption of course is that you already have Global Entry and that renewal of passport is done prior to expiration of Global Entry. 

 

I'm sue you can be called in for an interview at anytime.

 

From the Global Entry Site-

 

 

I received a new passport do I need to apply again for a new Trusted Traveler Program membership?

As a Trusted Traveler, you may update your passport and driver’s license through your TTP account at www.ttp.dhs.gov/, so long as you are renewing an existing passport and are not incorporating a name change in the updated passport or it is new document not previously associated with your account.

If you had GOES account, you will need to create a new TTP account and link your accounts using your membership/PASSID number or old GOES user ID.  Detailed instructions can be found here: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1321

Once logged into your account, click on “Update Documents” on right hand side of your Dashboard. Follow the prompts to update your document.  Once updated no further action is needed.

If the passport involves a name change, issuing authority change, or is a new document not previously associated with your account, then you will need to visit an Enrollment Center.  No appointment is needed, but please contact your local Enrollment Center first.

Edited April 15, 2019 by Jim_Iain

[cheeseclan]

Just letting you know that after my husband renewed his passport he went to the site to update the new # with GE.  He thought all was correct until he tried to use it a month later.  👎. the agent there said not all the times will it work and that he needed to go to a GE office.  So when he made it back to Denver he walked in to the Office and they took care of it ASAP.  No problems after that.

 

I have to renew my passport next year.  Hope to have no issues but not holding my breath.

[Liz]

On 4/13/2019 at 3:17 PM, C-Dragons said:

Just to clarify, the emails we both received advised us that there had been a “change to the status of our application”. We logged onto the DHS website where we found our approval notifications. This happened 2 days after renewal.

As the saying goes: your results may vary.  I have friends (married couple) who applied for GE at the same time.  She was approved within two weeks.  His approval took two months.  You just never know...

[dodger1964]

Just an FYI, I used interview on arrival last week in MSP...couldn't have been easier...completed it while waiting for bags to get to belt, so it really didn't take any extra time.

 

I checked a couple of days later online and went from "conditional" to "approved" (might not have been those exact words)

 

So I would give this interview method high reviews.

 

[C-Dragons]

26 minutes ago, dodger1964 said:

Just an FYI, I used interview on arrival last week in MSP...couldn't have been easier...completed it while waiting for bags to get to belt, so it really didn't take any extra time.

 

I checked a couple of days later online and went from "conditional" to "approved" (might not have been those exact words)

 

So I would give this interview method high reviews.

 

Glad everything went smoothly for you!