The secret about Global Entry is officially out: It's one of the most powerful tools to get through the airport faster. You can skip through security thanks to a TSA PreCheck benefit, then clear immigration within minutes after an international trip.
But getting enrolled in Global Entry can be easier said than done. While federal officials say some travelers can complete the entire process in less than 30 days (and that has been our experience), backlogs in processing applications can drag out the process for months.
Long processing times to get signed up – and finding a Global Entry interview to finalize enrollment – have made it a months-long hassle for many flyers. It got so bad at one point that the federal government practically pleaded with travelers to sign up for PreCheck instead.
While you can hit plenty of snags throughout the process, scheduling an in-person interview is often the hardest part. It's the last step to getting Global Entry set up, and finding an interview can be a pain, dragging out the process by months or more.
But don't give up hope. We've got some hints to get Global Entry faster.
What is Global Entry?
Global Entry is a trusted traveler program run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that allows you to get through U.S. immigration and customs quickly. It also includes a TSA PreCheck benefit that gets you into a designated lane for security. It's a genuine two-birds, one-stone program.
Because this program lets you get through high levels of security quickly, the process for getting approved is a bit more rigorous. It's also more expensive, costing $100 (and soon, $120) – TSA PreCheck costs $78. Enrollment in both programs lasts for five years.
Torn between Global Entry vs TSA PreCheck? Read our guide!
The signup process for Global Entry starts easy enough.
It begins with an application online – and it's fairly extensive. You will answer questions about current and previous employment, places of residence, previous international travels, and more. Once you hit submit, it gets sent off for a thorough background check.
Thrifty Tip: Pay for your application with a travel credit card that covers the cost of enrollment – it's like getting Global Entry for free!
After submitting your application, you need to wait until you get conditional approval. Once you've got that, you need an in-person interview to finalize your enrollment. From there, you can simply head to the designated Global Entry line when clearing immigration and waltz through in just a few minutes … or less.
One thing to keep in mind: Until your Global Entry enrollment is completely finalized, you won't get TSA PreCheck benefits, either.
Read our full guide to getting signed up for Global Entry for a complete walkthrough!
Waiting on Conditional Approval?
On paper, applying for and getting Global Entry is fast and simple. It can take just a week or so. But in practice, it's not always so simple.
After submitting your application, getting conditionally approved is the next step before you can move on to the interview stage. But it's a crapshoot: Some lucky travelers can get through the entire process in a week or less … but in some cases, it can take months. According to the TTP website, applications take an average of four to six months to be processed.
Global Entry enrollment is still clearly a struggle as a result of the pandemic. Enrollment centers nationwide closed in early 2020, worsening a backlog of applications that Customs and Border Protection staff have struggled to chip away at. In the meantime, applications for Global Entry and other Trusted Traveler Programs have surged to record levels.
Customs and Border Protection have employed a few different measures over the years to try to relieve the pressure on staff, move applications faster, and open up more interview availability. They've extended the grace period for pending Global Entry renewals to a full 24 months and began offering remote interviews for renewing members – if travelers renewing their Global Entry even require an interview at all.
But still, the stories of travelers waiting three, six, or nine months or more awaiting conditional approval continue. That's not always the case: While there are horror stories about applications sitting in limbo for months, some applicants are still getting conditionally approved in just a few days. It's seemingly random.
Read more: Application to Approval in 13 Days – My Global Entry Success Story
And unfortunately, there's not a whole lot you can do to speed up this conditional approval process. You can try calling the Global Entry information line at (877) 227-5511 to escalate your approval process, but there's no guarantee. And recent reports from travelers suggest that CBP will not escalate an application until the nine-month mark – up from the previous standard waiting time of four months.
How Long Do Global Entry Appointments Take to Schedule?
Finally get approved? It's time to schedule an interview. And depending on where you live, that can be a challenge. Many times, in-person interview times are only available many months in advance … if they're available at all.
If you're lucky, you might find an appointment at your local airport within a few days or weeks of getting conditional approval. Some Global Entry enrollment centers outside of major airports reliably have wide-open appointments – especially along the Canadian border.
But at major airports, it can take weeks if not months to find even a single Global Entry interview appointment available. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has previously said that the average processing time for new applicants, start to finish, was 208 days. Ouch.
So how can you get in and get Global Entry faster? We've got some advice.
Tips to Get a Global Entry Interview Faster
1. Monitor the Schedule Like a Hawk
It's not unusual to pull up the schedule of available interviews around your area and see … well, nothing.
Getting an in-person interview on the books can be the hardest part of signing up for Global Entry. That's especially true lately, as available appointments have been close to non-existent around major U.S. cities.
For example, here's a look at appointment availability at the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) airport, where you currently won't find an appointment open until late September.
Other locations like Los Angeles (LAX), Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), Seattle (SEA), Boston (BOS), and others don't currently have any appointments open, period, at the time of publication. But keep in mind: Just because there are no interviews available right now doesn't mean there won't be any tomorrow. Or even later today.
The Best (& Worst) Airports for Finding a Global Entry InterviewRead more:
The schedule of available interviews is constantly in flux, as enrollment centers add and subtract slots and other applicants cancel or reschedule. So it's worth checking regularly if you're on the hunt for an appointment.
It pays to be vigilant and keep checking back. If you schedule an interview weeks or even months out, don't resign yourself to waiting that long. Book that appointment but keep checking back to the calendar. You may – and often will – be able to slide in even earlier.
Thrifty Tip: The federal agency that runs Global Entry now releases a bunch of interview appointments at 9 a.m. local time on the first Monday of each month. While you won't find wide-open interview availability at every single major hub across the country, there's typically enough there to help travelers stuck in Global Entry limbo get across the finish line.
2. Pay a Service to Find You a Global Entry Appointment
If you've struck out finding a last-minute appointment at your home airport, there are services like Global Entry Spotter and Appointment Scanner that can do it better than you ever could. These services scrape the entire Global Entry interview schedule 24/7/365, alerting you whenever it finds an appointment at your designated enrollment centers.
Global Entry Spotter
With Global Entry Spotter, you can get alerts for up to three airports or global entry enrollment centers. You'll get an alert via text when a new appointment opens up, and from there you can just head to the Global Entry website and schedule it.
Global Entry Spotter charges a one-time fee of $25 for unlimited automated Global Entry interview appointment alerts. And unlike many competitor services like Appointment Scanner and TTP Appointments, which charge $29 and $24.99 respectively for a month's worth of alerts, Global Entry Spotter will send you alerts for as long as it takes. It even allows you to opt back into alerts without having to pay again.
Our Senior Editor, Allie, signed up for Global Entry Spotter at 9:48 a.m. on Jan. 9. Just 10 minutes after signing up, she had already received an alert about a Global Entry interview appointment at Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) … and it was for later that same day!
Read our review of the Global Entry Spotter service!
Appointment Scanner
With Appointment Scanner, you can get alerts for up to three locations, including remote renewal interviews via Zoom. Just wait for an alert by email or text, then head out and snag an opening as soon as you get one.
It's not free: It costs $29 for one month of alerts. But if you ask me, it's worth every penny if you're otherwise struggling to find an interview. Consider this:
- I received an alert for an interview at my hometown Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) airport within four minutes of signing up. Four minutes!
- I got more than 15 alerts for MSP interviews within just a few days – all for availability within the next two weeks.
- Since I picked New York City (JFK) as one of my three locations, I also received more than 70 alerts for that airport … in less than 48 hours!
- Unlike Global Entry Spotter, Appointment Scanner can help renewing members find a remote Global Entry appointment to do the whole thing over Zoom
Appointment Scanner is an incredibly powerful tool that can help solve the interview problem for you.
Read our full review of the Appointment Scanner service!
3. Check for New Appointments on the First Monday of Each Month
As travelers fight for limited interviews, the agency that runs Global Entry has shaken up how it releases these appointment slots.
Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that it began releasing more interview slots on the first Monday of every month. Interviews get added to the calendar right at 9 a.m. at the local time of your enrollment center.
“Given the unprecedented demand and continued interest in TTP, CBP is at an inflection point, where we must provide consistent, efficient, and accessible processing methods for applicants to select an appropriate enrollment option,” Michael Millich, the agency's director of Trusted Traveler Programs, said in a statement.
So set yourself a calendar alert for 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 5. Or Monday, Sept. 9. Or even Monday, Oct. 7. It might be your best bet to snag an appointment before other travelers beat you to it.
4. Take a Global Entry Interview Road Trip
Most of the major Global Entry enrollment centers are at major international airports. But they aren't alone.
There are roughly 100 enrollment centers nationwide – and even one in Guam! You can find them in towns big and small, in the center of the country and along the borders with Canada and Mexico, and in Hawaii and Alaska.
So depending on where you live, it could make sense to hop in the car to knock out your Global Entry – and turn it into a weekend road trip, if you can!
For example, you currently can't schedule an interview at our hometown airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP). But you could head up Minnesota's beautiful North Shore, spend the weekend hiking or skiing, and pop in for an interview in Grand Portage where the schedule is wide open.
At five hours, this example is a fairly long drive. But by turning it into a weekend trip, you can get a two-for-one: a short vacation and your Global Entry interview. And there are other similar opportunities around the country.
5. Travel for the Interview – Work it into a Domestic Trip
Pssst … You don't have to do your interview at your home airport.
If you've got some domestic trips coming up, check out the list of enrollment centers nationwide and see what might fit into your upcoming travels. Head down to your interview after you land or schedule it well ahead of your departing flight to return home. Or even sneak in during a layover!
Let's say your nearest enrollment center doesn't have interviews available for months, but you're making a trip to Miami soon. You never know, the interview schedule at Miami (MIA) airport might be wide open.
Check out your travel calendar, go through the list of enrollment centers, and see what you could make work.
6. Consider Enrollment on Arrival
As enrollment centers continue getting hammered, Customs and Border Protection (CPB) keeps touting one of its newest features: Enrollment on Arrival.
How Enrollment on Arrival Works
Rather than scheduling an interview, you can simply wrap up your enrollment process when returning from an international trip. It's available at more than 60 airports, including a few international airports that have U.S. customs pre-clearance like Dublin (DUB) or a handful in Canada. There is typically a designated lane to finish your enrollment with CPB officers while also clearing immigration.
Read our full guide to enrolling in Global Entry on Arrival!
The biggest drawback of this process is that you won't be able to use the TSA PreCheck benefit until after you've completed your enrollment – so you're out of luck when departing on your international trip. But it's an easy way to knock out your interview when getting one on the schedule proves difficult.
Bottom Line
It's gotten more and more difficult to get Global Entry in just the last few years. But trust us – good things come to those who wait. And if you employ some of these strategies, hopefully, the wait to find a Global Entry appointment won't be long at all.