For those of you with it, how long did the whole process take? I submitted and paid for my application on Nov. 10th and its still pending review.

They just now mentioned that with the partial gov shutdown it might take longer... its been 2 months now, dangit!

Took me about 5 months.

My wife and I completed the online application at the same time. She was conditionally approved after a week, and was ab;e to get an interview appointment probably about 6 to 8 weeks after that.

My conditional approval took almost 3 months. We were both granted GE after our interviews.

I was able to get an earlier interview time at my home airport (SAT) by dropping by the 'room' after a flight one day.

Jock 07 said:

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what government shutdown?

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My thoughts exactly...

I'm approved for an interview, but they don't have any slots open until April. I might just wait until I return from an international flight in May to stop by the office in the airport. What a PITA.

Noble07 said:

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I'm approved for an interview, but they don't have any slots open until April. I might just wait until I return from an international flight in May to stop by the office in the airport. What a PITA.

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In Houston there is one past security that usually has a lot of openings. Just book a fully refundable fare flight on the day you choose for a departure time a few hours after your appointment. Obtain boarding pass, go through security to Global entry appointment, cancel flight and receive full refund, drive home = profit.

Took a month for my wife and I.

Did it at Terminal E when we had a flight. Their office is just past Ruby's as you clear TSA.

Very easy process for us. They even accommodated and saw us earlier than our scheduled appointment.

Totally worth it...especially since it includes pre-check.

My wife renewed hers last spring, paid it online and got approved with no renewal interview or anything within a week or two.

Mine was expiring in December so in July I submitted mine and paid the fee and it's been sitting as "pending review " ever since. I had forgotten about it until the other day. It shows they have all my documents for renewal but nothing is happening.

They've extended the grace period to a year after expiration because they are so backlogged apparently.

My TSA pre check expires in June and I want to upgrade to global entry. Should I start the process now or wait a couple for months ?

jaggiemaggie said:

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My TSA pre check expires in June and I want to upgrade to global entry. Should I start the process now or wait a couple for months ?

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The way I understand it is they are separate groups and the Global Entry folks don't guarantee you TSA-Pre. I remember them even stating that during the GE interview is that they pass the information over to TSA and its is up to them what to do with it. With that being said, me, wife and both kids have had TSA-Pre for every flight since we got Global Entry 3 or 4 years ago. I would think TSA would just tag your profile and then you would continue to have TSA pre from now on so I wouldn't wait.

I submitted my Global Entry renewal 3 months before expiration and it took 8 months from application to interview approval. I interviewed with the US immigration in Honolulu and he said that time period was common...and they are giving extensions if your GE has expired. Bottom line is send in your application yesterday and then wait...and wait.

Yeah, GE doesn't technically guarantee you precheck but in my 5+ years I think at most there was one time where I didnt get it.

My wife and I submitted ours at the same time and did our interviews on a weekend at IAH. I think from the time we first submitted everything online to the time we had our KTNs with GE approved was less than a month.

ChipFTAC01 said:

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My wife renewed hers last spring, paid it online and got approved with no renewal interview or anything within a week or two.

Mine was expiring in December so in July I submitted mine and paid the fee and it's been sitting as "pending review " ever since. I had forgotten about it until the other day. It shows they have all my documents for renewal but nothing is happening.

They've extended the grace period to a year after expiration because they are so backlogged apparently.

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I just happened to check this weekend and mine was finally approved last week. 7 months for a renewal.

I had a different but good experience. Expires in April so I started the renewal process mid-January. 1 week later it showed approved/renewed and the new card showed up a week after that. Very surprised how smooth it went. I traveled internationally 15+ times over the last three years so not sure if that was the difference or just luck of the draw.

Mines still "Pending Review" ... 3 months and counting

Applied in August and still waiting. The rest of the family applied after that and were approved in less than a week.

From what I have read it is random and either quick or 7 months plus.

I finally have a GE interview scheduled for the end of April.

For those that have done this, how long does it typically take from the interview to actually receiving your Global Entry card?

Insane how long it takes for some of you. You don't need your card to use global entry, once they approve it, you are good to go.

Aggie87 said:

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I finally have a GE interview scheduled for the end of April.

For those that have done this, how long does it typically take from the interview to actually receiving your Global Entry card?

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My wife received hers the next week, but was able to use pre-check immediately

Alexhereandnow said:

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Took a month for my wife and I.

Did it at Terminal E when we had a flight. Their office is just past Ruby's as you clear TSA.

Very easy process for us. They even accommodated and saw us earlier than our scheduled appointment.

Totally worth it...especially since it includes pre-check.

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I thought you could only do the drop in interviews when you were arriving back at an eligible airport from an international flight? Or is this a regular interview you made an appointment for but the inside the terminal?

My wife, daughter, and I were able to just walk in and do our interview in MEM. Pretty painless and did not have to go through security. All 3 approved in about 2weeks.

htxag09 said:

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Alexhereandnow said:

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Took a month for my wife and I.

Did it at Terminal E when we had a flight. Their office is just past Ruby's as you clear TSA.

Very easy process for us. They even accommodated and saw us earlier than our scheduled appointment.

Totally worth it...especially since it includes pre-check.

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I thought you could only do the drop in interviews when you were arriving back at an eligible airport from an international flight? Or is this a regular interview you made an appointment for but the inside the terminal?

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Drops in are within security arriving back from an international flight. But you can also schedule interviews on the post security-side office (at least you used to be able to at IAH). Just schedule a day you are already departing or returning, or just book a fully refundable ticket for later in the day of your interview and cancel the ticket for a refund when done with the interview.

They sure are quick to take your money, aren't they? But out of all these locations in Houston, (Sugar Land especially!!) the only location that is taking appointments is IAH Terminal E. Where, supposedly I have to have a boarding pass to enter?! What kinda cockamamie **** is this!?

E said:

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For those of you with it, how long did the whole process take? I submitted and paid for my application on Nov. 10th and its still pending review.

They just now mentioned that with the partial gov shutdown it might take longer... its been 2 months now, dangit!

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Took me a couple weeks and then I scheduled my Interview shortly after in Austin Bergstrom Airport(I reside in Houston). This was due to Houston being backed up and needing a boarding pass to enter into the Global Entry area at IAH. The interview in Austin took all of 5 minutes and the officer told me he gets people from all over TX at that location.

I was flabbergasted how crappy it was to get an interview in Houston and how many people from across TX came down to Austin to get it.

Just checked and my application is still pending review

I had pre-check that was going to expire, so I applied for global entry. Its been months and still pending review, so I broke down and paid for pre-check renewal even though I would have received it whenever my global entry goes through. My wife did global entry about 2 months before I did, and was approved and completed interview within a month. Makes no sense.

Another blog said the quoted time is now 7-9 months. You would think with them eliminating NY, it would have sped up.

Alas, I am on month 6.5 and have a trip next week that I was hoping to use it.

Yeah I'm in Austin too. Start to finish the whole process took me about a month. Interview was less than 5 minutes and for the most part started on time. Guess I got lucky up here.

tamc93 said:

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Another blog said the quoted time is now 7-9 months. You would think with them eliminating NY, it would have sped up.

Alas, I am on month 6.5 and have a trip next week that I was hoping to use it.

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Just received my conditional approval....222 days later.

Nice to see that they are working and my appointment is for late May.

Got mine a few years ago.
Did interview in San Antonio. Only took a few minutes and seemed pointless

Still pending review... 5 month and counting

Total Pain, once you get approved you still have to schedule an interview time.