Global entry

[DrivesLikeMario]

Look for "Otay", I think it was Otay Mesa.

 

When we did it, could have gotten an appt for the next day, but opted to wait a week or so to fit our schedule. The agent took both of us at the same time. Don't get there too early, they were sticklers about checking in no more than 30 minutes (maybe it was 45) before the appt time.

 

Wow, that's really fast. I'd rather not go to Otay Mesa. That's a heck of a long way away. SAN will do just fine but I'm sure they're backed up there with appts. Thanks for the advice about arriving too early - we tend to do that! :o

[soccergang]

We applied and were approved last week. However, the earliest we can get an appointment is mid-December in the Atlanta area.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I filled out the application on August 27 and received the approval notice September 4. When I went online to set up the appointment I found it was impossible. I live in the Kansas City area and the airport was supposed to be a place where you could go but it said no appointments available. It didn't even show a calendar. It just said nothing available in red print. So I checked Omaha. There were supposed to be two locations there and both were the same way – nothing available. The closest with any appointments was St. Louis which is 250 miles away with nothing available until December. After that the next closest is Minneapolis which is 450 miles away. I'm beginning to think I wasted $100 on the application. I will check back every day to see if anything opens up in Kansas City or Omaha but as of right now they aren't even showing a future calendar. What I don't understand is why there are 10 places in Canada where you can go for global entry but nothing within 250 miles of where I live in the Kansas City area. If I am doing this wrong someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong.

 

 

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[Coldmissy]

" What I don't understand is why there are 10 places in Canada "??? You do realize that Canada is physically the same distance border to border as the USA so having 10 places is equal to the USA having 1 for every 5 states. It means most people travel quite a distance for an appointment.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I realize Canada is a large country however I thought the global entry was a US border and customs program. I would have expected the majority of the interview sites to be within the United States.

 

 

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[goofy559]

" What I don't understand is why there are 10 places in Canada "??? You do realize that Canada is physically the same distance border to border as the USA so having 10 places is equal to the USA having 1 for every 5 states. It means most people travel quite a distance for an appointment.

As a Canadian I can confirm that although the locations have a Canadian address the interview is with the US folks. We have renewed twice. Nice our interview was in Toronto at the airport. The second at a ground crossing on the US side. At many Canadian airports you clear US immigration before you fly. That's why locations in Canada show up.

I realize Canada is a large country however I thought the global entry was a US border and customs program. I would have expected the majority of the interview sites to be within the United States.

 

 

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[Coral]

At many Canadian airports you clear US immigration before you fly. That's why locations in Canada show up.

 

Not arguing why there are Canadian sites but Qatar?

 

You do not need to be a US Citizen to be approved. Individuals from other countries can also apply:

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/eligibility

Edited September 5, 2016 by Coral

[Coral]

I realize Canada is a large country however I thought the global entry was a US border and customs program. I would have expected the majority of the interview sites to be within the United States.

 

 

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Most sites are here in the US.

[goofy559]

Not arguing why there are Canadian sites but Qatar?

 

You do not need to be a US Citizen to be approved. Individuals from other countries can also apply:

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/eligibility

Now that is a head-scratcher! Never knew you could be approved from other countries besides the US, Canada and Mexico. Thanks for sharing.

[Coral]

Now that is a head-scratcher! Never knew you could be approved from other countries besides the US, Canada and Mexico. Thanks for sharing.

 

I spent quite a bit of time at Flyer Talk during my "21 day waiting of being conditionally approved" and learned quite a bit.

[JF - retired RRT]

Wow, that's really fast. I'd rather not go to Otay Mesa. That's a heck of a long way away. SAN will do just fine but I'm sure they're backed up there with appts. Thanks for the advice about arriving too early - we tend to do that! :o

 

Otay Mesa was only 30-45 minutes from San Diego.

[IfishSitka]

Global entry is for international flights but not ever airline or airport has it. TSA is domestic and again not all airport s have them. We got global entry for free via our credit card. Used it coming back from London and loved it. TSA pre check is included as part of global entry.

You will not always get TSA pre-check with Global Entry. I have my card registered with the airlines I fly and it works 90% of the time. Last week I had a flight from PDX to SEA and it did not work. Just for the heck of it I canceled the reservation on Alaska and re-booked on Delta (flights were the same price) and got the same result. I have another flight booked for today that has it.

[pilot]

I filled out the application on August 27 and received the approval notice September 4. When I went online to set up the appointment I found it was impossible. I live in the Kansas City area and the airport was supposed to be a place where you could go but it said no appointments available. It didn't even show a calendar. It just said nothing available in red print. So I checked Omaha. There were supposed to be two locations there and both were the same way – nothing available. The closest with any appointments was St. Louis which is 250 miles away with nothing available until December. After that the next closest is Minneapolis which is 450 miles away. I'm beginning to think I wasted $100 on the application. I will check back every day to see if anything opens up in Kansas City or Omaha but as of right now they aren't even showing a future calendar. What I don't understand is why there are 10 places in Canada where you can go for global entry but nothing within 250 miles of where I live in the Kansas City area. If I am doing this wrong someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong.

 

 

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I live in Kansas City. My sister and brother in law had the same problem with nothing available in Kansas City. She ended up making her appointment in Minneapolis, for a February 2017 date (you have to make an appointment in 30 days of receiving approval). She kept checking the Kansas City site for availability. In two days they had Saturday openings for both of them at different times. They both showed up for the morning appointment and the agent interviewed them both at the same time.

[VibeGuy]

Qatar and Canada both offer interview sites because US CBP have preclearance agents there that clear passengers headed to the US on nonstop flights. You still have to be an eligible applicant - most Qatari nationals would not be eligible to apply, as you have to be a US citizen or LPR. Canadians have GE privileges by virtue of their NEXUS membership, which also requires a CBP interview along with CBSA (Canada's rough equivalent).

 

I suspect given that MCI Has a couple of international flights a week, the agent scheduling just doesn't allow for much spare time for GE interviews.

[Coral]

Qatar and Canada both offer interview sites because US CBP have preclearance agents there that clear passengers headed to the US on nonstop flights. You still have to be an eligible applicant - most Qatari nationals would not be eligible to apply, as you have to be a US citizen or LPR. Canadians have GE privileges by virtue of their NEXUS membership, which also requires a CBP interview along with CBSA (Canada's rough equivalent).

.

 

I am confused as the website says you can be a citizen of Columbia, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Panama, Singapore or South Korea to be eligible.

 

Did you mean something else?

[Coral]

I filled out the application on August 27 and received the approval notice September 4. When I went online to set up the appointment I found it was impossible. I live in the Kansas City area and the airport was supposed to be a place where you could go but it said no appointments available. It didn't even show a calendar. It just said nothing available in red print. So I checked Omaha. There were supposed to be two locations there and both were the same way – nothing available. The closest with any appointments was St. Louis which is 250 miles away with nothing available until December. After that the next closest is Minneapolis which is 450 miles away. I'm beginning to think I wasted $100 on the application. I will check back every day to see if anything opens up in Kansas City or Omaha but as of right now they aren't even showing a future calendar. What I don't understand is why there are 10 places in Canada where you can go for global entry but nothing within 250 miles of where I live in the Kansas City area. If I am doing this wrong someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong.

 

 

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Technically Omaha doesn't have a site. Both Omaha and Lincoln have had "global entry events" for a few days or so where a travel agency has brought agents into town and hosted an event so that those of us who live her can interview easily. The Lincoln one was in June and I think the Omaha one was in July (but filled up in early June). It was just for a few days.

 

I knew that KC does have an office but it is only open Tuesday and Thursday mornings the last time I checked and just opened in May.

 

I agree with you. I live in LNK and for the most part, until the KC office opened, I was probably 7-8 hours from a site. I see people complaining about traveling 30 minutes to a site. Try 8 hours!

 

When I went to the LNK site for my interview, there were people from Nashville as they couldn't get in where they live. Go figure.

 

I wish you luck. I just lucked out and got approved and one of the last interviews in LNK while they were here.

 

BTW - please note that you need to "reserve an interview site within 30 days." The interview may be 8 months out but reserve something and then keep checking KC for cancellations or find somewhere where you will be traveling and interview out there.

Edited September 5, 2016 by Coral

[pilot]

MCI is doing Saturday interviews.

 

 

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[Coral]

MCI is doing Saturday interviews.

 

 

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Interesting. In May they announced Tuesday/Thursday mornings when they opened the site. On their website now it lists Tuesday/Thursday afternoons and early evenings 3-7.

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/enrollment-centers/missouri

 

They should open all week due to the demand.

Edited September 5, 2016 by Coral

[Sea Day Cruiser]

Interesting. In May they announced Tuesday/Thursday mornings when they opened the site. On their website now it lists Tuesday/Thursday afternoons and early evenings 3-7.

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/enrollment-centers/missouri

 

They should open all week due to the demand.

 

 

Right nowMCI doesn't show even a calendar where you could.sigh up for an interview 6 months from now.

 

 

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[Sea Day Cruiser]

From Coral:

"Technically Omaha doesn't have a site. Both Omaha and Lincoln have had "global entry events" for a few days or so where a travel agency has brought agents into town and hosted an event so that those of us who live her can interview easily. The Lincoln one was in June and I think the Omaha one was in July (but filled up in early June). It was just for a few days.

 

I knew that KC does have an office but it is only open Tuesday and Thursday mornings the last time I checked and just opened in May.

 

I agree with you. I live in LNK and for the most part, until the KC office opened, I was probably 7-8 hours from a site. I see people complaining about traveling 30 minutes to a site. Try 8 hours!

 

When I went to the LNK site for my interview, there were people from Nashville as they couldn't get in where they live. Go figure.

 

I wish you luck. I just lucked out and got approved and one of the last interviews in LNK while they were here.

 

BTW - please note that you need to "reserve an interview site within 30 days." The interview may be 8 months out but reserve something and then keep checking KC for cancellations or find somewhere where you will be traveling and interview out there."

 

 

Thanks for your information. I didn't know the Omaha sites were just temporary events. I have relatives there so Omaha would have been an easy place for me. I know Kansas City is supposed to have interviews on Tuesdays and Thursdays and lists it when you first start the Global Entry process. But when you actually go to set up an interview this is what you get:

 

"Currently there are no available appointments at this enrollment center. Please check later for opening or choose another enrollment center." In red print.

 

The next nearest center in St. Louis and there is nothing available until March. I do have an appointment made in Minneapolis for December but Minneapolis is 450 miles from here and I doubt it will be worth it to drive up there in December.

 

 

 

 

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[DrivesLikeMario]

Otay Mesa was only 30-45 minutes from San Diego.

 

It depends where in "San Diego" you are. It's a big, big county. We're North County, so it's quite a distance.

[VibeGuy]

I am confused as the website says you can be a citizen of Columbia, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Panama, Singapore or South Korea to be eligible.

 

Did you mean something else?

 

Sorry, I was unclear; yes. If you're Qatari, unless you can claim one of the eligible citizenships or US LPR status, the fact that there's an enrollment site in Qatar is not germane. The sites outside the US are only there because there are US CBP officers there in another capacity, like preadmissibility clearance (aka preclearance). For a Dutch citizen, for example, they have to do the Privium interview in The Netherlands, but there's no GE interview site, so they'd have to do their US GE portion "elsewhere" - which could be Qatar or Toronto or somewhere in the US.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

For anyone in the Kansas city area they have opened up appointment times on the next three Saturday afternoons at the airport. I think it is only during September. Maybe they are trying to catch up with the requests for appointments.

 

 

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[RVRoadie]

Don't know if this has been covered yet, but the number of airlines participating in TSA Pre Check is very limited. Just got our Global Entry approved and tried to put our KTN into our reservation on Icelandic Airlines. THEY DON'T PARTICIPATE.

 

Got this from the TSA FAQ: TSA Pre✓® participating airlines include Aeromexico, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Airlines, American Airlines, Cape Air, Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Lufthansa, OneJet, Seaborne Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, United Airlines, Virgin America and WestJet.

 

That is not very many airlines, and excludes the two cheapest airlines that cruisers tend to use: Norwegian and Icelandic.

 

Oh well, should still be helpful getting back into the country though Customs and Immigration.

[spyro1952]

Don't know if this has been covered yet, but the number of airlines participating in TSA Pre Check is very limited. Just got our Global Entry approved and tried to put our KTN into our reservation on Icelandic Airlines. THEY DON'T PARTICIPATE.

 

Got this from the TSA FAQ: TSA Pre✓® participating airlines include Aeromexico, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Airlines, American Airlines, Cape Air, Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Lufthansa, OneJet, Seaborne Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, United Airlines, Virgin America and WestJet.

 

That is not very many airlines, and excludes the two cheapest airlines that cruisers tend to use: Norwegian and Icelandic.

 

Oh well, should still be helpful getting back into the country though Customs and Immigration.

 

I cruise all the time and NEVER use or even heard of Norwegian airlines. Also I know Iceland air is very cheap but every flight has to go to Iceland regardless. Their business class is horrible (read reviews on Seatguru.com or Trip Advisor).

All of the major US carriers participate. Also these major carriers code share with European major carriers.

 

TSA pre-check is a different program from Global Entry. TSA pre-check is strictly a US entity where GE provides TSA pre-check AND expedited screening thru US customs and border patrol when re-entering the US from another country. It also depends on the airport you are flying in and out of. Some will have dedicated TSA PreCheck lanes and some don't.