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Do I really want to make a 6 hour drive for the interview to get Global Entry Status?


Kate-AHF
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Three hours up to Dulles, three hours back. Worth it?

 

It is my understanding that you do not need to go to a "Global Entry Interview airport" to do the interview. When I renewed my TWIC (required for merchant mariners), the center there was also available to process TSA-Pre and Global Entry. From what I've seen of the GE website (I have TSA-Pre, not GE), you can go to any "enrollment center" for the interview. Not sure where you are in Virginia, but Richmond has an enrollment center as well:

 

Address:5707 Huntsman Road

Suite 104

Richmond, VA 23250

Hours of Operation:9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday

GRAND OPENING MARCH 1, 2017

Contact Information:(804) 226-9675

 

I'd call them to see if this helps.

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That last line is great info, thanks. If we continue to fly from Montreal to the states (which can save us a few hundred over flying from a US airport) we'll have to get Global entry since it would have reduced the amount of time for processing between connections, which can be tight.

 

There are TWIC centers in Bennington, Portsmouth, and Portland if these are places you get to from the sticks. :D

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There are TWIC centers in Bennington, Portsmouth, and Portland if these are places you get to from the sticks. :D

 

From what I can ascertain I have two places to be interviewed within an hour drive, no need for me to go down east (it only feels like I'm in the sticks but civilization isn't that far away:halo:).

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We got GE earlier this year. The interview was done at the port of Palm Beach, not the airport. There was no long wait for an appointment.

We cruised shortly after , and Isaw the sign for Mobile Passport and I loaded that on my phone and used that instead. We cruised out of Port Everglades, the only cruise port that it works at.

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Do you realize that you can get trusted traveler status without as many hoops to jump through? If you are not flying internationally that is really all you need. You get precheck all the time, and that is the key. With the new mobile passport app flying back into the country it's pretty easy to clear customs and immigration. Last time my wife and I flew home I cleared quicker than she did and she has global entry and I don't. This with through ATl, which can be bad, but not like at JFK.

 

 

 

Let's be clear: Mobile Passport has nothing to do with Trusted Traveler. It merely allows you to fill out your customs declaration on your mobile device and, if available, use the CBP kiosks.

 

 

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My DH doesn't travel that often but after having to wait like 40 minutes for him to get through the regular line on a trip, I asked him to get Global Entry. It is worth it to me - and even more so because our local airport isn't international so we usually have a flight after going through CBP.

 

When it was time to sign up for his interview, San Francisco airport (2.5 or more hours drive from us) was booked for many months out. We looked to find another airport that he could get to with a short flight. Las Vegas had availability and cheap flights so he went there.

 

I had the same problem back when I signed up for Global Entry. Found appointments available at O'Hare when I had a meeting in Chicago and was able to make my flight home a bit later to fit with an appointment there.

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It is my understanding that you do not need to go to a "Global Entry Interview airport" to do the interview. ..............

 

 

DD has gone to the borders for both her interviews, Bellingham and Otay Mesa. Her last one at Otay Mesa was booked a month out, none of our local airports had anything closer than 3 months, LAX’s wasn’t available for 5 months. Bellingham became a long weekend and Otay Mesa was simply a long day trip.

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We showed up early for our appointment in Miami and it didn't make any difference. We were called exactly at the appointment time. Is it worth it? For us, definitely. I stayed a day after completing a cruise just so we could do our interviews as the airports near us (Nashville etc. were not GE locations).

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We are sold on the idea. We applied this morning, and will make the drive to Dulles. Richmond is only 20 minutes closer, and doesn't have as many escape routes if there is traffic trouble.

 

Considering that you are making a day of it with 6 hours of driving, if you have time I suggest that you also visit the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum next to Dulles (https://airandspace.si.edu/udvar-hazy-center). It is a an excellent museum and will give you the opportunity to stretch your legs between the car rides.

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We are sold on the idea. We applied this morning, and will make the drive to Dulles. Richmond is only 20 minutes closer, and doesn't have as many escape routes if there is traffic trouble.

 

Be sure to park in the Hourly parking lot ($6) which is closer than the daily lot but the same price since you won't be staying very long.

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Gdvmd;

 

TSA does do the screening interview in Nashville. They are not done in the airport proper, but in their offices which are on the commercial side of the airport complex.

 

We did ours there.

Yes, they do it there now. They did not when we applied.

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I think it’s worth it. Depending on how often you travel over the next five years, having Global Entry will save you time going through security with TSA pre-check on domestic flights and expedite clearing customs internationally!!

 

 

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You realize, of course, that when you encourage people to get GE you are working against your own self-interest: the more people who have it, the more the GE line will resemble the regular one.

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Yes, they do it there now. They did not when we applied.

 

 

TSA airport personnel have nothing to do with Global Entry or its interview process. That would be CBP. Important distinction.

At the interview, a CBP officer may ask you a number of appropriate screening questions and do a live scan fingerprinting, which will access any questionable items in the NCIC database regarding your background.

 

The only possible TSA connection is that GE includes Pre and that will be seen on your boarding pass by a TSA agent when boarding a flight in the US (as long as you've entered/updated any "Trusted Traveler" info in your airline account).

And, for those who haven't been following this thread or other related ones, the above is unrelated to the Mobile Passport iPhone app, which merely provides you an opportunity to complete your customs declaration form online and possibly get to an available CBP automated kiosk a bit faster.

 

 

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I must live a very boring life. When I went to my GE interview, I sat down, the agent took my picture and fingerprints and then only asked me one question. The question - "Do you have any questions?". I said no and that was it!

 

 

Consider yourself lucky.

Sadly, the live scan fingerprinting produces many erroneous surprises including "no disposition" of any prior arrests which resulted in dismissal or acquittal of charges. Apparently, one of the problems (particularly for very old records) is that the keeper of criminal records in the state where an arrest may have occurred failed to communicate with the NCIC regarding any disposition of the case.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/02/opinion/neighly-fbi-background-checks/index.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/11/20/background-screening-gone-wrong/1716439/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-arrest-records-rise-americans-find-consequences-can-last-a-lifetime-1408415402

 

 

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Edited by Flatbush Flyer
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We got GE earlier this year. The interview was done at the port of Palm Beach, not the airport. There was no long wait for an appointment.

We cruised shortly after , and Isaw the sign for Mobile Passport and I loaded that on my phone and used that instead. We cruised out of Port Everglades, the only cruise port that it works at.

 

When we had our interview, Port of Palm Beach was allowing 'walk-ins', so, while we had an appointment, we were out driving one day and I asked the better half if she was willing to drive over and see if we could get in. We walked out about 90 minutes later, fully processed.

I do not know if they still allow walk-ins...thinking it is likely.

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You realize, of course, that when you encourage people to get GE you are working against your own self-interest: the more people who have it, the more the GE line will resemble the regular one.

 

I don't view it that way. I thought that a bit when TSA pre-check started, but as more and more people got qualified for it, they have added capacity at the busier airports, for example having two baggage lines where they started with one. The pre-clearance means less agent time per traveler so it makes sense to add capacity as needed.

 

It is rare that I even have to wait for a kiosk at Global Entry. In the airports that have a line at customs (exiting after baggage claim), they have also been making a separate line there so one avoids that wait too.

 

I figure that the more people that have Global Entry, the more reason for CBP to provide good facilities for it.

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For the OP: we drove 7 hours (one way), stayed overnight, had our interview (15 minutes, total), then drove 7 hours home that day in order to get our Global Entry. And, because they didn't have a retina scanner on site, we had to wait until we received our GE cards and drove 5 hours to another city for that, (total 5 minutes for the 2 of us) returning home the same day. For us, it was worth it to not have to stand in the long lines when we travel; because we are both retired we had the time to do all of this.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes,yes,Yes! This is long but worth reading.

We actually live on the Big Island,Hawaii. Honolulu was the closest to home, but our acceptance notice came while we were in Portland Oregon last July. You need to schedule your face-to-face interview within 30 days. Portland's first opening was April 2018. We checked all the locations we'd be in the following 3 months and the only openings we found were in Anchorage.

We tested our first entry in Ft Lauderdale last November, from the time we stepped off the gangplank until we were in our cab...7 minutes!!!

The best added benefit: my driver's license is issued by one of the State's that do not met TSA.. requirements, but my GB..id does.

 

Sent from my SM-N920V using Forums mobile app

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Yes,yes,Yes! This is long but worth reading.

We actually live on the Big Island,Hawaii. Honolulu was the closest to home, but our acceptance notice came while we were in Portland Oregon last July. You need to schedule your face-to-face interview within 30 days. Portland's first opening was April 2018. We checked all the locations we'd be in the following 3 months and the only openings we found were in Anchorage.

We tested our first entry in Ft Lauderdale last November, from the time we stepped off the gangplank until we were in our cab...7 minutes!!!

The best added benefit: my driver's license is issued by one of the State's that do not met TSA.. requirements, but my GB..id does.

 

Sent from my SM-N920V using Forums mobile app

 

Global entry can be used in cruise ports too?

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