Keep Using Global Entry, Even if Your Renewal is "Pending"

If you’ve been waiting seemingly forever for your Global Entry renewal to go through, you’re not alone. U.S. Customs announced this week that it has more than 350,000 Global Entry applications to get through.

If yours is one of them, then the office says it will extend your Global Entry benefits for up to a year while you wait.

In order to be extended the courtesy, you’ll need to have applied for a renewal before your Global Entry expired, not after. If your expiration date is coming up soon, then consider this a reminder to file for that renewal.

And while that wait time is likely to be long, if you don’t have Global Entry and have an international trip in your future then it’s definitely worth filing an application.

Global Entry is $100 and is good for five years. It comes with TSA Precheck, which is $85 for 5 years, so you’re really only spending an extra $15 to get access to both. Once approved, you’re able to go through asseverate line when you return to the country and go through customs using a kiosk and your fingerprints rather than filling out paperwork and talking to a customs agents.

It’s a lot faster. In my personal experience, I’ve found that I’ve gotten through San Francisco’s customs more than an hour faster than my travel companions that don’t have the service and the shorter security line at the airport has been a blessing more than once for sure.

Getting Global Entry requires an in-person interview and fingerprinting, which can often be hard to schedule.

If the Global Entry interview is the only thing holding you up from approval now, we’ve had great results walking in at a local office. You can also do the interview after you arrive from an international trip at some airports, which might be a quick and easy way to start using the service and get your interview done all at once.

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/2tfUlxZ

Related Items