After about 160 days, my wife’s Global Entry application was finally conditionally approved. I reported a few weeks back about the significant delays in getting this approval for her Global Entry. Based on various comments to that post, lots of others seem to be experiencing these delays as well. We had an international trip coming up, and I was hoping to have her approval completed in time. Thanks to the delay this did not happen. Thankfully we noticed her conditional approval while on our trip. While heading home, were able to complete her Global Entry Interview on Arrival at O’Hare. This ended up being much faster than the 3 month wait for an interview. This is despite choosing the first available slot at our local enrollment center.
Global Entry Application Delays
As a reminder for those renewing their Global Entry membership, so long as one applies for renewal before membership expiration, full benefits will be available for at least a year while waiting for processing. If the membership expires (even one day, as in our case…) benefits are lost until new application is approved. My advice: if you want to keep your Trusted Traveler membership active, renew early. Renewals can be submitted up to a year before expiration, and the new membership period will still be a full 5 years.
In the case of our daughter, we are going to renew her both her passport and Global Entry soon. While it is hilarious to show her passport with a baby photo on it, she’s now 5 and it is about to expire. Remember that passports for children only last 5 years, as opposed to 10 for adults.
Get Your Interview on Arrival at O’Hare
For our recent trip, we arrived from our international flight into O’Hare. My daughter and I used the kiosks, took our Global Entry Selfies, and it was quick as ever. There was no wait except for the fact that there are no fingerprints on file for children, we must stop and see an agent. This took a few minutes. While there, I confirmed with the agent that my wife could conduct her interview there, right then. Searching online seemed to show more limited hours for Global Entry interviews, but this seems to only be for the enrollment center. The officer confirmed Global Entry interviews on arrival can occur at O’Hare Terminal 5 daily between 8am and 8pm.
Once we were through, my daughter and I exited to the baggage area. Thanks to minimal flights arriving at this time and short lines, my wife cleared quickly using Mobile Passport. She headed back to the lanes staffed with CBP agents for Global Entry, and completed her interview in a few minutes. Despite the long delay in getting conditional approval, we were fortunate to be able to complete her interview on arrival from our trip. Now she’s good to go with Global Entry for 5 more years.
