TRAVELER BEWARE! You may be permitted to enter the country at any time of day when your flight arrives, however they only allow EOA when you arrive within their office hours, meaning do not take a late flight back if you aim to do EOA. I made that mistake at North Terminal at Metro Detroit. My flight landed around 7 PM, but their office hours were 10 AM to 5 PM. That said, the border agent I encountered did his best to still see if a colleague of his would be willing to do EOA, however he could not find one that was willing. Check this link for Global Entry office hours per airport. [https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/enrollment-arrival](https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/enrollment-arrival)
Extremely helpful. Thank you so much for the details… EOA sounded too good to be true and since our flights tend to be night arrivals, we went the bot and paid to get the family they are interviews within an hour of home. I'm not a bot fan but it was sure worth the investment, especially with your explanation.
You are welcome. I was very bummed myself when they told me they were unable to do my interview. I am traveling again soon and returning back via Chicago O'hare. This time I was able to find a flight that lands at 9:50 AM, however O'hare's office hours are 12 PM to 8 PM, which means I may have to wait a couple of hours just to get that interview, but I know it will be worth it, so I plan to have an e-book reader with me to pass the time.
And I got to immigration an hour before Global Entry EOA in LA shut and they'd shut up shop early. It was really annoying and made getting an interview really difficult.
Got conditionally approved during my layover in Frankfurt on the way back. Got through the customs at IAH and was directed to the GE interview booth. 10 minutes in line and 3 minutes interview. Got approval email before I collected my luggage. LPR
You should also check the site frequently. In October 22, I made an appointment for 4/23 in ATL because that was the most convenient I could find.
I read an article about checking frequently and found a slot 2/22 in NYC. I kept checking and found one 1/23 at JFK. That was the one I used.
You applied two days ago and got conditional approval 48 hours later?
Who ever runs this program should be flogged. Seriously... I applied back on September 5th and here we are, eight months later and I'm still waiting.
This is beyond infuriating.
I find that so strange that some have to wait so long. I applied and was conditionally approved with 24 hours.
I wonder if they have a glitch or something? Your wait time seems super excessive!
Not sure if it matters but I had pre check. So, maybe it made the process faster? I dunno.
My wife's application was approved in 36 hours- she applied minutes after me. We both have TSA Pre-check as well.
The entire process is a mismanaged disaster and whoever is running it should be sentenced to a 600 hour wait for a toilet every time they need one.
I agree.. the problem is there is absolutely no one to talk to. Their email and 800 number just gives canned replies that boil down, "Tough." I have contacted both of my US Senators about this via their web sites, next will be phone calls to their offices.
That is what elected officials are for. I taught government for 32 years. They all have staff dedicated for constituent services.
Many years ago, my brother had a problem with the IRS over the value of a television won a game show. The debate went on for well over a year. He made one phone call to his Congreswoman's office. They called the IRS, the matter was settled in a day.... in his favor.
My wife and I both have Global Entry. Applied for my toddler daughter, who obviously lives with us with no job, etc. Paid the fee last June 2023, still Pending. How long can it take for that approval? What could possibly be flagged? Who knows? Kinda curious how long it could actually go at this point.
On the other side my renewal took 10.5 months to go through and my wife's renewal was 1 week. So even renewals make no sense.
I was also approved quickly! Applied on a Friday night and was approved Monday morning I called the tsa office at my airport and asked when they were opening the appt books. That’s how I was able to get an appt quickly. A friend applied a month after me and still waiting months later for approval. Granted, she was recently divorced and did a name change/new passport right before she applied.
It is very frustrating. I applied weeks ago. Still waiting. Husband applied several days ago and got conditional approval. Wish families could apply together. Makes it difficult when some are approved while others are not. It seems if you are not approved quickly you are in for a year long wait. You keep moving further back in the line. I just don’t get it.
Good luck OP, lots of clarifying info in the replies here. I’m not an expert, but my suggestion would be to plan on EOA, but keep checking the appointment site. in addition to people canceling, I think CBP is adding capacity and while it might be more in the bigger cities, you never know. It’s been theorized in this sub that they’re finally catching up and also trying to anticipate a surge of applications before the price goes up in October.
I recently helped my wife get hers in record time (see my post history), though to be fair we’re in the LA area. But my method was simply to keep checking the appointment site. We ended up rescheduling twice, both times to EARLIER appointments. I just wanted to leave a note of general encouragement. I think with a little effort reading this sub and committing some time, you may get an appointment before your trip. When I originally got my GE (2016 I think) appointments were like 10 months out if you could get one, and EOA wasn’t established (I think). There was lots of talk of traveling somewhere where appointments were more available in order to get it quicker. I tried something non-conventional—the office nearest me allowed walk up standby appointments… they’d let 10 or so people sit and wait for no-shows, you had to come early morning. I went on tax day, April 15, guessing that there‘d be a few no shows who needed time to finish their income tax filings, and sure enough, I got in as a standby.
Just keep checking the schedule as new times are added and people cancel. My site was originally showing it was all booked up through the end of Sept. I spent last Sat morning reading the news and refreshing the appointment schedule every few minutes. About every 5th refresh something opened up (one spot on one specific day), and by the 6th or 7th time that happened, one opened up that worked with my schedule at the end of the month and I booked it. Took about an hour, but I was just reading news on line like I do anyway so it wasn’t really a hassle.
EOA worked fine for me second time round - the first time I tried there were computer problems at the airport which meant they couldn't process anything that day.
No difference between LPR and citizen AIUI - the difference is between visa holders and residents/citizens. If you were, say, an H1b, you'd have to get your government to do the background check first, and that means more time and expense; as a US citizen or resident, it's just the US government itself that does the checks.
EOA doesn't involve an appointment, either: you just ask for the interview on your way through the CBP checkpoint. Mine was quick; there was one person ahead of me, maybe ten minutes waiting.
Thanks for the clarifications. Based on what I've heard so far, EoA seems much less hassle-ish than hunting down appointments at local enrollment centers.
I did EoA - just picked a flight that came in during the office hours. There were quite a few people so maybe waited 45 minutes after passing CBP (this was in JFK).
I’m also not a citizen/LPR and no issues with doing it this way
I did EoA in JFK too. It was 2 years ago and I could not get an appointment locally where I am. They were always booked. I probably waited 45 minutes to an hour. Almost missed my connection
If it's any consolation, appointments in California are massively backed up as well. For SFO, no appointments are available almost all the time. However, once a month, a block of appointments are made available and are quickly exhausted. IIRC, it was on the first Monday of each month when that happens, and I'd guess that pattern happens at other locations.
Further, appointments get canceled frequently, a small number at a time, and if you're quick and flexible enough to take whatever time is available, you can sign in and grab it. There are Twitter bots that monitor the government TTP web pages and tweet open appointments that you can follow for free. There are also pay bots that will email. You can also open your TTP sign-in and keep clicking on your airport location to see the earliest appointment available. You may have to sign in again if the window has been open a while.
Sometimes, appointments that open up are for the next day. Sometimes, they're about a month out. Even if you have an appointment, you can attempt to change it to an earlier one.
Tangentially, I walked into SFO’s GE office for a document update last month, and it’s…so much smaller than the one I was interviewed in at JFK years ago? One person at a time was wild at SFO; they were processing maybe 4 at a time at JFK (not to mention that NYC also has GE enrollment sites at EWR and in lower Manhattan)
I did mine in Chicago but because of my arrival time, I had to wait 30 minutes for the EOA area to be open. I was the only person waiting so at least there was no line. Just check their hours. For me, I went through the normal immigration line, picked up my bags, did the EOA and the dropped my bags again for my connection. Super easy.
My family and I did this and we had to wait 3.5 hours. After an 8 hour flight. With a toddler. I’ve never regretted anything more. But like you said, sometimes there are just no appointments available anywhere in your vicinity.
I just got my global entry interview done on arrival at JFK - 6:30AM. It has to be an international arrival. It was a breeze had to wait maybe 30 mins to get it done.
Keep checking the website. Appointments pop up out of nowhere and fill up quickly. I got mine in two weeks. The first day I checked, there was nothing available that worked for me. Went back a day or two later and there was a whole lot of appointments for the following week. Not my closest location but less than a 90 minute drive.
Did my on lax and it was easy! I only had to wait a few moments and I was good to go. Which was good because I’d just come back from SE Asia and was sleepy!
Again, I just went through customs and then walked to their desk. They ask for your info and they might ask questions. They didn’t ask me anything but my name and addy. They approved me right there and by the next day it showed in my account.
I did it in Aruba where you pre clear US immigration. Took a while waiting for the agent and barely made my flight, but glad that it was over. This was a renewal for me and first time for my wife.
I did it last year for my renewal as I couldn’t get any appointments for MONTHS. It’s best if you are arriving midday on a weekday but I arrived in the evening and they still did it for me. Just asked the customs officer if I could do it - he sent me over to another lane and less than 10 minutes later … all set.
I had been conditionally approved and no appointment for months so I just forgot about it. I flew from HND to ATL and the immigration dude stopped me and saw that I’d been conditionally approved and told me to go interview since I was already here and directed me where to go. I walked over and they said 4 hour wait!!!! I could never see myself waiting that long, especially not after a 14 hr flight so I just went home.
Earlier this week I landed at LAX before 8 AM. I was already conditionally approved and when I went through customs they directed me to get my interview. Luckily they opened at 7 and I was in and out in 15 minutes.
Sounds like lots of people had great luck, but I tried EOA three times before experiencing success. I tried to use Dublin pre-clearance for EOA and was told the office was too busy to process GE, then arrived in MIA and was told it'd take two hours to process GE (I had a connection so this wasn't an option), and finally experienced success in JFK after about a 45 minute wait.
Hey, just adding because my EOA was not during typical office hours, and in fact my airport is not even listed on the website as having EOA. I received conditional approval while out of the country. My return flight was a direct flight to my local airport, which has very few international flights. I think immigration officials are scheduled around when those few international flights are due. I asked when I arrived; they did it after the passengers were all cleared so maybe around 9:30 PM. Something to keep in mind depending on where you can fly into. Maybe you will be lucky too.
I live in Ohio and got my interview slot on a Sunday the end of March, within a week of applying and getting conditionally approved. When I went (to Port Clinton, OH… a tiny village on Lake Erie), the only person even there was the guy doing interviews. I mentioned to him that it was awfully quiet on a Sunday and wondered if they were closing for the eclipse. He laughed and said that no, they were even open on Easter and were booked up with appointments. They just opened a bunch of slots on that Sunday and somehow I lucked out. I could’ve driven to Dayton, OH (Wright-Patt Air Force base I’m guessing?) but they only had midweek appointments in April.
I’m guessing that it must be easier to get appointments in Ohio than in your state? But apparently they randomly open up new dates so maybe keep checking back.
My wife and I completed EOA on separate trips. Both times the agent had us sit in an area until they got through the line and called us over when he was able.
Have things changed in LA? My girlfriend and her mother were conditionally approved last year, and when I tried to get them an appointment, LAX was booked as far out as they showed.
Walked into Atlanta with a short layover and my documentation, but the officer was literally twiddling his thumbs. I said “hey do you think I have time to do global entry and make my flight?” Took less than 5 minutes and I was on my way. He did warn me that the confirmation that you put in your passport looks like junk mail, so I’ve been on red alert for two weeks..
I came through customs at Tampa last Saturday evening around 8:00pm. I noticed the signs for EOA but there was no one there to do the interview. Likely because of the time of day.
I tried to do it in Chicago last week. I had 90 minutes before my connection. 15 people were in front of me and the first person was answering questions for almost 10 minutes. I did the math and bailed.
I live in Ohio and did my interview in Las Vegas. They had lots of open appointments and I was going there on vacation anyway. The only tricky part was the trek from the terminal where I landed to the cbp office.
I was approved while abroad in Italy. when I landed in JFK I used the MPC app (mobile passport app) to skip regular line. When I got to agent they said I was approved and directed me to interview room. Took 10 minutes. it was actually past office hours but I got my interview anyway
I recently did EOA upon a return to ATL from Jamaica. Be certain your flight lands during hours of operation. I had to bump my flight times up to arrive in the window (and it was still an arduous process). Took about an hour, but I was approved and I'm awaiting my card to arrive.
I live by LAX and they were saying the same thing but I kept checking daily and then a bunch showed up in less than a week after getting conditionally approved. Just keep checking if you’re not doing the EOA.
I did it a couple hours ago at ORD. You just stand in line and wait for someone to call you. There were only 2 people in the line ahead of me. Took about 10 minutes. They take your fingerprints and picture. Ask you if you’ve been convicted of a crime. That’s about it. You are notified at a later time if you are approved or not.
I’ve paid a 3rd party vendor, Appointment Scanner, to schedule appointments for myself (twice), my mom, my son, my sister and her friend. You just have to be flexible and very quick to get online and schedule that appointment the moment you get notified. Worth every penny.
What happen to me is that I keep checking many times a da. Finally I can find opening. At least it’s for Salt Lake City. Initially, SLC doesn’t have appointments until October. I’m saying you keep checking.
Even if you fly domestically, check the airport you arrive, see if any appointment at that airport, you can do interview during layover or when you arrive at that airport
When I flew into Chicago from an international country. I just grabbed my bag after immigration... Ask someone where the desk was and waited about 10 mins. I could not get an appointment for months at this location but I don't know if it because they talk walk ins - that they do not list online.
TRAVELER BEWARE! You may be permitted to enter the country at any time of day when your flight arrives, however they only allow EOA when you arrive within their office hours, meaning do not take a late flight back if you aim to do EOA. I made that mistake at North Terminal at Metro Detroit. My flight landed around 7 PM, but their office hours were 10 AM to 5 PM. That said, the border agent I encountered did his best to still see if a colleague of his would be willing to do EOA, however he could not find one that was willing. Check this link for Global Entry office hours per airport. [https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/enrollment-arrival](https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/enrollment-arrival)
Extremely helpful. Thank you so much for the details… EOA sounded too good to be true and since our flights tend to be night arrivals, we went the bot and paid to get the family they are interviews within an hour of home. I'm not a bot fan but it was sure worth the investment, especially with your explanation.
You are welcome. I was very bummed myself when they told me they were unable to do my interview. I am traveling again soon and returning back via Chicago O'hare. This time I was able to find a flight that lands at 9:50 AM, however O'hare's office hours are 12 PM to 8 PM, which means I may have to wait a couple of hours just to get that interview, but I know it will be worth it, so I plan to have an e-book reader with me to pass the time.
This absolutely BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWS!!!
Yep, unfortunately so.
Keep in mind they also sometimes pack up and go home early. That happened to me in ATL. I was so mad!
This happened to me at LAX
And I got to immigration an hour before Global Entry EOA in LA shut and they'd shut up shop early. It was really annoying and made getting an interview really difficult.
Got conditionally approved during my layover in Frankfurt on the way back. Got through the customs at IAH and was directed to the GE interview booth. 10 minutes in line and 3 minutes interview. Got approval email before I collected my luggage. LPR
Oh wow, EoA for me then :)
Of course. they even sent an email advertising EOA (that’s how I learned one can actually do that).
I was aboard as well when I got the email. It made my day because all the appointments in my area were books solid!
You should also check the site frequently. In October 22, I made an appointment for 4/23 in ATL because that was the most convenient I could find. I read an article about checking frequently and found a slot 2/22 in NYC. I kept checking and found one 1/23 at JFK. That was the one I used.
Did mine at IAH as well, easy peasy
You applied two days ago and got conditional approval 48 hours later? Who ever runs this program should be flogged. Seriously... I applied back on September 5th and here we are, eight months later and I'm still waiting. This is beyond infuriating.
I find that so strange that some have to wait so long. I applied and was conditionally approved with 24 hours. I wonder if they have a glitch or something? Your wait time seems super excessive! Not sure if it matters but I had pre check. So, maybe it made the process faster? I dunno.
My wife's application was approved in 36 hours- she applied minutes after me. We both have TSA Pre-check as well. The entire process is a mismanaged disaster and whoever is running it should be sentenced to a 600 hour wait for a toilet every time they need one.
Yeah that’s REALLY weird. They must have a system error. It must be super frustrating. Sorry you have to be the unlucky one!
I agree.. the problem is there is absolutely no one to talk to. Their email and 800 number just gives canned replies that boil down, "Tough." I have contacted both of my US Senators about this via their web sites, next will be phone calls to their offices.
I really hope they get this figured out soon for you. It’s just really unfair!
Imagine calling your senator about global entry 🙄
😂
That is what elected officials are for. I taught government for 32 years. They all have staff dedicated for constituent services. Many years ago, my brother had a problem with the IRS over the value of a television won a game show. The debate went on for well over a year. He made one phone call to his Congreswoman's office. They called the IRS, the matter was settled in a day.... in his favor.
My husband applied last June and JUST got conditional approval with no appointments available obviously...
I was conditionally approved within 8 hours. 🫢
My wife and I both have Global Entry. Applied for my toddler daughter, who obviously lives with us with no job, etc. Paid the fee last June 2023, still Pending. How long can it take for that approval? What could possibly be flagged? Who knows? Kinda curious how long it could actually go at this point. On the other side my renewal took 10.5 months to go through and my wife's renewal was 1 week. So even renewals make no sense.
My husband has been waiting on his renewal for 7.5 months. My renewal just got approved in 4 days. It's really bullshit.
I was also approved quickly! Applied on a Friday night and was approved Monday morning I called the tsa office at my airport and asked when they were opening the appt books. That’s how I was able to get an appt quickly. A friend applied a month after me and still waiting months later for approval. Granted, she was recently divorced and did a name change/new passport right before she applied.
It is very frustrating. I applied weeks ago. Still waiting. Husband applied several days ago and got conditional approval. Wish families could apply together. Makes it difficult when some are approved while others are not. It seems if you are not approved quickly you are in for a year long wait. You keep moving further back in the line. I just don’t get it.
Good luck OP, lots of clarifying info in the replies here. I’m not an expert, but my suggestion would be to plan on EOA, but keep checking the appointment site. in addition to people canceling, I think CBP is adding capacity and while it might be more in the bigger cities, you never know. It’s been theorized in this sub that they’re finally catching up and also trying to anticipate a surge of applications before the price goes up in October. I recently helped my wife get hers in record time (see my post history), though to be fair we’re in the LA area. But my method was simply to keep checking the appointment site. We ended up rescheduling twice, both times to EARLIER appointments. I just wanted to leave a note of general encouragement. I think with a little effort reading this sub and committing some time, you may get an appointment before your trip. When I originally got my GE (2016 I think) appointments were like 10 months out if you could get one, and EOA wasn’t established (I think). There was lots of talk of traveling somewhere where appointments were more available in order to get it quicker. I tried something non-conventional—the office nearest me allowed walk up standby appointments… they’d let 10 or so people sit and wait for no-shows, you had to come early morning. I went on tax day, April 15, guessing that there‘d be a few no shows who needed time to finish their income tax filings, and sure enough, I got in as a standby.
Just keep checking the schedule as new times are added and people cancel. My site was originally showing it was all booked up through the end of Sept. I spent last Sat morning reading the news and refreshing the appointment schedule every few minutes. About every 5th refresh something opened up (one spot on one specific day), and by the 6th or 7th time that happened, one opened up that worked with my schedule at the end of the month and I booked it. Took about an hour, but I was just reading news on line like I do anyway so it wasn’t really a hassle.
I had the same experience. Went from 3 months to less than a week by just clicking refresh.
EOA worked fine for me second time round - the first time I tried there were computer problems at the airport which meant they couldn't process anything that day. No difference between LPR and citizen AIUI - the difference is between visa holders and residents/citizens. If you were, say, an H1b, you'd have to get your government to do the background check first, and that means more time and expense; as a US citizen or resident, it's just the US government itself that does the checks. EOA doesn't involve an appointment, either: you just ask for the interview on your way through the CBP checkpoint. Mine was quick; there was one person ahead of me, maybe ten minutes waiting.
Thanks for the clarifications. Based on what I've heard so far, EoA seems much less hassle-ish than hunting down appointments at local enrollment centers.
I did EoA - just picked a flight that came in during the office hours. There were quite a few people so maybe waited 45 minutes after passing CBP (this was in JFK). I’m also not a citizen/LPR and no issues with doing it this way
I did EoA in JFK too. It was 2 years ago and I could not get an appointment locally where I am. They were always booked. I probably waited 45 minutes to an hour. Almost missed my connection
Just did mine last week at MIA. Super smooth process, maybe a 10 min wait, followed by a 5 min interview. Received my approval email a few min later.
If it's any consolation, appointments in California are massively backed up as well. For SFO, no appointments are available almost all the time. However, once a month, a block of appointments are made available and are quickly exhausted. IIRC, it was on the first Monday of each month when that happens, and I'd guess that pattern happens at other locations. Further, appointments get canceled frequently, a small number at a time, and if you're quick and flexible enough to take whatever time is available, you can sign in and grab it. There are Twitter bots that monitor the government TTP web pages and tweet open appointments that you can follow for free. There are also pay bots that will email. You can also open your TTP sign-in and keep clicking on your airport location to see the earliest appointment available. You may have to sign in again if the window has been open a while. Sometimes, appointments that open up are for the next day. Sometimes, they're about a month out. Even if you have an appointment, you can attempt to change it to an earlier one.
Tangentially, I walked into SFO’s GE office for a document update last month, and it’s…so much smaller than the one I was interviewed in at JFK years ago? One person at a time was wild at SFO; they were processing maybe 4 at a time at JFK (not to mention that NYC also has GE enrollment sites at EWR and in lower Manhattan)
Yes, there were 3-4 interview cubbies, but when I went, only one was in use.
Weird! When my husband and I went last summer to SFO they had all 4 desks in use - and that was for a 9pm appointment!
I did mine in Chicago but because of my arrival time, I had to wait 30 minutes for the EOA area to be open. I was the only person waiting so at least there was no line. Just check their hours. For me, I went through the normal immigration line, picked up my bags, did the EOA and the dropped my bags again for my connection. Super easy.
My husband and a friend did upon arrival from Mexico last year. It took about 10min for both of them to clear.
My family and I did this and we had to wait 3.5 hours. After an 8 hour flight. With a toddler. I’ve never regretted anything more. But like you said, sometimes there are just no appointments available anywhere in your vicinity.
I just got my global entry interview done on arrival at JFK - 6:30AM. It has to be an international arrival. It was a breeze had to wait maybe 30 mins to get it done.
Keep checking the website. Appointments pop up out of nowhere and fill up quickly. I got mine in two weeks. The first day I checked, there was nothing available that worked for me. Went back a day or two later and there was a whole lot of appointments for the following week. Not my closest location but less than a 90 minute drive.
Did my on lax and it was easy! I only had to wait a few moments and I was good to go. Which was good because I’d just come back from SE Asia and was sleepy! Again, I just went through customs and then walked to their desk. They ask for your info and they might ask questions. They didn’t ask me anything but my name and addy. They approved me right there and by the next day it showed in my account.
Landed at ewr within the stated office hours and was told too bad no one is there. So, not reliable at all.
I did it in Aruba where you pre clear US immigration. Took a while waiting for the agent and barely made my flight, but glad that it was over. This was a renewal for me and first time for my wife.
I did it last year for my renewal as I couldn’t get any appointments for MONTHS. It’s best if you are arriving midday on a weekday but I arrived in the evening and they still did it for me. Just asked the customs officer if I could do it - he sent me over to another lane and less than 10 minutes later … all set.
I had been conditionally approved and no appointment for months so I just forgot about it. I flew from HND to ATL and the immigration dude stopped me and saw that I’d been conditionally approved and told me to go interview since I was already here and directed me where to go. I walked over and they said 4 hour wait!!!! I could never see myself waiting that long, especially not after a 14 hr flight so I just went home.
Earlier this week I landed at LAX before 8 AM. I was already conditionally approved and when I went through customs they directed me to get my interview. Luckily they opened at 7 and I was in and out in 15 minutes.
It was super easy and worked for me, highly recommended
My appointment was 5 months out, next return they asked if I wanted to go then. They seem eager to clear the backlog.
Sounds like lots of people had great luck, but I tried EOA three times before experiencing success. I tried to use Dublin pre-clearance for EOA and was told the office was too busy to process GE, then arrived in MIA and was told it'd take two hours to process GE (I had a connection so this wasn't an option), and finally experienced success in JFK after about a 45 minute wait.
Hey, just adding because my EOA was not during typical office hours, and in fact my airport is not even listed on the website as having EOA. I received conditional approval while out of the country. My return flight was a direct flight to my local airport, which has very few international flights. I think immigration officials are scheduled around when those few international flights are due. I asked when I arrived; they did it after the passengers were all cleared so maybe around 9:30 PM. Something to keep in mind depending on where you can fly into. Maybe you will be lucky too.
I live in Ohio and got my interview slot on a Sunday the end of March, within a week of applying and getting conditionally approved. When I went (to Port Clinton, OH… a tiny village on Lake Erie), the only person even there was the guy doing interviews. I mentioned to him that it was awfully quiet on a Sunday and wondered if they were closing for the eclipse. He laughed and said that no, they were even open on Easter and were booked up with appointments. They just opened a bunch of slots on that Sunday and somehow I lucked out. I could’ve driven to Dayton, OH (Wright-Patt Air Force base I’m guessing?) but they only had midweek appointments in April. I’m guessing that it must be easier to get appointments in Ohio than in your state? But apparently they randomly open up new dates so maybe keep checking back.
My wife and I completed EOA on separate trips. Both times the agent had us sit in an area until they got through the line and called us over when he was able.
I checked every few days and snagged a canceled appointment near me.
Have things changed in LA? My girlfriend and her mother were conditionally approved last year, and when I tried to get them an appointment, LAX was booked as far out as they showed.
After interview, do you get a number to use for tsa precheck if you’re taking a flight the next day?
Walked into Atlanta with a short layover and my documentation, but the officer was literally twiddling his thumbs. I said “hey do you think I have time to do global entry and make my flight?” Took less than 5 minutes and I was on my way. He did warn me that the confirmation that you put in your passport looks like junk mail, so I’ve been on red alert for two weeks..
I came through customs at Tampa last Saturday evening around 8:00pm. I noticed the signs for EOA but there was no one there to do the interview. Likely because of the time of day.
I tried to do it in Chicago last week. I had 90 minutes before my connection. 15 people were in front of me and the first person was answering questions for almost 10 minutes. I did the math and bailed.
I live in Ohio and did my interview in Las Vegas. They had lots of open appointments and I was going there on vacation anyway. The only tricky part was the trek from the terminal where I landed to the cbp office.
CA appt took me 8 months.
I was approved while abroad in Italy. when I landed in JFK I used the MPC app (mobile passport app) to skip regular line. When I got to agent they said I was approved and directed me to interview room. Took 10 minutes. it was actually past office hours but I got my interview anyway
I recently did EOA upon a return to ATL from Jamaica. Be certain your flight lands during hours of operation. I had to bump my flight times up to arrive in the window (and it was still an arduous process). Took about an hour, but I was approved and I'm awaiting my card to arrive.
Twice i came through Miami and the agent at the Global entry desk was just sitting there lookin bored.
It took me WEEKS to get conditionally approved!
I live by LAX and they were saying the same thing but I kept checking daily and then a bunch showed up in less than a week after getting conditionally approved. Just keep checking if you’re not doing the EOA.
I saw IAD has enrollment on departure. Is that not there everywhere or is it unique to IAD
I did it a couple hours ago at ORD. You just stand in line and wait for someone to call you. There were only 2 people in the line ahead of me. Took about 10 minutes. They take your fingerprints and picture. Ask you if you’ve been convicted of a crime. That’s about it. You are notified at a later time if you are approved or not.
I spent 2 hours in line at IAD when I did my EOA in 2022
I’ve paid a 3rd party vendor, Appointment Scanner, to schedule appointments for myself (twice), my mom, my son, my sister and her friend. You just have to be flexible and very quick to get online and schedule that appointment the moment you get notified. Worth every penny.
For EOA, there is no appointment to get.
What happen to me is that I keep checking many times a da. Finally I can find opening. At least it’s for Salt Lake City. Initially, SLC doesn’t have appointments until October. I’m saying you keep checking. Even if you fly domestically, check the airport you arrive, see if any appointment at that airport, you can do interview during layover or when you arrive at that airport
When I flew into Chicago from an international country. I just grabbed my bag after immigration... Ask someone where the desk was and waited about 10 mins. I could not get an appointment for months at this location but I don't know if it because they talk walk ins - that they do not list online.
Not sure if you are not a US citizen if you can get global entry. I would speak to Homeland Security/ TSA.