I've had my card for years so can't vouch for anything in this tips article, just sharing since I'm such a giver
https://thriftytraveler.com/guides/global-entry-interview-tips/
Posted by
Northwest Arkansas
551 posts
Got mine a little less than two years ago.
Pre-approval only took a few days. I then did Enrollment on Arrival. I was the only person doing Enrollment on Arrival at that time, so no line and in just a few minutes I was done.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles
4734 posts
I guess it varies all over the place, but for me it was simple it was just a hassle to have to go to the airport for the interview but it took 30 seconds
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8770 posts
A tale of two applications…
Son applied in September, said he had a trip in 3 weeks. Received almost instant conditional approval. Did interview upon arrival took about 10 minutes.
Daughter-in-law applied in December, didn’t give a date for an upcoming trip. Still waiting for conditional approval.
The only difference we can think of was giving a date for an upcoming trip that was fairly soon.
Posted by
Germany
594 posts
I got mine years ago. The drive to the airport for the interview was a 2 hour drive. Despite my generous time allowance, I was running late due to a massive event closing the interstate (I think some sort of truck overturning). I called, and the response was "no problem, just come as soon as you can." Then I miraculously found the super secret door in the airport to the needed office only for nobody to be there. There was an open door nearby, so I asked. "Oh, he probably went to lunch." I sat in the hallway, and after 20 minutes the guy showed up, seemed surprised to see me, and then took my fingerprints. There were no real questions asked, he didn't care about seeing my second passport, and the whole thing took 10 minutes. So 5 hours in the car, 30 minutes hunting around and waiting, 10 minutes of "interview" and I had my GE.
Hubby did the upon arrival method several years later. A few clicks, a short wait upon arrival, a five minute interview, and poof.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
I finally got my card. I applied in February 2022, got conditional approval right away. Scheduled an appointment for September 2022, thinking I could find a cancellation for an earlier appointment. Didn't happen, I checked regularly for weeks with no luck.
Ironically, my appointment was at the Ronald Reagan building - the day I was booked to fly to Sweden out of Dulles. Since I couldn't do both, I had to cancel my appointment. After that, we moved out of the DC area with no interview location anywhere close.
We still fly out of Dulles most trips. Finally, they added "approval on departure" at Dulles before my spring trip to Spain, 2024.
Just a little wait. At least I have it now.