Global Entry interview JFK or ORD

Neither scenario is great.

For option one, you can try but it will be tight especially since you can't use the Global Entry lanes until you get final approval after your interview.

My suggestion would be to download the Mobile Passport Control app and learn how to use it. It will save you time going through immigration and customs at JFK. AA is all in T8 but you will have to go through security again. (My record at T8 with GE timing from walking off the plane, going through immigration and customs (carry on only) and walking out the terminal door is 5 minutes.)

IF you can make an appointment at ORD, just try for one hour earlier than you thought. The interviews last no more than 15 minutes and they really do their best to stay to schedule. Don't be late or you will probably have to reschedule.

Approval time is irrelevant. There is no rhyme or reason how they choose when to look at applications. My last renewal took 11 months. There was no problem, they just didn't get around to it.

Both my son and daughter in law did interview on arrival (at. Seattle). It took about 10 extra minutes. I would try that approach first,

I think it would also depend on where the office is located at JFK. In both Boston and Tampa it is located in the baggage claim area. A quick google search tells me its in T4 at JFK. I am not familiar with JFK so don't know distances between terminals. I would not chance it.

I think the JFK scenario looks unlikely to accommodate an interview upon arrival but it depends on what the interview on arrival lines look like. I was approved for GE while I was in Switzerland (after 10 months of waiting, BTW) and really hoped to do interview on arrival at EWR. However, the interview lines were right there at passport control and were 7-8 people long. If there had been no line, I would have been able to do it but I knew I didn't have a long enough connection time to wait.

I was able to get a GE interview appointment the following month at my home airport.
In ATL, interview upon arrival is done when you're still in the secured area at passport control. It was the same at EWR. However, if you schedule an interview - not an interview upon arrival - that takes place outside security, in a different office. I would imagine all the global entry ports are the same, so you don't have to worry about locating and getting to the office where scheduled GE interviews are done. IUA will be done right there where you go thru passport control.

People transfer from ORD Terminal 5 to one of the domestic terminals every day. I'm not sure what the concern is other than minor inconvenience. Taxi directly to Terminal 5 (or friend drop-off or however you get to ORD). Make an appointment (if one is available) for the morning of your flight. In my experience and that of family members, appointments tend to run close to schedule time - at least not hours of delay.

Then transfer to the domestic terminals. https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/ServicesAmenities/services/Pages/tbt.aspx

Without knowing your connecting info at JFK, I'm not sure I'd plan on an interview there. However, here is the JFK info from the website:
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/enrollment-arrival

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Location: Jamaica, NY 11430
Hours of Operation: Terminal One, Adjacent to Booth #1
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.

Terminal Four West Wing, Area A
Terminal Four East Wing, Area G
24 Hour Operation

Terminal Five JetBlue, Booth #1
6:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Terminal Seven British Airways, Booth #1
8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.

Terminal Eight America Airlines, Booth #1
6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.

We did our Global Entry interview upon arrival in Detroit, an airport we’d never flown through before. We had been pre approved, had an interview scheduled at SFO later that year but we were returning from a trip to Europe and thought why not, let’s try it. It all depends where the Global Entry station is set up, in out case they just waved us over to a booth behind the immigration stations, and if there is anyone in that line, in our case it was just one person. It only took 10-15 minutes to be asked a few questions and be interviewed. If your JFK entry and Global Entry location are in the same terminal it could be done but the unknown would be #of people in line if any.

My sister-in-law did something closer to your second scenario. She was having trouble getting an interview near her Midwestern airport so she scheduled an interview in LA on a morning when she was flying home, LAX to STL. It wasn’t easy because LAX had moved their Global Entry out of the terminals but her son drove her to both her appointment and then to her terminal. She scheduled her appointment for 1h before her normal check in time for her domestic flight.

You do have options but need to be able to walk through your options in your head to see what you are most comfortable with. Do you have a backup interview scheduled in the coming months with your home, international airport? It’s good to have a known option but it will be very satisfying if you can get your #1 or #2 plan to work. Good luck!

Thanks for all the info. Ohare has no available appointments for the morning we fly out.

For the person who left the video, looks like I can look for “enrollment on Entry” signs at JFK and make the call based on line and time till next flight. If anyone has done this at jfk, let me know how it worked for you.

Other option is SFO in the future, but round trip is 4-6 hours from home depending on traffic.

Having done the Chicago area interview, I'm sadly not surprised that there are no appointments for your (one, specific) date. Good luck on JFK or the alternative!