Global Entry question

Your Global Entry has nothing to do with outbound travel or travel in other countries. It's only good returning to the U.S. and it good until its expiration date.

To renew, you log into your Trusted Traveler account and it will tell you when you can renew. (I believe it's one year before your expiration date.)

Global Entry is good for five years. Depending on when you apply, and your birthday, sometimes its longer.

However don't wait too long to renew. Most can be done online unless they require an in person interview. And getting an appointment can be difficult.

No, they will not extend your pass due to Covid.

Janet actually they have provided extensions, not because you couldn't use it, but because of the backlog in approvals. This isn't the best link, but the easiest one I could find: GE renewal

But there's really no reason to wait until they expire to request renewal. I think you can renew up to one year before the date it expires., and it doesnt hamper any travel in the interim. I just did mine that was still valid until next spring. But GE is totally linked to your passport, so it's your passport expiration that is important.

Not sure there is a requirement to renew 6 months before expiration but my experience in 2019 leads me to think you should try to renew a few months early. I had Global Entry and it was coming up for renewal in Jan. 2020. Applied online several months early and was approved for renewal , subject to an interview. Then I discovered that there were no appointments available at any airport within a two hour drive for several months. Finally, I was able to schedule an appointment , drove two hours to Huntsville and the interview lasted three minutes. My advice would be to start a couple of months ahead of expiration. Of course, by then Covid was beginning and our four trips in 2020 were canceled!

Global Entry has nothing to do with entry into another country. It is simply a faster (when the computers are working) entry when returning to the US so the "good for six month or less" on a passport does not apply to global entry. The GE expires on your birthday and they do a little rounding so it is not exact five years. Just renew when convenient. The good for six month or three is a requirement of the country that you are entering and not the US.

PS Noticed in the above postings the requirement for an interview with the renewal. Does anyone know if that is a standard, new requirement for everyone or a random requirement? When we renewed about three years ago via the internet it was update your travel schedule and send in you money with new cards mailed within a few weeks. Is everyone now having to go through an interview prior to renewal?

Clarification.....you still have to file to renew on time but if you need to have an in person interview you can still use GE past your expiration date while waiting for the interview.

Frank, my renewal came by email in one day, without any interview. This was in July. All I can say was there was no substantive change in my documentation, address, passport, job status, police record, or anything. Just a couple of newer trips.

Whether or not you have to have an interview or not, is anyone's guess why they do that. But anecdotal saying "I didn't need one" is the same as saying "I usually drive at 80 mph and have never gotten a ticket." Does that mean if you drive 80 mph you won't get a ticket?

From the responses, I would assume the interview is a random request. For the renewal we did list in our travel schedule that we had been in Cuba for a week. Was prepared for that to trigger a response but nothing happened. Our passports expire in 22 so I hope all of the back log business will clear itself by early 22.

To save the $100 I would get a credit card that pays it on your behalf. United Explorer card and Chase Sapphire are just 2 that do it. No fee the first year. Procedure is you charge the $100 on the card and a $100 credit appears the next day.

Make sure the other cards on this list waive the fee the first year. https://www.valuepenguin.com/travel/best-credit-cards-for-free-global-entry

I think I'm on my 2nd renewal - always done it on line never been to another interview. Had more of hassle attaching my new passport to the GE.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Hopefully the renewal can all be done online. It is a hassle to have to visit an airport for an interview. My daughter just applied for her first GE and got an appointment at DFW 3 weeks after she applied. She was lucky.

We were in Europe most of Sep and my GE was due to expire in early Nov so definitely less than 6 months. When we came thru US customs last month the computer terminal I used to go thru customs actually told me how many days til mine was set to expire.

I applied online last Fri (the 8th) and received notification early this morning (11th) that mine had been approved and my new expiration date 5 years from my original. And today is a federal holiday. No interview required (obviously) and the only changes were the list of countries visited since 2016. Happy to say it was a longish list.

The approval did say that the earliest I could reapply next time was in 2025.

Thanks Cj-traveler, that information is really helpful. I’m glad that the renewal is so easy.

Adding that getting the renewal the day after your birthday will give you 6 years before the next renewal.

We renewed ONLINE early during the beginning of COVID to be safe. The dates remained exactly the same, no more, no less time. We haven’t travel internationally since returning home in Jan.2020