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First time Global Entry conditional approval

Just curious if anyone has recently applied for a first time Global Entry - how long the conditional approval took? Not renewal.

ETA - I applied in April. It’s September and we are still waiting.

Posted by
19 posts

My husband and I applied December 23 2021. On December 25 I received notice I'd been approved, booked the 1st appointment open at our closed airport....April 20, 2022.

My husband received notice of approval Mid April 2022.. Once he got approved I started a search for apportionments. Initially I found one for him in august (we are in Arizona). Tried another airport 2 hours away and got September, retried the closer airport and got October. Out of disappointment and desire of getting him in before we leave for Italy May 19 I started searching what options we had to get an appointment sooner.
I did some research and came across an app called Appointment Scanner. It claimed for one time fee of $29 I could enter up to 3 locations of our choice for an interview and the date span we wanted to have an interview within. In turn the app would scan 24/7 for appointment availability at those 3 airports. I was VERY skeptical. I searched some more, found an article by The Points Guys and decided to go for it.
Immediately we got alerts for openings! Once a day/time/location came up that we wanted I logged into the account I created. ( It did take some quick typing and a few attempts to get exactly what we wanted, as I'm guessing this is a popular app given interviews are so hard to get.)

He got in for the interview April 26 and was approved! I was truly skeptical but have read so many articles from The Point Guy that once I found his article, his trying it and confirming it was legit I figured it was worth it. I'm so grateful I took the chance!

Posted by
9460 posts

I applied back in early or mid-December and I think I got the pre-approval back in about a day or so.

Posted by
23177 posts

If paper work is in order and routine, the conditional approval (pre-approval) is a few days. After that it just depends on when you can get the interviewed scheduled. The whole process is time consuming with the necessity of a live interview but it works.

Posted by
144 posts

My husband, daughter and I applied in November 2021. My husband and daughter were conditionally approved within a few weeks, and had in-person interviews mid-March. We did have to travel to Seattle from Portland because there were no in-person interviews until 2023 (yep, 2023). However, my conditional approval took months — I was just approved at the end of April. I even accompanied my husband and daughter to their in-person interviews in March to ask if they could “squeeze me in” or expedite the process. A big nope. I have an interview the first week of June, again in Seattle. We travel in July.

Posted by
4495 posts

Conditional approval timeframe depends upon where the application randomly ends up. About half receive no check and get approval in a few days. The other half are investigated and that takes 3-9 months.

Posted by
23177 posts

I really don't think that conditional approval is random. That makes no sense.

Posted by
144 posts

Tom_MN, this aligns with what I was told by the customs and border patrol officer who conducted my husband and daughter’s interview.

Posted by
11 posts

I applied on Apr 5th and received conditional approval on the 7th. My husband applied on the 7th and his is still pending. Crazy!

Posted by
8 posts

The wife and I applied a few weeks ago were conditionally approved 2-3 days later, scheduled an appointment at a US Customs and Border Patrol office near the Candian boarder last Sunday and completed the process, less than one month start to finish. The "interview" was truly a total waste of time considering we had to drive over 100 miles spend the night before the appointment just to verify our mailing address more or less in person.

Posted by
4495 posts

just to verify our mailing address

You should have been fingerprinted and photographed.

Posted by
106 posts

Thanks all. I applied for me and my 13-year-old daughter, and don't have any trips abroad planned, but do have one domestic planned in a few months. Was hoping to have the included TSA pre-check for that, which I have, but is expiring in a few weeks.

Posted by
8 posts

You should have been fingerprinted and photographed.

yes Tom, we were photographed and digitally finger printed and ask other question also. The point being is the process takes very little time IF you can get the elusive appointment and why some areas have no appointments available for many months is the frustrating issue. Both of us have security clearances with the DoD and have finger prints "on file" and why our government can't be more efficient and leverage these types of applications and thus allow others who need the appointment have them.

Posted by
106 posts

Just an update....we are at three months and still waiting.

Posted by
1 posts

I applied for GE for the first time on 7/24/22. I have been reading all sorts of mixed reviews on people's timelines for getting conditional approval. Hoping mine goes quickly so that I can use GE on my upcoming trip this Christmas. Fingers and toes crossed!

Posted by
4495 posts

Jordan: If you are not going to be investigated you will have conditional approval within 5 business days.

Posted by
22 posts

Perhaps I'm missing something. We signed our daughter up for GE and she got conditional approval in 2 days. We selected the "Enrollment on Arrival" option because there are no appointments anywhere near us at all (East coast). It's my understanding that D will be interviewed by the Customs agent upon her arrival back in the US - which won't be until December. Granted, she can't use the GE or TSA PC line for departure, but she'll live. Is Enrollment on Arrival not available to everyone?

Posted by
1 posts

I applied this past March 18th and am still waiting for conditional approval. Sigh
My husband applied on March 19th and was approved on March 21st. -_-