Global Entry

We had approval, pending interview, status and an appointment scheduled for our interview/fingerprinting but it was months away. In the mean time we had an international trip coming up so when we we turned from that trip and went through the line for immigration in Detroit we asked for our Global Entry interview on the spot. The immigration person directed us to a desk behind him. At that desk we got all of the requirements completed for our GE interview in about 5 minutes each.

We still had to go through the normal reentry immigration line to request our interview which was done at another station.

By doing it this way we saved ourselves a 2+ hour round trip drive to our nearest airport where our interviews were scheduled for a future date.

I'd always heard positive feedback about Enrollment on Arrival. Until I saw this last week: https://onemileatatime.com/insights/global-entry-enrollment-on-arrival/

I am definitely spoiled because I live in the DC area and had a number of options for appointments when I completed mine. I have to say the very last thing I would want to do upon arrival after an international trip is do an interview (or anything else other than get the ^%$ out of the airport). The whole point of having GE is to speed the return process. Are you sure you cannot swing an interview in the year until the trip?

I suggest you get the Mobile Passport Control app. It is free and far simpler than Global Entry. No interview required and in my experience it is faster than GE through immigration at most airports.

I did the interview upon arrival at Atlanta airport last year. I had to wait quite a while, but it was okay for me as I had a long layover anyway.

The time before, the line was really short -- but I also had a short layover, and the person on duty had just gone for a break ! So I had to wait until my next entry.

I was glad to get it taken care of, and I don't live somewhere they do interviews, so this was really my only option.

Oh but just remember there is a date somewhere on your conditional approval that says you must have your interview within a certain date. The lady before me in line the second time hadn't paid attention to that - so her conditional approval was no longer valid, and she had waited 90 minutes for nothing.

Fortunately our layover time in Detroit was long enough and there was no one waiting for an interview. The biggest downside for me was that my photo I’m stuck with for 5 years looks like I’ve just been on a 10h flight😜

I just did a thread on here last month about the convenience of using the free Mobile Passport App. We live on the West coast, 3 1/2 hours away from Portland. Not everyone has the time between connections to wait in line for an extended period of time for an interview when re-entering the US. Criticism of the App were mainly once more people use it, the longer the line. That’s true and is the same for GE but now very few are using the App even though there were signs telling people about it. We had no line in Seattle versus a line for GE, a “huge” line for regular entry and it only took a few minutes for our family of six to be processed because all the questions they ask and pictures they take are downloaded on your phone which they scan.

I did onterview on arrival at JFK the last time I renewed. It took an extra 15 minuted.

Before using Mobile Passport, make sure your home airport, or the airport you'll be using to enter the country, accepts it.

Last month when I returned to the US, I was told Global Entry would be given priority over Mobile Passport and we were.

The security person managing the line kept saying: "Global before Mobile."

How long did it take for your conditional approval? My husband submitted applications online last year (spring or summer?). We have the TSA pre-check. He got an email in Sept telling us we cold do Enrollment On Arrival (Too bad we hadn't known about it, as we returned Sept 11 from travel--and took $600 each for waiting 8 more hours for the next flight.)

According to CBP you have 730 days from conditional approval to finish your enrollment.

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article1855?language=en_US

Since the OP has already paid the fee and received conditional approval it’s just a master of finishing up the process. If you can’t get an appointment then enrollment on arrival is probably your best option. You can always see how you feel when you land and get an assessment of how long the wait is. If your not up for it then skip it.

I did this last year at JFK and was processed in less than 30 minutes. I cancelled my appointment at my home airport.