SFO - Global Entry interview on arrival?
 

I am renewing my TTP/Global Entry membership and am "conditionally approved" but am required to do the interview. I made an appointment at SFO in February but got an email the other day with the following: "Instead of scheduling an appointment at a Global Entry Enrollment Center, you have the unique opportunity to interview for Global Entry when you return from your next international trip." SFO is one of the airports that offers this. The email just "Follow the signage directing you to CBP officers who can complete your Global Entry interview during your admissibility inspection."

I am returning from Mexico in January and clearly this would be a big help. Has anyone done this? Is there really adequate signage? Does it take very long? Any intel appreciated.

Please refer to the following thread in the Trusted Travelers forum:

My wife did this. Said she had to wait about a half hour as they were "overwhelmed" and there was no one to give the appointments.

I used the service at appointmentscanner.com instead. Went from a 3 month wait to an appointment two days later. Worth the $29 to me.

Thanks. I think I will look when I get to SFO and see if it will be a relatively quick process. If not I will just keep the appointment I have in February. I don't think we will want to wait around after the flight if it is going to take a while. The appointments weren't that hard to get at SFO. I just had to schedule mine out because of the holidays.

Yesterday the Global Entry line seemed to be longer and slower than the “normal” line. It was clearly marked though if you wanted to do an interview on Arrival, very easy to navigate.

Also, it looks like this bot may still work: https://x.com/ge_bot_sfo?s=21&t=C6zkL7Rr5RBLeut1Er4lpQ

Took us over 30 minutes in July. Got close to the point of wiping out the anticipated time savings from future GE use (international trips not more than once a year). Annoying.

If your expected usage is once a year, then just get Pre and Mobile Passport.

Yeah, but on the other hand, free with credit cards is too strong a pull for me.

Pre and MPC are both also free with the same credit card... (MPC is outright free, and Pre is free which every card that give GE from what I've seen)

But the interview also gets you five years of PreCheck, which is by far the more important benefit. I've had times where the regular line was dreadful and PreCheck was fast -- maybe 30 minutes saved in a single trip through security.

If I didn't do GE, I would do normal PreCheck. I would never consider giving that up.

Right. But PreCheck also gets you 5 years of PreCheck. For the same price (technically less, but if your credit card is covering it then they are both likely $0). And with a generally easier (and definitely faster) application process.

Is there a difference between the interview requirements for Global Entry vs. those for only PreCheck?

I'd consider a half hour, or even a slightly longer wait for an "interview on arrival" (notwithstanding how exhausted I may be from a longhaul flight) to be a minor inconvenience and worth the trouble given that it avoids another trip to the airport for an interview. (This doesn't include possible issues of missed connections, the tour bus to the cruise ship is waiting, etc.)

There isn't really an "interview" for PreCheck. You fill in an online form, and then go to an enrollment center, which are at many airports (including SFO - I walked past it yesterday) as well as many locations outside of airports. There you just need to show your ID and have your photo/fingerprints taken, but that's about it. I think they may confirm a few of the details you entered on the form, but it's not what I'd call an interview in any real sense. Appointments are generally available within a few days, or you can just walk-in at most locations.

My experience and understanding is that most of the time there is no interview required for renewing in the Trusted Traveler Program -- mstraveler mentioned how this is a renewal. For whatever reason, CBP is requiring an interview for this renewal. Are you sure this would be any different for mstraveler if it only involved PreCheck and not also Global Entry?

That is especially true if you have a checked bag. Much of the time you're waiting in the interview line might otherwise have been time waiting at the baggage carousal. I've had some really long waits for my bag at SFO after international flights. Not sure if it's just been bad luck for me, or if they are generally slower with international flights.

It is the bad luck of the Berkeley residents, clearly, especially when my decorative priority tags serve as such, for decorative purposes only.

I did it last June at SFO G gates and it was relatively fast (~20 min in total). It depends on the hour of the day and how many flights arrive at the same time. I arrived in the afternoon and there were 2~3 other people ahead of me. There were 2 officers for the Global Entry check and interview.

i did it a couple of years ago arriving at 5pm Saturday (multiple flights). It took 10-15 minutes just to get to the front of the GE line and then you have to ask the officer to put you on a written list. The total wait was at least 60 minutes. Probably the last thing you want to do after a 12-hour flight but really there is no choice when there were zero appointments online at SFO. If that has changed now it would be fantastic. But for years it was literally zero appointments.

Similar experience for me a couple of years ago. I was determined to get the on-arrival interview done as there were no SFO appointments available for months.

Got in from HKG and was basically the first couple people off the plane. Walked over to GE booth and they told me to write my name on a list and wait.

An officer was working on an interview with a couple from a previous flight and they looked like they were almost done so I was ready to go. After ten or so minutes the couple leaves and instead of taking enrollment folks, the officer started processing others for MPC. That line started to dwindle but then additional passengers came through, then it seemed like another flight landed so I waited about 30m. It’s a long time after spending so much in transit already.

Interview was fast and my luggage was waiting for me. I’ll likely get it reimbursed again 5 years from now through CCs, but not sure I’d ever pay for it out of pocket. The MPC line was pretty fast, and the 30m I waited is probably more than all the MPC wait time for at least a couple years worth of travel for me (I don’t fly often).

It's $85 for PreCheck and $120 for Global Entry (which includes PreCheck). An extra $35 every five years is a small price, even if you don't travel internationally that often. For example, you might be coming into a U.S. airport from abroad, and connecting to a domestic flight. Saving time at immigration might be the difference of making or missing your domestic connection.

I can see how that makes sense for some folks, but every international flight I've ever taken goes through JFK or SFO. AFAIK both airports merge MPC and GE lines, and MPC doesn't require me to use the kiosk which is technically even faster. The cost also goes up if you fly with family.

But like I said, I have enough CCs that would cover all the fees, so I'd probably maintain it that way making it a moot point.

Fair enough. FWIW, my experience over the years has been diminishing value for the GE part, mainly because the non-GE lines for U.S. citizens and residents have gotten shorter and faster. Almost all the value for me is in the PreCheck part.

I was trending toward this mindset, except...

Arrival in JFK last year, there was something wrong with the computers at the entry point. The facility was physically full of people and they were holding everyone, including MPC, in a hallway outside the facility.

But if you had GE, they were letting people jump the line and use the GE line within the facility.

It probably saved me 3+ hours between trying to get into the facility and then navigate the regular line, since they were sending MPC into the (impossibly long) regular line.

So I think of it as (free) insurance in case I encounter something like that again.

Right, but my point is that I wouldn't pay out of pocket for it. Because many CC's cover it, keeping it is a no brainer. If the CC's stop covering it, it's not really "free" insurance.

Australia recently joined the GE program on a pilot program bases. As luck would have it, my application was approved just over a week ago on Friday, and I was flying BNE-SFO 2 days later on Sunday. I only had a relatively short connecton (<2 hours), but decided to try for an interview on arrival.

The main interivew on arrival line (counter 4-ish?) was empty, and the CBP officer processed me into the country and then sent me over to line 35. He confirmed that at that point I could bail and just enter the country if I wanted to (eg, if the wait was going to be too long). When I got to line 35 there were 2 CBP staff doing the interview and only 1 person in the queue in front of me. Less than 10 minutes after walking off the plane I was being interviewed, and a few minutes later I was approved and on my way.

By the time I left there were about 4-5 people in the queue, so it's possible I was a little lucky...