Have a very slow week next week, so I was thinking of heading to SFO around 2PM to try to walk-in ... any ideas if it's generally fairly simple to get a walk-in appt. in the afternoon?

it worked for us in Nov last year. Went there at 2pm. Was 2nd in line for the 3pm shift. We just asked whoever was sitting there and "staked" our spot on the seats outside the door since they only take the first 6 walkins. There was a couple that showed up at 2:45pm. They were number 6 and 7 but only one person could "walk in".

Which day of the week was it?

It was a Saturday.

Thanks. I wonder if weekday is better than weekend?

Moderator's Note:
 

A recent question about the location of the location of the Global Entry Enrollment Center in Houston was moved to the following thread:
TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

MCI - No 4/12/17 5:30pm

Thank you for sharing. Wiki updated for you.

Did a walkin today at SFO waited from 6:50 AM-10:50 AM and was approved soon there after. First available appointment was 11/1/17 and applied on 4/1/2017 got the initial approval 4/10/17.

My Father and I applied for Global Entry on 4-1-17 along with my Mother whose application is still pending initial approval.

This past Monday we got the Initial Approval and scheduled the appointment for November 1st. So we decided to go to SFO today as a walkin and normally they say they only see 6 people.

When we arrived there were other applicants who arrived at 3:15 AM and you put your name on a sign in sheet located outside the Global Entry Office.

We arrived at 6:50 AM and waited. At 10:50 AM my name was called and I went in for the brief interview and fingerprinting at 10:55 AM my Father was called. By 11:30 AM we both got the" Status Change Email" and was approved.

This afternoon I entered in the Known Traveler number into my Frequent Flier online profile of the airlines I fly on for TSA Pre Check.

In a few days we will get our cards.

Apparently there were more officers staffed today and I hope my Mother gets the same luck as we did.

Overall it was worth the wait and I got a chance to speak with other applicants during the wait to pass the time. The time went by really quick.

From what I have read other people waited 8 hours for walkins, some were turned away and others came back on more than one occasion.

From almost a 7 month wait to two days after getting the initial approval is Gold in my book.

Thank you very much FlyerTalk for this forum and explaining the process. It went very smoothly. Patience is the key word.

Heading down to SFO this afternoon to see if I can walk-in. I'm shooting to arrive at 12:30PM, and hopefully it won't be too busy as it's currently spring break so I assume a lot of families will be trying to do walk-in appts. I'll update this wiki when I return.

You realize the next shift does not begin until 3 pm. Unless 7 am shift has not had 6 walk-ins already, you may have to wait until the 3 pm shift. Arriving at 12:30 pm should ensure you a spot at the 3 pm shift.

Good luck and let us know your result.

Good luck kthpence I hope it works out as well as it did for my Father and myself. Please let us know.

You are correct. Per another applicant whose husband works as a volunteer at the SFO Information counter and said there were extra agents. Also yesterday there was fog so perhaps those with appointments missed them as they were possibly flying to SFO or they got through the appointments that were scheduled quicker as the applicants arrived earlier due to work commitments .

Yesterday they took more than 6 there were 22 and I was number 14 and my Father was number 15. There were families with children too and there were others who were number 20 and so on. Some walk ins arrived as early as 3:15 AM. We arrived at 6:50 AM and were out by 11:20 from the parking garage.

We parked in Garage A and took the tram to Garage G and then took the walkway on level 3. While Garage G may have been easier it was confusing how to get to Garage G so we just parked in A and took a 3 minute ride on Airtran. The ride back was longer and it was so nice to see the planes out on the runway.

Another option is to take BART to Terminal G or park at the Embassy Suites Peninsula Park and take their shuttle. I tip them $5 and they don't ask any questions. We paid $35 for our parking but you sometimes gotta do what you gotta do and we had an appointment in San Francisco at 1:30 PM.

Just don't get disappointed kithpence if you are turned away but you can try putting your name down for the 3:00 shift.

Good luck.

Thank you for sharing. It is good to know they may take more than posted 6 walk-ins.

Just wanted to report back ... I arrived at 12:15, was 4th on the waitlist, and was called in and done / back to my car by 12:45. I honestly don't think there are really "shifts" anymore at SFO, and they are just taking walk-ins when they can (i.e. in between people with appointments).

From what I saw, if you had an appointment, even one that was 2 hours from now, they would take you before someone on the walk-in waitlist. They didn't seem to only accept 6 people per shift - perhaps that just a way of discouraging what could be a ton of walk-ins.

Maybe I was lucky, I don't know, but the whole experience was fairly painless (despite the Customs officer being a bit off putting toward me). I'd definitely recommend going in the afternoon if you can vs. waking up at 3AM and going then. Heck, people report showing up at 7PM and being seen right away, so I don't understand the whole going at 6AM thing.

Thank you for sharing. It is good to know. danielonn reported there were 22 walk-ins at SFO.