FlyerTalk Forums - Global Entry Renewal Information and Processing Timelines

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Tomorrow is 16 weeks. I called during week 14 and spoke to 2 agents who said I would get a follow up email. The email never arrives.

What’s going on with this program? It’s total chaos right now.

Here's my family stats so far on GE renewal no. 2 for all of us (2009/2014/2019). All of us have clean records/backgrounds, etc., and no issues traveling at any time.

1. White, adult male, US native with a clearance, with extensive global travel North and Central America, Oceania, Europe, Asia including to Muslim countries,:
Expiry May 1 2019
Applied for renewal March 15 2019
Approved March 21 2019
New card received March 26 2019

2. Asian teen female, naturalized US citizen thru adoption, minimal travel to UK, France,, Canada, Mexico and Australia:
Expiry Sep 10 2019
Applied for renewal June 12 2019
New card received June 24 2019 with no notification

3. White/Latin adult female, native US citizen, with fair amount of travel to Europe, Australia, Caribbean, Central America/Mexico, Canada:
Expiry Nov 5 2019
Applied for renewal June 11 2019
STILL PENDING

So I believe there is some weight to the argument that the procrastinators are getting rewarded at present.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikki30M (Post 31258241)

Looks like they're finally getting caught up. I applied on Monday or Tuesday of last week, and got approved (no interview) by Saturday.

Still a lot of us who have been waiting weeks if not months. Interesting they don’t appear to be doing renewals on a first-come-first-serve basis. We applied a month ago and have no reason to believe there’s anything wrong with our applications.

I realized my GE number had expired several months after it did because my air travel had slowed down significantly. I never received a notice from CBP that it had expired. I reapplied on April 3. Here we are 90+ days later, and no action. I have no violations, and the most controversial place I had been was China (twice), though I did make an around-the-world trip with a Beijing-Paris leg. I did change employers recently.

I have the impression that people who let GE expire are being pushed to the back of queue, possibly to "teach us a lesson," just like the early days of TSA when any minor violation would be cause to force you to empty out all of your possessions. Then again, it could just be completely random treatment. As documented in this forum, reapproval is definitely not on a first-in, first-out basis.

Interestingly, in spite of an expired GE number, I still occasionally get TSA Pre-check on my boarding pass. That was part of the reason that I missed the expiration last fall.

On June 25, I posted an enquiry with CBP. I got a canned response less than three hours later. Here was their assessment of wait times:

Quote

If your application status is "Pending Review" then your application has been received and is being processed. Please note that processing times vary by applicant, but on average you can expect your application to be processed:

• Global Entry/FAST: up to 11 weeks
• NEXUS: 3-5 months
• SENTRI: 8 to 10 months

End Quote

As you can see, they use a weird phrasing of "on average ... up to 11 weeks." I assume that means that 77 days is average and not a a maximum. I always wanted to be above-average, and now I guess I am.

I suspect that the chaos at the border with Mexico is diverting funds from Global Entry within CBP, and therefore this problem will continue to get worse rather than better, even though the government shutdown is now well in the rearview mirror. I wrote my Congresswoman about this issue of ever-increasing approval times for Global Entry and got no response.

After 11 weeks you can have the application expedited, which means that someone will take a look at the application and look into why your approval is taking so long.
Better to call, than email - here's the number, 877-227-5511. Tip- to minimize wait times, best to call early in the morning.

For me, it took 10 weeks and 6 days for a regular renewal, my husband was approved for renewal in 7 days.

Can we see a show of hands on the following: are males being processed more quickly than females (for non-expired GE)?
In my house, my husband got it fastest. I'm still pending.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leavedacannoli (Post 31273051)

Can we see a show of hands on the following: are males being processed more quickly than females (for non-expired GE)?
In my house, my husband got it fastest. I'm still pending.

Husband and wife here. Applied the same day within minutes of each other. At five weeks and both still pending approval. No reason to believe there is anything amiss with our applications. Nothing has changed other than a few more countries visited in the four plus years since our initial application and approval.

16 weeks and waiting ... ... us going on. I’ve called and didn’t receive any follow up emails.

Has anyone been waiting since early March?

Quote:

Originally Posted by leavedacannoli (Post 31273051)

Can we see a show of hands on the following: are males being processed more quickly than females (for non-expired GE)?
In my house, my husband got it fastest. I'm still pending.

I probably should have added that between wife and I she would be more likely to get approved more quickly which hasn’t happened. She is a senior 30-year career Federal employee and chief of staff of her organization. Squeaky clear background and current advanced security clearance. We did take a cruise in 2017 that stopped in Egypt, Jordan, Oman, and UAE which might cause some question. On the other hand my wife had to have her travel reviewed and approved by DoD and the State Department so it was known and documented.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leavedacannoli (Post 31273051)

Can we see a show of hands on the following: are males being processed more quickly than females (for non-expired GE)?
In my house, my husband got it fastest. I'm still pending.

No. With same travel history, wife approved with no interview while I required interview.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 747FC (Post 31276114)

No. With same travel history, wife approved with no interview while I required interview.

Looking through the posts on this thread it is really hard to discern a pattern. We have renewals approved in days to several months. We have interviews not required to interviews having to be scheduled. Without knowing the details of each application there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randyk47 (Post 31278311)

No pattern may be just the pattern intended.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coltonatx (Post 31274121)

16 weeks and waiting ... ... us going on. I’ve called and didn’t receive any follow up emails.

Has anyone been waiting since early March?

Yes, my son applied for renewal the first week of March.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6P&E (Post 31279216)

No pattern may be just the pattern intended.

Could be but intended for whom? Kind of lost on the members here and we only represent a small portion of Trusted Traveller Program enrollees. It’s not like CBP/TSA/DHS has announced randomness in their renewal process. “You may or may not be subject to additional review depending on how we feel that day.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhammer53 (Post 31040147)

While my renewal is still pending, my upcoming flight still shows Pre. That takes a load off. :o

dh

That lasted for the one flight. My flight last month didn't show Pre anymore. I'm waiting now for 3 months for my renewal. I re-applied after my GE expired.
When I was in college, I interned with the Congresswoman in my district. I just sent my current member of Congress my details. As I recall, your elected officials can and will pressure a local/state/federal agency. Who knows, maybe it will help.

dh