Global Entry for active duty military?
 

One of my children is now active duty military. I got her enrolled in Global Entry several years before she enlisted, and now her membership needs to be renewed. I can't find any discussion on whether members of the military get "automatic" Global Entry. I know they get automatic Pre-Check by putting their military ID number into the known traveler number box on their airline tickets. Pre-check is nice but, obviously, having Global Entry is better. The problem is that ordinary Global Entry renewal often requires an interview. I just started the renewal process for another child and they're requiring an interview -- and interview slots are ridiculously hard to get. (Last year my wife and I renewed and I also had to interview, but my wife did not). There's basically no way my enlisted child could get to an interview given how problematic interview slots are. Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

PreCheck is free for active US military and requires no application with DHS/TSA for that.

GE requires an application, getting CBP to conditionally approve the person and then an interview for the usual purposes applicable to all conditionally-approved applicants. Given credit/charge card fee waivers applicable to US military personnel, there is the path of getting a bank card that reimburses the GE application fee. And then doing the interview as part of the GE enrollment on arrival process for those conditionally approved. No interview booking needed as long as completing the process within 12 months of conditional approval.

Many, if not most, Global Entry renewal applications are approved without the need for an interview. In my immediate family we are three for three; none of us had to be interviewed when we applied for renewals in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Some younger children are required to come in for an "interview" before receiving final approval of their application solely for the reason of having their photos and fingerprints updated.

In the event that your child in the military needs to be interviewed before receiving final approval of their renewal application, they will have a full year from receiving conditional approval to complete the interview. They will continue to receive Global Entry benefits for up to a year after the original expiration date pending the final approval of the renewal application.

A new or renewal GE membership application requires payment of an application fee for US military personnel too to have a chance to get/keep GE.

Retuning US diplomats too — military or otherwise — generally have to personally pay the GE application fee for GE membership for wanting to get/maintain GE status and thereby use GE. Otherwise it’s usually the regular lines with other US citizens at US ports of entry.

Much the same applies to many adults required to do an “interview” as part of GE renewal, possibly also related to age-related triggers to get updated photos/fingerprints. The majority of the GE renewals which I’ve seen at airports last year for my family members or others in my travel parties have involved nothing substantive more than handing over the passports, the declaration receipt/forms and doing the fingerprint+photo capture again.

Thanks for the information. My renewal interview was a joke -- less than 2 minutes -- but getting an interview time was problematic for me. My daughter is on active duty, not near a commercial airport and just very unlikely to be to get to an available interview time without heroic effort. It seems like she's going to have to live with just free military precheck. This seems dumb, but sometimes bureaucracy is dumb. I'm guessing she'll only encounter a Global Entry situation 2 or 3 times a year, so it's not the end of the world. I just hope it's not with me when we run into a long immigration line. :)

There is a pretty good chance that your daughter will receive final approval of her Global Entry renewal application without the need for an interview.

In the event that she has to undergo an interview before receiving final approval, she will have a full year to complete it and she can have it done through Enrollment on Arrival during the two or three times that she'll "encounter a Global Entry situation" in the year following her conditional approval.

Yeah, I guess that would be an alternative strategy. She can get the Global Entry fee paid for by a credit card, so no real money would be at risk. I guess I'll have to look into that Enrollment on Arrival program to see if it's likely to work and worth the trouble.

Also you can add additional US Passports (early on one could not) so the Official (brown) Passport that military (and others) are often issued can be added and used at kiosks (ditto the black Diplomatic Passport).

What interesting timing for a miles and points blogger to pick this up and put it out as it answers your questions too:

https://cboardinggroup.com/global-en...m=BoardingArea

Thanks for the link. It obviously confirms our research.