Top Global Entry official: Application delays improving, but 'we have work to go’

06.04.2024 - 18:11 / thepointsguy.com

Four years after the coronavirus pandemic first spawned delays in Global Entry application processing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection says wait times are improving. Yet, amid an unrelenting wave of demand for the program, the agency admits it's still not satisfied.

The delays of recent years have been well-documented, dating back to when travel first began to surge in the wake of the pandemic slowdown.

Backlogs ensued in 2021 and 2022 as passengers whose Global Entry membership lapsed during the down days of travel applied en masse for renewal; others applied for first-time membership as part of the so-called "revenge travel" craze.

Want more aviation news? Sign up for TPG's free biweekly Aviation newsletter.

Then, as the agency began to clear its application backlog after the pandemic's peak, unprecedented demand for the program made matters infinitely more complicated.

That historic crush of applications continues now. In fact, in early 2024, it has reached levels not seen in 2022 or even 2023, TPG has learned.

Here's the good news: If you apply for Global Entry now, you're likely to find wait times — for both conditional approval and an interview — are far better than they were one or two years ago, the agency tells TPG.

At least, that's true for most applicants, the agency says.

Still, log onto the Trusted Traveler Programs website, and you'll see somewhat jarring estimated wait times listed for Global Entry application processing: four to six months.

One of the program's top leaders admitted to TPG this week that solutions the agency has deployed to alleviate the delays still haven't gone far enough — despite the progress.

"We have work to go," Brendan Blackmer, CBP branch chief in charge of Trusted Traveler Programs, said.

Speaking to TPG inside the customs hall at Dulles International Airport (IAD), watching passengers race through the program's time-saving kiosks, Blackmer was candid — and sympathetic — regarding the frustration travelers have encountered in recent years.

"If you apply for the program and you pay the government $100," Blackmer said. "You shouldn't be waiting six months, nine months, a year to get that benefit."

To the extent there are lingering challenges with the Global Entry application process, it now has less to do with the pandemic and more to do with the sheer number of people who want to be a Global Entry member.

Here's a little perspective: Prior to the pandemic, the program was soaring to new heights. In 2019, CBP saw a then-record 3.2 million applications for all Trusted Traveler Programs. (Programs include SENTRI and Nexus which are smaller and less comprehensive programs geared toward frequent travelers between the U.S. and Canada and/or Mexico. Global Entry