POV: You’re waiting for Global Entry approval

International travelers looking for a VIP customs experience will have to shell out a little more moolah – and practice some patience.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that, starting October 1, the application fee for Global Entry, a government-sponsored five-year program that provides pre-approved customers with a smattering of benefits designed to save them time while traveling, will increase from $100 to $120. It’s the first fee increase for the program in 15 years.

Why now? Picture the scene in the first Harry Potter movie where a deluge of Hogwarts letters start pouring through the mail slot on the Dursley’s front door…that’s currently happening in CBP offices across America.

• From 2013 to 2023, the number of active Global Entry members grew from ~2.2 million to ~12.3 million.
• The agency is on track to receive 4+ million applications this fiscal year, up from 2.95 million applications last fiscal year.

Travelers applying for Global Entry must undergo a background check and interview with a CBP official, which, with current staffing levels and processes, is causing a bottleneck and leading to wait times longer than the DMV. New applications typically take 4-6 months to process, per the CBP – though some customers say theirs have taken a year or longer.

📝 Bottom line: While it works through the backlog, the CBP is advising people who don’t travel internationally multiple times per year to forgo Global Entry and apply for TSA PreCheck instead.