It was announced that the very successful Global Entry Pilot Program designed for expedited  immigration and customs processing for pre-approved, low risk frequent international travelers in some 20 US international airports, as well as pre-flight inspection stations at selected Canadian airports, will now be a permanent CBP program as of March 7, 2012.  CBP will also expand the program to include children under the age of 14, who were previously ineligible to participate.

US citizens who are members of the CBP Global Entry, NEXUS, and SENTRI Trusted Traveler programs are eligible to participate in TSA’s program, as well as legal permanent residents, Mexican citizens, and Dutch citizens who are members of Privium, the Netherlands’ trusted traveler program. Expansion to other countries is anticipated as a part of President Obama’s recent executive order aimed at spurring U.S. tourism.

At airports, program participants proceed to Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport or U.S. permanent resident card, place their fingertips on the scanner for fingerprint verification, and make a customs declaration. The kiosk issues the traveler a transaction receipt and directs the traveler to baggage claim and the exit.

Benefits of signing up:

• No processing lines
• No paperwork
• Access to expedited entry benefits in other countries
• Available at major U.S. airports
• Reduced wait times

Should you have any questions or wish assistance with the application process please contact our office.

The Global Entry program has been extremely successful and enables expedited processing of pre-approved, low-risk, frequent travelers arriving in the USA through some 131 kiosks set up at 20 airports. The Kiosks have been used 1.7 million times, saving CBP officers over 36,450 inspection hours—staff hours that CBP has then re-allocated to expedite regular passenger queues.

The program will now expand to 4 more airports:  Minneapolis, Charlotte, Denver and Phoenix, making the Global Entry program and expedited clearance available in airports that service approximately 97% of international travelers.  For more , and here, too

Global Entry is designed to speed trusted travelers through the customs and immigration inspection process when re-entering the United States. And among travelers already enrolled in the program, 75 percent are processed in five minutes or less.

The way it works: U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents apply for the program, pay a $100 fee, and are interviewed by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. Following a successful background investigation, they are accepted into the program. Once accepted into the program, membership is good for five years and can be used at any participating airport in the country.

Here is a link to the list of the 20 international airports that offer the program.