Strange things on my Global Entry application

A few months back I mentioned that some more countries were being added to the Global Entry programme for the USA, the UK being one of them. Well as of 4th December 2013 they decided to close it for all new UK applicants with no notice. This is because the UK Border Agency would not offer a reciprocal arrangement, similar to what Privium offers in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Luckily I submitted my application with just a few days remaining.

Unfortunately two things didn't happen to let me attend my interview on my current trip to Central America. Firstly the “initial review” didn't happen fast enough for me to book an appointment. Secondly someone with a totally different name and signature, but apparently at my address (noone other than, has signed for the delivery of my police certificate and has disappeared with it. How infuriating.

But in the final few days of 2013 I finally received my conditional approval, and with it came a 30 day limit to schedule an appointment. Not a problem…except I stumbled across this page, correct as of 19th November 2013, which stipulates an additional requirement:

Approved Global Entry program applicants have 30 days from the date of their online approval notice to schedule an appointment with their nearest enrollment center. The actual appointment must be within 90 days of the date of the online approval notice.

I'd heard about this before, but it wasn't mentioned in my approval notice conditions. Nevertheless I sent an email to our Global Entry Hero, Larry Panetta, who responded with the following:

You have 30 days to schedule an interview once you are conditionally approved. The interview can be past the 30 days, as long as it is scheduled. You can also reschedule as necessary. Not sure where this “90” day limit idea is coming from.

Admittedly I hadn't given Larry that link on the first email, but I've now responded and am waiting for his reply.

Coincidentally I received this automated email just a few moments later:

Since your application was conditionally approved, as of January 02 our system does not register the scheduling of an interview to finalize your enrollment.

To prevent your application from being cancelled, please schedule an interview immediately. Most enrollment centers have appointments available up to 4 months. To schedule an interview, access your GOES account, click on the “Schedule Interview” button and select an enrollment center and date for your interview. You can always reschedule your interview up to 24 hours prior to the already scheduled appointment. If you need to cancel an appointment within 24 hours, please contact the enrollment center to be rescheduled.

My next trip to USA is planned for mid April, so it conveniently falls in between the 90 days and 4 months limit outlined above. I have booked a provisional appointment on arrival, with the aim to reschedule if the need arises.

Interestingly I was offered appointments at Doha International Airport in Qatar, where there is wide open availability every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday until July 2014. My guess is that they would even take walk-in appointments too.

With the three conflicting pieces of information, I can envisage a number of scenarios:

• Scheduling an appointment on any date is sufficient, and all is fine
• Scheduling an appointment after the 90 day limit causes Global Entry's system to automatically cancel my application (so far has not happened)
• Scheduling an appointment for any date, but not having my interview within 90 days causes Global Entry's system to automatically cancel my application. (I can report back at the End of March!)
• Appointment must be within 90 days, so I'll have to do a weekend trip to Qatar, USA or Canada. (Comes with a courtesy trip report.)

I can't have this application cancelled because UK citizens are no longer allowed to apply for Global Entry!

So I'm reaching out to my readers…what's been your experience with Global Entry? I'm especially interested to hear if you had your interview after 90 days of your conditional approval, and successfully completed your application.