An Indian citizen’s experience in getting Global Entry membership in 2024 on F1 visa

Global entry is a US Customs And Border Control (CBP) program that includes TSA Precheck and is valid for 5 years. It has the following benefits:

1. Reduced waiting times at the airport
2. Available at major US airports

For more details on Global entry benefits, check here. In this article, I outline my own experience in becoming a Global Entry member.

TL;DR The total time taken for the whole process to complete was less than 2 months.

A little background about me. I entered the US on a Student visa (F-1) more than 2 years back. I completed my Master’s and finally started working on my OPT.

I hate waiting in queues be it in long queues in Universal Studios or the shorter ones at the airport every time I travel. I looked up the TSA website and found that Global Entry is not limited just to US citizens but citizens from around 14 countries can also apply. You can look at the complete eligibility criteria here.

The steps might vary for different countries. I am outlining here steps for an Indian citizen. Here’s the guide from the CBP website which describes the basic steps:

1. Create an account on https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov/ for TSA Global entry program.

2. Fill out the application form. You would need to keep your passport/travel document handy. The form will ask for

1. Basic details like Date of birth, travel document number and expiry date, US visa details, driving license details
2. Addresses from the last 5 years
3. Employment information from the last 5 years

You would be required to pay $100 to submit the application form.

Note: Some credit cards do cover the cost for Global entry like Amex Platinum card, CapitalOne Venture Rewards card. You can check the post here.

Also, you can download the CBP app to track your application status. It's available on both AppStore and PlayStore.

3. The next step is initiating a background check in your country. In my case, it was in India. For this, I followed the steps outlined here. I followed the Online Form Submission ( Applicant presently living in India ) option since I was visiting India in the next few days.

After arriving in India, I booked my appointment and I carried the following documents to the passport office.

1. Passport
2. Aadhar card
3. Self-attested copies of Aadhar, passport, and US address proof

During the appointment, my documents were verified and my photo and biometrics were taken. I was informed that I would receive an SMS about the police verification the next day.

The next day, I received an SMS that the case was forwarded to a nearby police station. The cop arrived 2 days later and verified my documents again. He was unaware about the Global Entry program so I explained him about it. The same day I received an email from the TTP portal and to my surprise, I was conditionally approved.

4. The final step was an appointment with CBP. I was planning to participate in Enrollment on Arrival (EOA) while returning from my trip to India since that would allow me to interview without an appointment. You can look here for the EOA locations. EOA is valid only when you are returning from an international travel. You would need to show the boarding pass to the CBP officer to be eligible for an interview.

Unfortunately, I missed the Global entry kiosk at the Immigrations so I had to book an appointment for a later date. Appointments can be booked by logging onto the TTP website and luckily, I got an appointment for the next week itself.

5. For the interview, I brought 2 documents: My passport and driving license for the address proof. The officer asked for those documents and asked me to confirm my name, visa status, date of birth, and address. After that, he took my photo and biometrics. I was told I would get an email on the interview decision within 24 hours. I didn’t have to wait that much and within 2 hours of the interview itself I got an email that “There was a change in the status of my case”. After logging in to the TTP website, I saw I was approved and I got my Membership Number :)

The whole process was very smooth and took me hardly 2 months. And that included the time I spent in India. I can’t wait to utilize the Global Entry (which includes TSA Precheck) and have hassle-free travel.

Note: For air travel, the Global entry physical card is not required. Just the membership number is enough. However, it’s needed for land and sea ports of entry.

Thanks for reading so far. I will update this post with my traveling experience soon! Reach out to me in the comments if you have any queries.