About how long does the whole process take from submitting the application and payment thru the interview to getting the clearance? Thanks

My conditional approval took about a week. However I think they're running a little longer now with more people applying. Once you receive conditional approval you can schedule your interview online. The first interview slot I could get was over a month out. I ended up walking in before that while I was at the airport as they had a cancellation. The interview itself took less than 15 minutes.

The best $100 you will ever spend for 5 years!

Patty I can't get an interview at SFO until October, after my September trip. Is there a way to get notified about and sign up for cancellation slots?

You can't get notified but you can check every few days. It's also worth going to SFO and seeing if they can fit you in, if you can get there early.

What newtome said. If you can't get an appointment by the date of your outbound flight, try getting to the airport early and walking in if they're open that day.

@annw -how long did it take to get your conditional approval? thanks

The conditional approval took about a week and a half or two. I was limited to weekend schedules so it took about 2-3 weeks to get my interview, but I chose to fly to Newark for that. Waiting for a weekend slot at Chicago would have taken until September or October.

The interview itself took all of 10-15 minutes. They looked at my passport while the few of us in the room watched a 'how to' type video. Then they took a photo and fingerprints and asked me why I wanted GE. "Because I don't want to wait in line on the way back into the country" seemed like a reasonable answer to me. Within a couple hours I had an email saying that I was fully approved.

Thanks all! Hope I can get it before our trip at the end of Sept.

@Patty. about a week also --

I signed up on a Thursday; the following Thurs I received on the website (you must check in; they do not contact you) a letter stating I was conditionally approved --and I must make an app' within 30 days. There is a drop down menu of available app'ts. App't is scheduled this Sunday at Dulles airport --so about a week after the confirm letter.

We leave in a month.
So I thought it was pretty quick.

Wow! That is quick! Thanks for the nfo on checking the website as I figured they would send an email. Does the drop down menu show all options as to where you can have an interview? I think I read DC now has a place downtown.

Yes, YESTRAVEL...they give you options as to places for interviews, and times available for both DULLES and DOWNTOWN. Actually downtown had one sooner, but we liked the idea of a Sunday! Not as much traffic we hope.

Definitely check every day..I did..they specifically say they will not contact you; it is up to you to check....Good Luck and hope its soon!

thanks for the info. IAD might be easier for parking also!

Applied over the weekend and got an email today with conditional approval. Pretty fast!

I applied today. Then I realized that I have to go to the U.S. for the interview...

That's what I get for not paying attention.

The GE website implies that there are enrollment centers at YYZ, YYC, and YVR. Can anyone here confirm?

Also, I saw that there used to be an enrollment center at AMS. When did that close?

My husband and I applied about three weeks ago and our conditional approvals came in about a week and a half. But our airport is Boston and the soonest appointments we can get are in November!! I've looked at other airport schedules and they seem to have much more availability. I check back on the site on a regular basis looking for a cancellation but so far nothing. Right now we don't have travel plans but have a few things we're thinking about. If we plan something before our November appt we'll definitely try "walking-in" which I know has worked for some (go to the appointment site and hope there's been a no-show and they'll take you instead.) Travel, always an adventure!

The new office in DC has lots of appointment openings. Interesting that times for the conditional approval seem to vary so much. When I started this I was hoping we'd be able to get our clearance prior to a Sept trip and it's no problem at all.

Someone who works at the Federal Bldg in Honolulu told me today that if you call, rather than use the computer schedule, you can usually get different dates, and many will even take you as a walk-in if you show up on a slow day. She said it depends a lot on who you talk with, but most of them do.

Global Entry just saved me a huge amount of aggravation.

I was flying from Hong Kong to Boston via Chicago, Cathay Pacific on the long-haul and AA to BOS. Schedule had plenty of time -- nearly 3 hours -- for the connection plus time to shower and relax in the lounge.

But a bizarre problem in HKG -- the push-back tug broke down, and it took 2 hours to extract it from the plane. The plane eventually pulls up to the gate in Chicago at 2:05, leaving me 45 minutes before the doors would close on my 3:00 flight to Boston. Before I could get to that flight, though, I'd need to clear immigration, wait for my checked suitcase to arrive, clear customs, hand the bag over to AA at the Int'l terminal, take the shuttle train from Int'l terminal to the AA terminal, clear security, and get to the gate. I didn't think I had a prayer.

But a combination of good fortune, Global Entry, and airline competency made it happen. First hurdle was immigration, where it would surely have been a 30 minute or more wait without Global Entry. But there was no line at the kiosk, and I was 2nd in line for the interview. Best of all, my suitcase came off the belt less than 10 minutes after we'd landed. (Not entirely an accident, though: Cathay is terrific at making sure that all the 1st Class passengers bags get to the carousel first, and quickly.) No lines at customs, another 10 minutes to drop the bag and get the train to the AA terminal. Global Entry also let me use the PreCheck line for security, which was its usual breeze. A 10-minute walk to gate H11, and made the flight with at least 10 minutes to spare. Without GE, I would never have made the flight.

I was flying on a 1st-class award ticket; if I'd missed the connecting flight, I'd likely have wound up with a middle seat in economy on the next flight a couple of hours later. Not exactly desirable after the marathon trip from Hong Kong.