Global Entry for my son

[Skyman 321]

I (USC) and my wife (LPR) have Global Entry cards.  Our son was born last October.  In January I found out that our GE cards cover him for TSA Precheck, but he needs his own GE card for int'l travel.

 

In January, I applied for his GE and at the time, the website said they were running about 4-6 months.  It's going to be 6 months in a few days.  I'm not sure how much background checking you can do on an 8 month old.  I figured this would go pretty quick.

 

Anyone have any experience getting GE for an infant?  How long is GE taking now? (For anyone of any age.)  We are flying back to the US in September (to start wife's N-400) and would like to do his 'interview' on arrival.

 

He might be able to answer Who is your mama?  dada? by then.

[milimelo 4,477]

I had GE for my kids within months of birth. Took a while to get an "interview" appointment but it was just to take the child's picture, fingerprints weren't done. I think for one child it's a pic of barely awake infant and not much better for the second one. Luckily you renew every 5 years as with their passport so they'll have a picture more resembling their current age then 🙂 

[Skyman 321]

1 hour ago, milimelo said:

I had GE for my kids within months of birth. Took a while to get an "interview" appointment but it was just to take the child's picture, fingerprints weren't done. I think for one child it's a pic of barely awake infant and not much better for the second one. Luckily you renew every 5 years as with their passport so they'll have a picture more resembling their current age then 🙂 

That's what I would expect.  Wonder why ours is taking so long,

[OldUser 6,633]

13 hours ago, Skyman said:

That's what I would expect.  Wonder why ours is taking so long,

I think it's location dependent?

Which enrollment center is the closest to you?

[Skyman 321]

29 minutes ago, OldUser said:

I think it's location dependent?

Which enrollment center is the closest to you?

Our address is near Youngstown, OH

 Probably closest to Cleveland but not really sure where are the processing centers.

[top_secret 2,417]

I think sometimes it's completely random if someone winds up in the two day camp or the six month camp.  I have definitely seen a thread somewhere on the subject a newborn infant taking six month to get conditional approval and how ridiculous that was.

 

In our case, my wife took six months and her daughter took two days. 

[Skyman 321]

Well, like I said, at the time of application, they were posting 4-6 months. It's been about 7 months now and the recording is saying 14.  Geesh.  And I think it's easier to contact USCIS than the TSA.

[Skyman 321]

Final update. 

 

January 20th, applied for GE for my not yet 2 month old.

 

September 13th, flying back to the US. 

 

September 11th, GE conditionally approved. 

 

Really,  cut it down to the wire, eh?  No idea if our return had anything to do with the approval but I doubt it.

[OldUser 6,633]

2 hours ago, Skyman said:

Final update. 

 

January 20th, applied for GE for my not yet 2 month old.

 

September 13th, flying back to the US. 

 

September 11th, GE conditionally approved. 

 

Really,  cut it down to the wire, eh?  No idea if our return had anything to do with the approval but I doubt it.

Oh I missed the part your son was outside of the US. I always thought GE can only be approved while in the US? If true, this explains it.

 

 

[Skyman 321]

4 hours ago, OldUser said:

Oh I missed the part your son was outside of the US. I always thought GE can only be approved while in the US? If true, this explains it.

 

 

We're still outside the US.  Going back tomorrow.  We were in the US when we applied and for 4 moths afterwards.  It wouldn't make sense them not approving outside the US because they allow/encourage doing the interview on the next Int'l entry.  We will try to do that at LAX tomorrow but we don't have a very long layover.  

[OldUser 6,633]

17 minutes ago, Skyman said:

We're still outside the US.  Going back tomorrow.  We were in the US when we applied and for 4 moths afterwards.  It wouldn't make sense them not approving outside the US because they allow/encourage doing the interview on the next Int'l entry.  We will try to do that at LAX tomorrow but we don't have a very long layover.  

Well, they approve after interview, right? You got conditional approval. Looks like approval can only happen when somebody is on US soil, but I may be wrong. Please keep us posted.

Edited September 12 by OldUser

[Lil bear 4,189]

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

Well, they approve after interview, right? You got conditional approval. Looks like approval can only happen when somebody is on US soil, but I may be wrong. Please keep us posted.

Correct. Final approval required a face to face interview. 

[Skyman 321]

9 hours ago, OldUser said:

Well, they approve after interview, right? You got conditional approval. Looks like approval can only happen when somebody is on US soil, but I may be wrong. Please keep us posted.

There are actually a number of non-US interview sites. 

 

 

[Lil bear 4,189]

1 hour ago, Skyman said:

There are actually a number of non-US interview sites. 

 

 

Thx for the info. Good to know !