Global Entry Application Questions and Interview, Side by Side

The global entry application questions on the online Trusted Traveler Programs (TTP) form cover your identity and passport, 5 years of addresses, 5 years of employment, 5 years of international travel, and yes/no questions on criminal, customs and immigration history. The CBP officer at your interview mostly re-checks those same answers out loud, so gather the history before you pay the $120 fee.

NEXUS and SENTRI use the same TTP system and the same $120 fee, so most of this applies to them too. The sections below put the form and the interview side by side, then walk through what happens to your calendar after you submit.

The global entry application questions, in form order

The online form asks for the following, roughly in this order:

1. Full name, plus any other names you have used
2. Date and place of birth
3. Phone numbers
4. Citizenship and passport: number, issue date and expiry date
5. Driver's license number and expiry date
6. Current home address
7. Every previous address in the past 5 years
8. Current employer details
9. Every employer in the past 5 years
10. Countries visited in the past 5 years, other than the US, Canada and Mexico
11. Yes/no questions: criminal convictions in any country, waivers of inadmissibility, customs violations, immigration violations

Most of the interview questions go back at least five years too, according to NerdWallet. That is why the 5-year lists matter: they are the script the officer checks you against.

Form section versus interview question

Edge cases on the form

• Retired or unemployed: You still fill in the employment section. Enter your status as retired or unemployed now, and list earlier employers that fall inside the 5-year window.
• A conviction: Answer yes and have the court documents or final disposition ready. Autopilot says to bring them if your conditional approval notice asks.
• More than one passport: Bring all of them to the interview (Autopilot).
• SENTRI or NEXUS and driving across the border: The application can also ask for vehicle information, so have your plate and vehicle details on hand.
• Under 18: The fee is waived when a parent is a member or is applying at the same time (Security Wait Times, citing CBP; Autopilot).
• Address changed since you applied: Update your TTP profile before the interview. If your license shows an old address, Autopilot says to bring proof of address dated within 90 days.

What the officer asks at the interview

Reported interview questions fall into five groups (TTPRadar's 27-question list, Autopilot, NerdWallet):

1. Identity check. Name, date of birth, address, employer, and whether any of it changed.
2. Background. Arrests, convictions, customs violations, visa overstays, denied entry, pending charges.
3. Travel. Countries you visited in the past 5 years, the purpose, and how often. Give a number such as "three to four times a year" rather than "sometimes."
4. Why you want Global Entry. A short, honest answer is enough.
5. Program rules and curveballs. Examples: what you would do if a friend asked you to carry something undeclared, and whether you have ever forgotten to declare something.

Applicants also report being asked whether they ever transported something without knowing what was in it, whether they ever renounced US citizenship, and whether they hold a second passport or another citizenship.

Consistency beats a spotless record

The officer already has your background check. TTPRadar's advice is that a mismatch between your form and your spoken answers looks worse than a record you disclosed. If you list five trips on the form, do not say two in the room.

One anecdotal point from a reader thread online: an expunged arrest may still need to be disclosed when you are asked about arrests. That is one reader's account, not legal advice. If you have an expunged or sealed record, ask an attorney before you submit.

What to bring and how long it takes

• Passport (all passports if you hold more than one)
• A second ID or proof of address
• Green card, if you are a permanent resident
• Any document named in your conditional approval notice

Reported interview lengths differ: under 10 minutes (TTPRadar), 10 to 15 minutes (Autopilot), 5 to 30 minutes (NerdWallet). Plan 30 to 45 minutes at the center once you count check-in and fingerprints.

After you are approved, you will meet a different set of questions at the airport kiosk. Those are covered in Global Entry questions kiosk explained.

Fee and processing numbers

• Fee: $120 for Global Entry, NEXUS and SENTRI, paid with the application. It rose from $100 on October 1, 2024 (NEXUS went from $50 to $120). The fee is non-refundable even if you are denied. Some pages, including a cached CBP how-to-apply version, still show $100.
• Review time: CBP says 80% of applications are approved within 2 weeks, and some take 12 months or longer. NerdWallet cites a CBP estimate of 6 to 12 months for the whole process.
• Interview deadline: You have 730 days from conditional approval to complete the interview, or the application is cancelled.
• Membership: 5 years.

Worked example: what happens to your calendar after you submit

The dates below are made-up numbers to show the arithmetic. Your real numbers come from the live pages.

1. Day 0: You submit the form and pay $120.
2. Day 14: You are in the 80% that CBP says is approved within 2 weeks. Conditional approval starts your 730-day clock, so 716 days remain.
3. Compare centers. Open Global Entry appointment availability and your center's page under /location/. Each center shows its next bookable date, which is the earliest date on the calendar. It does not tell you whether a slot is open right now. Then check a nearby center, and see typical waits on Global Entry wait times. NEXUS applicants can use NEXUS wait times, and SENTRI applicants can use the SENTRI wait-times page at /sentri-wait-times.
4. Do the math. Suppose your home airport's next bookable date is 150 days out and a center 90 minutes away shows 45 days out.

Enrollment on Arrival lets a conditionally approved applicant finish the interview after landing on an international flight at participating airports, including JFK, LAX, SFO, ORD, ATL and MIA, with no appointment. Waits there depend on staffing (Autopilot, Security Wait Times). It only helps if you have an international trip on the calendar.

In this example the 105-day gap between the two centers moves your interview date far more than anything else, and 566 days left of 730 is still plenty. Compare that gap before you pick where to book.

Renewals

You can file a renewal up to 1 year before your membership expires. Benefits continue for a 24-month grace period while a renewal is pending. Some renewals are approved without an interview, and others use a remote interview of about 15 minutes. Autopilot lists the remote-interview requirements: a photo on file from the past 10 years taken after age 14, and fingerprints already on file. The form questions are the same 5-year history, so keep your records current.

If the dates are too far out

Next bookable dates move as centers release new blocks, and people cancel and reschedule. GlobalEntryTexts texts you when a Global Entry, NEXUS or SENTRI interview appointment opens at the enrollment centers you choose. It costs $25, paid once, for 30 days of monitoring, and it is not a subscription. You can watch up to 3 enrollment centers per 30-day window for the same price. No one can promise you an opening, and you book the appointment yourself on ttp.dhs.gov; GlobalEntryTexts never books for you. For a comparison of other options, see best Global Entry alert services.