How Much Is SENTRI? $120, Plus Add-On Costs and Family Math

How much is SENTRI? The CBP fee is $120 per adult for a 5-year membership, paid in full when you submit the application, and it is non-refundable. Kids under 18 pay $0 when they apply with a parent or legal guardian, an extra vehicle costs $42, and a replacement card costs $25.

Anything you read that says $122.25 or $122.50 is out of date. Those figures come from the old fee structure, which ended on October 1, 2024.

How much is SENTRI: every fee in one table

The fees below come from the Federal Register final rule (89 FR 22607, effective October 1, 2024) and CBP's SENTRI page.

Three details change the total:

• Every person in the car needs their own pass to use the SENTRI lane, so the kids' $0 fee only helps if they apply alongside you or after you are a member. A parent or guardian must attend the minor's interview.
• Vehicles are the add-on most people miss. One vehicle is free at initial application or renewal. After that, each one is $42, paid online through the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) system. You may see a claim that Global Entry members can add a SENTRI vehicle for free. The Federal Register says it is free only at initial application or renewal.
• The lost-card fee is $25. Border Times and Upgraded Points both cite CBP's fee page for that figure.

SENTRI membership also carries Global Entry and TSA PreCheck benefits for US citizens and lawful permanent residents once fingerprints and documents are on file. For comparison, Global Entry and NEXUS are also $120 since October 1, 2024, and TSA PreCheck costs $78–$85 for 5 years, depending on the enrollment provider. For the differences between the programs, see the Global Entry vs TSA PreCheck vs NEXUS vs SENTRI comparison.

Worked example: what real families pay

The old structure was $122.25 per person: a $25 application fee, an $82.75 systems fee and a $14.50 FBI fingerprint fee, paid in stages. Kids paid it too. The Federal Register uses family examples to show the change.

Worked example 1: a single parent and a 14-year-old

• Old structure: 2 × $122.25 = $244.50
• Now: $120 for the parent, $0 for the child = $120
• Savings: $124.50

Worked example 2: two parents and two 14-year-olds

• Now: 2 × $120 for the parents, $0 for each child = $240
• Under the old structure, four people at $122.25 each would have been $489.

Add-ons on the family of four

• One more vehicle than the included ones: $240 + $42 = $282
• Plus one replacement card later: $282 + $25 = $307

If the same teen applied alone, the bill would be $120, so the $0 only applies when the parent applies with them or is already a member.

Does SENTRI pay for itself?

CBP estimates SENTRI saves about 15 minutes per crossing. At $20.40 an hour, that is about $5.10 per crossing.

• $120 over 5 years is $24 a year.
• $24 divided by $5.10 is about 4.7, so roughly 5 crossings a year break even on the fee.

That is CBP's time-value estimate, so your own break-even depends on how long your usual lane takes. The site's free Global Entry cost-per-trip calculator is built around Global Entry, so for SENTRI, run the same fee-divided-by-crossings math by hand with the $120 fee, as above.

On credit cards: the sources we reviewed list no major card that reimburses the SENTRI fee, unlike Global Entry. One issuer's travel credit of up to $120 covers only Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Check your card's own terms before you count on a credit.

The cost the fee doesn't cover: waiting

Under the rules in effect since October 1, 2024, the whole $120 is paid when you submit the application. If you are denied, it is not refunded and you pay the full $120 again to reapply. Under the old structure, applicants who didn't get conditional approval paid only $25. Now they pay $120, which CBP calculates as $95 more.

So you pay before you know when you will get an interview. The Federal Register puts the average SENTRI application at about one year from receipt to final decision. CBP also says vehicle enrollment can take up to 12 months. Third-party guides quote 2–6 months from application to card. Your wait changes with the enrollment center you pick.

Before you pay, compare centers on the SENTRI wait times page, the site's live wait-time page for SENTRI enrollment centers. For one center's detail, see Otay Mesa or the other SENTRI centers listed on the SENTRI locations page.

How to pay

You can pay with a credit card, electronic bank transfer, money order or certified check. Paper Form I-823S applications no longer exist, so everything goes through the TTP system at ttp.cbp.dhs.gov.

If the interview date is the problem

The fee is fixed at $120, so the part you can still change is the date. GlobalEntryTexts texts you when a 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 for that price, and monitoring runs 24/7. No texts go out between 10pm and 5am in the center's local time.

You book the appointment yourself on ttp.dhs.gov; the service never books for you. See the SENTRI alerts page for details.