What happens if I lose my card?

Request a replacement in your TTP account under Manage Membership. It costs $25, and the original card is deactivated as soon as you ask for the new one. You can still use your PASS ID as your Known Traveler Number for flights while you wait.

On the back of the card and at the top of your TTP account. You need it to link accounts and to renew.

Can I renew early and keep my benefits?

You can renew 1 year before expiry. If you submit before the membership expires, benefits continue for up to 24 months past the expiration date while CBP processes it.

Does a Global Entry card let me use NEXUS to enter Canada?

No. A Global Entry card is not valid for entering Canada through NEXUS lanes or kiosks. You need a separate NEXUS membership.

Trusted Traveler Program Cards: When Yours Arrives

CBP mails an RFID card to every Global Entry, NEXUS and SENTRI member, and it arrives 2–4 weeks after final approval. These trusted traveler program cards are built for land and sea entry into the U.S.; Global Entry airport kiosks don't take them, and Global Entry cards go only to U.S. citizens, U.S. lawful permanent residents and Mexican nationals.

The card is the last step. The interview is the bottleneck, and the rest of this article adds up the whole timeline so you can see it.

Worked example: from the $120 application to a working card

All three programs cost $120 for 5 years (Global Entry, NEXUS and SENTRI alike, since October 1, 2024). Minors under 18 pay $0 when a parent or guardian is a member or applies at the same time. The 2024 Federal Register notice describes the same TTP application, vetting and interview requirement for all three, so one timeline fits every card.

Here is one applicant, Dana, walked through four stages.

Day 0: apply and pay $120. Dana submits the application in her TTP account.
Conditional approval. CBP's stated range runs from about 2 weeks to 12+ months. Most Global Entry applications are reviewed within about 2 weeks, so the example uses 14 days. NEXUS may be processed in 30 business days, not counting interview scheduling. SENTRI applications that need manual review can take 12–24 months. The approval stage has its own write-up: Global Entry turnaround time.
The interview. Once approved, Dana books an enrollment center. The wait here is the gap between the day she looks and the next bookable date. That date comes from the live pages: Global Entry appointment availability shows each center's next bookable date, and NEXUS wait times and SENTRI wait times cover the other two programs. A next bookable date is the earliest date you can book. It does not mean a slot is open right now.
The card. CBP says new members get the card 2–4 weeks after approval, so the example uses 14 to 28 days. It goes to your U.S. address, or to a designated U.S. point of contact or enrollment center if you have no U.S. address.

I can't print today's date for your center here, because it changes. So the table uses three interview waits as assumptions. Swap in the number from the live page for your center.

Interview wait (next bookable date)	Approval	Card by mail	Card in hand after	Interview share of total
30 days	14 days	14–28 days	58–72 days	42–52%
90 days	14 days	14–28 days	118–132 days	68–76%
180 days	14 days	14–28 days	208–222 days	81–87%

To turn that into a date, add the days to your application date. In the 90-day row, an application on March 1 gives a card in hand between June 27 and July 11. Even with a 30-day wait, the interview is about half the timeline. At 90 days or more it is over two-thirds.

Timeline for a 90-day interview wait: 14 days approval, 90 days interview wait highlighted, then 14–28 days mail, totaling 118–132 days.

What this means for the calendar

The approval and mailing segments barely move. Approval is about 2 weeks for most Global Entry applicants, and the mail takes 2–4 weeks. The interview wait is the only segment that swings from about a month to over half a year. It is also the only one where a lookup can change your result, because the next bookable date at a center shifts as appointments are released and booked.

What the card does: trusted traveler program cards by program

Each card carries an RFID chip. At a SENTRI lane, the lane reads the RFID file number, your data comes up on the CBP officer's screen, and the officer releases you or refers you to secondary inspection.

Where you use it	Global Entry card	NEXUS card	SENTRI card
SENTRI lanes, entering the U.S. by land	Works	Works	Works
NEXUS lanes, entering the U.S. by land or sea	Works	Works	Works
NEXUS lanes or kiosks, entering Canada	Not valid	Works	Not valid
Global Entry airport kiosks in the U.S.	Passport or green card required	Passport or green card required	Passport or green card required
Global Entry kiosks at Canadian Preclearance airports	Passport or green card required	Accepted	Passport or green card required

For entering Canada through NEXUS, a Global Entry member needs a separate NEXUS membership.

A Global Entry member who wants to drive their own vehicle in SENTRI lanes must register it and pass a 7-point inspection at a SENTRI enrollment center. That costs nothing if done with the initial application and $42 afterward.

You don't need the card to use Global Entry at airports

CBP says a card is required only for expedited entry at SENTRI and NEXUS lanes into the U.S. A missing card does not block air travel or TSA PreCheck. Use your PASS ID as the Known Traveler Number. The PASS ID is printed on the back of the card and shown at the top of your TTP account.

Activate, replace and renew

Activate within 30 days of receipt. After that the card won't work at Trusted Traveler lanes. In your TTP account, click "Activate Membership Card" under Program Membership(s).
Replace a card. In TTP, go to Manage Membership, then Request for Global Entry Card. The fee is $25, and the original card is deactivated the moment you request the new one. The Federal Register (89 FR 22733) confirms the $25 replacement fee for NEXUS, including for name changes.
Renew. You can renew 1 year before expiry. If you submit the renewal before your membership expires, you keep benefits for up to 24 months past the expiration date. An interview may not be needed. Pull the PASS ID from the back of your card first.

Don't budget the old $100 figure for any of this. It still appears in one dated section of CBP's FAQ, but the application fee is $120.

Shortening the biggest segment

If your interview wait is 90 days, no tip moves the mail or the approval. The one lever is an earlier interview date. 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 you can watch up to 3 centers. You book the appointment yourself on ttp.dhs.gov. I can't promise you an earlier date.

Before you pay for anything, check the live pages above for your center's next bookable date. That number is the one to put into the table.

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