How to Renew Global Entry Membership

Good news: renewing your Global Entry membership usually takes less time than when you first applied. That's because you're unlikely to need to book an interview at an enrollment center.

In this article, we'll look at the Global Entry renewal process.

The 24-month grace period

If you plan to renew your Global Entry membership, you can start the process anytime within 1 year of the membership expiring. So, if you are in year 4 of the 5 years of membership then you can start the re-enrollment process.

If you start the re-enrollment process before your membership expires, then you may be eligible for a 24-month grace period where you can continue to enjoy the benefits of your Global Entry membership for an additional 2 years while you are re-enrolling. This can be extremely helpful as the re-enrollment process is not always quick.

If your membership has already expired, you will not be able to take advantage of the grace period and will need to wait until your re-enrollment application is approved to receive the benefits of Global Entry again.

The steps to renew your Global Entry membership

If you are ready to renew your membership, follow these steps to get the process started.

1. Go to the official Trusted Traveler Website and log in to access your dashboard
2. Click Manage membership to get to the Trusted Traveler Program enrollment page
3. Click the Renew Application button to get to your personal info page
4. Change any personal information that is no longer up to date
5. Next you can select the program you would like to renew (Global Entry) and click Next to get to application page
6. You may be asked to fix any errors about your personal information so just follow the steps to fix those and click Update to move to the application page
7. On the application page, select Certify at the bottom of the page to get to the certification page
8. Answer yes or no to whether or not you certify and click Next to get to the final review page
9. Now you will need to make your payment which is $100 for an additional 5 years. Check out this list of credit cards that include a free Global Entry application fee to see if you may be able to skip the fee

Once you have made your payment, your renewal application will be submitted to a Customs and Border Protection officer to review. If everything checks out, you will be conditionally approved, just like when you applied for the first time.

Will I need to do another interview?

You may not need to do another interview. If all your personal information has remained the same and there have not been any significant changes in your life that may impact your ability to be considered a low-risk traveler then there is a chance you may be approved to renew your application without an interview.

You will receive emails from the Customs and Border Protection agency through your official account about any updates to the status of your renewal. You can also regularly check your dashboard on the official site for any changes. If you need to do another interview, then this will show on the dashboard and you will be able to access the interview scheduling page to schedule your interview.

What about Zoom interviews?

In the case that you have to do another interview, the silver lining is that the Customs and Border Protection agency is piloting a new remote interview process exclusively for renewal candidates.

This means you may not need to schedule an in-person interview (and actually go somewhere to do your interview). You can instead schedule a Zoom interview that you can do from the comfort of your own home.

The bad news is similarly to scheduling an in-person interview, it can be difficult to schedule a Zoom interview because there are often "No appointments available" on the scheduling page or the soonest available time is over a year away.

This is due to the high demand for these appointments and limited supply.

If you're having trouble booking an appointment, check out use an alerting service like AppointmentScanner so you get notified via email or SMS whenever new appointments become available.

What if my membership has already expired?

If your membership has already expired, this unfortunately means that you cannot take advantage of the 24 month grace period. You'll have to return to the Trusted Traveler Program website and follow the steps shown to apply for the Global Entry program. You will also not be able to take advantage of the benefits of the program until you are approved again.

If your membership is close to expiring, we recommend that you begin the renewal process sooner rather.