For foreign visitors, arriving at a US airport is an ordeal bordering on the traumatic, with lines that are often extremely long and border agents that are usually aggressive and unfriendly.
However, it turns out there’s a way for tourists to make the stress disappear through US customs in less than 60 seconds — while avoiding those pesky border agents altogether.
What’s more – there is a way to do it for free.
Sound too good to be true? Nicky Kelvintravel expert and editor-in-chief at The Points Guy, revealed how it’s done.
In a Instagram post he explains that the secret is to sign up for the Global Entry program.
It allows members to enter the US after international travel, at participating airportssimply by logging in at a ‘Global Entry Kiosk’. There is no paperwork and no need to step into a processing line.
Nicky, a signed up member, told MailOnline his experience of the system is ‘almost always excellent’.
He revealed: ‘On my most recent visit to the US I arrived with a group of friends. Two had Global Entry and three did not. Global Entry helped the two of us clear immigration in less than 60 seconds. Our friends without Global Entry stood in line for two hours.’
Nicky Kelvin, Editor at Large at The Points Guy, reveals in an Instagram post how to breeze through US customs in less than 60 seconds while avoiding hot-headed border agents. The trick is to sign up for the Global Entry program
Global Entry members are pre-screened and can enter the US, at participating airports, simply by checking in at a ‘Global Entry Kiosk’
So how does it work?
The secret to the system is that Global Entry members are pre-screened, a process that involves an online application and then a short interview at a Global Entry Enrollment Center.
These can be found at airports across the United States and interviews can be set up prior to arrival through the beginning of the application process ahead of time and receive notification that you have been ‘conditionally approved’.
Nicky said: ‘The interview is more of an identity check. This usually involves checking documents and taking fingerprints, for example.
‘The easiest way for Brits to complete the interview is to arrange to do it on arrival the next time they fly to the US. I completed my interview at JFK airport in New York and it took about five minutes.’
Nicky is wholeheartedly enthusiastic about Global Entry, pointing out that entry automatically grants members ‘TSA pre-check’ status, meaning they can pass through security in the US without removing shoes, belts, liquids, laptops or light jackets pull.
Global Access isn’t free when you sign up, but Nicky points out that some US credit cards will cover the cost and insists it’s “excellent value” regardless.
Global Entry is available to citizens of 15 countries, including those of the United Kingdom
He explains: ‘There are two parts to the fee and membership lasts for five years. There is an initial one-off fee of £42, a UK processing fee – you don’t have to pay this again when you renew after five years – and the main fee of US$120/£95.
‘You will pay it again after five years to renew. I believe it represents excellent value for anyone who visits the US once or more per year. Even a few visits in five years would make sense.
“Most will not regret that expense after their first experience of turning a two-hour queue into a non-existent one.”
Global Entry is available to citizens of 15 countries (with Australians unfortunately not eligible): Argentina, Brazil, Bahrain, Dominican Republic, India, Colombia, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Panama, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland , Taiwan and Mexico.
For more from The Points Guy visit thepointsguy.com.
