For foreign visitors, arriving at a U.S airport is an ordeal verging on the traumatic, with queues that are frequently extremely long and border agents that are usually aggressive and unfriendly.
However, it turns out there is a way for tourists to make the stress vanish and breeze through U.S customs in under 60 seconds – while avoiding those fiery border agents altogether.
What’s more – there’s a way of doing this for free.
Sound too good to be true? Nicky Kelvin, travel expert and Editor at Large at The Points Guy, has revealed how it’s done.
In an Instagram post he explains that the secret is to sign up to the Global Entry program.
This enables members, after international travel, to enter the U.S, at participating airports, simply by checking-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 that his experience of the system is ‘almost always excellent’.
He revealed: ‘On my most recent visit to the U.S, 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 queued for two hours.’
Nicky Kelvin, Editor at Large at The Points Guy, reveals in an Instagram post how to breeze through U.S customs in under 60 seconds while avoiding fiery border agents. The trick is to sign up to the Global Entry program
Global Entry members are pre-screened and can enter the U.S, 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 in advance of arrival by beginning the application process ahead of time and receiving notification that you are ‘conditionally approved’.
Nicky said: ‘The interview is more of an identity check. Usually involving 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 U.S. I completed my interview at JFK Airport in New York and it took around five minutes.’
Nicky is wholeheartedly enthusiastic about Global Entry, pointing out that enrollment automatically grants members ‘TSA pre-check’ status, meaning that they can go through security in the U.S without removing shoes, belts, liquids, laptops, or light jackets.
Global Entry isn’t free when you sign up, but Nicky points out that some U.S credit cards will redeem the cost and insists it’s ‘excellent value’ regardless.
Global Entry is available for citizens of 15 countries, including those from the UK
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 need to pay this again when you renew after five years – and the main fee of US$120/£95.
‘You will pay this again after five years to renew. I believe it represents excellent value for anyone visiting the U.S once or more per year. Even a couple of visits in five years would make sense.
‘Most will not regret that outlay after their first experience of turning a two-hour queue into a non-existent one.’
Global Entry is available for citizens of 15 countries (with Australians unfortunately not eligible): Argentina, Brazil, Bahrain, Dominican Republic, India, Colombia, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Panama, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Mexico.
For more from The Points Guy visit thepointsguy.com.
