A Guide to Global Entry Renewal

Caroline Morse Teel is the Managing Editor for SmarterTravel Media. Follow her on Instagram @TravelWithCaroline.

Caroline joined Boston-based SmarterTravel in 2011 after living in Ireland, London, and Manhattan. She's traveled to all seven continents, jumped out of planes, and bungeed off bridges in the pursuit of a good story. She loves exploring off-the-beaten path destinations, anything outdoorsy, and all things adventure.

Her stories have also appeared online at USA Today, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Yahoo, Boston.com, TripAdvisor, Buzzfeed, Jetsetter, Oyster, Airfarewatchdog, and others.

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E-mail her at cteel@smartertravel.com.

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If you’re a Global Entry member, you probably agree: It’s the best $100 you’ll ever spend on travel. Once you’ve skipped the painfully long border control lines on return to the U.S., you don’t want to go back to waiting with everyone else—so you’d better make sure you don’t let your membership expire. Here’s what you need to do for Global Entry renewal.

When to Start Your Global Entry Renewal

You can renew your Global Entry membership beginning one year before yours expires.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recommends that members renew Global Entry early to prevent a lapse in membership.
If you renew early, the additional five years will be added on to your expiration date, so you aren’t losing any time by completing your Global Entry renewal before the deadline.

How to Renew Global Entry

Log in to your Global Entry account on the CBP’s Trusted Traveler Page and fill out the “renew application” form.
Pay $100, which covers your membership for the next five years.
In some cases, you may be required to complete an in-person interview, so you’ll need to schedule an appointment at a Global Entry office in order to finalize your renewal.
If you aren’t flagged for an interview, you will be mailed your new Global Entry card to the address you have on file.
Once your Global Entry renewal is conditionally approved, you’ll receive an email indicating a status change to let you know that you’ve been either approved or conditionally approved with a requirement to schedule an interview. (This information is also posted to your Trusted Traveler account.)

Important Tips for Global Entry Renewal

If you also need to renew or get a new passport or driver’s license, you must also update that information on your Trusted Traveler account.
Changing your name? You won’t be able to update that online, so once you’ve received your new passport and driver’s license showing the change, you’ll have to go to an enrollment center to add the new documents to your account. Appointments are not accepted for this service, so you’ll need to do a walk-in.
If an interview is required for your renewal, and you are booked on an international flight, CBP may offer you the option of doing your interview upon arriving home.

Personal Experience with Renewing Global Entry

I submitted my Global Entry renewal about one year before my membership was due to expire. I was not notified that I had been approved, but approximately three months later, I received my new Global Entry card in the mail, along with a letter of approval.

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Caroline Morse Teel posts plenty of travel tips, including on Global Entry renewal. Follow her on Instagram @TravelWithCaroline for advice and inspiration.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2018. It has been updated to reflect the most current information.

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