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US Global Entry appointments available in London for a limited period

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Queuing at American airports can be a pain. Most of the time – unless I am just unlucky – it is incredibly chaotic, overcrowded and time consuming.

In order to make travelling from the UK to the US easier, since December 2015 British citizens have been able to register for Global Entry, making it possible for them to use the ‘fast-track’ entry kiosks at major airports.  Over 8,800 British citizens have already signed up.

The application process starts by requiring you to pass a background check by the British Government which costs £45 and can be done on this website. (You may want to check whether the airports you plan to use are part of the scheme before committing time and money to this process.)

If approved, a fee of $100 must be paid to the US CBP in order to apply to use Global Entry for a 5 year period. However, in order to complete the process, UK citizens had to travel to the US for a personal interview – until now.

For 60 days only, UK citizens who plan to enrol for Global Entry are able to schedule appointments in London at the US Embassy.

On September 26th US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) opened a Global Entry enrolment centre at the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London, just south of Oxford Street.  This makes the enrolment process far easier as you no longer need to line up an interview in the US at the same time as you are over there for a trip.

On arrival in the States, passengers registered with Global Entry are able to use special kiosks.  You must present a machine-readable passport or US permanent residency card, do fingerprint verification and fill out a custom declaration.  You will be issued a transaction receipt and directed to the baggage claim and exit.  You are also able to use TSA Pre✓ where available.  Global Entry does NOT mean that you no longer need an ESTA, however.

The enrolment centre at the US Embassy in London is open Monday – Wednesday 8am-4:30pm by appointment only.  More details can be found here.

Category

General

Comments (47)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Terence Bartlett says:
    9 Oct9 October 10:50

    We tried this system at Mia in May 2016. We followed all the instructions correctly and the machine did not work and we were directed to join the various long queues and wasted valuable time going through the additional entry process.It would have been faster to have just joined the queue.

  • Paul says:
    9 Oct9 October 13:46

    I also have approval for myself & my wife from GE – but getting the “Currently there are no available appointments at this enrollment center. Please check later for openings or choose another enrollment center.”. So that’s $100 plus £21 times two that I’m out of pocket (we have to book appointment slots within 30 days), Is this something that Trading Standards (is there a Berkeley Square department) can look at?

    • Paul says:
      9 Oct9 October 14:39

      You have to book the appointment within 30 days but can schedule it much further ahead and change it as many times as you want until you get a suitable slot so schedule one to coincide with your next trip to the US

    • Alan says:
      9 Oct9 October 16:25

      Once you’ve make a booking within the deadline you can keep moving it as much as you want.

    • JK says:
      10 Oct10 October 10:21

      What is the £21 for? I just applied for the UK Home Office approval, which is £42 per person (just applied for a family of 4).

      Then, I went and applied for the 4 GOES accounts, so I can just plug the number in when I get it from UKHO.

      Wish I’d read the comments earlier though, because having now spent £168, I find I won’t be able to get an appointment! D’oh!! Fingers crossed, they open up again within the 10 days UKHO will need to send me my code… Was rather hoping to wrap it all up during the kids half-term, but I guess it will take longer than that…

  • Adam says:
    10 Oct10 October 17:20

    Just got conditionally approved (UK citizen). I was lucky – managed to bag a slot at the london embassy. There was only 1 slot available. Interestingly it’s on a Thursday – I thought (as per the article) they only run Monday-Wednesday. Perhaps they’re opening up more slots? Any case, if you’ve been conditionally approved, worth checking back frequently as cancellations are bound to happen.

    • JK says:
      11 Oct11 October 09:04

      If you don’t mind me asking – how long did it take, from the time you applied on the GOES website, to being approved and able to book in the interview?

      I was surprised to get my UKHO approvals on the same day! But not sure how long the GOES review process takes.

      Cheers,
      JK

      • Adam says:
        11 Oct11 October 13:27

        Took a day for UKHO, around 10 days for GOES conditional approval then I was lucky to be able to schedule an interview for London right away as there was one slot left!

        Not the best timing so I keep checking back to see if another interview slot opens up – so far haven’t seen any availability.

  • Adam says:
    11 Oct11 October 14:40

    UPDATE: there are a lot more slots available now for London. All slots available for this Thursday and one for Friday. It appears they have opened up Thursday & Fridays.

    • Stuart says:
      12 Oct12 October 05:43

      My interview was last Friday so it must have always been possible but great that the additional slots have been added.

      • Adam says:
        12 Oct12 October 15:08

        Was there a long wait before your interview? Do I need to arrive a bit before? Seen the horrendous queues for visas etc outside the embassy before! Thanks

  • Alastair France says:
    14 Oct14 October 08:56

    Unfortunately there are now no slots available in London again – and you can’t book an interview until everything has gone through and you have paid your $100 and £42. Mine came through yesterday, and completely unable to book – and you have to book within 30 days… (not attend – just book).

    It almost feels like a money-making scam!

    • Alan says:
      14 Oct14 October 09:34

      Although cancellations frequently come up and you can book appointments in the USA too. You’re not limited to bookings in London, I had mine in San Juan, Puerto Rico a few years ago!

  • Peter Bambridge says:
    14 Oct14 October 11:50

    I also hit the no slots available in London message.
    UKHO was back in 14 hrs.
    GOES was back in four days.
    Just waiting for a cancellation in London.
    My trip to Chicago in a few weeks means O’Hare would be an option but they have no availability until end November !
    Can you book a slot and later change location ? (while waiting for cancellation in UK)

  • Joel S says:
    14 Oct14 October 19:01

    I think I’ve been extremely lucky.

    1. ~8 working hours for UK Border Force to pre-check me (I have existing UK Government clearances)

    2. Just 3 working days for US CBP to review the application.

    3. When I got the email saying the status of the application had changed I immediately logged into GOES and found a 10am interview slot at the US Embassy in London the next working day! (that’s logging into GOES about 5pm on Fri 14/10/16 to pick a 10am Mon 17/10/16 slot)

    I did check the rest of Oct; Nov and Dec and there wasn’t a single slot! (Which I think is past the available slots in London anyway?)

  • Peter Bambridge says:
    21 Oct21 October 16:34

    Great News !

    I got a cancellation at two days notice, and yesterday attended my interview at the American Embassy. Delighted to say I received the email confirmation a few minutes after my interview. All sorted 🙂

    I only applied for Global Entry because I read the recent article on how the appointments were opening up in London. So thanks again for timely and relevant information.

    I will think of you as I don’t queue in Chicago next month.

    • Peter Bambridge says:
      21 Oct21 October 16:36

      For those looking for a London appointment – keep checking back on the website !
      I caught a cancellation on the 30th time !

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