US Global Entry Program

I travel back to or through the US at least 4 times a year and I've seen the folks whizzing through immigration at these special kiosks. I almost missed a connection once in Dallas due to a mob in the immigration lines and not enough agents working one Sat. am. My question is: does anyone have experience applying for this program as I want to know what the time lag is between the acceptance of your online application and your invitation to the in person interview plus wait time for that appt? I'd like to apply now for a trip in 4 weeks but fear I might be too close to be able to do the interview part in Phoenix before I come back this time. Thanks for any input.

I've gone through the program. It doesn't take long to get a "conditional approval" - once you have that, you can then look at the calendar of appointments available for interviews in the different cities - I went to Phoenix. At the interview, if you're approved, you have immediate access to the system. So it's all about the interview appointments available.

Minervajt is right; conditional approval comes pretty quickly, and then it all depends on where you choose to do your interview. Dates and times of availability vary widely, so shop around if you can be flexible.
As you noted, the program really makes entering the US easy: not only do you breeze through passport control via a scanner, there are special customs lanes, too, so you don't wait in line once you pick up your luggage.
Finally, Mexico has their own version of this program, and is offering reciprocity with the US program (for a small fee, of course). It was not at GDL last time I checked, but should be soon.

NoVaDamer wrote:Minervajt is right; conditional approval comes pretty quickly, and then it all depends on where you choose to do your interview.  Dates and times of availability vary widely, so shop around if you can be flexible.  
As you noted, the program really makes entering the US easy: not only do you breeze through passport control via a scanner, there are special customs lanes, too, so you don't wait in line once you pick up your luggage.
Finally, Mexico has their own version of this program, and is offering reciprocity with the US program (for a small fee, of course).  It was not at GDL last time I checked, but should be soon.

Thanks for that info as I'd heard about reciprocity with the NEXUS and SENTRI programs and wondered if we'd get it here sometime too. I wonder if you bypass the officer with the rubber stamp in your passport if that would cause problems for those who want to prove all their "ins and outs" for Mexican citizenship or other requirements in the future?