We made a quick trip to DC earlier this week. My daughter commented that it felt good to be back around tourists. Our trip was not to see the sights this time, we were there for our interviews, the last step to renewing our Global Entry. We completed the paperwork quite a while ago, but still needed to do in person interviews. The most convenient way for us to do that was a trip to DC. I have had several interactions with the officers at the Pennsylvania Ave location, all have been stellar. While Richmond has an office that is hours closer (especially with Summer traffic) they actually staff that office less than 10 hours a week. You can imagine the wait to secure an appointment! With the DC office we were able to secure appointments just a few weeks out, and for all three of us on the same day, which was much more difficult than you would think. Until early 2020 the DC office even took walk in’s without needing an appointment. We drove up to DC the day before, had a wonderful dinner at Zaytinya, did some sightseeing and were able to stay with my brother in the District. The next morning we decided to drive down to the Ronald Regan building to see if we could move our appointments up to avoid rush hour traffic on the way home. Just as in my other interactions, they could not have been more accommodating. We were in and out of the office in about 15 minutes. The officer actually told me that as long as you have an appointment for that day, they will take you earlier as long as there is no one waiting. Afterwards we met a friend for coffee, had a great lunch and were home before dinner time. Before we could even make it home we had emails that our Global Entry status had been updated and we were good until 2026.
For those of you who are getting ready to renew or are in the process I highly recommend a visit to DC for your interview. I should note that they also have begun to offer a limited number of interviews via Zoom. While none were available when we were scheduling, it would not have been an option for my family as Zoom interviews are only offered to 18 and over, not for minors.
Should you have questions about Global Entry please don’t hesitate to reach out, it’s worth every penny to secure TSA pre check and to skip those immigration lines when flying back to the States. You don’t even have to dig for a pen and your passport to fill out those forms they pass out on returning flights!
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