As part of the fee increase to $120 Global Entry is now free for children if a parent/guardian is already a member or if they are applying. Global Entry defines a child as anybody under the age of 18. For some reason if you’re applying for a child that was born in 2024 there is a small bug that requires you to change their birth year before adding the parent/guardian and then going back and changing the birth year back.
Hat tip to reddit user stallbackbottle
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Thanks for posting! Good to know. Of course now I can't use those global entry credits on all the different credit cards I have.
If the kids don't have passports yet, can you do this deal? I get to the 2nd step of the GE application and the only option for proof of citizenship is "Passport".
For my older kids, who are nearly 18, I would like to set them up with this now before they turn 18 if possible so they have it for 5 years. Even if they don't get passports, the TSA precheck aspect would be useful for traveling back & forth to college.
Nevermind, I'll answer my own question as it seems like an obvious answer now that I've had my coffee and actually read through it. It's a "no".
High subsidized child care seems more practical
GE approval is fast, just don't get the horror stories, maybe those got arrested before or invisible for the gov. Applied online, got conditionally approved next day and approved a week later at ATL. Received the card in the mail 3 days later. I'm not sure why some has to wait 11 months or even more...
Applied before I was a citizen.
I applied in early 2018 and did some police verification in my home country by end of 2018. Got my GE approval in mid 2022 :)
There’s definitely a bell curve. I don’t think it’s just arrests, it could be name collisions, immigration status (since it’s not just US sole citizens getting it), etc. What I’ve found is there seems to be some sort of second pile for review and when you go from one to the other your time spikes.
This is ignoring how long it is to get an interview, because most people don’t EoA for some reason. If the takeaway for not doing EoA is “I’m not gonna be at an arrival point any time soon”, don’t get GE.
Yeah, it seems if you pass the computer review, its fast. But if any single thing flags a concern, it goes into a manual review process. And then it takes months.
Count your blessings. I have a squeaky clean record. Not even a traffic ticket. I had to wait for 10 months back in 2021-22.
I am trying to remember what happened in 2021-22 that slowed everything.
thankfully i didn't have an issue with tsa about this but recently i made a points reservation for flights with southwest airlines. my son (4 years old) has his own southwest account with points so i had to make separate reservations for us in order for his flight to be booked with his points. because we made separate reservations and not one reservation with him attached to mine, i received tsa pre-check but he didn't. therefore i'm happy to read that he can have his own pre-check number. i'll apply for that today. thanks!
kids under 12 dont need TSA precheck of their own. they can go with the parent(s) who have TSA precheck. https://www.tsa.gov/precheck/faq
So do you have to give CBP your kids' fingerprints, and will CBP keep them forever in a government database? Trying not to be the tin foil hat guy, but I don't understand the privacy situation.
Yep, the kids get fingerprinted too. That's the trade-off for all of these "less security" programs.
Mine didn’t. Just got photo take. Though age might be a factor she’s less than 1
I already have a GE, and now I want to have my kids under 18 to have one as well (for free). How can I proceed? Do I make online accounts for each of my kids first?
Or do I first register my kids in my own online account?
You create them an account -- we have screenshots here: https://katiestraveltricks.com/tsaprecheck/#toc_Getting_Global_Entry_For_Kids
Thanks for this article. I have a friend who needs to renew his global entry early next year and has some young kids that can take advantage of this free Global Entry perk.
Each kid needs their own TTP account and the application needs to be submitted from the respective accounts.
illegal discrimination based on age
Age is only a protected class for those 40 and over.
is that how home insurance can charge more for younger home owner? cause they be like need 20 years of home insurance history for lower deductible
It seems you need a few more years until you understand the difference between a deductible and a premium.
I mis-typed. I meant to write premium.
Is it really required if kids are traveling with the parents I thought they get through anyway even without their own Global entry so long as parent they are traveling with has it. This has been my experience in practice making this necessary only if the kid is traveling without the parent.
Land borders into the US require global entry, Nexus or Sentri for everybody in the vehicle
Kids need own GE. i did GE with an infant and then got stopped and had to do the long line cause i was oblivious to this.
TSA that is the case. Global entry, they always needed their own
Also TSA only lets kids up to 13 go through with parents. After that the child needs their own TSA pre as well. Which global includes, which is nice.
For TSA pre, kids without global entry can go with parents, but for Global entry, kids had to have their own.
In my experience, twice, yep. Husband and I both had GE but our kid (1.5yr old) didn't and they denied us entirely.
Yes, this was the case with me and my son. However, in their teens you may start to see Global Entry denying them unless they have their own card.
It was communicated to me in no uncertain terms that everybody, even infants, need their own global entry
Can confirm from multiple US airports that the kids need their own. The funny part is that they still insist on interviewing a toddler.
Wish I'd known this was coming before renewing all four of my kids a few months ago! (Various credit cards covered 3 of the 4 fees though.)
This has been known for a while now. Sorry that you didn't get the message.
I did it last month for my kid :-) covered by the card, but still.