Sterling, Va. - Global Entry, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection initiative to speed pre-approved trusted travelers through international arrivals processing, surpassed 75,000 users at Washington-Dulles International Airport on Monday.
Dulles is the nation's second busiest Global Entry airport, trailing only George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport by about 3,500 user sessions.
Since its inception on June 6, 2008, Global Entry members have processed their international arrivals 75,058 times on one of the 14 Dulles self-help kiosks. Global Entry lines are short and each session lasts less than one minute. Comparatively, it could take as long as 60 minutes for the last person in the primary inspection line to complete their entry admission during peak arrival periods.
"This is a significant milestone and Washington-Dulles International Airport continues as one of our nation's pace setters for trusted traveler processing," said Christopher Hess, CBP port director for the Port of Washington (DC). "We are proud of being one of only two Global Entry airports to surpass 75,000 user sessions."
Global Entry is a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Members use automated kiosks, essentially by-passing relatively lengthy passport processing lines.
Nationally, more than 97,000 members have enrolled in Global Entry since June 6, 2008. Those travelers have used Global Entry kiosks nearly 570,000 times. Average processing time for all 76 Global Entry kiosks at the 20 participating airports is about 56 seconds.
"Clearly, this program works," Hess said. "Trusted travelers enrolled in Global Entry shave their entry processing time considerably. Returning to the United States from overseas is quick and easy."
More than 3 million international travelers arrived to Washington-Dulles International Airport during 2010. On a peak travel day, as many as 10,000 international travelers may process their arrivals here.
Washington-Dulles is one of three original airports to deploy Global Entry. John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston were the others. Global Entry has since expanded to include 20 airports.
Participation is voluntary. Participants must possess a machine-readable U.S. passport or permanent resident card, pay a non-refundable $100 application fee, submit an online application at the Global Entry Web site and complete an interview at a CBP enrollment center.
Interested participants can apply or learn more about Global Entry online. For more information, please visit the Global Entry Web site.
For more information on other CBP Trusted Traveler opportunities, please visit the CBP Trusted Traveler Web site.