The Global Entry background check is CBP’s screening of your criminal history, customs and immigration compliance, travel records, and any active law enforcement interest in you, run against federal databases before the agency decides whether you qualify as a low-risk traveler. It’s the gate every applicant has to clear, and the regulation gives U.S. Customs and Border Protection sole discretion over what counts as disqualifying. A clean file usually clears in about two weeks. A flagged one can sit for a year or more.
What CBP Checks
Once you submit your application through the Trusted Traveler Programs website, CBP runs your information against criminal, law enforcement, customs, immigration, agriculture, and terrorist databases, along with biometric fingerprint checks.1U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Trusted Traveler Program Denials The electronic review cross-references everything you entered against what the federal government already has on you: five years of addresses, every employer with physical locations, and every country you’ve visited other than Canada and Mexico.
Discrepancies between what you say and what the databases show are a red flag on their own. That’s why accuracy on the application matters as much as a clean history. If the screening comes back clean, your account moves to “conditionally approved” and you can schedule an interview. If something trips the system, your status doesn’t change while CBP works through the additional review.
Criminal History That Can Disqualify You
The regulation, 8 C.F.R. § 235.12, lets CBP deny anyone it considers a potential terrorism or criminal risk, or who otherwise fails to demonstrate low-risk status. On the criminal side specifically, the disqualifying factors include being arrested for or convicted of any criminal offense, having pending charges, or having outstanding warrants in any country.2eCFR. 8 CFR 235.12 – Global Entry Program
Read that carefully: “arrested for or convicted of.” A conviction isn’t required. An arrest that ended in dismissal can still weigh against you.
The regulation also draws no line between misdemeanors and felonies, and sets no cutoff for how old an incident has to be before it stops mattering. A DUI from a decade ago, a shoplifting charge from your twenties, a dismissed disorderly conduct case — any of these can appear in federal databases and give CBP grounds to deny. The program is a privilege, not a right, and the agency treats the risk assessment as its call alone.1U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Trusted Traveler Program Denials
Expunged and Sealed Records
State-level expungement doesn’t hide a record from federal agencies. CBP pulls from federal databases that keep the record regardless of whether a state court later sealed or expunged it. The agency’s own reconsideration guidance requires applicants to submit court disposition documents “for all arrests or convictions, even if expunged.”1U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Trusted Traveler Program Denials
The practical consequence: disclose everything. An omitted expunged arrest that CBP finds on its own reads as deception, which is a separate disqualifier.
Non-Criminal Disqualifiers
Criminal history gets the most attention, but plenty of denials have nothing to do with a rap sheet.
Customs, Immigration, and Agriculture Violations
Any past violation of customs, immigration, or agriculture laws is disqualifying on its own.2eCFR. 8 CFR 235.12 – Global Entry Program Failing to declare something at the border is the most common way travelers get caught by this. Federal law makes undeclared articles subject to forfeiture and imposes a penalty equal to the value of the item, or $500 for controlled substances, whichever is greater.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 19 USC 1497 – Penalties for Failure to Declare Undeclared agricultural products carry civil penalties up to $1,000 for a first personal-quantity offense.4U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Bringing Agricultural Products Into the United States
A single incident years back can be enough. CBP treats your compliance history as a proxy for how low-risk you’ll actually be at the border.
False or Incomplete Information
Providing false or incomplete information on the application is a standalone disqualifier, separate from whatever you were trying to hide.2eCFR. 8 CFR 235.12 – Global Entry Program The classic mistake is leaving off an old arrest you figured wouldn’t matter. The background check usually finds it, and now you’re dealing with two problems: the arrest and the appearance of concealment.
This is also why the five-year employment and address history has to be filled in without gaps. The Trusted Traveler application has status options for unemployment, self-employment, and student periods, and a status bar at the top of the screen flags any uncovered time.5U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Trusted Traveler Programs Application – Employment Information Page Sloppy paperwork gets read as evasion.
Active Investigations and Inadmissibility
Being the subject of an ongoing federal, state, or local law enforcement investigation is disqualifying even if no charges have been filed. Applicants who are inadmissible to the United States under immigration law are also ineligible, including those who previously received waivers of inadmissibility or parole documentation.6U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Eligibility for Global Entry
The Catch-All Clause
Beyond the specific factors, the regulation lets CBP deny anyone who “cannot satisfy CBP of his or her low-risk status.”2eCFR. 8 CFR 235.12 – Global Entry Program That gives officers wide latitude. Unusual travel patterns, inconsistent answers, anything that doesn’t add up can support a denial without a specific violation attached.
How Long the Check Takes
For a straightforward file, conditional approval usually comes within about two weeks. If something in your history triggers additional review, the timeline stretches to 12 to 24 months.7U.S. Customs and Border Protection. How Long Does It Take to Process a Global Entry Application There’s no way to expedite the review, and CBP doesn’t tell you what caused the delay while it’s happening.
You’ll only know the outcome of the background check when your status changes. Conditional approval means the electronic screening cleared. A denial notification means it didn’t.
If You’re Denied
A denial isn’t necessarily final. CBP sends a written notification explaining the reason, and if you believe the decision rested on inaccurate or incomplete information, you can request reconsideration through the Trusted Traveler Programs website.1U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Trusted Traveler Program Denials
The request goes to a CBP Ombudsman and needs to include the denial date and reasons from your letter, a written explanation of the circumstances, court disposition documents in PDF for all arrests or convictions (including expunged ones), and any supporting evidence. Everything must be in English. Accepted file types include PDF, DOCX, DOC, PNG, JPEG, and GIF.
Reconsideration works best when you address the specific denial reason directly. If the denial was over an old arrest, provide the court records showing the outcome. If it was a customs violation, explain the circumstances and demonstrate it was isolated. A vague request without documentation rarely changes the result.
Revocation After Approval
The background check effectively continues for the life of your five-year membership. CBP can revoke your status at any time if you violate customs or immigration laws, get arrested, or otherwise stop meeting program standards. A single border incident — a missed declaration, an underreported purchase — can trigger revocation and send you back through the same reconsideration process.8U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Global Entry Frequently Asked Questions
Renewals require another $120 fee and a fresh background check, though some renewing members don’t need a new in-person interview. The vetting resets every cycle, so anything that happened during your last five years of membership is now part of the record CBP considers.