After 17 of Baja travel, the past several prolonged border waits convinced my family and I to apply for SENTRI. I submitted applications for 5 people
and a vehicle in early January, thinking that we would have plenty of time to schedule interviews, receive cards, etc. before we leave for Baja in
June.
Four months later, all but one of our applications are still being "reviewed." A recent update on the Trusted Traveler website cites a "...longer than
usual" wait time because of the government shutdown, but that was months ago.
My question is what is the usual wait time to advance past the application review process, and then how much time will it take beyond that before you
interview and can have a SENTRI card in hand?
Has anyone recently completed the SENTRI process that could give me an idea of how long the unusual time window might actually be?
Thank you in advance... JZ - 5-11-2019 at 12:39 PM
My kids got theirs in hand in about 3 months.
Took me closer to 5.
They give you a list of places you can go to do the interview. Some are a couple weeks out, some places longer. You can do it immediately at some
border locations.
Takes about 10 days to get the cards.
This was for Global Entry with the truck registered for Sentri.
[Edited on 5-11-2019 by JZ]JZ - 5-11-2019 at 01:21 PM
Email them and explain your situation. Couldn't hurt and might help.
I emailed them to ask a question and they responded in about a week. WestyWanderer - 5-11-2019 at 02:46 PM
Have a friend that just went through the process for SENTRI, he applied in August, just got his conditional approval three weeks ago. Was able to
schedule an interview for last week and now has his card in hand. This is by far the longest wait I have ever heard of. LukeJobbins - 5-11-2019 at 02:47 PM
For my exgirlfriend we went into the office at san ysidro and asked. They said it was a glitch and she was just waiting for an interview and scheduled
an interview for her on the spot. Two weeks later interview, two weeks later sentri card. Id go in person if you can. Calling is good too but the
system is like the dmv call center. Could be a 30 second wait or hours on hold.apple - 5-11-2019 at 06:59 PM
Mine took about 6 months last year. My SO had hers done in less than 2 monthsJinete Viejo - 5-11-2019 at 11:32 PM
I applied last July and got conditional approval (OK to set up interview) in March.larryC - 5-12-2019 at 07:11 AM
This was a couple of years ago but my daughter applied for global entry and had her card in hand in 1 month. With global entry you can use the sentri
lane but you have to get your vehicle entered into the sentri program to drive it across the border. But I guess this info won't help you now, sorry.BajaMama - 5-13-2019 at 08:21 AM
All the border agents are working on other things these days....apple - 5-13-2019 at 02:21 PM
My suspicion is that Global Entry may be faster than Sentri?
Anyone else think that might be the case? freediverbrian - 5-13-2019 at 05:16 PM
All the border agents are working on other things these days....
They are still trying to find the children they took from parents back in early 2018...
The GE / Sentri review program is very likely as incompetently run as the family separation program....
Trump threw his last HS security under the bus, and she quit,... who is running show now?Vikinginbaja - 5-14-2019 at 08:30 AM
Hello,
This is actually my first post here but I recently went through the same exact experience as you and thought I’d share my experience.
To make a long story short, after 6 months passed of being conditionally approved and “pending review”, I gave the SENTRI office a call, not
email, a direct call to speak with a person.
Surprisingly, they answered after the first ring and I just asked them for a status because it said “conditionally approved” for months. The
agent took my information and then said I have been approved for over 3 months but for some reason it never got updated on the system users see.
Uggh. I wish I called sooner but I hesitated because, you know, all the warnings and info that says to be patient.
The same day I called, it showed my updated status online. Four days later we had our appointments, and a week later our cards arrived.
When we were at our appointment, the officer mentioned there were a few that got “forgotten” in the system. If you haven’t gotten anywhere yet,
I’d give the office a call. They were actually quite helpful and easy to deal with. I had a hard time finding their number and the way I got it
was I asked an officer when crossing in the Ready Lane. They have preprinted slips of paper with the help line number.
Give them a call if your still stuck in limbo. They were very helpful and I wish I did that much earlier.DavidT - 5-14-2019 at 08:55 AM
My suspicion is that Global Entry may be faster than Sentri?
Anyone else think that might be the case?
My Sentri is up for renewal in the fall, and I'm wondering the same thing.Purdyd - 5-15-2019 at 02:15 PM
global entry approved for interview in about a week. This was before Christmas. That little government shutdown delayed the interview.
It really saved a lot of time coming back into the States on my last trip as I skipped ahead to the front of the customs line.tunaeater - 5-15-2019 at 09:35 PM
I renewed in late December and still waiting for my renewal approval.
