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National

Surging international travel demand is fueling record applications and long waits for Global Entry, a program that promises "expedited processing" when returning from abroad.

Why it matters: Call it the summer of "revenge travel" part two with COVID-19 restrictions largely a thing of the past and travelers wanting to make up for delayed trips.

Travel from the U.S. to Europe is projected to surge 55% this summer, per Allianz, which based its estimate on the company's bookings.

What's happening: Americans don't need to have Global Entry for international travel like a passport, but they're signing up for the "Trusted Traveler Program" at a record pace.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is on track to receive 3.2 million-plus Global Entry applications for the 2023 fiscal year that runs through Sept. 30, according to data provided to Axios.

This would beat the record of 2.95 million applications set during the government agency's 2022 fiscal year.

The high demand means the odds of signing up and getting approved for Global Entry ahead of any remaining summer travel or even later in the year are low for many.

The CBP website lists a four-to-six-month processing time for the program.

The surge in travel has also created a backlog for passport applications and led the State Department to increase processing times.

Zoom in: CBP data shows the average time to enroll in 2022 was 93 days and that 75% of applicants were able to complete the interview within 130 days of being conditionally approved.

Axios analyzed appointment availability for all Global Entry enrollment offices and found a handful of offices didn't have any available appointments until 2024.

In a statement to Axios, a CBP spokesperson said the Global Entry program "continuously seeks opportunities to help more travelers streamline their international arrivals process."

A nonrefundable $100 fee is required when submitting a Global Entry application through the Trusted Traveler Program system.

The membership lasts five years and the renewal fee is currently $100.

Applications that are denied will not get the fee refunded.

Of note: Many annual fee travel credit cards offer reimbursement for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fees up to $100 as part of their perks.

When returning to the country, Global Entry members proceed to kiosks at certain airports, per the CBP website.

At the kiosks, members "present their machine-readable passport or U.S. permanent resident card, place their fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification and complete a customs declaration."

Being able to skip the line and reduced wait times when returning to the country are key benefits of the program.

The program also includes TSA PreCheck for five years, which costs $78 on its own or $70 to renew.

PreCheck offers expedited airport screening for domestic flights at TSA checkpoints while Global Entry speeds up the customs process when returning to the U.S.

Follow these steps to apply for Global Entry after first checking eligibility requirements.

Create a Trusted Traveler Programs (TTP) account through the Department of Homeland Security.

Log in to your account and complete the Global Entry application. The $100 non-refundable fee is required with a completed application.

If your application is conditionally approved, you will be instructed to schedule an interview at a Global Entry Enrollment Center or can choose to complete an interview with Enrollment on Arrival.

You'll need to bring your passport and another form of ID like a driver's license to your interview, where your fingerprints will be taken.

Day to check for Global Entry appointments

The first Monday of every month is a good time to check for an interview.

Since February, CBP has released interview appointment slots for enrollment centers on the first Monday of every month by 9am local time.

It's a move customs officials said at the time was to "increase transparency in the scheduling process."

Between the lines: Some Global Entry centers offer walk-in appointments but this is decided on a local level.

Check with individual centers to see if they offer walk-ins as a list isn't available.

The intrigue: If you can't get an interview before your international trip, CBP's Enrollment on Arrival allows travelers with conditional approval to complete the interview process when returning to the U.S. at select airports.

Average monthly Enrollment on Arrival enrollments have nearly doubled from 30,000 in spring 2022 to 59,000 so far in the 2023 fiscal year, data shows.

How it works: After landing in an international terminal, follow the signs for "Enrollment on Arrival" to complete your interview with a CBP officer.

You'll need a passport and documents proving residency like a regular interview.

Global Entry appointments with longest wait times

Here are some of the longest waits for appointments at Global Entry enrollment offices, per Axios’ research as of Aug. 1.

San Diego (Otay Mesa), California: June 6, 2024

offer reimbursement for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fees

Travel boom fuels record Global Entry applications and long waits

Unlike a passport, Global Entry isn't needed to travel internationally but Americans are still signing up at a record pace.

Illustration of a man holding a suitcase in the center of a maze.  

Travel

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

President Biden and former President Trump are tied in the polls, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll, despite 51% saying they think Trump has committed "serious federal crimes."

The big picture: 53% of those polled think that Trump's actions after the 2020 election "went so far that he threatened American democracy."

Both Trump and Biden received 43% in a hypothetical rematch.

41% of registered voters said they had a favorable view of Trump, while 43% said the same about Biden. 

In the hypothetical rematch between Biden and Trump, 14% of voters did not prefer either candidate, with 10% saying they would either vote for another candidate or they are not going to vote if they are the two choices. 

Between the lines: Trump's MAGA base overwhelmingly backs his grievances against federal prosecutors, N.Y. Times chief political analyst Nate Cohn reports.

"Zero percent — not a single one of the 319 respondents in this MAGA category — said [Trump] had committed serious federal crimes."

Trump already faces two criminal indictments, with the prospect of two more in the coming days. 

Zoom in: Biden has appeared to shore up some support among Democratic voters from last year, when 64% of his party said they wanted a new standard-bearer, per the New York Times.

According to the new poll, 45% of Democratic primary voters said they think the party should nominate Biden as a 2024 presidential candidate.

The top reason Democratic voters said they would want somebody other than Biden is his age — he would be 86 by the end of a second term.

Biden's approval rating is at 39%, according to the Times/Siena Poll. 

Trump is the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican primary, per a N.Y. Times/Siena College poll out Monday, even as he faces mounting legal troubles.

The nearest third-place candidate in the Republican primary is at 3%, and Trump also leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 31 percentage points if polled head-to-head.

Go deeper: Trump dominates DeSantis in 2024 poll

Trump dominates DeSantis in 2024 poll with third place way behind

Trump tied with Biden despite most voters thinking he committed serious crimes

President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Maine One in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, July 28, 2023.

President Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Maine One in Washington, D.C. on July 28. Photo: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images

2024 elections

Donald Trump

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Investing in stocks or opening retirement savings accounts has long been elusive for many Latinos, but social media and podcasts that offer culturally relevant financial coaching are turning that on its head. 

Why it matters: U.S. Latinos' economic power is growing, yet they are less likely than their non-Hispanic white counterparts to have savings, retirement and non-retirement investment accounts.

In 2021, 60% of non-Hispanic white people had a retirement account, compared to 51% of Hispanics, according to the FINRA Foundation.

36% of non-Hispanic white people and 30% of Hispanics had a non-retirement investment account.

"Investing, for many of us [Latinos], is a foreign concept because we are told over and over to save our money. I never heard the word 'invertir.' I heard 'ahorra,'" says Yanely Espinal, the author of "Mind Your Money: Insightful Stories and Strategies to Help You Reach Your #MoneyGoals."

Details: Financial experts and coaches like Espinal are using social media to spread the gospel of investing, posting frequent videos with financial tips that often address how Latinos, especially first-generation Americans, have different financial priorities and backgrounds.

Finance coaches who didn't grow up in Latino culture don't understand the complex relationship that many people have with money, including setting boundaries while still helping relatives out financially, Espinal says.

"In my culture, my parents taught us that when you're hosting people, you are the last to eat. That's in direct opposition to American culture, where you take care of yourself first," says Espinal, who works for Next Gen Personal Finance, an organization that provides teacher training for financial literacy in high schools.

Charly Stoever, a money coach who shares tips on Instagram, says they have a lot of clients who say they feel guilty for making more money than their parents.

"Making more money doesn't eradicate your money trauma — it only amplifies it because you have more to lose now," they say.

Stoever says they work with clients on setting boundaries with families and demystifying the world of finance. "If you want to help a family member out, that's an investment. I help them think critically about their decisions."

Stoever also tries to make it fun by sometimes mixing pop culture with lessons on investing. In a recent Instagram post, Stoever talked about how they sold stock to pay for Karol G. concert tickets.

Maria Melchor, a personal finance expert and content creator, says she read book after book about personal finance but didn't find any that addressed how to help her parents out financially when they retire.

"This isn't just about me as an individual, this is about me and my family and wanting to share this with the rest of my immigrant family," Melchor, who moved to the U.S. from Mexico as a child, says.

Melchor says social media has played a major role in showing people there are resources to navigate finance. She often hears from young people who want to know how to start investing and others who still live at home and are financially intertwined with their parents.

"What I dream about is that children of immigrants feel confident with key American financial concepts and can design happy financial lives for themselves and their families," Melchor says.

Subscribe to Axios Latino to get vital news about Latinos and Latin America, delivered to your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

How Latinos are teaching culturally-relevant personal finance

U.S. Latinos are less likely to have retirement and other investment accounts than their white counterparts.

From left: Yanely Espinal, Maria Melchor and Charly Stoever. Photos: Amanda Saviñon, Chike Photography and Zuly Garcia

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Latin America and Latinos

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

World

The estate of Henrietta Lacks settled a lawsuit against a biotechnology company that allegedly profited from cervical cells that were taken from her in the 1950s without her consent, her family's attorney said on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The cells, harvested when Lacks, a Black woman, was treated for cervical cancer, have allowed breakthroughs in modern medicine as the first immortal human cell line.

The lawsuit said Thermo Fisher Scientific exploited and profited off of the material, which was removed by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Details: The terms of the agreement are confidential, per Ben Crump, the Lacks' family attorney.

The settlement was announced on what would have been Lacks' 103rd birthday.

"It is outrageous that this company would think that they have intellectual rights property to their grandmother's cells. Why is it they have intellectual rights to her cells and can benefit billions of dollars when her family, her flesh and blood, her Black children, get nothing?" Crump said in 2021.

Context: Lacks' family sued Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2021 over their use of cells from when Lacks was treated for cervical cancer.

The procedure rendered Lacks infertile. The hospital has previously said fewer guidelines surrounded informed consent at the time.

Years after Lacks died, it was revealed that her tissue was removed without her knowledge or consent. 

The cells, known as HeLa cells, are "among the important scientific discoveries of the last century," according to Johns Hopkins. They have contributed to development in the polio vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine, leukemia studies and understanding of the AIDS virus.

Go deeper: Henrietta Lacks' estate sues biotech company over alleged use of stolen cells

Axios

Tuesday's top stories

Travel boom fuels record Global Entry applications and long waits

Trump tied with Biden despite most voters thinking he committed serious crimes

How Latinos are teaching culturally-relevant personal finance

Henrietta Lacks' estate settles lawsuit over use of her cells

Inside Overstock's unusual takeover of Bed Bath & Beyond

Existential threats to humanity are soaring this year

Signs of optimism shine through the bleak ad market

Lab-grown meat companies want a world of steak without slaughter

A major provider shortage bedevils Biden's plan to boost mental health coverage

Elon Musk's X sues hate speech watchdog