Global Entry for India: Memorandum of Understanding Signed

Significant progress has been made toward India’s inclusion in the expedited travel program known as Global Entry. After several years of effort, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been entered into between the United States and India, with the goal of facilitating legitimate travel between the two countries.

Background on Global Entry

Global Entry is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that prescreens eligible participants, in an effort to expedite their future travel. As of this writing, only eight countries are eligible to participate in Global Entry. Thus, the likelihood of India’s inclusion in this select list in the near future is important for both India and the United States.

The move to add India to the Global Entry program has been many years in the making. Official public announcements began in 2013, as explained in the MurthyDotCom NewsBrief, Global Entry for India Moving Forward (06.Oct.2015).

Memorandum of Understanding Signed in June 2016

The MOU for the inclusion of India in Global Entry was signed ceremoniously on June 3, 2016. Implementation of the MOU is expected to take several additional months. The agreement is the culmination of high-level diplomatic discussions, and is tied to the grant of reciprocal courtesies for U.S. citizens visiting India. As referenced in Ambassador Arun K. Singh’s announcement, India has taken steps over the past few years to make travel to India easier for U.S. citizens. Ambassador Singh proclaimed that the initiative “not only signifies outstanding cooperation between our two countries … but also underlies continuing efforts on both sides to facilitate and make travel easier between our two countries.”

Benefit of Global Entry

The Global Entry program allows the prescreened participants to expedite the airport security process for foreign travel through the use of self-service kiosks. These kiosks are currently in place at more than 40 airports across the United States, as well as 12 preclearance airport locations abroad. A full list of locations of the kiosks is available on the CBP WebSite.

Conclusion

This MOU is an encouraging development for Indian nationals who may qualify for the Global Entry program once it is put into effect. MurthyDotCom will post an update on the addition of India to the program once more specific details are provided.

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