Travelers Waiting for Global Entry Should Consider This Alternative

Travelers who have been looking for ways to speed up the airport screening process without paying the $100 tab for Global Entry are in luck.

There’s another option and its free.

As a new report from The Points Guy (TPG) details, travelers who are tired of waiting for a Global Entry interview or who want to avoid the cost of that program can opt to instead try Mobile Passport Control (MPC).

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent at Dulles International Airport told TPG that Mobile Passport Control is a comparable alternative.

The mobile app allows travelers to navigate much of the international arrival process via a phone. Doing so merely requires submitting some personal information and uploading a selfie. After completing these steps, travelers can skip passport control lines at the airport and instead head to a separate lane that ideally, should be shorter.

The free program, it seems, is not very well known.

"It's been out for a while. But what we lack is adoption,” Marc Calixte, U.S. Customs and Border Protection port director of Dulles International Airport told TPG.

The MPC program is available to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and Canadian B1/B2 travelers, per TPG. It is also open to individuals from 41 countries that are known as “visa waiver” countries.

The MPC app can be downloaded from Google Play and the Apple App Store for free and can be used in a long list of airports across the country, as well as international pre-clearance facilities.

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