Long backlogs at Global Entry interview offices

(See update here.)

I guess I should not be surprised that the USPTO is not the only US government agency with long backlogs.

Someone I know recently applied for Global Entry — the very handy program that speeds up immigrations entry into the US and gets you into TSA’s Precheck security screening.  He then received the “conditional approval” and an invitation letter to attend an interview at a Global Entry interview office.

That’s great!  All he has to do now is make an appointment at one of the interview offices, and show up for the appointment, and he will be a member of Global Entry.

Except that interviews are not easy to get.

• At San Francisco airport, the earliest available appointment is October 23.  Five months from now.
• At Portland (Oregon) airport, the earliest available appointment is September 26.  Four months from now.
• At Denver airport, there is simply no appointment available no matter how long you are willing to wait.

This is quite a surprise to me.  It seems to me that the Global Entry folks need to staff up the interview offices appropriately so that there are enough people to do the interviews without delays of four and five months (or forever in the case of Denver).