US Customs & Border Protection Honolulu Service Center

I’m always fortunate to call myself a frequent flier and have the means to travel far and often. Blessed, of course, when it’s all basically for vacation /​personal reasons.
Normally, I wouldn’t know about this place at the Honolulu International airport, if you weren’t looking for it on purpose. I actually had to ask for directions here especially after looking at the directory Map in front of baggage claim D. It is what it is really. Hard to find, but it’s located at baggage claim D, but all the way down the building corridor to where it looks like an industrial area. Enter where there are 2 blue doors. Almost was late to my appointment that day too. There is paid parking lots to park while doing business at HNL airport, but if you are like me, public transit routes 19 and 20 takes you into the Honolulu international airport terminals. The process itself can take a while, but basically you register yourself on the GOES website, pay $ 100 fee with a major credit card, you undergo a background check. After you are conditionally approved, you schedule your in person interview, which is why I was here on a nice December afternoon. The overall experience was surprisingly painless. I overthink a lot of things about this, but it was quick and felt nice.
When it came time to go abroad and see new places and countries besides the good ol USA, friends who travel as much, if not more than me advocated that I should invest in the Global Entry program, which is administered by the United States Customs and Border Protection and possibly the US Department of Homeland Security too. The program helps expedite processing wait times at the border between the United States and other international border crossings by identifying those who are low security risks. Global Entry comes also with TSA Pre check, which I know is pretty amazing, getting through TSA security can be a headache to many frequent travelers. Only problem with Global Entry is that you can’t have a felony conviction on your record or any type of criminal history. Gotta be clean!
The interview process at the United States CBP here at the HNL international airport went well. Before you enter, you are instructed to watch a video that explains the Global Entry program and all of its benefits. Once they call you in, a brief question and answer interview is taken. I thought they were going to be quite probing, but that wasn’t the case. I was basically a frequent flier who takes frequent vacations abroad. They take your photo and take your finger prints, which is in putted into the national database. They will let you know whether you are approved or not. They told me that your membership card will arrive 30 days, but in actuality it arrived in just 9 days after the interview. It was awesome! The US custom and border security Helped me out and it took less than ½ hour total!
BRING your valid US passport, Valid driver’s license, and a copy of that letter you printed out from the GOES website. Good luck and I’m sure just having Global Entry makes me feel empowered. Definitely get global entry if you travel frequently and across international borders!
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The US Customs & Borders Protection Center is hidden away and it took me a few times going up and down the elevator to locate it. Their office is located on the ground floor just across from the International Garage. The office is located where Hawaiian Airline arrivals end and before International airlines arrivals begins.
Once you’re in, the staff are terrific and on it!
There are a few, very few free parking space near their door.
Please see my pictures.