TSA precheck... Anyone turned down?

[supersnoop]

I wonder if it's different for Global Entry. The "conditional approval" letter, which is required to schedule your interview, already has your KTN on it. It can be used immediately after your "interview."

 

[n2mm]

It took me 24 hours to get my number, but took my husband a week. But this was over a year ago when things were slow. However, we were both usg employees our entire lives with background checks and finger printing continually throughout our careers. Good luck op. Hope you get it sorted out soon.

 

[lelder]

My husband and I had our interviews this morning and have already been approved. Both of us work in public industries that require finger printing and background checks though, so not sure if that expedited the process.

 

[DaretoDis]

My wife was initially denied because the brain dead bureaucrat (sp) couldn't understand that our marriage certificate/license was what would link with her birth certificate to her married name. I even showed her the pertinent paragraph in the application referring to it. I started to get my congressman involved as well as people higher up in TSA. Then this individual said her manager/handler told her they would not do anything until I told them who, what, when, and where I had contacted. I blew up and had her call someone for me to talk to. She called and after conferring for about 15 minutes, came back and said they would process the application this one time. What I believe happened is the person she contacted told her she was wrong and I was right.

My wife had her KTN the next day.

 

[georgina]

I wonder if it's different for Global Entry. The "conditional approval" letter, which is required to schedule your interview, already has your KTN on it. It can be used immediately after your "interview."

I was wondering about that. DH and I have our interviews for global entry in early August, and now I will be flying a week afterward. Glad to hear the KTN can be used immediately (assuming approval!)

 

[focusondisney]

My wife was initially denied because the brain dead bureaucrat (sp) couldn't understand that our marriage certificate/license was what would link with her birth certificate to her married name. I even showed her the pertinent paragraph in the application referring to it. I started to get my congressman involved as well as people higher up in TSA. Then this individual said her manager/handler told her they would not do anything until I told them who, what, when, and where I had contacted. I blew up and had her call someone for me to talk to. She called and after conferring for about 15 minutes, came back and said they would process the application this one time. What I believe happened is the person she contacted told her she was wrong and I was right.

My wife had her KTN the next day.

Yipes! What a hassle. I am the OP, I am at 3 weeks today & still "being reviewed". I have been married 37 years & took a current passport as my proof of identity. So I don't think it is a name issue for me. I thought it might be the fingerprints, since I am a nurse & have issues frequently with them on our narcotics machine at work. I called the customer service number a week ago. That woman said it was just still being reviewed & that It would say on her computer if it was fingerprint issue. So she said it wasn't that, but that it could take 30-40 days to process.

It does say to call the number if you don't hear from them in 30 days. I read on the FAQ of the TSA site that if you don't call them, you might have to start all over & pay the $85 again!!! So I will call again next week.

My DH tells me to stop worrying about it, but I can't help wondering what the hold up is. I have never been arrested & only had 1 speeding ticket in my entire life, vote almost every election, only other country I've ever been to is Canada, been married 37 years, at same address 32 years & with same employer 38 years. What's to investigate???

 

[FigmentSpark]

Keep on them. If the site says follow up, then follow up. Also, maybe you can check with a supervisor. At least you know it's not a lost paperwork issue if it's on her computer.

 

[vgrandy]

We are still waiting too from out 6/9 interview. Got 3 of 4. Flying next friday which is 29 days out. Doesn't look like we will have it in time.

 

[Day-Day]

My husband and I had our interviews this morning and have already been approved. Both of us work in public industries that require finger printing and background checks though, so not sure if that expedited the process.

I go through background checks to fly on the airplanes for the company I work for. I have a corporate ID that gets me on the airport area where I work and I have an airport SIDA (Security Identification Display Area) badge which requires fingerprints and background checks. It took me two weeks and my wife 3 days for the KTN and we applied at the same time.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Ds16 and I applied together in late May and it took a good 15 days to get his and around 3 weeks to get mine. Dh went a couple weeks ago and still nothing for him. I'm half expecting his prints to get rejected; he's a welder and anything we do that requires his fingerprint such as entering the gates at WDW and Universal, the devices are never able to read them. He jokes with the CMs that he was abducted by aliens who removed his fingerprints. lol.

@DaretoDis I know what you mean when you say they are brain dead. The website clearly lists that it's ok to bring an expired passport as long as it's less than 1 year past expiration along with a birth certificate. The lady working there looked at me like I had 6 heads then stopped to look it up. At least she didn't have to call anyone. Ds16 is still too young for a driver's license here so expired pp + BC was our only option.
We did send for a new passport after the TSA visit but I knew the passport agency would keep his old pp with the application. I didn't want to wait until after his new passport arrived before applying for the TSA because sometimes that can take a while but that was only around 3 weeks.
It's so frustrating when people don't know their job.

 

[MAH4546]

I really want to do this can anyone guide me on cost and what/where I'd have to go

Don't apply for pre check, it's a waste of money at $85. Apply for Global Entry at $100, and get PreCheck for free, plus skip the lines at immigration.

 

[pjOhana]

Don't apply for pre check, it's a waste of money at $85. Apply for Global Entry at $100, and get PreCheck for free, plus skip the lines at immigration.

We recently applied for and have the approval and KTN. Do you know if we can now upgrade to the "Global Entry"?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Don't apply for pre check, it's a waste of money at $85. Apply for Global Entry at $100, and get PreCheck for free, plus skip the lines at immigration.

I would agree with this if we had some remote chance of flying internationally. We took our kids on a Med cruise to Spain, France & Italy in 2013. Now, with 1 kid in college and another entering 11th grade, our odds of needing to go through immigration are almost 0. Now, we'll be lucky to be flying anywhere and when we do it will have to be free with SWA points.

 

[Day-Day]

I would agree with this if we had some remote chance of flying internationally. We took our kids on a Med cruise to Spain, France & Italy in 2013. Now, with 1 kid in college and another entering 11th grade, our odds of needing to go through immigration are almost 0. Now, we'll be lucky to be flying anywhere and when we do it will have to be free with SWA points.

Another inconvenience is that the Global requires an interview at a limited number of locations. In my case, the TSA was a quick trip at the other end of the airport where I work while the Global would have been a 400 mile round-trip and more difficult to schedule.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Another inconvenience is that the Global requires an interview at a limited number of locations. In my case, the TSA was a quick trip at the other end of the airport where I work while the Global would have been a 400 mile round-trip and more difficult to schedule.

Wow that's really far.
Im only about a 25 min ride to PHL but if I have no use for GE, it's still not worth the extra time and money for me. I have a coworker with no kids who uses it several times per year. She loves it and says it's really worth it when she has a connection to get to after immigration. No more rushing around.

 

[vgrandy]

We called yesterday and was told it was still in processing and could take 45 days.

 

[focusondisney]

We called yesterday and was told it was still in processing and could take 45 days.

Thanks for checking back in here. I'm gonna call Friday- my 30 day mark. What's annoying is not knowing what the hold up is. "In processing??" How do I know it didn't just get lost in some other pile of papers on somebody's desk???? Does someone have it on their to do list & check it daily for the missing info?? So annoying!

And no, I don't feel entitled to get approved for precheck. But I do feel like I paid $85 for a service that they are not performing.

Edit to add: sorry, doesn't look like you are going to have that last number before you fly. Hope it comes thru before you fly home.

 

[kamik86]

As someone that works with the gov and has a number of these... do make sure you follow up they generally wont tell you if it just got lost on someones desk but it definitely happens (One application got stuck for three of us for way to long, but one of the gov shutdowns was in the middle so we kind of assumed that was the problem and didn't follow up. Well my guess is that it got lost because after we did call they asked for one little piece of info that was on the forms and we all had our accounts less then 24 hours later).

There also are normal processing differences though. Like for a clearance I know younger new hires tend to get them faster (since alot of the data can't be pulled past your 18th birthday so if your 22 and just out of school they have a smaller amount of data. Those that have never been out of the country or only to really normal tourist locations go faster. Where the guy whose mom is a Chinese citizen and he spent time visiting family in China and Thailand took considerably longer.

 

[TxTiggergal]

DH, myself and adult daughter applied on June 10 for the TSA pre check. DH and I were both approved within a few days. Daughter is still pending however. Her status hasn't changed since it was updated on 6/15. We fly mid-August. Hopefully she will be approved by then.

 

[DVCismyhappyplace]

DH and I applied yesterday. We had our numbers when I logged in at 10 am this morning.