Kids ride a parent’s PreCheck. They do not ride Global Entry.

Kids 17 and under can walk through TSA PreCheck with you for free. They cannot walk through a Global Entry lane with you. That is the whole distinction, and it is the one most families get backwards.

If the year is domestic, PreCheck is enough. If you are landing from another country, the kid needs their own Global Entry, or they are in the regular immigration line while you are not.

Who this is for

A working family with school-age kids and at least one international arrival in the next 12 months. You already know you hate the hall after a red-eye. You want the kid in the same line as you.

Skip this if

There is no international trip in the next 12 months. PreCheck covers a domestic year. Do not enroll a seven-year-old in Global Entry because a blog called it a “family setup.” If the only travel is a weekend in another state, stop here.

How it works

Global Entry is a CBP Trusted Traveler program. There is no minimum age. The child needs their own TTP account. A parent or guardian has to consent. The parent does not have to already be a member for the child to apply.

The adult fee is $120, non-refundable. It is waived for a minor under 18 if a parent or legal guardian is enrolled, or has a Trusted Traveler application in pending-risk or conditionally approved status. CBP’s FAQ treats Global Entry, SENTRI, and NEXUS as the programs that count. Apply the parent first, or the same day, so the waiver actually sticks. Confirm the live waiver language on CBP’s Global Entry pages before you pay.

A first-time enrollment needs an interview. A parent or guardian has to be physically there. Do not send the kid with a note.

Enrollment on Arrival is not a walk-up. Conditional approval has to land first. Then it only works on an international arrival at an airport CBP lists for it. Hours and terminal are on the Enrollment on Arrival page. If you are not flying in, there is still a regular enrollment center; those hours are on CBP too. Confirm your airport on that list. Do not book a trip just to interview.

Most applications are reviewed within two weeks. Some take up to 12 months, or longer. That is CBP’s own range. Build the trip around a bookable date, not around a membership that might still be pending.

The messy part is the lane.

TSA PreCheck: children 17 and under can join an adult in the PreCheck lane for free. Official page: TSA PreCheck. That is why a domestic year does not need a kid membership.

Global Entry: only members use the Global Entry lanes. CBP says the benefit cannot be extended to others. A member parent and a non-member child split at immigration. The parent does not “bring the kid through.” If you want the family in that lane, every person in the family is a member, including the toddler.

Do not flatten those two facts into “kids are covered.” They are covered at TSA. They are not covered at CBP.

What to do this month

If the next trip is domestic only: get the adults into PreCheck, or use the PreCheck that already sits on a card you have, and skip Global Entry for the kids.

If you are landing from abroad this year: open the parent TTP application first. Add the kids the same day if you can, so the $120 waiver applies. Use CBP’s site. Pay nothing to a reseller. Wait for conditional approval. If that arrival airport offers Enrollment on Arrival, use it on the way home. If it does not, book the enrollment center. Leave slack. Some files sit for months.

What not to do

Do not assume the kid rides your Global Entry the way they ride PreCheck. Do not pay $120 for a minor if a parent is already enrolled or pending. Do not tell CBP you live somewhere you do not. Do not book a throwaway international flight just to interview. Do not apply because there is a transfer bonus this month. The membership is for a landing you already planned.

Next

Child passports are a different errand. Adult renewal is a different errand. When the books and the interviews are real, then we talk about the trip, and only then the card.

Pick the card for the trip that’s already on the calendar.