Bahrain latest addition to US biometric Global Entry Partnership

Bahrain is the latest country to fully join the Global Entry Partnership, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program for expedited entry into the U.S. for pre-approved, low-risk travelers.

Bahrain joins 13 other countries already in the club such as Colombia, Singapore and the Netherlands. Bahrain, like many countries in the club, is considered a strategic military ally, hosting the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Global Entry is one of the four Trusted Traveler Programs for expedited approval and entry into the U.S. via automatic biometric kiosks on arrival in the U.S. or at Preclearance locations around the world.

According to Trusted Traveler Program Director Michael Millich, CBP’s new touchless biometric kiosks process travelers in 3.5 seconds.

A record 10 million people have applied for Global Entry this fiscal year, smashing the previous record of 3 million before the pandemic.

The first international deployment of another service, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck capability, has gone into operation at Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau, Bahamas.

That TSA biometrics-backed expedited travel service is already available at more than 200 airports in the U.S.

Airport biometrics are booming in the U.S. 48 million people underwent biometric face comparison in fiscal 2021 via the Simplified Arrival program. The system is now in place for all international arrivals into the U.S.

Article Topics

airports  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  CBP  |  face biometrics  |  facial authentication  |  kiosk  |  trusted traveller  |  TSA  |  United States