TTPRADARThe solicitation
CBP has issued a formal procurement, solicitation number 70B03C26Q00000328, for a "Global Entry Airport Modernization" system built around continuous-flow facial comparison. It's not a research pilot: the request calls for a full hardware, software and sustainment package, covering installation, testing, training, maintenance and ongoing technical support.
The contract is estimated at $5 million to $10 million, firm-fixed-price. Quotes were due September 17, 2026, with oral presentations from bidders scheduled for September 21 to 22. CBP expects to award the contract in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, with a period of performance running September 30, 2026 through September 29, 2027.
The buy sits inside CBP's Office of Field Operations, separate from a much larger, roughly $440 million government-wide DHS biometric capture contract vehicle. It follows a prior U.S. citizen trial at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, extending that concept into a formal, multi-airport deployment.
Which airports qualify
The order covers 38 airport terminal installations across 30 airports, chosen for having the highest Global Entry participation. Named locations include JFK, Boston Logan, San Francisco, Dallas/Fort Worth, Seattle-Tacoma, Philadelphia, Newark Liberty, Miami, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles and Chicago O'Hare.
Two installations sit outside the United States: CBP preclearance operations at Toronto Pearson and Vancouver International, where U.S.-bound travelers already clear CBP inspection before boarding.
If you're tracking how busy your own enrollment center is while waiting on an interview appointment, that's a separate question from this airport-arrival rollout. TTPRadar's live Global Entry wait times page covers enrollment centers specifically.
What changes at arrival
Today's Global Entry touchless portal still requires a stop. You walk up to a kiosk, align your face with an on-screen silhouette, and wait for the camera to take a photo before the lane opens.
The system CBP is soliciting removes that stop. The spec calls for a self-supporting archway fitted with cameras and integrated lighting that captures a traveler's face while they keep walking through it. The image is matched in real time against CBP's Traveler Verification Service, the same backend already used for Global Entry and airport exit photo matching. Travelers who match cleanly keep moving; only those flagged by the system get pulled aside for additional inspection.
In practice, that turns the arrival lane into something closer to a walk-through metal detector than a photo booth.
Performance specs and rollout pace
The solicitation sets specific bars the winning system has to clear: 99 percent uptime, capture of at least 99 percent of Global Entry passengers passing through, no more than 5 percent of encounters ending in "no facial match," and at least 98 percent of captured photos rated acceptable quality. Each installation is expected to handle up to 3,500 passengers a day.
The rollout timeline is tight. Installation must start within 30 days of contract award, at a rate of two terminal installations per week, a pace that would equip all 38 terminals in roughly four months.
What's not confirmed yet
None of the reporting on this solicitation says whether enrolled Global Entry members will need to do anything differently once an archway replaces the kiosk at their airport, or whether there's any way to opt for the old process instead.
It's also unclear whether NEXUS and SENTRI members, who already share Global Entry kiosk access under existing CBP policy, will use the same walk-through archways or a separate lane. The solicitation doesn't say.
Anyone enrolled in one of these programs and curious how kiosk access currently works can check CBP's own program page, or browse TTPRadar's Global Entry guide library for how the touchless portal functions today.