TTPRADARIf you're arriving on a Global Entry membership at Boston Logan, Dallas Fort Worth, JFK, Philadelphia, Seattle-Tacoma or San Francisco, you can skip the kiosk. Cameras in the arrival area photograph you as you walk through, match your face against government records, and route you straight to a CBP officer. No screen to tap, no passport to scan, no fingerprint, no receipt.
What's actually live right now
CBP began testing this at San Francisco International in April 2026. By mid-2026 it had expanded to five more airports: Boston Logan (BOS), Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), John F. Kennedy (JFK), Philadelphia (PHL) and Seattle-Tacoma (SEA), alongside SFO. Those six are the only airports currently running it.
The pilot was originally slated to run through the end of September 2026. CBP has said it's considering expanding further, but hasn't confirmed additional airports or a timeline. If you're not flying into one of the six, expect a normal kiosk on arrival.
How the walk-through capture actually works
Instead of stopping at a kiosk, you walk through a designated capture zone in the arrival area. Cameras photograph you mid-stride and match the image against the records tied to your Global Entry membership. The result reaches a CBP officer before you get to the podium, so the brief conversation you have with them replaces the kiosk transaction entirely.
There's no passport scan, no fingerprint scan, and no printed receipt to hand over. The officer either admits you or refers you for additional screening.
You can still opt out
Participation is voluntary. If you'd rather not be photographed in the capture zone, traditional Global Entry kiosks remain available at all six pilot airports. Nothing about your membership status changes either way.
The six airports, at a glance
| Airport | Code | Status |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco International | SFO | Original pilot site, live since April 2026 |
| Boston Logan International | BOS | Live |
| Dallas Fort Worth International | DFW | Live |
| John F. Kennedy International | JFK | Live |
| Philadelphia International | PHL | Live |
| Seattle-Tacoma International | SEA | Live |
If your usual port of entry isn't on that list, you can check current conditions at other Global Entry enrollment centers and airports before you fly, or watch live Global Entry wait times for context on how busy arrival halls have been running.
Why the 38-airport RFP is a different project
Around September 15, 2026, CBP issued a separate solicitation for a much larger biometric buildout: walk-through facial-comparison archways at 38 airport terminals, spanning roughly 30 airports. The contract runs September 30, 2026 through September 29, 2027.
The terminal list includes the six pilot airports, but also major hubs like Newark, Miami, Atlanta, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles and Chicago O'Hare, plus CBP preclearance operations at Toronto Pearson and Vancouver. CBP says the targeted terminals were chosen for having the highest concentration of Global Entry members.
The hardware is different too. The current six-airport pilot uses cameras mounted along the arrival queue. The RFP describes a self-supporting archway travelers walk through, a different physical setup rather than a straightforward extension of what's already running at BOS, DFW, JFK, PHL, SEA and SFO. Read together, they're two separate CBP projects on overlapping but distinct timelines, not one rollout expanding in stages.
What Global Entry members should actually do
Nothing changes about your membership, your enrollment, or how you renew. If CBP's separate move to a consolidated Trusted Traveler mobile app in September 2026 caught your attention, that's an unrelated software change, not a requirement for using the walk-through cameras.
If you're arriving at one of the six pilot airports, walk through as normal and follow signage for the capture zone. If you're arriving anywhere else, use the kiosk as you always have. For general enrollment questions, CBP's own frequently asked questions and our Global Entry guide library cover the basics that this pilot doesn't touch.