Immigration office near T.F. Green Airport reopens after 4-year closure

WARWICK − A federal office that processes travelers' applications to speed up immigration checks at ports of entry to the United States has reopened after closing more than four years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic.

All four members of the state's congressional delegation heralded the reopening of the Global Entry Enrollment Center near Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport.

While the enrollment center was closed, from July 6, 2020, until this fall, Rhode Islanders had to travel out of state to other enrollment centers to process their applications, which require an in-person interview. Centers are available in most states and in overseas U.S. territories. Because of delays in renovating the Warwick office during the closure, most Rhode Islanders went to an enrollment center near Boston's Logan International Airport.

What does Global Entry do?

Global Entry is a U.S Customs and Border Protection program that allows travelers who have passed a rigorous background check to speed up processing through immigration when entering the United States, allowing them to bypass long lines at airports or other ports of entry.

“Global Entry is a critical program for frequent travelers and the ability to conduct the required interviews in-state will help reduce the burden on new and renewal applications," Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Representatives Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo said in a joint statement Tuesday. "Today, as we celebrate the center’s reopening, we stand ready to assist our constituents to make their international travel as safe, reliable, and convenient as possible.”

Does T.F. Green handle international flights?

While Green currently does not have scheduled international flights, it does hope to have them soon, and international charter flights, considered a separate category from scheduled flights, do stop at Green, which is equipped to handle them with an international arrivals facility and staffing from Customs and Border Protection.

JetBlue offers daily flights from Puerto Rico, but flights from the U.S. territory are treated as domestic in terms of immigrations regulations.