Click here to enroll in the Global Entry program.

A program that allows pre-screened international air travelers returning to the U.S. to bypass the passport control line is now open in Atlanta.

With the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry system, approved U.S. citizens and permanent residents who pass a background check and interview process can skip the traditional customs counter.

Instead, they’ll go to an automated kiosk to declare items, scan travel documents and verify fingerprint data.   The kiosk then spits out a receipt that the traveler gives to a customs officer before moving to baggage claim.

Global Entry started in May as a pilot program at three major U.S. air hubs—Dulles International in Washington, JFK International in New York, and George Bush Intercontinental in Houston.

It costs $100 to apply for the program, and about 3,500 members have joined so far.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest by passenger volume, was one of four in a second wave of airports to receive kiosks this month, along with airports in Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami.

Most of Hartsfield’s nearly 90 million passengers are domestic, but international travelers are its fastest-growing segment, a ratio that should grow with the completion of a dedicated international terminal in 2011. 

On Oct. 1, Customs and Border Protection opened four kiosks in the inspection area at Hartsfield’s only current international entry point: Terminal E.  

The agency also established two enrollment centers on Oct. 14, one at the airport and another at its nearby office.

Steve Kremer, Atlanta port director for Customs and Border Protection, said the enrollment process—which requires fingerprinting, an interview, and training on how to use the kiosks—takes 20 to 30 minutes and should get faster as employees process more applicants.

The centers have seen 10 applicants a day for the first week, a number that should build as the program becomes more popular.

Mr. Kremer told GlobalAtlanta that it could save travelers 20 to 40 minutes of wait time during peak processing periods.

He added that the screening process also boosts security by allowing officers to focus on “high-risk” passengers.

He declined to say how the agency assesses a passenger’s level of risk but noted that convicted criminals are automatically excluded from eligibility.

The program targets those who leave the country at least four times per year, mainly airline personnel and business travelers.

The latter—and their companies—will benefit from being better equipped to make tight connecting flights, he said.

They’ll also get a much-needed boost in productivity and morale after long trips, said Stewart Verdery, whose company, Monument Policy Group LLC, handles government affairs for the National Business Travelers Association.

“(Productivity) is a huge issue. On the sheer minutes and hours sitting in line, you can quantify how much that is worth to a business that has a bunch of businessmen and salespeople,” he said.

Global Entry also provides predictability in the increasingly sporadic security environment of the post-9/11 era, he said.

“You never know if it’s going to be five minutes or three hours” getting through, he said.

Mr. Verdery has lobbied Congress in support of Global Entry, which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security.  A recently passed appropriations bill for 2009 granted Customs and Border Protection $10 million to expand the program.

Mr. Verdery said kiosks will eventually be installed at the 20 U.S. airports that handle 90 percent of international traffic.

For now, the program’s main obstacle is awareness, and the National Business Travelers Association is working with Customs and Border Protection to devise new ways to make the enrollment process more accessible for businesspeople, he added.

More than 40 percent of respondents to a non-scientific survey on the association’s Web site were unaware of the program.

Terrence Burns, president of Atlanta-based sports marketing firm Helios Partners Inc., hadn’t heard of Global Entry before speaking with GlobalAtlanta.

But as someone who travels abroad 12-20 times per year, he praised the idea, saying he’d be the “first to sign up.”

Helios was born out its leaders’ marketing experience in the years following the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The company has offices in London and Beijing, and about half of its business comes from helping cities bid to host sporting events.

Mr. Burns often goes to faraway destinations like Sydney, Australia, that require long-haul flights back home to Atlanta.  For him, it’s less about connections than convenience.

“Anything that’s going to save you 30 or 40 minutes on the end of a 15-hour travel experience is much appreciated,” he said.

Global Entry is one component of the U.S. government’s “model port” initiative, which seeks to make its top 20 airport entry stations more welcoming.

The image of U.S. airports has been tarnished in the aftermath of intense security restrictions that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Although Global Entry is currently only open to citizens and legal permanent residents (“green card” holders), Mr. Kremer said Customs plans to eventually expand the program if the U.S. can achieve information-sharing agreements with other nations.

“That would send a great message to the world that we’re open for business,” said Mr. Verdery of the National Business Travelers Association.

The closed-off image has contributed to a decline in international visitors that has cost the U.S. billions of dollars since 2001, said Geoff Freeman, senior vice president of public affairs for the Travel Industry Association, a Washington-based trade group.

Although it’s “almost unbelievable” considering growth in air travel and how the dollar’s fall has put the U.S. on sale for many foreigners, the U.S. received 2 million fewer international visitors in 2007 than in 2000, he said.

If the U.S. had kept pace with global trends between 2001-2007, it would have had almost 50 million more visitors who would have spent $140 billion and generated $23 billion in tax revenue, according to the association's estimates. 

“When overseas travelers come they spend an average of $4,000 per person.  We can’t have enough of these visitors as long as they’re safe and secure,” Mr. Freeman told GlobalAtlanta.

The global entry program is not the solution, but it’s a step toward creating the type of holistic national policy that other countries have for welcoming foreign visitors, he said.

“It’s economics 101,” he added.

To enroll in the Global Entry program click here.