Actually, that's not always the case. I just got my Global Entry on Friday. A month ago I applied on line (took about 10 minutes) and set up the interview for last Friday. The only question the agent asked me was if I had any questions. He explained to me the rules and how to activate it, took my picture and finger prints and I was out of there in literally 5 minutes. I was surprised because my wife got hers last year and she said the agent asked her a number of questions. They do however do a background security check.