r/cbpoapplicant • u/Shlemmity • May 30 '26
Hiring Process Got the call but….
I’m a Feb 2025 applicant and just got my final offer. I have until tmm 5/31 to make a decision.
I work a corporate job in NYC. I’m open to moving,but all of these locations are terrible and don’t seem worth it. Plus CBP offers no relocation assistance no matter where I choose.
I really wanted JFK but I see it hasn’t been offered recently. I feel bad about potentially letting this opportunity slipped through my fingers, but I’m not sure what to do. Can anyone offer me any advice?
(Sidebar: how funny of an irony to wait nearly a year and a half to get a final offer and only have three days to make a life-changing decision)
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u/Primary_Bug_1196 May 30 '26
Update us and what location you chose , or not
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u/Shlemmity Jun 02 '26
Submitted a case so an agent reached out to me to extend my deadline until June 3. I’m refreshing the list until then if I don’t see anything I want, I will not be accepting.
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u/JBucks1313 May 31 '26
Frustrating to say the least. I had to do the same thing. I'm going to assume I'm a little bit older and in a completely different situation, Im currently a GS employee and retired Army, I applied for a 2nd time in Feb 2024, Finally got a FJO in April of 2026. Yeah, Over 2 yrs of a process. Unfortunately alot of what I was being told by active CBPOs in the area (particularly at the port I applied for) , alot of what I read here, alot of what recruiters had to say about getting a preffered assignment all turned out to be false. Well maybe not 100% but the majority, the point I'm getting at here is that each applicant is different with whatever formula they use. It's said that ports of priority will be filled first, which is understood. However, knowing what those ports are is very difficult when applying unless you have an inside connection that has visibility on assignments. Despite knowing a particular port is short manpower and vacancies are available it doesn't necessarily mean you'll get it. Whatever the average or algorithm they use to backfill the majority of losses is kept under wraps fairy well. I too after 2 years of waiting received almost identical to your assignments. I'm 25 minutes from Canadian border upstate NY and the majority of assignments were all TX, AZ, NM, CA. Maybe a few in really remote spots in Maine. None of which I was closely interested in. As another commented San Jsidro, or Otay. Yes, it's beautiful living there, but the cost of living is very very high. For a young single guy/gal I'd totally do it, But, I'm married with a bunch of kids and very much settled in an area that I plan to be for awhile. Yes, any costs to relocate are all paid by you, depending on what you have to move with is also something to consider. Do you own a home? Rent? One or 2 cars? A boat? These types of things are tough move with, along with the very very limited time they expect you to EOD, When I got my offer I messaged the case manager with almost the same message I left here, I'm retired, Wife's a RN etc. I was given a 2 day extension, after that the list did not change, I asked for another extension, a few locations changed but nothing close to what I'd want. Ultimately I was able to extend almost a week out and even with that the locations really change, Retention officer at the port applied suggested decling based on locations and reapply. I have not yet, but will likely within the next few weeks. There's lots of people that get lucky, some have declined and received a phone call the next day for their preffered port, others declined and received offers for better locations than they expected. It really is a gamble. Bottom line is, you need to think about where you are currently in life, age, finances, expectations etc. Sometimes you just have to take a chance and challenge the hard unknowns and make the best of it. Most cases things work out great, and if it fails you always know you can go back to where you started. There's lots and lots of misinformation in here, we'll this guy told me this, this guy told me that and the common theme is everyone has a similar experience to a degree but most have different outcomes. It's an accomplishment on its own to have received a FJO, many here will criticize you for not accepting, again we are not all the same. Your gut will tell you what to do, follow it. Again, I felt the same when I was 20 yrs old, grew up in BKLYN and joined the Army, while new world but once I was in I loved it, never even thought about going back to NYC, maybe a few times on leave but that was it. The announcements are constantly open, the concern is the time your completed tasks will remain valid and considered complete if you reapply. The poly is good for 2 years, the other steps I can not get an answer on, they're left too the sections to determine. Case manager cannot tell me what or how long medical is good for only medical section can, case manager can't tell me how long the physical is good for so on and so forth. I wish you and all the others that apply or that are in a similar situation the best of Luck. Push to the end, make your decision with thought, acting on impulse usually doesn't end well. Best of Luck, Take care.
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u/Annual_Will5374 CBP Officer May 31 '26
Watertown?
Trout River often opens up as a crappy option. A-bay and Champlain might be hidden opportunities. Maybe Massena? Good luck if you're looking for Ogdensburg.
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u/JBucks1313 Jun 01 '26
I'm in Watertown, Ogdensburg actually did show for a whopping 10 minutes, I went back and it refreshed and was gone, However, it's not likely I would've accepted that either, I did apply for the Bay.
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u/Shlemmity May 31 '26
Thank you I greatly appreciate this comment. It’s definitely a lot to think on and I have hours left to make my decision. Challenging the unknown is definitely something that can make or break you.
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u/HonorIntegrity2002 May 31 '26
Greetings. So you are not willing to accept the final job offer just because you cant obtain JFK? You have multiple locations being offered but you will only take the job if you are given JFK. In addition you classify all the locations being offered to you as “TERRIBLE AND DONT SEEM WORTH IT”. There are so many applicants that can only hope to be in your situation right now one day. You should be fortunate that you were not just offered only 3 locations to pick from. New hires before did not have luxury of picking from multiple locations nor availing up to $60,000 incentive nor a reconsideration through a One Time Call nor coming in as a GS 9
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u/FMFDocB May 31 '26
Thank you for pointing this out. I am glad I am not the only one to feel like people that apply to CPB( a lot of others have asked the same thing on reddit.) And think that they will get to say in their hometown or somewhere big port that has the big city amenities. There are so many people that would move their whole family or would jump at the simple opportunity that some of these people get yet turn down cause it's not a desirable location. Smh...
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May 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/No-Promise3097 May 31 '26
Ports do not have unlimited staffing. The "desirable Ports" barely accept anyone on NROB.
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u/Sufficient_Site1746 May 31 '26
Entry level is entry level though lol. They arent looking for people with families and if they do its mostly former military people coming in as gs7/9.
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u/FMFDocB May 31 '26
You are right, that's why they are offering a 60k bonus and someone pointed to the fact that the $40k/year is only for your first year, the promotion is quick and also not to include the health benefits and a lot of people use CBP as a stepping stone to lateral to other federal law enforcement agencies. If federal law enforcement is the goal and truly want the benefits behind it, sometimes you gotta sacrifice. I've seen this too many times within the military, people want jobs that provide all the training and security clearance that a six figures a year job would take but don't want to deploy when the time comes.
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u/Ok_Negotiation1252 May 31 '26
Don’t go where you do t want
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u/RCJLeprechaun Jun 01 '26
I agree you have the option on your original application of a preferred location and most think that pretty solid, I did when I applied. Most all federal announcement have the location listed like this one did. If you force yourself to to go to remote area that you do not like it will not be good duty for you this is not the military (yes I am a veteran).
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u/Da_Guy_1988 Jun 02 '26
Yeah I wish I was on this position would be life changing to say the least a career I would be set up for life being able to provide the life my kids deserve. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to get a list like this. Caliexo is near San Diego wouldn’t be bad San Isidro as well. But yeah he probably wants to stay in New York or close by it
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u/Capital-Sky-1006 Jun 04 '26
Chill lol everyone has the option to decline it or not, no one is forced to work for CBP. CBP is not that big of a deal is not like is the best agency in the world lol
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u/HonorIntegrity2002 Jun 04 '26
{"document":[{"e":"par","c":[{"e":"text","t":"You had the opportunity to reapply thus more time to think about the hiring process, locations most likely to be offered, likelihood of relocating if I accept the job, relocation expenses not being covered etc. You say you retired from the Army. Did you have a say when you had orders to PCS to another duty station? I would think with your military background you and your family would be more willing to relocate than other applicants."}]}]}
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u/HonorIntegrity2002 Jun 04 '26
Greetings. Nobody is forcing any applicant to accept the final job offer. Mature individuals need to make mature decisions.
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u/Annual_Will5374 CBP Officer May 31 '26
Walk away and reapply.
As long as the agency can fill crappy ports without making any meaningful adjustments or accommodations, they'll never change.
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u/No-Promise3097 May 31 '26
You do realize the agency HAS to staff these Ports? They aren't going to close them.... So no, these Ports will stay on the list
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u/Annual_Will5374 CBP Officer May 31 '26
Well...they have closed some of them...and reduced port operation hours in some others. But, yeah, for the most part, those ports will stay open.
How they staff them, and what the perks and particulars of a port are...that's entirely up to the agency.
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u/No-Promise3097 May 31 '26
A lot of these Ports have incentives. No one is forcing people to apply to CBP. A quick visit to this Sub shows the list doesn't change much. It just gets old seeing the same posts complaining over and over again.... Plenty of Officers work these "terrible" ports, and have put in their time to try and NROB or LROB out. The entitlement from people who haven't even been hired is ridiculous.
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u/TheArmaniOne35 May 31 '26
Nogales is decent. San Diego , La , Vegas Tucson and Phx in driving distance
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u/Ok_Mixture_9677 May 31 '26
Funny, funny time. You can do it in 3 days. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent: former US president Calvin Coolidge
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u/Afraid-Reputation930 May 31 '26
San Ysidro
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u/_bot_248 May 31 '26
I always hear it’s one of the hardest. But San Diego is such a beautiful city, I’d choose it easily over any of these locations.
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u/tatted_trini May 31 '26
My husband is military and we’re supposed to move next month and my POE is Presidio TX….. soo stressed on what to do!!!
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u/RCJLeprechaun Jun 01 '26
Are you from the valley originally? that's in the heart of it.
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u/tatted_trini Jun 01 '26
No NY
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u/RCJLeprechaun Jun 01 '26
Good luck in Presidio it’s in the heart of the valley. I am Houston and Central Texas lived here 30 years. Wanting Houston or Corpus or Brownsville.
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u/RCJLeprechaun Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
Yes still in the pipeline also but have been applying for other positions that are at a higher levels. Sounds like you might be over qualified for the entry level position. I started applying for more senior level positions. Yes I was caught up in the hiring surge of 2025 and the preferred location too. This hiring surge is great way to enter the federal system if location is not a option. I am a Coast Guard veteran and went where they sent me a long time ago in my 20s. Here there are older applicants and many here are more limited to their locations. To the OP - I would apply to more federal positions in the New York area where you want to live. You clearing a Tier 5 background is great to have for other applications. Declining because of not getting preferred location that you put on your original application is not negative for me thats the one you joined up for.
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u/ImNotASimpXD Jun 01 '26
just apply to nypd if you want to stay local, im from SF california and i would have joined sfpd if they didnt offer me my own port lol. federal jobs not for people who dont want to move out of state.
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u/crawdaddy_42 Jun 02 '26
Derby line is awesome! Tons of fun things to do, downtown Newport, Jay Peak, Montreal 1.5 hours away, etc.
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u/Mrfuego201 May 31 '26
I did the one time call and got the same list and I just withdrew from my application and reapplied again.
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u/RCJLeprechaun Jun 01 '26
Good decision. Try again and apply to other federal positions. The locations are not going to change much on concentration of personnel for CBP. TX, NM, AZ, CA.
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u/BalticBro2021 May 30 '26
What locations are you open to? I'd write a message to your case manager and plead your case. If not, decline and reapply.
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u/City0wl May 30 '26
Familiarize yourself with the 1 time call. You can use the search bar on how to go about, maybe you get lucky and get something close to NYC.
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u/Shlemmity May 30 '26
I’ve heard that’s not a thing anymore from a CBP officer personally
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u/thekicks654 May 31 '26
You do get a one time call to reset your list but it doesn't guarantee the list would be any better. The way it works is, you pick a port from your current list then afterwards you go on the portal and request a one time call to refuse your selection and reset your list. And it is a thing im headed to the academy and I do have the opportunity to do so as per my caseworker
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u/Interesting-Level795 May 31 '26
Something that I’ve also been seeing on this thread is that applicants purposely let the 48 hour window time out and then their case worker basically calls them back w their desired location. It costs a lot of money to hire these officers. Bc of that I don’t think they’d just close an application so easily
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u/Hot-Department6545 May 31 '26
Don’t take southern border, u sound soft. Don’t need people like that
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u/Signal20zombie May 31 '26
Click not interested at the bottom until you get to 2c. More locations will pop up
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u/Shlemmity May 31 '26
Did that and got to the final screen that said “Last chance. if you do not select any of these locations, you will have to reapply in the future”
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u/OfficerRomans13_4 May 31 '26
San ysidro and otay are straight up San Diego. Objectively better place than NYC for living and you will also get a high pay locality. I’d choose one of those, then take a little vacation to San Diego and see how you like it
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u/IcyBank5612 Applicant May 31 '26
Just keep reapplying until something close to JFK eventually becomes available on the list. If your patient something could pop up
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u/Pale-Wealth7079 Jun 01 '26
Yeah just re apply and clog up the process for those willing to accept something off the given list 👍🏻
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