OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security
As a demonstration of the ongoing cooperation that binds Canada and the United States of America, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas and Canadian Minister of Public Safety, the Honourable Marco Mendicino, support and express their appreciation to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for their progress in developing innovative solutions to provide NEXUS applicants with more options and opportunities to complete their enrollment interviews for this bilateral trusted traveler program. These efforts have been made to ensure every qualified U.S. and Canadian traveler has the opportunity to benefit from the facilitated travel that NEXUS brings, supporting communities and economic interests on both sides of the border.
In order to address the significant backlog in NEXUS applications, CBP and CBSA have increased the number of interview appointments available to applicants by extending hours of service at enrollment centers in the United States and expanding the locations where interviews are conducted on the land border. CBP and CBSA have also been able to accelerate approval for over 80% of renewing applicants and to extend benefits for the remaining qualified renewing applicants for up to five years beyond their membership expiration date while their interviews are pending.
These efforts have been effective. Since October 1, 2022, CBP and CBSA have completed a record-breaking 203,000 NEXUS enrollments and reduced the net backlog of applicants by 100,000.
We expect a new enrollment option for air travelers to be available by the spring that will include CBSA interviews at reopened enrollment centers in Canada and separate CBP interviews in Canadian airport preclearance locations for departing applicants. Details for this new interview option will be available shortly from CBP and CBSA. In the meantime, applicants may continue to take advantage of existing options for interviews, including combined interviews at U.S. enrollment centers and two-step, separate Canada-U.S. interviews at designated land borders.
This work reaffirms the cooperative and effective advantages and relationship Canada and the United States share in managing an efficient border between our two countries, to the great benefit of citizens of both countries. It also reaffirms the importance of the jointly-administered NEXUS trusted traveler program, accelerates our progress in eliminating the enrollment backlog, and expands enrollment capacity over the long-term to meet and improve services to travelers.
SOURCE Canada Border Services Agency
Media Relations: Canada Border Services Agency, [email protected], 1-877-761-5945; U.S. Department of Homeland Security- Office of Public Affairs: [email protected]
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