OTTAWA — Additional efforts are being made to address the significant backlog in NEXUS applications, including extending hours of service and accelerating approvals.
In a joint statement, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas and Canadian Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino thanked both the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for providing NEXUS applicants with more options and opportunities to complete their enrollment interviews.
“These efforts have been made to ensure every qualified U.S. and Canadian travellers has the opportunity to benefit from the facilitated travel that NEXUS brings, supporting communities and economic interests on both sides of the border,” read the statement.
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.
According to the organizations, these measures have been effective. Since Oct. 1, 2022, CPB and CBSA have completed a record-breaking 203,000 NEXUS enrollments and reduced the net backlog of applicants by 100,000.
A new enrollment option for air travellers is expected 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. More details about this new interview option will be available shortly.
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,” the statement added. “It also reaffirms the importance of the jointly-administered NEXUS trusted traveller program, accelerates our progress in eliminating the enrollment backlog, and expands enrollment capacity over the long-term to meet and improve services to travellers.”
