Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports that effective immediately, the Canada Border Services Agency lifted the three-year residency requirement for Canadian citizens to apply to NEXUS.
As pre-approved travelers, NEXUS members can expedite their travel across the Canada-U.S. border at designated air, land and marine locations.
“This amendment is an important step in strengthening border security efforts between the U.S. and Canada as part of the Beyond the Border Action Plan,” said Acting CBP Commissioner David Aguilar. “The NEXUS program allows border officers in both the U.S. and Canada to focus on high risk travelers while expediting those that are enrolled in the program.”
By amending the three-year residency requirement, the CBSA is extending NEXUS membership eligibility to citizens of Canada currently residing abroad, or who have recently returned to Canada. The United States amended this requirement in 2009.
The CBSA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection also recently announced that they have begun enrollment drives to assist with increasing application volumes, CBP says. Three successful drives took place during May and June 2012 which enrolled more than 1,000 new members of the NEXUS program. Future drives will be considered based on application volumes.
The NEXUS program allows U.S. and Canadian officers to concentrate their efforts on unknown or higher-risk travelers and goods.
Enhancements to the NEXUS program are critical to facilitating the lawful flow of pre-approved, low-risk travelers while enabling a focus on people about whom we know the least, CBP says. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security.
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