Canadian Border - NEXUS Program
The border that the United States shares with Canada is generally not subject to the same debate and concern over policies and illegal immigration as is the Mexican border. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is charged with handling border issues on the American side and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is charged with handling border issues on the Canadian side. Together with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, these agencies have created the bi-national "NEXUS" program in order to simplify border crossings for certain low-risk travelers.
NEXUS Overview
The NEXUS program is a streamlined border crossing procedure by which approved travelers are processed more quickly than others. A person may apply for the NEXUS program through the CBSA. The person then must go to a NEXUS "enrollment center" for an interview and issuance of a photo ID. Enrollment centers are located in several cities along the U.S./Canada border. A person's application for the NEXUS program must be approved by both Canadian and U.S. officials. With approval, low-risk travelers require only a minimum of time at the border. Border officials on both sides are then better able to concentrate their attention on higher-risk travelers.
Benefits of NEXUS
Participation in the NEXUS program allows a traveler to cross the border with minimum immigration and customs processing. It allows the NEXUS traveler to cross the border more quickly, in a travel lane dedicated to NEXUS travelers. In this lane, they simply have to stop and show their ID card. They are allowed to cross the border unless they are selected for secondary processing, either random or specific.
Eligibility for NEXUS
Several broad categories of people are eligible to participate in the NEXUS program. These include citizens and residents of both Canada and the United States. Citizens of a country other than Canada or the United States may also qualify for the NEXUS program if they plan to temporarily reside in either Canada or the U.S. and pass a criminal history check performed by Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization.
Certain individuals are specifically not qualified for participation. These people include: individuals who are inadmissible to the U.S. or Canada under the immigration laws of each country; individuals who have violated immigration laws; individuals who make false statements on their NEXUS application; individuals who have been convicted of a crime in any country; and individuals who do not plan to live in either Canada or the United States for the full term of their NEXUS participation.
Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
