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Pilot program begins at the Peace Bridge to speed up border crossing process

peace bridge
Posted at 4:40 PM, Dec 01, 2022
and last updated 2022-12-01 17:43:19-05

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — There are new efforts to speed up cross-border travel between the United States and Canada. Travel between the two countries and the Peace Bridge Authority hope to cut back on the time it takes you to get a NEXUS pass, which expedites your process crossing the border, and reduce backlogs.

On December 1, the program launched, which will now allow applicants to interview with a Canadian border agent first, then a U.S. agent. Typically, NEXUS applicant interviews are conducted with border agents from both countries at the same time.

With the Covid-19 shutdown, interviews stopped. Despite the enrollment center relaunching in April of 2022, the legal hold up between both countries is making it difficult to conduct interviews.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, at the end of October, the processing time to get a Nexus pass or renew it took about 16.5 months. This is something Democratic Congressman Brian Higgins said is unacceptable.

"There's enough incentive for both countries to want to resolve this. I mean, our economies in Western New York and Southern Ontario are deeply integrated. Our life quality in Southern Ontario and Western New York are deeply integrated," Higgins said.

He said although this pilot program provides partial relief, there needs to be a permanent solution to address the backlog for about 350,000 people. Higgins said the solution can be as simple as doing online interviews with applicants and agents.

The pilot program, operating at 100 percent, will process 500 applications weekly.

"This is an important stopgap, but is a reminder that the U.S. and Canada still need to fulfill the potential of the agreement reached in 2015 to facilitate NEXUS application procedures in a seamless way to the benefit of both Canadians and Americans," Higgins said in a press release.