Recently minted Northwest Corner residents often receive one nugget of advice: “Apply for NEXUS immediately.” It can take more than a year to be approved for the NEXUS pass, which speeds up border crossing between the U.S. and Canada.
In order to chip away at the waitlist and try to speed up that process for the couple hundred thousand applicants in the backlog, U.S. and Canadian border agencies will be hosting a three-day NEXUS enrollment event in Blaine.
The Blaine Trusted Traveler Enrollment Center will be churning through NEXUS interviews from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. June 4-6 at 8115 Birch Bay Square, Ste. 104. Applicants must be conditionally approved through the online application process and must have a scheduled interview — due to expected high volume, no walk-ins are allowed.
“We look forward to completing a significant number of enrollments over this jam-packed three-day event,” said Brian Humphrey, U.S. Customs and Border Protection director of field operations, in a news release.
NEXUS is one of several trusted traveler programs offered by the federal government to “low-risk” international travelers. It entails a background check and in-person interview and allows members to reduce their wait times at land, air and sea ports of entry between the U.S. and Canada.
NEXUS expires after five years and must be renewed. Other trusted traveler programs are TSA PreCheck (for domestic or international air travel), Global Entry (air travel into the U.S.), SENTRI (ground travel into the U.S.), and FAST (commercial shipments).
In Whatcom County, the Point Roberts, Peace Arch and Pacific Highway ports of entry have NEXUS lanes for expedited entry. In order to use the lane, all occupants of the vehicle must be NEXUS members, including children.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported an unprecedented demand for its trusted traveler programs in the past few years, partly due to extended COVID-19 office closures. Currently, the average wait time after application is 12 to 14 months for NEXUS, and slightly less for Global Entry and SENTRI.
New members and those renewing their NEXUS pass must apply online at ttp.cbp.dhs.gov and pay a nonrefundable $50 fee. Children under 18 (even babies) must undergo the same process to hold a pass but are exempt from the fee.
After applicants are conditionally approved (a process that can take many months), they must schedule an interview at an enrollment center at the border or at a participating airport. (Enrollment at an airport requires two separate interviews, one in Canada and one in the U.S.) Blaine has the only non-airport-based NEXUS enrollment center on the West Coast — the closest center is in Sweetgrass, Montana.
New appointment slots open on the first Monday of every month, but the wait time can still be considerable. Some applicants use workarounds like the NEXUS Appointment Bot on X, which publishes slots that have become available.
“The enrollment center in Blaine continues to experience high demand,” said Jason Givens, the regional press officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “We’re hopeful that events like the upcoming one in Blaine will help expedite the process.”
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced in April that on Oct. 1, 2024, the cost of all the trusted traveler programs will increase to a uniform application fee of $120. The fee for NEXUS hasn’t gone up in more than 15 years, according to a news release from the government.
“Prior to the announcement of the change in trusted traveler program fees, CBP was already experiencing an unprecedented demand for its trusted traveler programs,” Givens said. “We anticipate there may be some increase in applicants ahead of the price increase, but we cannot predict how significant it will be.”
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
