NEXUS Air off to a flying start at the Vancouver International Airport

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and United States Customs and Border Protection have launched the NEXUS Air pilot project at the Vancouver International Airport.

The program is designed to speed up the border clearance process for pre-approved, low-risk air travellers. NEXUS Air uses biometric iris recognition technology to ensure the highest level of border security, while making travel convenient and safe for passengers.

NEXUS Air is open to citizens or permanent residents of Canada and the U.S. and allows low-risk, pre-approved travellers to clear customs and immigration by simply looking into a camera that recognizes the iris as proof of identity. This allows both Canada and the United States to focus efforts on unknown or high-risk travellers and goods. The processing fee is $80 CAN or $50 US and is good for the duration of the project.

This international partnership will allow pre-qualified, low risk travelers to be processed with little or no delay by both U.S. and Canadian border officials.

When traveling from the Vancouver International Airport, NEXUS Air members will be able to access the FasTrack lane at the airport's security screening points by showing their NEXUS Air membership card and boarding pass to a screening officer. NEXUS Air members will continue to be subject to the same rigorous security standards as all travellers.

NEXUS Air was implemented on November 30, 2004, and will run until April 30, 2006.