Australia Extends Smartgate To U.s. Trusted Travelers

(FWIW, I enrolled in the Global Entry program last year so now just use the kiosks when arriving in the U.S. My airline reimbursed me for the five year, $100 fee.)

Beginning November 01, 2012 Australian Customs and Border Protection will allow eligible U.S. Trusted Travelers to use Australia's automated border processing system, SmartGate, on a trial basis.

SmartGate performs the customs and immigration checks usually conducted by an Australian Customs and Border Protection officer. It uses state-of-the-art biometric face recognition and ePassport¹ technology to securely and efficiently process passengers. Using SmartGate to self-process may be faster than waiting for an Australian Customs and Border Protection officer, particularly during busy travel periods.

SmartGate is a simple two-step process involving a kiosk and a gate. A video demonstration of SmartGate is available on the following link: http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5831.asp

U.S. citizens who are members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Trusted Traveler programs are eligible to use SmartGate upon arrival in Australia if they:

• are a member of CBP's Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI Program;

• travel on a valid U.S. ePassport¹ and

• are 16 years of age or older.

Travelers who meet all three criteria will be eligible to try SmartGate.

There is no additional enrollment process to participate in SmartGate. CBP has partnered with the Australian Government on this initiative to facilitate the entry of U.S. citizens into Australia. By using SmartGate, eligible travelers are able to bypass Australia's manual passport control processing queues and self-process using their ePassport¹.

SmartGate is currently available at the following airports in Australia:

• Adelaide

• Brisbane

• Cairns

• Darwin

• Gold Coast

• Melbourne

• Perth

• Sydney

At no point is this program an entitlement. Passengers are always subject to screening measures.

Australian Customs and Border Protection is currently expanding its SmartGate facilities to improve access to the program for additional eligible travelers. The project will deliver five additional gates at Melbourne International Airport by mid-November and four new gates and one kiosk at Sydney International Airport by Christmas. The construction work may cause some delays for SmartGate users arriving in Sydney and Melbourne, and Australian Customs and Border Protection apologizes for any inconvenience.

For more information on using SmartGate in Australia, visit www.customs.gov.au/smartgate or www.globalentry.gov.

¹ For more information on ePassports, please visit http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_2498.html

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