INSPASS

INSPASS, or INS Passenger Accelerated Service System, was a program of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) during the late 1990s and early 2000s the purpose of which was to facilitate the entry of pre-screened low-risk travellers through immigration and customs at certain airports.

Frequent fliers who were citizens of the U.S. or a handful of other trusted countries could apply for INSPASS privileges. After a thorough security screening, approved INSPASS members would register their hand geometry as a biometric identifier and presented with an associated membership card.

Upon entering the United States after arriving from abroad, users would subject themselves to hand geometry scans and would pass through Federal Inspection without undergoing a formal interview by border personnel.

The program initially was established at JFK International Airport and Newark International Airport in May 1993. Later, it expanded to the US Immigration and Customs Pre-Clearance Inspection Stations in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada. Although modeled on the Dutch "SchipholPass" program, INSPASS was the first large scale biometric identity verification program undertaken by the United States Government and quickly became the largest, in terms of enrollments, such program in the world. Program officials advocated the concept of "One Traveler, One Card" to promote harmonization of the system with other traveler biometric programs and regular meetings were held with the immigration authorities of Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands to achieve that goal. Pilots of land border versions were conducted in Buffalo, New York during the World University Games (summer 1993) and later in Hidalgo, Texas.

Although the program was discontinued in 2002, it has since been replaced by NEXUS; a program currently in the pilot phase between U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Canada Border Services Agency.