MPC App - Mobile Passport Control for US Customs

[webworm]

Folks if you are travelling through Pearson and want to avoid a long lineup at US Customs download the MPC App. We used it this morning and went to the designated line and in fact we were the only ones in line. The lineup was crazy and I'm sure probably an hour wait to get through Customs. Most people do not seem to be aware of the MPC app similar to our ArriveCan app to speed up clearance with US Customs. You can also book your spot in the security line through YYZ Express to breeze through security.

[Middleager]

So there is a MPC line different than regular line.  What about the Nexus line?

[webworm]

I think it may be the same line and there was no one else in the line.

[phabric]

Thanks for the information.  I use YYZ Express at Pearson, a breeze to go through.  I also use ArriveCAN, another breeze, most people don’t know that you can still use ArriveCAN.

 

I am on a 3 day cruise from Vancouver to San Francisco port then a return San Francisco cruise.

 

I wonder if I can use MPC at Vancouver cruise port since I will going to a US cruise port?

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, phabric said:

Thanks for the information.  I use YYZ Express at Pearson, a breeze to go through.  I also use ArriveCAN, another breeze, most people don’t know that you can still use ArriveCAN.

 

I am on a 3 day cruise from Vancouver to San Francisco port then a return San Francisco cruise.

 

I wonder if I can use MPC at Vancouver cruise port since I will going to a US cruise port?

No, it currently can be used at several Canadian airports, but no cruise ports.

[phabric]

5 hours ago, Fouremco said:

No, it currently can be used at several Canadian airports, but no cruise ports.

Thanks, good to know for when I fly to USA airport.  I have added the app to my phone.

Edited September 1 by phabric

[Barwick Cruiser]

If I already have Nexus do I need this extra app MPC?  We have a flight in January from Pearson thru LA to NZ. We’ll do preclearance in Toronto and then just security in LAX?  Usually go thru Vancouver but this time it was much cheaper to transit LA. 

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

If I already have Nexus do I need this extra app MPC?  We have a flight in January from Pearson thru LA to NZ. We’ll do preclearance in Toronto and then just security in LAX?  Usually go thru Vancouver but this time it was much cheaper to transit LA. 

You can't use both Mobile Passport Control and NEXUS simultaneously, but some travellers have both, using whichever line is shorter. 

 

 

 

[Barwick Cruiser]

8 hours ago, Fouremco said:

You can't use both Mobile Passport Control and NEXUS simultaneously, but some travellers have both, using whichever line is shorter. 

 

 

 

So it’s one line for Nexus, another for MPC holders in addition to the one for the general passengers? Or are Nexus holders and MPC in the same line? 

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

So it’s one line for Nexus, another for MPC holders in addition to the one for the general passengers? Or are Nexus holders and MPC in the same line? 

According to the CBP website:

 

Travelers who successfully use the MPC app will no longer have to complete a paper form and may be provided a designated queue. As a result, travelers may experience shorter wait times, less congestion and efficient processing.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control

 

I've not determined whether or not every airport offering MPC provides a dedicated MPC queue, but I'd imagine that the decision is based on volume, with larger airports doing so but smaller airports possibly combining priority lines. Maybe I've just missed it, but I've not noticed a separate line for MPC at the Ottawa airport, while others have reported having separate lines at Pearson. Maybe others who normally fly to the US from Canadian airports could comment.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Good info, as usual, I’m wondering whether separate lines is enabled not so much by volume as by numbers of cbp members are working at any given time 🤷‍♀️ We fly in January so I’ll prob complete the app and then choose whichever queu is shortest? Nexus vs MPC. 

[TeamCan]

On 9/3/2024 at 7:24 PM, Fouremco said:

According to the CBP website:

 

Travelers who successfully use the MPC app will no longer have to complete a paper form and may be provided a designated queue. As a result, travelers may experience shorter wait times, less congestion and efficient processing.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control

 

I've not determined whether or not every airport offering MPC provides a dedicated MPC queue, but I'd imagine that the decision is based on volume, with larger airports doing so but smaller airports possibly combining priority lines. Maybe I've just missed it, but I've not noticed a separate line for MPC at the Ottawa airport, while others have reported having separate lines at Pearson. Maybe others who normally fly to the US from Canadian airports could comment.

We are flying YVR-YOW- EWR. We have to clear US customs in YOW- pre-clearance for the US? Is the Nexus line-up usually pretty short since YOW is a smaller airport than YYZ and therefore smaller volume of passengers going through US pre-clearance to the US?  We have a short layover of 67min at 4:15pm. We have Nexus.  If there is no separate line-up for MPC, it doesn’t seem necessary to download the MPC app? Thank you!

[Fouremco]

4 minutes ago, TeamCan said:

We are flying YVR-YOW- EWR. We have to clear US customs in YOW- pre-clearance for the US? Is the Nexus line-up usually pretty short since YOW is a smaller airport than YYZ and therefore smaller volume of passengers going through US pre-clearance to the US?  We have a short layover of 67min at 4:15pm. We have Nexus.  If there is no separate line-up for MPC, it doesn’t seem necessary to download the MPC app? Thank you!

Maybe we've just been very lucky, but in all of our flights to the US from Ottawa we've never had anyone ahead of us in the NEXUS line. Mind you, there never seem to be a lot of people in the regular line either compared to what you'd see at YYZ or YVR. I've never downloaded MPC, and probably won't bother.

[TeamCan]

30 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Maybe we've just been very lucky, but in all of our flights to the US from Ottawa we've never had anyone ahead of us in the NEXUS line. Mind you, there never seem to be a lot of people in the regular line either compared to what you'd see at YYZ or YVR. I've never downloaded MPC, and probably won't bother.

Thank you for the helpful info! Yes, YVR and YYZ are busier….The regular lines for US customs and security are usually much longer than the NEXUS lines

[*Miss G*]

17 hours ago, TeamCan said:

We have Nexus.  If there is no separate line-up for MPC, it doesn’t seem necessary to download the MPC app? Thank you!

 

If you have Nexus, you are already fast-tracked.  MPC is for those who haven’t been pre-approved.

 

Informationally and related, I was traveling with my daughter from the UK, with a layover to Canada at a US airport.  She doesn’t have Nexus so she was funneled to a different area, but I was trying not to get separated so I stuck with her.  (One time she’d been sent to secondary at YYZ.  It was a nerve-wracking experience for me because I could not see where she was and (obviously) could not go back to that area to ask.  It was 45 minutes before she was released so I didn’t want to go through that again.)  In the end, we got separated anyway.

 

Anyway, that was a long story to say that the officer I was sent to gave me a bit of grief for not going through the Global Entry/Nexus line.

[phabric]

If going to Canada, down the app ArriveCAN, another fast pass entrance to Canada.

[webworm]

Use ArriveCAN when returning to Canada and you can go directly to the Express Lanes and use the E-gates and through customs in 5 mins. There was a huge lineup for Customs when we returned last night. I'm not sure why people do not use both the ArriveCAN and MPC apps to get through customs quickly.

[phabric]

14 minutes ago, webworm said:

Use ArriveCAN when returning to Canada and you can go directly to the Express Lanes and use the E-gates and through customs in 5 mins. There was a huge lineup for Customs when we returned last night. I'm not sure why people do not use both the ArriveCAN and MPC apps to get through customs quickly.

I also use YYZ Express to go through the fast line for security at Pearson.

[happytotravel]

Thank you so much for this info.

Happytotravel 

[TeamCan]

4 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

If you have Nexus, you are already fast-tracked.  MPC is for those who haven’t been pre-approved.

 

Informationally and related, I was traveling with my daughter from the UK, with a layover to Canada at a US airport.  She doesn’t have Nexus so she was funneled to a different area, but I was trying not to get separated so I stuck with her.  (One time she’d been sent to secondary at YYZ.  It was a nerve-wracking experience for me because I could not see where she was and (obviously) could not go back to that area to ask.  It was 45 minutes before she was released so I didn’t want to go through that again.)  In the end, we got separated anyway.

 

Anyway, that was a long story to say that the officer I was sent to gave me a bit of grief for not going through the Global Entry/Nexus line.

I'm sorry that happened to you and your daughter... 45 min is a long time to worry waiting for your daughter.

"officer I was sent to gave me a bit of grief for not going through the Global Entry/Nexus line".... so if you have Global Entry/Nexus... you must go thru the Nexus line? At airports, the Nexus line is always shorter, so we always go through Nexus line.  However, at the land border, occasionally we have gone through the regular(non- Nexus) line if the line is shorter.

Thanks for the clarification on the MPC. I had never heard of it before and was confused if we needed both.

[*Miss G*]

23 minutes ago, TeamCan said:

so if you have Global Entry/Nexus... you must go thru the Nexus line? At

 

Thank you, @TeamCan  I’ll give you the only other example I have.  This time at YYZ.  Daughter and I were heading off to the same England trip.  Both chatting as we went through the regular line since she didn’t have Nexus.  As we were flying together, I just assumed it would be the same as it is for land borders; that you both don’t get to use the Nexus lane if one of your party doesn’t have it, so you go to the regular lanes.

 

We get called up, officer sees I have Nexus and makes me go over there.  Then my daughter got sent to secondary and that is where I lost track of her. They wouldn’t let me wait for her.

 

Lesson to me at the airports… always use the Nexus/Global Entry lane.  lol 

[TeamCan]

18 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Lesson to me at the airports… always use the Nexus/Global Entry lane

I didn't know that either.  Thanks for the lesson.🙂

[Sn0cruiser]

We used it in YVR and it was great - very fast.  Unfortunately the line through security was crazy - out the door and snaking around the corridor !  
 

Does anyone know if it’s worthwhile in Winnipeg ?