US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is set to roll out the CBP One Appointment Validation Tool, a capability within the CBP One app which allows certain undocumented individuals to submit biographic and biometric information in advance of their arrival in the United States, and to schedule an appointment at a port of entry (POE) for processing.
The tool was in response to what CBP says was a request by the Mexico government.
“As part of its efforts to manage migration in Mexico, Mexico has requested that the National Institute of Migration have a mechanism to validate that an individual they encounter has a valid CBP One appointment,” CBP said. The National Institute of Migration is a component of the Secretariat of the Interior that controls and supervises migration in Mexico.
To respond to Mexico’s request, CBP created the CBP One Appointment Validation Tool, which, it said, “is the only CBP One capability available to National Institute of Migration users with a valid National Institute of Migration email domain and a need to know.”
CBP said ‘this tool does not share personally identifiable information with the National Institute of Migration, though it does confirm whether the date of birth/appointment confirmation number input into the tool are information maintained by CBP and whether an individual (or group of individuals) has an appointment with CBP.”
Details about the new appointment validation tool are contained in a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) update on the “collection of advance information from certain undocumented individuals” at land ports of entry (POEs) and “to provide notice on a new tool within CBP One.”
As a matter of background, CBP launched the CBP One mobile app on the Apple App and Google Play stores on October 28, 2020. It serves as a single portal to a variety of CBP services. Through a series of guided questions, the app directs each type of user to the appropriate services based on their needs.
CBP says that as part of its “comprehensive effort to improve the security of our nation’s borders while enhancing legitimate travel and trade, CBP One provides increased accessibility and transparency to some of CBP’s most utilized services.”
The American Immigration Council says “the app has become the only way that migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border seeking asylum at a POE can preschedule appointments for processing and maintain guaranteed asylum eligibility.
To facilitate the processing of certain undocumented individuals at land ports of entry, CBP says it created CBP One as “a way for undocumented individuals, as well as organizations and entities who may provide assistance to undocumented individuals, to submit advance information to CBP.”
CBP allows individuals who choose to do so to voluntarily submit biographic and biometric information on behalf of themselves, family members, and other co-travelers in advance of their arrival at a POE. Separately, organizations and entities that work with undocumented individuals may also collect and transmit the information on behalf of an undocumented individual and their spouse and children in advance of arrival at a POE.
In late September, CBP said it processed nearly 45,000 individuals with advanced information submitted through CBP One. CBP said, “Since the appointment scheduling function in CBP One was introduced in January 2023 through the end of August 2024, approximately 813,000 individuals have successfully scheduled appointments to present at ports of entry instead of risking their lives in the hands of smugglers.”
CBP said most the individuals using app are citizens of Venezuela, Cuba, and Mexico.
CBP said “a percentage of daily available appointments are allocated to the earliest registered CBP One profiles, so noncitizens who have been trying to obtain appointments for the longest time are prioritized. CBP is continually monitoring and evaluating the application to ensure its functionality and guard against bad actors.”
CBP said undocumented individuals residing in Mexico are currently the only eligible population who can request an appointment using CBP One.
The users of the CBP One app provide their biographic and biometric information and once registered the user selects from a drop-down list the land border port of entry at which they would like to schedule their appointment.
Once the registration is complete and the user has selected a port of entry, the user can “Ask for An Appointment.” Currently, undocumented individuals can request
CBP One appointments between the hours of 12 pm and 11:59 pm Eastern Time each day. To request an appointment in CBP One, the user selects the registration that contains all members of their family or co-travelers who share a common US destination address.
Article Topics
biometrics | border security | CBP | CBP One | DHS | digital identity | mobile app | U.S. Government