According to US Customs and Border Protection, Australia has extended their SmartGate expedited entry program to members of Global Entry.

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. ePassport and
• are 16 years of age or older.

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

The full news release from US Customs and Border protection can be read at: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/national/11012012_2.xml

More information on the SmartGate program is available at: http://www.customs.gov.au/smartgate/

I don’t know that this will help me terribly often, but it is probably a sign of more cooperation to come…