A fast track for low-risk passengers headed to the United States has been added to the US Customs and Border Protection department at LF Wade International Airport.

Constance Dierman, the US Consul General, said it would prove “convenient and beneficial to qualified travellers”.

The new feature, Enrolment on Arrival, applies to applicants to the Global Entry programme.

Global Entry enables travellers to scan their way through a kiosk at the airport that processes their Customs declaration.

There are 4.7 million Global Entry members eligible to bypass traditional Customs inspection lines. The service is available at 54 American airports and 15 pre-clearance locations.

Enrolment on Arrival will do away with the requirement for conditionally approved Global Entry applicants to schedule an interview at an enrolment centre overseas.

Applicants who successfully complete an online application and background check will receive the conditional approval notice confirming their eligibility for an interview.

They will instead be able to complete their interview during the US pre-clearance process, where a US official will determine their final eligibility before boarding their flight.

Once approved, a traveller becomes a Global Entry member, and can use Global Entry kiosks in Bermuda and elsewhere.

Ms Dierman said that allowing travellers to complete their applications while travelling through Bermuda's airport “avoids the inconvenience and additional expense of having to travel to an enrolment centre in the US”.

Bermuda passports are not eligible for the service, but US citizens and UK passport holders can apply, and Canadian citizens can use Global Entry kiosks.

Passport holders from Argentina, Colombia, Germany, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan can also apply.