Videophone Inspection Program (VIP) and Outlying Area Reporting Station (OARS)

The Videophone Inspection Program (VIP) is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection program that enables boaters entering the United States from Canada to be inspected face-to-face by a CBP inspector upon arrival at a selected reporting station. The program was designed to facilitate the legal entry of pleasure boats into the United States that had not been issued a Form I-68. History [edit] A videophone installed at the East 55th Street Marina in Cleveland, Ohio. In June 1997, the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was mandated by Congress to design, develop and deploy a series of videophone inspection stations at four specific marinas along the US-Canada border in time for the 1997 boating season. In support of the INS, The US Department Of Transportation's Volpe Center designed and developed a weatherproof videophone system using commercially available components. The systems were first deployed in Morristown, Waddington, Ogdensburg and Clayton, New York, with inst... (see more)