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Archived: The NEXUS Information Thread

Old Mar 3, 2013, 10:24 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: TWA884
Current NEXUS Information messages can be found in the following thread:

The NEXUS Information Thread



Welcome to the Travel Safety/Security Trusted Travelers Forum Nexus Information Wiki! This resource will appear at the top of every page within this thread to help users learn more about this program.

About NEXUS

NEXUS is designed to expedite the border clearance process for low-risk, pre-approved travellers into Canada and the United States.

The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs & Border Patrol (CBP) are cooperating in this joint venture to simplify border crossing for members while enhancing security.

Program benefits

If you are approved to participate in NEXUS, you will receive a membership identification card to use when entering Canada or the United States at all designated NEXUS air, land and marine ports of entry.

Membership will enable airline passengers to save time by:
  • using automated self-serve kiosks in dedicated areas at designated international airports;
  • using NEXUS/SENTRI lanes at land crossings when/where available. NEXUS lanes entering Canada will likely have a constant red traffic signal. This is to discourage non-NEXUS members from using the lane. Canada-bound NEXUS land crossing operating hours. All occupants must have NEXUS cards when using NEXUS lane entering Canada. At some locations, the NEXUS lane, the inspection booth is not staffed but there should be a call button. When entering US in a NEXUS/SENTRI lane, all occupants must carry either NEXUS, Global Entry, or SENTRI cards (or any combination thereof). Notable exception is Whirlpool Bridge which requires a NEXUS card to open the toll gate on the Canadian side to cross to the US..
  • As of 17 MAY 2017 - NEXUS members no longer need to complete a paper CBSA Declaration Card (Form E311) when using a NEXUS self-serve kiosk at any Canadian airport where NEXUS is available. (Refer to post #10421)
  • using the Trusted Traveller Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) Security Line at major and select medium-sized Canadian airports to expedite airport pre boarding security screening. For detailed information, please visit the CATSA Web site.

Join NEXUS

Here are the steps for becoming a member. There is a non-refundable processing fee of CAN$50 or US$50 per applicant for a five-year membership card.

About NEXUS
Eligibility
How to apply
Enrolment process


Key points about the program as found by forum members:
  • NEXUS cardholders must advise of ANY changes to their vital information such as passport numbers/validity, visa status, legal names, primary residence, criminal convictions, and employment if it impacts your eligibility in the program.
  • It's normal to find the first in-person NEXUS interview to be months into the future, but a little patience and regular checks on the TTP website almost always yields an interview date much sooner.
  • Each person who wants to participate in the NEXUS program must fill out a separate application form. There is no fee for applicants under the age of 18.
  • If traveling with non-NEXUS family members NEXUS cardholders are required to use the regular customs lines.
  • There is a zero tolerance policy and membership can be terminated for infractions including not having your NEXUS card on you and using the NEXUS lane and not declaring items on your customs declaration card, though members have reported some leniency being granted for such infractions in the past.
  • Private companies may offer services for submitting your application and charge an additional processing fee but these extra charges are not part of the official NEXUS application fee. Expedited services offered by such companies will not assist in speeding up the application process.


Updating Passport with Canada for NEXUS

As per CBSA website, updates to passport information can be handled on TTP.
Please note that NEXUS members are not required to report to an Enrolment Centre to update or change their passport information with the CBSA.
This is supported by data points in post 11122 and 11132.

Some FT members don't trust instructions provided by CBSA and recommend the following:
Call the Canadian Processing Centre with responsibility for residents of the United States:
  • 800-842-7647 --- Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm (Eastern Time)

After going through the phone tree to reach a Nexus representative, advise them that you need to update your US passport with Canada.

The representative will give you an email address and instructions to scan your updated passport picture page (include your trusted traveler number on the scan) and then email it to a particular email address. I was advised to put the representative's name in the email message so that he could process the update on the Canadian side. He confirmed that any passport update in TTP does not reach Canada. NOTE: FT members have been able to enter Canada without any issues by updating passport online only.

He specifically requested that only the telephone number be posted (and not the email address).

In case the telephone number doesn't work, here's the webpage where the phone number is posted: Canada Border Services Agency - NEXUS - General Information
Note:

US citizens/residents who have both Global Entry and NEXUS cards and who renew the Global Entry membership whilst their NEXUS card is active, will not be able to renew the NEXUS card until after it expires. The option to do so disappears from the TTP website.
Dear mxzblftspk,

Your NEXUS membership is not set to expire until July 11 2016.

As an approved NEXUS member, you added Global Entry for an additional $100. When you completed your Global Entry application, you received a Global Entry card. When you activated the Global Entry Card, your NEXUS Card was deactivated and the option to renew NEXUS was removed from your account.

If you wish to renew NEXUS, you will have to wait for your NEXUS membership to expire. Once it expires, you will have the option within your TTP online account to renew NEXUS. After you follow all of the steps to become a NEXUS member again, including the completion of an interview at a NEXUS Enrollment Center near the Canadian border, you will receive a new NEXUS card and will have Global Entry benefits at no additional cost.

When your Global Entry account expires 5 years after your application, do not renew it. Global Entry benefits are included with your NEXUS membership.

It is our goal to provide you the best information we have in response to your question. If you follow the information provided in our response, and still need assistance, please reply to this email and we will investigate how we may further assist you.

Thank you again for contacting the CBP INFO Center.

Sincerely,

CBP INFO Center
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Archived: The NEXUS Information Thread

Old Sep 29, 2014, 10:04 am
  #8716  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHL
Programs: NEXUS, UA Club
Posts: 641
Originally Posted by ffsim
Government bureaucracy?

24left is absolutely right. Having been a Nexus member since 2008, I've updated 2 passports and 2 driver's licenses in that time. Only one of those updates was done online -- the first DL update. Months later, I got grief about using Nexus with an expired DL from both CBSA and CPB officers when I went in for an unrelated item. Since then, all updates have been done in person. It really does take no more than 2 minutes.
I went to the office in YYZ to update my drivers license information and they told me that I didn't need to, as long as my passport and green card information was up to date. It's weird how everyone makes their own rules. I still left them a copy of my DL because I'd rather be safe than sorry, and documented their name and the time I was at the office just in case it becomes an issue later.
Chiro1979 is offline  
Old Sep 29, 2014, 1:49 pm
  #8717  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YVR to SEA
Posts: 2,527
Do newborns need a passport to apply for a Nexus card?

I assume they'll need a passport to fly, but could you cross the border by land with just the birth certificate attached to a Nexus card?
crimsona is offline  
Old Sep 29, 2014, 3:42 pm
  #8718  
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SEA/YVR/BLI
Programs: UA "Lifetime" Gold, AS MVPG100K, OW Emerald, HH Lifetime Diamond, IC Plat, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 9,483
Originally Posted by Chiro1979
I went to the office in YYZ to update my drivers license information and they told me that I didn't need to, as long as my passport and green card information was up to date. It's weird how everyone makes their own rules. I still left them a copy of my DL because I'd rather be safe than sorry, and documented their name and the time I was at the office just in case it becomes an issue later.
Indeed!

We renewed our drivers' licenses a few months ago and it never dawned on us that we needed to update them at NEXUS, in part because they're the same licenses with the same numbers, just a new expiry date.

Our nearest NEXUS office is in Blaine WA, only a 15-minute drive from our house.

Because of recent comments here, we drove over there today and an employee said firmly that we were required to update all documents on file with them. I confirmed that for us this meant drivers' licenses and passports.

He didn't give us a hard time or even comment on the fact we'd renewed our DLs back in the Spring, and simply swiped them through some kind of card reader on his computer. Including a friendly chat about travel, we were in and out in about five minutes.

Thank you to those posters who brought this to our attention. ^^
Fredd is offline  
Old Sep 29, 2014, 5:44 pm
  #8719  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: AC E35K, NEXUS
Posts: 4,368
Ditto -- glad I happened to read this as my new DL arrived and have done the GOES update and will stop in at the office when I arrive for my next departure. With so much time passing since having the interview, much other information has flushed that piece of information out of memory, and then the only change being the expiry date, it's far from front of mind. I really think I might have forgotten if not for FT.
flyquiet is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2014, 7:35 am
  #8720  
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 446
So much conflicting information..

First I'm told I need to update all documents, including DL. Then I'm told only if it's an EDL. Last time I was in there they said they didn't care, even if it's an EDL. Now people are saying they're being told even regular DLs need to be kept up to date..

Maybe once I renew the US passport I'll update both.
xero9 is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2014, 8:05 am
  #8721  
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SEA/YVR/BLI
Programs: UA "Lifetime" Gold, AS MVPG100K, OW Emerald, HH Lifetime Diamond, IC Plat, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 9,483
Originally Posted by xero9
Maybe once I renew the US passport I'll update both.
Given that people are still complaining about having their NEXUS privileges revoked without explanation, that's probably not a bad idea.

Denied NEXUS, people want to know why

Carly Roberts had her NEXUS privileges revoked. She doesnt know why. Gerald Olma and his late wife were twice denied membership in the trusted traveler program. He doesnt know why.

Blaine immigration attorney Len Saunders represents dozens of people in the same predicament, who are denied participation in NEXUS and the reason listed in their denial letter is, Other: You do not meet program eligibility requirements.

When asked why the other designation was used instead of specifying the reason for the denial, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declined to answer the question. They issued the following statement...
Fredd is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2014, 6:50 pm
  #8722  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 1999
Programs: FB Silver going for Gold
Posts: 21,752
I used Nexus and GE at an airport for the first time in two years this past week at YVR. Iris scan worked but the questions took forever to be accepted (easily 10 seconds). Not sure why it was so slow as no one else was using the machines.

I did head up to the enrollment centre and asked and asked about updating my (basic) DL. They said that they don't need that anymore.

My DL expired in April and I've used Nexus headed down to the U.S. by land w/o issue.
YVR Cockroach is online now  
Old Sep 30, 2014, 7:36 pm
  #8723  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Programs: AS Million Miler, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Nexus / Global Entry
Posts: 842
Not sure if this is common knowledge but I was able to just update my drivers license info online after signing in to my Global Entry account.

New expiration date is in 2020.
sea_jeff is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2014, 7:47 pm
  #8724  
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SEA/YVR/BLI
Programs: UA "Lifetime" Gold, AS MVPG100K, OW Emerald, HH Lifetime Diamond, IC Plat, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 9,483
Originally Posted by Fredd
Because of recent comments here, we drove over there today and an employee said firmly that we were required to update all documents on file with them. I confirmed that for us this meant drivers' licenses and passports.
Originally Posted by YVR Cockroach
I did head up to the enrollment centre and asked and asked about updating my (basic) DL. They said that they don't need that anymore.

My DL expired in April and I've used Nexus headed down to the U.S. by land w/o issue.
Isn't that a wonderful example of bureaucracy on a trans-national level? 30 miles down the road we got exactly the opposite information!

Is it possible the Canadian authorities (an earlier poster got the same response as yours at YYZ) are a little more laid back than the Americans? I have no idea.

Crazy!
Fredd is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2014, 8:33 pm
  #8725  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: YUL
Programs: AC SE (*A Gold), Bonvoy Platinum Elite, Hilton Gold, Amex Platinum / AP Reserve, NEXUS, Global Entry
Posts: 5,690
Originally Posted by sea_jeff
Not sure if this is common knowledge but I was able to just update my drivers license info online after signing in to my Global Entry account.

New expiration date is in 2020.
That's what we've been talking about for the last few pages. You're able to update your info through GOES, but many of us have received stern warnings for *not* bringing the new documents to a Nexus office in person. A classic case of YMMV but I always present new documents when I pass through an airport with a Nexus office.
ffsim is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2014, 9:38 pm
  #8726  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Programs: AS Million Miler, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Nexus / Global Entry
Posts: 842
Originally Posted by ffsim
That's what we've been talking about for the last few pages. You're able to update your info through GOES, but many of us have received stern warnings for *not* bringing the new documents to a Nexus office in person. A classic case of YMMV but I always present new documents when I pass through an airport with a Nexus office.
Doh! Sorry - obviously wasn't paying attention. Hopefully this won't present an issue.

Fingers crossed...
sea_jeff is offline  
Old Sep 30, 2014, 10:47 pm
  #8727  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 4
when for my interview on the 24/09/2014
and after my interview she said i will receive my nexus card in the mail within 5 to 10

It's still showing as "Interview Scheduled" (or something to that effect) in GOES and I have call so many times and yet they are still saying to wait for a few more days,so what do i do?should i walking and find out?or did she forget to submit my application?.
holyphopet is offline  
Old Oct 1, 2014, 5:13 am
  #8728  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: YUL
Programs: AC SE (*A Gold), Bonvoy Platinum Elite, Hilton Gold, Amex Platinum / AP Reserve, NEXUS, Global Entry
Posts: 5,690
Originally Posted by holyphopet
when for my interview on the 24/09/2014
and after my interview she said i will receive my nexus card in the mail within 5 to 10

It's still showing as "Interview Scheduled" (or something to that effect) in GOES and I have call so many times and yet they are still saying to wait for a few more days,so what do i do?should i walking and find out?or did she forget to submit my application?.
It sounds like she forgot to submit your application. Based on our family's experience, the status should've changed shortly after your interview.

Welcome to FT!
ffsim is offline  
Old Oct 1, 2014, 5:43 am
  #8729  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Programs: NEXUS/GE
Posts: 521
Originally Posted by crimsona
Do newborns need a passport to apply for a Nexus card?

I assume they'll need a passport to fly, but could you cross the border by land with just the birth certificate attached to a Nexus card?
Technically, no one needs a passport to apply for Nexus. A birth certificate is sufficient. Once the newborn is approved for Nexus, just use the card to cross. If you do get the newborn a passport, stop by any NEXUS office and get it added to the account.
dustman81 is offline  
Old Oct 1, 2014, 10:13 am
  #8730  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,854
Originally Posted by Fredd
Indeed!

We renewed our drivers' licenses a few months ago and it never dawned on us that we needed to update them at NEXUS, in part because they're the same licenses with the same numbers, just a new expiry date.

Our nearest NEXUS office is in Blaine WA, only a 15-minute drive from our house.

Because of recent comments here, we drove over there today and an employee said firmly that we were required to update all documents on file with them. I confirmed that for us this meant drivers' licenses and passports.

He didn't give us a hard time or even comment on the fact we'd renewed our DLs back in the Spring, and simply swiped them through some kind of card reader on his computer. Including a friendly chat about travel, we were in and out in about five minutes.

Thank you to those posters who brought this to our attention. ^^
My wife was actually just talking to the info. line about an (unrelated) document with the info. line (Canadian officer), and she was told that her DL wasn't updated so she needed to do that. At least the last two times, I was told in the office in person that it wasn't necessary (for me), and so I asked to have mine taken off. When she mentioned this, the officer said if its still on your profile, it needs to be updated. I asked if it could be taken out - she said its not a problem but needs to be done at the office.

As for me, not sure if the Canadians have done it, but it still displays and allows me to edit in GOES (actually...I've got it listed twice, once with the older expiration, which I can not edit, and another time with my current expiry). Wish they would just be consistent.
emcampbe is offline  

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