Canadian family of 3, myself, 15yr old son, and wife applied for Nexus. Son and I were approved, wife was denied.
Reason given was immigration violation. I will try and sum up circumstances as briefly as possible:
Neither one of us had ANY idea this would be on her record, and are actually rather shocked.
About 20 years ago, when we had just started dating we were both on a small boat with a group of friends in the Niagara River.
I actually forget the actual problem, but I think it was some kind of engine trouble, or running out of gas, something similar.
We pulled into a dock on the U.S. side. After solving our trouble we went into the attached bar to have a drink before getting on our way.
We noticed a couple of officials watching us, and approached them to ask why.
They asked us if we had gotten off a huge yacht parked beside our small boat. We told them no. They asked for ID, told us they were doing a drug surveillance operation on the larger boat.
They then told us if we ever cross by boat into the U.S we have to call customs and report. They gave us the phone number and wished us a good day.
We went back to our table, finished our drinks and left.
It was such a minor occurrence, neither one of us thought anything about it. No tickets were give, no mention of anything other than call if you come over again.
We have been to the U.S. countless times since, by car, air and foot.
Neither one of us own a boat, or even have a boaters license.
We both have squeaky clean records, my wife is a pre-school teacher and has never even had a parking ticket.
You can imagine our surprise when we were told that she could not have Nexus because of this incident.
What makes it even stranger is that I was with her, and I was approved.
We have sent a description of the incident to the Ombudsman.
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this process?
How long do you think it will be until we hear back?
Will they let us know their decision one way or the other?
What do you think her chances are of being approved in the end?
Any thoughts or previous experiences appreciated.