Quick question, do we all need to book an interview at the same time or if we book in Champlain one at 10am, next at 1030, next at 11, then 1130, does it matter?

Our family's timeline so far (family of 4, living in MTL):
NOTE: We all applied and submitted our applications on GOES on August 25, 2013 and within 2 hours from member 1 to member 4.

Member 1: Conditionally approved October 12, 2013.
Member 2: Conditionally approved October 12, 2013.
Member 3: nothing yet...
Member 4: nothing yet...

Hope to hear back from them about members 3 and 4 soon!

Mike

Previous post continued....

Member 3: Conditionally approved October 15, 2013
Member 4: Conditionally approved October 15, 2013

Turns out if we all book same day at Champlain, then they will take us at earliest time chosen.

Data Point - Person 1
Applied August 26th (Noonish)
Conditional Approval - October 15
Interview Booked - Oct 29 (YHZ)

Data Point - Person 2
Applied August 26th (Evening)
Conditional Approval - October 16
Interview Booked - Oct 29 (YHZ)

Applied 09/22/13
Conditionally approved 10/28/13
First available interview in Seattle 04/30/13.

Will be checking back for cancellations, have a trip to Ireland 2nd week of April and would like to be approved by that time.

Did you check Blaine or either Vancouver site?

Also, keep checking for appointment times. Should be able to snag one sooner than 6 months from now.

Blaine is 03/16 and Vancouver is 05/05.

Crazy wait times at this point...

Applied 11 Sep 2013
Conditionally approved 15 Oct 2013
Interviewed at Champlain, NY 18 Oct 2013
Card received 25 Oct 2013.

So that went about as smoothly as I could have hoped. Apparently Champlain isn't too busy (alas, it's about a 3 hour drive from here). They told me that if you showed up randomly as a walk-in, there was about a 50% chance they could process you that day, since they often get gaps in the interview schedule. Interview took 10 minutes. Crossing the border to Canada to get my iris scan and back took another hour (mostly getting back into US, that Nexus card can't show up soon enough... ;) )

In the 36 hours since I was conditionally approved, available appointments in Seattle have gone from 04/30 to 05/05. I am checking several times a day for cancellations and nothing as of yet.

On the one hand it seems as if Nexus applications and Seattle interviews are skyrocketing based on the 6 month wait time. But then I was approved in a little over one month so not really sure what to make of things.

Logged in today and got a 04/10/13. Little better!!

I'm looking for an appointment with a two day window and only YVR/Downtown Vancouver so it's tough - but there are a lot of cancellations otherwise, for Blaine especially.

I saw 2 openings in November for Seattle yesterday, and there was one today for November 13.

Renewed NEXUS on 5 Oct, still says Pending Review...only have 1 week to do the interview over the Christmas period, so I'm hoping it comes through soon.

NEW Applicant - Oct 28th, 2013
 

Hi Members,

I applied for NEXUS (first time applicant) on Oct 27th, 2013 through GOES website. My Status: "Pending Review"

Request other members to post their timelines, status, experience as it will help eachother with our applications.

Regards,
Neil

I applied on October 3rd, 2013. Payment was processed the next day.
I obsessively checked my application every single day, at least once a day. After two weeks, I called to ask how long it usually takes, and they said it could be up to three months. Last week, which was the 5th week, I called numbers for both the Canadians and the Americans. The canadians told me that they approved my background check, and that I had to wait for the Americans to process it and approve it. They said that the americans would take about another 6 weeks or so. When I called the Americans, they told me that minimum, I would find out by December 3rd, which was the 8 week mark. but it could take up to 12 weeks. So I was surprised to see an email that I was approved this morning. I scheduled an interview at the Niagara Falls border crossing for January 8. It was the best option that didnt conflict with school.
I was in Toronto this past weekend, and when I went to Pearson International Airport for my return flight home, I asked the US Customs Officer at the preclearance if he knew what it was like for the interview at the airport. He said that they are backed up with applications for interviews at Pearson, and the best thing to do would be to get an interview at a border crossing. When I checked the schedule online, the next available apointment was in the last week of February or the middle of March. The airport in Montreal was booked up till February also.
The Port Champlain border crossing has a few openings in the last week of november, and is pretty open during the month of december. this is the border crossing on the way towards Montreal, and is about an hour north of Plattsburgh.
The buffalo border crossing is also booked up, but they do have some available apointments scattered over the course of a few weeks.
It really depends on how far you are willing to travel and when you can go for an apointment.
For those of you on the West Coast, beware, because I saw that the airport in vancouver was backed up until May, I believe. And I think the nearby land border crossing was backed up a few months as well.

To get conditional approval, it took me 5 weeks and 6 days. I am an american citizen with a zero criminal record. and zero traffic violations. not even a parking ticket. and i have not traveled to high risk countries such as libya or Somalia, which may cause the application process to go on for longer than others.

If you plan to make an apointment at a border crossing, you should know that they do not scan your iris at those interviews. you would have to visit one of the canadian pre-clearance airports to have your iris scanned, which you can use when going through customs while arriving in canada from abroad. to have your iris scanned, i do not believe you need an appointment. I think you can just show up.

after the interview, I believe it takes about a week to receive the NEXUS card in the mail.

This depends on the border crossing and facilities. When I had my interview at Champlain, NY, once I was done, to get my iris scans I didn't have to go to an airport, all I had to do was cross over to St. Bernard de Lacolle, walk into the service building there, and get my scans.

And spend 20 minutes waiting in line to cross back into the US, since I didn't yet have my Nexus card... (shortest visit ever to CA....)

Received card 11/8 after interview. I'm not sure why this took nearly 5 months. They must be borrowing a page from banks.