A few questions for those more in the know that I:

I just applied yesterday for my entire family, I know it will be weeks for they are processed.

1. Do they ask your kids any questions, or just take their fingerprints? I have nine year old twins, they might get scared if the CBP or CBSA guard is a grump.

2. Does the GOES system email you when your status updates goes from processing to approved for an interview? Or do I have to just keep logging in to check?

3. I plan on doing the interview in Blaine or Seattle. Do I have to wait till I get my cards to go into the office in Vancouver and do my iris scan?

4. There is a good chance my address and drivers license info might change between now and the interview (moving from California to Washington, wanted to get a jump on the Nexus card processing time). I assume they would just update the info when I talked to the people at the interview, or would that cause processing issues?

Thanks in advance!

twindaddy, here's some answers... obviously different offices can sometimes be different.

1. They typically don't ask young children any questions (what's there really to ask). They also may or may not take the fingerprints, some offices don't and wait for the kids to be older.

2. Yes, GOES system will email you when your status updates; don't bother wasting your time checking daily. May want to check weekly when you approach the 6 week mark, in case the email gets flagged as spam.

3. No, you do not need to wait until you have your cards. Others have had there iris scan only after being conditionally approved.

4. Yes, inform them at your interview of any changes to your application information. Your application was dated and should have been up to date at that time.

Hi twindaddy,

I can answer the first 2 questions you have as we just finished our interviews for the entire family about 2 weeks ago. It was done in Calgary so YMMV.

1. They did not ask my 8 or 4 year old any questions. No iris scan nor fingerprinting is done. Both the CBP and CBSA agents were great with them.

2. Don't bother checking online everyday. Just wait for the email from [email protected] saying there is a status change in your application. I would check around the 5-6 week mark if you haven't received an email. Just to make sure it didn't go into your junk/spam folder.

Here's a number I used. If I remember correctly they actually picked up the phone 1-800-842-7647

Great, thanks! What was your experience getting an appointment for all four off you at once?

I have one daughter who is very outgoing and funny. I can imagine her getting interviewed. "Have you ever been arrested or convicted of a crime?"
"I forgot my math homework last week and lost my recess, and I still use my fingers to add, is that ok?"

Depending on location. Here in Calgary, it took about 3 months out from when we were approved (I looked at going to Edmonton as well but they were slightly worse). We could've also booked and gone down to Sweetgrass/Coutts border crossing for all 4 of us within 2 days but the timing didn't work out for us. The Canadian airports seem to be always busy and a couple months away for bookings.

My NEXUS approval took around 7 weeks...

Applied: Sept 20
Approved: Nov 9
Interview Booked: Nov 15

First appointment at Toronto isn't until Jan next year, so making the trek down to the border for a weekend appointment.

Does anyone know when Feb and on appointments will open for Toronto? The calendar has only gone out to the end of January for months.

Applied: Sep.21
conditional approved: Nov.9
Interview Booked Nov.28 Toronto Pearson

Applied: September 28th
Conditional Approval: November 11th
Interview: January 16th (Pearson)

I plan to keep checking for an earlier date.

Just wanted to add my case to the stats...

New Application: September 30th
Conditional Approval: November 12th
Interview Scheduled: November 14th (Detroit)

New Application: October 1
Conditional Approval: November 13

Still deciding on when/where to go for the interview, but pleasantly surprised at the lower processing time than expected!

I got conditional approval on 11/9/2015 and I just happened to be flying to Vancouver on 11/10/2015! So I scheduled the interview at the Vancouver on 12/27/2015 thinking that I could go to the Nexus center at the Vancouver airport and wait for a standby appointment as you suggested.

I got there around 4 PM, showed them the approval letter, and asked for a possible standby interview. At first they said "an initial standby interview is not allowed..." Then they said if I was willing to wait until after 5PM it might be possible. I sat where they indicated and waited. Four thirty. Five. Five thirty. Nothing. Six o'clock closing time came and I see four officers lock the office and leave.

To say I was flabbergasted is an understatement. I realize I was asking for a standby. Appointment, but what the hay? I only wasted two hours of my time, but I can't believe they would ignore me intentionally.

Faster than anticipated approval
 

I applied for my wife and two kids. I was expecting at least another two weeks, but I'm not complaining.

Applied: October 23
Conditionally approved: November 19

Now comes the fun part of getting the family appointment scheduled.

Same timeline as Varitek, I managed to schedule an appointment in two days (Nov. 22nd) at YVR.