B1, thanks for the info.
Got to Ft. Erie early (1/2 hour) and they took me right away, ended up on the road home slightly before my sked appt. time, both gentlemen I talked to were very pleasant and the process went smoothly, except my fingerprints wouldn't really come out clearly.
Received the card one week after the interview. All in all a painless procedure.

You're welcome. The Fort Erie office is a gem - they even let you use the staff washroom. One caution - it is closed when it is a holiday in either country. Enjoy your NEXUS card and remember that if you have any food with you for a flight to the US, even crackers, you have to check the appropriate box on the US card.

on one of our recent trips, we declared that we had groceries at whirlpool, CBP asked to pop the trunk, they had a quick look and we were all set to go…

to clarify CBP = US side. CBSA = CDN side

How did you declare "groceries"? The card is in terms of tariff classes. You drop it in the slot. Were you questioned in addition to putting the card in or did you not put in a card?

this was from Canada going into the US. don't remember seeing any slot on US side.

if we do buy groceries then we add it to the declaration slip which you drive up and insert into the mailbox before reaching the booth on the Cdn side.

Thanks. That clears it up. I was under the impression that you managed to make an oral declaration entering Canada via NEXUS. There is no card entering the US and it is the better system though if you actually have to pay it would be slower.

but the US CBP doesn't really care if i bought groceries for the weekend to stay at a cottage or something… at least i don't think so.

I arrived late at YUL yesterday and got to the AA ticket counter at 55 minutes to flight time. I was grateful to get a BP.

After BP scan, the Nexus security setup has you moving in your own que to the right and avoiding the lengthy security line. I had no one ahead of me. Getting quickly through security I proceeded to the Iris scan and did press Yes to the food question ( 2 baguettes). The CBP officer ( same person who initially interviewed me for Nexus) told me that in view if the card printout he had no choice but to send me to secondary, indicating there is a computer program lock that requires this and does not allow him discretion. I do not know if that is true, but I found it surprising. The big surprise was that secondary processing took less than 60 seconds. I was advised however to return to the first officer screening so that he could scan my BP to clear it. Despite all this, I made it to gate 81 from the curb in less that 14 minutes. The interesting part of this for me was the apparent lack of discretion and need for the BP to be scanned and cleared in the manner indicated.

Committee Meeting
 

I have been told that a supervisory committee meets once a month to decide the denials on Nexus. Did you get the same news. Do you know when is the next committee meeting scheduled at Niagara Falls ON Office? I was told Committee only takes certain number of cases each month? Is not this a slow process?

Is this usual procedure to overturn the individual CBSA agent decision?

I recently had an unsettling experience entering the US out of YUL. I got through security quickly, used the Nexus kiosk, and got my yellow ticket. I then went to stand in line to see an officer, but I was at first a bit confused about where to wait in line. There didn't seem to be an officer in the booth where I used to go after using the Nexus kiosk, and there was a cordon that separated the line for the next booth over. Finally an officer walked towards me and told me to proceed to the booth that had been empty. I went there and placed my yellow ticket, declaration card, and boarding pass on the counter, as well as my Nexus card since I'd been asked for it in the past. (Now I may have seemed a bit nervous at this point - I often get nervous when crossing the border, sometimes to the point of my hands trembling, not that I'm trying to hide anything. It's just a sort of social anxiety that I have in certain situations.)

So the officer gave me a hard time. He asked to see my passport, and I complied. Then he asked me "Why do you have Nexus?" (Maybe because I appear young, and I don't travel to the US very often?) I answered that it's because my parents have Nexus, and I often travel with them. He then proceeded to ask the standard questions that I thought I'd avoid by getting Nexus: where am I going, why, what do I do for a living. He seemed to be typing a lot on his computer. Then he said "Come with me, we're going to Customs" and took me to the secondary inspection area. I had never been sent to secondary before. Thankfully the officer in secondary was much nicer. He asked me a few questions, took a quick look through my carry-on bag, and let me go. My time in secondary was about 15 minutes.

My concern now is - did the first officer flag me in the system so that I'll be sent to secondary on future trips? I understand that Nexus members are subject to random secondary inspection, but this time it seemed I was sent to secondary not at random, but because the first officer didn't like my face and/or I seemed nervous. I don't see much point in having Nexus if I'm going to be asked the same questions and delayed the same time or longer as when I didn't have it. I'm also concerned because I finished school recently and do not yet have a job, I'm still looking, and I've heard horror stories of people being denied entry to the US because they're unemployed.

I think I've read that at YYZ, if you have Nexus, the officer who collects your kiosk ticket normally doesn't ask you questions, and only directs you to secondary if your kiosk ticket has a certain number on it - is that right? It seems like a better system than at YUL.

uh why did you have to stand in line to see the immigration officer? or are you referring to the CBSA customs officer after you head down the escalator to the baggage claim area?

whirlpool crossing – increased use? scrutiny? questions, etc?
 

been noticing recently that there's a 1-3 car line up when headed to the USA, coming back about the same.

major difference now it is that both CBP(US) and CBSA (Can) seem to be asking more probing type questions, where you work, what you do, where you going, etc… and on the canadian side, how much did you spend, show me your tdc booklet, receipts, etc.

wow.

even the standard CBSA lanes don't even ask that many questions and seems like they're getting to be even more lenient with people who've bought stuff on a daytrip in buffalo…

if you've bought stuff and return on the same day, take note, use the rainbow bridge, less of a line-up sans nexus than queenston-lewiston.

if you use nexus, make sure you fill out your tdc right and get your receipts and booklets ready in case of inspection. otherwise if they check and under declare or don't declare at all, you're screwed.

This was at US customs, not Canada, departing from YUL to LGA. You have to see an officer and give them your yellow ticket after doing the iris scan at the Nexus kiosk. The officer normally asks a question or two, but less than the usual questioning, although not in my case. Does it work differently at other Canadian airports?

usually they ask to see your passport + nexus card… that's basically it.

flying into canada with infant with nexus
 

for infants, CBSA doesn't scan their eyes… what happens when one comes back to canada with an infant? both have nexus, but only the parent can get the eyes scanned…

does the parent login with iris scan and then bring the child with nexus to the flight crew booth? sometimes there's no one there either…