Mar 3, 2013, 10:24 pm
Last edit by: TWA884
Current NEXUS Information messages can be found in the following thread:
The NEXUS Information 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.
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:
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
- 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
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
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
Archived: The NEXUS Information Thread
Aug 19, 2010, 12:23 am
#1846
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: YYC
Programs: AC*SE
Posts: 138
Hence the problem throughout this thread... every agent has different rules or does not know the rules.
Aug 19, 2010, 6:33 am
#1847
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Programs: AC 75K, Hertz Presidents Circle, Accor Gold, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 10,071
Some agents may indeed not know all rules, or interpret them differently and that can cause problems. Also, sometimes an agent's discretion to overlook something maybe interpreted as it being "the rule" and this can cause confusion as well.
Aug 19, 2010, 10:29 am
#1848
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,849
The rule is a Canadian citizen shall be allowed to enter if an officer is satisfied following an examination that the person is a citizen. The "Place of Birth" field on a foreign passport can be one piece of the puzzle used to satisfy an officer, but a citizenship certificate, being proof of citizenship, is much better evidence.
Aug 19, 2010, 10:33 am
#1849
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 1999
Programs: FB Silver going for Gold
Posts: 21,823
I don't think that is reliable. You could have been born to parents who were diplomats or military of a foreign country (children born to such aren't entitled to Canadian citizenship), or if you are old enough, lost citizenship before the 1967(?) citizenship act came into effect.
Aug 19, 2010, 2:38 pm
#1850
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: YYC
Programs: AC*SE
Posts: 138
I don't think that is reliable. You could have been born to parents who were diplomats or military of a foreign country (children born to such aren't entitled to Canadian citizenship), or if you are old enough, lost citizenship before the 1967(?) citizenship act came into effect.
Aug 20, 2010, 4:52 am
#1851
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 3,665
Even the citizenship card may not be accepted as proof of one's current status as it can be revoked. Only a valid Canadian passport is trusted as evidence for claiming entry as a Canadian citizen. If you are traveling on the passport of another country then the rules for citizens of that country apply. If there is a visa requirement, then there could be a problem if you lack it.
Aug 20, 2010, 12:47 pm
#1852
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: YYC
Programs: AC*SE
Posts: 138
Even the citizenship card may not be accepted as proof of one's current status as it can be revoked. Only a valid Canadian passport is trusted as evidence for claiming entry as a Canadian citizen. If you are traveling on the passport of another country then the rules for citizens of that country apply. If there is a visa requirement, then there could be a problem if you lack it.
Aug 20, 2010, 4:35 pm
#1853
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,909
Though my personal favorite (sorry if its a little OT) is how up until a few years ago, there was no way to "renew" a Canadian passport other than to follow the same procedure as if you had never had one before. The part I'm referring to, of course, was that your then currently valid passport which you were replacing was not acceptable as a document proving your citizenship. You know something is wrong the passport office doesn't accept their own passports as a proof of citizenship.
Aug 20, 2010, 6:32 pm
#1854
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: YEG
Programs: UA 1K, AC SE, WJ Gold
Posts: 352
On whether or not you have to enter the US with your US passport, I do not believe that is the case. Obviously, you wouldn't want to enter the US on a visa on your Canadian passport. However, US allows dual citizenship, just doesn't "recognize" it. That means they recognize you as either a US citizen, or other citizen. It's up to you which one you want to use when you cross. However, theoretically, you would only be entitled to the benefits of the one you use to enter. So if you are using your Canadian passport to enter the US for a short vacation, I don't see a problem. If you are entering the US because that is where you work (for example) you would want to enter on your US passport.
Our son recently received his US citizenship and we called about updating his NEXUS information to reflect his US birth cert and passport. We were informed this could only be done at a point of entry office and therefore had to go to YEG to make the change. We went to YEG and they made the change there.
The fine print for NEXUS seems to indicate it is the user's responsibility to update any information that changes -- however the US agent updating my son's profile at YEG said the system would have flagged him at the next use had we not updated his passport information and would have just made us update it as we cleared customs in the back office. Oh bother!
I don't understand why they can't just integrate the issuing office system with the NEXUS / border clearance card information.
Aug 20, 2010, 11:26 pm
#1855
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,909
I was told by a border agent that I must always enter the US as a declared US citizen -- they want to hear the declaration. Once when crossing I didn't take my US passport and was asked, "what is your status in the US." After answering, "citizen" the agent said, "prove it!" He then informed me that I could be in "big trouble" by declaring and not proving -- I told him that I was merely answering the question honestly but intended to travel as a Canadian. Apparently that is not adequate.
I don't believe legally, you have to travel on your US passport though. As I said above, US allows, but does not recognize, dual citizenship. That means you can either choose to enter as a Canadian, or as an American, but not both.
Of course, legally and what they want you to do can be two different things. My mom, who is also dual, has had an officer or two who wasn't happy when she would sometimes travel on her Canadian passport into the US when her city of birth was an American one. She basically got told a couple of times that she should travel to the US on her American documents, but think it was more about US pride and patriotism then about legality, as they didn't have a problem letting her through.
Our son recently received his US citizenship and we called about updating his NEXUS information to reflect his US birth cert and passport. We were informed this could only be done at a point of entry office and therefore had to go to YEG to make the change. We went to YEG and they made the change there.
The fine print for NEXUS seems to indicate it is the user's responsibility to update any information that changes -- however the US agent updating my son's profile at YEG said the system would have flagged him at the next use had we not updated his passport information and would have just made us update it as we cleared customs in the back office. Oh bother!
I don't understand why they can't just integrate the issuing office system with the NEXUS / border clearance card information.
The fine print for NEXUS seems to indicate it is the user's responsibility to update any information that changes -- however the US agent updating my son's profile at YEG said the system would have flagged him at the next use had we not updated his passport information and would have just made us update it as we cleared customs in the back office. Oh bother!
I don't understand why they can't just integrate the issuing office system with the NEXUS / border clearance card information.
The passports are the most important update, though. Unlike other documentation like your DL, your passport is able to be connected to your Nexus in such a way that you're Nexus is automatically flagged if a passport connected to it is no longer valid (i.e. expired, reported lost/stolen, etc.).
Aug 21, 2010, 12:30 pm
#1856
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: PHL, NYC, DC
Posts: 9,710
are there any special security line in the transborder area of YYZ for NEXUS users?
i know there is for domestic, but i am not sure about transborder
i know there is for domestic, but i am not sure about transborder
Aug 21, 2010, 5:03 pm
#1860
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: PHL, NYC, DC
Posts: 9,710
i think i have to correct you on that.....
According to AC.com and GTAA (older press release)
http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin.../security.html
http://gtaa.com/en/news/torontopears...2-d4ba471b98e2
Its available for Transborder as well..... I believe (based on my experience with the Domestic side) its the same line as the AMEX Plat
I guess I got my answer here regarding NEXUS security line...... http://gtaa.com/en/news/torontopears...0-6a0101e35f47
According to AC.com and GTAA (older press release)
http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin.../security.html
http://gtaa.com/en/news/torontopears...2-d4ba471b98e2
Its available for Transborder as well..... I believe (based on my experience with the Domestic side) its the same line as the AMEX Plat
I guess I got my answer here regarding NEXUS security line...... http://gtaa.com/en/news/torontopears...0-6a0101e35f47