Oh hey todd r,

Thanks for the info! Point number 2 answered my question bang on although I was not clear to begin with. I'm familiar with the importation process however, was unsure of whether Canadians could drive US-plated vehicles across the border. I guess this is the show stopper so I'll have to leave the car at my family's place in LAX for a week or two while I get the paperwork with US CBP ready.

Thanks!

I just got my Nexus card and haven't used it at the airport yet, but I did drive from Vancouver to Bellingham last Saturday using the Peace Arch crossing in both directions. Heading south, I flew through the border with virtually no delay. The return was another story altogether. I was in the Nexus lane behind a long line of cars. Next to me were cars waiting for the regular lanes. The car that started next to me in the regular lane made it through the border 2 car lengths ahead of me, with us both lining up for around 35 minutes. What exactly is the advantage of Nexus again for the return to Canada? The Canadian border guard at the Nexus lane seemed so speak to every driver going through. Is that typical?

Went through today just fine.

Yes, I was aware of all passengers in a vehicle needing to be NEXUS. We were.

FYI, I flashed my card to the reader for five seconds, pulled it back, did the same thing with the passenger's card. Asked one question (bringing anything back?), then released.

Point here: point the card to the reader one at a time if you have multiple NEXUS cards to point.

We had a similar experiece the weekend before (May 2-4).
Coming back, thru Peach Arch, there were many people in the Nexus lane who were trying to merge over into the regular lines. When we got to the CDN booth, I flashed our cards one at a time, and then pulled ahead, handed over our TDC's and were waved thru. No quesitons, nada. So, maybe if you're not handing in TDC's then the questioning starts?

Our problem wasn't caused by non-Nexus people in the Nexus lane trying to merge out. In fact, much to their credit, there were border agents near the back of the Nexus line moving out cars who shouldn't have been there. The vast majority of my wait was behind legit Nexus cardholders. Maybe the TDC thing was the cause, but it sort of defeats the whole purpose of Nexus if the wait is the same to get through the Nexus lane as the others.

Might be new cardholders (or an CBSA agent) unfamiliar with the concept. A few times I went through when the traffic was backed up to the last I-5 exit (and once almost to the I-5 offramp for the truck crossing), I managed to get through in less than a minute. Using a TDC doesn't take 5 seconds. The agent generally glances at it and lets you through.

A very important point in using TDCs is to accurately mark down where the bulk of goods by value come from/manufactured in by country of origin. Almost lost our cards once because my partner put U.S./Canada (absent mindedly associating origin of label with country of manufacture. Fortunately we had stayed outside the country for more than 48 hours and taxes to be collected were minimal.

Actually, it's the single most expensive item's country of manufacture that is used in determining the rating for all the goods you are delcaring on the TDC.

Let's say you have $200 worth of stuff that consists of 5 items. 4 of the items were $30 each and were made in the USA (4 @ $30 = $120). But the 5th item has a value of $80 and is made outisde the USA. Because this one most expensive item is made outside the USA, all of you items are considered made outside of the USA for TDC purposes. This really isn't a big deal if you are keeping within your 48 hr or 7 day exemption limit but if you are just doing a day trip for shopping, you will get charged duty when your TDC is processed (vs no duty for US made) plus, of course, the GST and PST. Having said that, most Canadian Customs people know that most clothes purchased in the USA are made off-shore, so this is a big red-flag when they glance over the clothes category and you have marked the USA circle as country of origin.

Thanks. It'd appear these rules have changed since late 2002 when it was by majority of value. Do you have a website reference for it? I guess if one is smart, one can use this rather advantageously.

Ok, so I believe I am mistaken, and I sincerely apologise.

From this page: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/canp...tions-eng.html

it states:

However, I am very certain it was not explained to me (as quoted from the CBSA site above) when I picked up my card last Sept. at the Blaine office. I'll need to dig thru the car and see if I can find something in writing.

Again, sorry for any confusion.

Are you sure you need to point the card to the reader one at a time?

Granted, I've only ever used my NEXUS at the airport, I was told when I got the card that if you were traveling with someone else in the car, that it could read more than one at the same time; you just hold them both up to the reader. Is this not true?

From this page: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-vo...tions-eng.html

Maximum dollar amounts that you can declare on a TDC
Same day - $500 (no exemption)
24-hour absence - $500 (includes $50 exemption)
48-hour absence - $1000 (includes $400 exemption)
7-day absence - $1550 (includes $750 exemption)
Values that are more than those indicated above must be reported to an officer of the Canada Border Services Agency.

If you are over these amounts can you still use the Nexus lane but declare to the officer or must you use a regular lane?

Also note the restrictions on Watches and Jewelry:
watches (of more than $50 in value)
jewellery

You cannot use the TDC either. Why the restrictions for these items?

Not very secure at I87
 

Drove today to NY and back to Montreal.

Going south at US customs they have moved the NEXUS lanes to the giant commercial truck center on the far right. Ignore the signs that say NEXUS keep left. US agent was ok, except for calling the guy behind me "Stupid son-of-a-....." for cross the line too soon...

At the Canada side I drove up and slowed down at the scanner. Nothing happened. It would be smart to have some kind of audio or visual indicator that the cards have been scanned correctly. Proceeded to the booth and no one was there. Looked around for a few seconds and gestured to the agent in the next booth over. Few seconds later the gate opened and I left. No idea if anyone actually looked at us to determine who / what was in the car. Are they not supposed to verify that the picture on the card matches the user? If not what's the point...

No, I'm not sure. But those extra five seconds beats getting chewed out by the US folks.

I finally got my nexus card. I noticed on back it has machine readable type like on my passport. Can I scan that at an airport kiosk, or do I scan my passport and use my eye at the machine?

No need to scan anything at the airport kiosks, your are identified directly from the iris scan. Just make sure to have your card and passport available in case you get secondary.

Cheers,
bawm