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
May 2, 2011, 2:21 pm
#2941
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: YYC
Posts: 4,035
My wife needed a new one due to a name change, and the Canadian agent told me she should just stop by and they would order one for her, no appointment needed.
(too much scotch in the plane last week)... Has anyone had to fill-in an application for a replacement card? What's the turnaround-time on the application review? Do I still have to wait weeks for an appointment?
May 3, 2011, 6:04 pm
#2942
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: YQR
Programs: NEXUS; alas, no status anymore.
Posts: 1,181
May 3, 2011, 6:07 pm
#2943
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: YVR SFO
Programs: UA G
Posts: 4,866
Any benefit for GE members at AUA? I believe they do US Customs pre-clearance there.
May 5, 2011, 1:31 pm
#2944
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 6,222
Using Nexus while carrying commercial goods
I saw a couple of posts recently regarding the carrying of commercial goods while using a Nexus lane or kiosk. For entry into Canada at least, the applicable law is subsection 14.1(1) of the Presentation of Persons (2003) Regulations:
Quote:
An authorization issued to a person to present themself in an alternative manner described in paragraph 11(a) or subparagraph 11(d)(i) or (iii) is only valid if, on arrival in Canada, the person does not have any commercial goods in their actual possession or in their baggage.
And from section 1 of that regulation:
Quote:
“commercial goods” means goods imported into Canada for sale or for any commercial, industrial, occupational, institutional or other like use.
Page 4 of the current Nexus Member's Guide makes the following exception:
Quote:
Personal computers and similar items carried by NEXUS members for their own personal use while on business trips are not considered commercial goods.
This is just a friendly reminder that if you're carrying spare parts, samples, a trade show display or anything else of a commercial nature that does not fall into the exception mentioned above, you are not legally permitted to use a Nexus lane or Nexus kiosk. Using a kiosk when you've answered (or should have answered) "yes" to the commercial goods question is grounds for revocation of your Nexus privileges.
I saw a couple of posts recently regarding the carrying of commercial goods while using a Nexus lane or kiosk. For entry into Canada at least, the applicable law is subsection 14.1(1) of the Presentation of Persons (2003) Regulations:
Quote:
An authorization issued to a person to present themself in an alternative manner described in paragraph 11(a) or subparagraph 11(d)(i) or (iii) is only valid if, on arrival in Canada, the person does not have any commercial goods in their actual possession or in their baggage.
And from section 1 of that regulation:
Quote:
“commercial goods” means goods imported into Canada for sale or for any commercial, industrial, occupational, institutional or other like use.
Page 4 of the current Nexus Member's Guide makes the following exception:
Quote:
Personal computers and similar items carried by NEXUS members for their own personal use while on business trips are not considered commercial goods.
This is just a friendly reminder that if you're carrying spare parts, samples, a trade show display or anything else of a commercial nature that does not fall into the exception mentioned above, you are not legally permitted to use a Nexus lane or Nexus kiosk. Using a kiosk when you've answered (or should have answered) "yes" to the commercial goods question is grounds for revocation of your Nexus privileges.
If I drive my car to Seattle, and back, am I "importing" my car into Canada when I come home? I wouldn't think so.
If I take my tools to Australia, and back, am I "importing" them when I bring them home? I wouldn't think so.
So while I might have goods (tools) that under some circumstances might be considered commercial goods, because I'm not actually "importing" them (I'm repatriating them) it would appear that they aren't really commercial goods in this sense or instance. But what would the CBSA agent say?
At least at the YVR enrollment office there seems to be some common sense. I've been repeated and explicitly instructed, by several different uniformed personnel, that I should check the NO box for commercial goods (including tools), circle the word "tools", and write in "ORIGIN IN CANADA" on the declaration card, and answer NO to the questions on the kiosk.
I've been using NEXUS since the very beginning (after all the zeros, my actual NEXUS number is in the 2-digits) and have never had a problem. But I still wonder about the fine print.
'Course my ace in the hole is that even if I am importing the tools, it's not "for sale or for any commercial, industrial, occupational, institutional or other like use." I'm simply bringing them home. In that regard I would expect that it's the same if I purchased some tools in Bellingham that I would use in my home workshop for hobby purposes.
As far as crossing into the US, I've been explicitly told by US agents at the Blaine border crossing that I can bring my tools into the US through the NEXUS lane so long as I'm not intending to use them in the US. This was handy when I was travelling to Europe ex-SEA, but I suppose would also be allowed if I simply left my tools in the trunk of my car while I popped across the border to buy gas. (But in the interest of "ease of use" I empty my trunk before crossing.)
At the YVR enrollment centre, the US agents suggested I simply answer yes on the kiosk which will direct me to the crew line. I've not tried this, nor do I think I will.
Nevertheless, the absurdity of so much customs law remains. I still expect to read somewhere that "for the purposes of this act, a telephone is not considered a telephone" or words to that effect.
May 5, 2011, 1:38 pm
#2945
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 6,222
Furthermore, the "regulation" quoted above makes no reference to tools, only to "goods". In common commercial language "goods" usually means "stuff for sale" which normally wouldn't include tools (unless of course they were being imported to be sold.)
So if the word "tools" doesn't appear in the regulation, why does it appear on the declaration card? It would seem to be someone's interpretation of the definition of a word, that may or may not be in line with the common usage of the word.
So if the word "tools" doesn't appear in the regulation, why does it appear on the declaration card? It would seem to be someone's interpretation of the definition of a word, that may or may not be in line with the common usage of the word.
May 5, 2011, 2:00 pm
#2946
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,849
"Import" means import into Canada
May 5, 2011, 4:02 pm
#2947
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Singapore
Programs: SQ KF (ex-UA)
Posts: 588
4 questions regarding NEXUS. I am considering applying because it seems to deliver more value than Global Entry, at half the price.
1. I don't cross the border that much really. Could this cause problems at the interview?
2. If I apply now, could I feasibly get an interview in a month? I will be in Vancouver then on business so it is a good time to get the interview done - I don't live close to the border.
3. If I can't get an interview by June is there a time limit within which one must schedule one? I will be in Detroit in August so I could do it then too.
4. You can use the GE kiosks even when not coming from Canada right?
Thanks folks.
1. I don't cross the border that much really. Could this cause problems at the interview?
2. If I apply now, could I feasibly get an interview in a month? I will be in Vancouver then on business so it is a good time to get the interview done - I don't live close to the border.
3. If I can't get an interview by June is there a time limit within which one must schedule one? I will be in Detroit in August so I could do it then too.
4. You can use the GE kiosks even when not coming from Canada right?
Thanks folks.
May 5, 2011, 4:29 pm
#2948
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Montebello, CA, USA
Posts: 2,365
1: No. I just did my interview on Sunday. I've been in Canada once in the past 5 years. They didn't ask about it.
2/3: I was able to schedule my interview as of March 23. I scheduled it for May 1. The system would have let me gone out further, but that was when I was at a border. Some locations have a long wait, so I do not think August would be a problem. Plus, there is the option to reschedule it.
4: You will not see Global Entry kiosks when coming from Canada. You will see NEXUS kiosks. But yes, you can use the Global Entry kiosks too.
BillJ
2/3: I was able to schedule my interview as of March 23. I scheduled it for May 1. The system would have let me gone out further, but that was when I was at a border. Some locations have a long wait, so I do not think August would be a problem. Plus, there is the option to reschedule it.
4: You will not see Global Entry kiosks when coming from Canada. You will see NEXUS kiosks. But yes, you can use the Global Entry kiosks too.
BillJ
May 5, 2011, 5:14 pm
#2949
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Singapore
Programs: SQ KF (ex-UA)
Posts: 588
Great, thanks for the tips. Just submitted my application.
May 6, 2011, 7:06 pm
#2950
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: YQR
Programs: NEXUS; alas, no status anymore.
Posts: 1,181
[QUOTE=wcj1;16335355]4: You will not see Global Entry kiosks when coming from Canada. You will see NEXUS kiosks. But yes, you can use the Global Entry kiosks too./QUOTE]
Depends on the Canadian airport. e.g. no US preclearance at YQR, so on my YQR-ORD-FLL flight on Monday, I used GE at ORD to enter the US.
Depends on the Canadian airport. e.g. no US preclearance at YQR, so on my YQR-ORD-FLL flight on Monday, I used GE at ORD to enter the US.
May 6, 2011, 9:38 pm
#2951
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,891
[QUOTE=PhotoJim;16341723]
I was going to mention this. The bigger Canadian airports have pre-clearance, and these airports are the ones in Canada that have by far the majority of flights to the US. But smaller airports such as YQR, YXE, YXU, YQB (are there more?) have flights to the US, but don't have pre-clearance. These flights arrive into the US as any other international flight, and clear at US customs at the arrival airport. You can use GE in these cases.
4: You will not see Global Entry kiosks when coming from Canada. You will see NEXUS kiosks. But yes, you can use the Global Entry kiosks too./QUOTE]
Depends on the Canadian airport. e.g. no US preclearance at YQR, so on my YQR-ORD-FLL flight on Monday, I used GE at ORD to enter the US.
Depends on the Canadian airport. e.g. no US preclearance at YQR, so on my YQR-ORD-FLL flight on Monday, I used GE at ORD to enter the US.
May 7, 2011, 11:19 pm
#2952
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: BA, AA, SQ, UA, AC, WS, MR TIT
Posts: 8,659
Ali, as you're probably enrolled in the NSEERS as a Pakistani born national unfortunately they will most probably deny your NEXUS application even if you met the criteria.
Unfortunately even after you're sworn in as a Canadian national and obtain your Canadian passport, they will most probably deny your application, unless there is a shift in the policies.
My advice, don't waste your $50 now. Wait till you're a Canadian citizen, then try and see what happens, but be prepared for denial.
Unfortunately even after you're sworn in as a Canadian national and obtain your Canadian passport, they will most probably deny your application, unless there is a shift in the policies.
My advice, don't waste your $50 now. Wait till you're a Canadian citizen, then try and see what happens, but be prepared for denial.
Don't worry anymore. The NSEERS program has discontinued as of April 27, 2011 and you may apply for your NEXUS card and you are confident that the application will not be denied.
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...waiver/p/0/c/0
May 9, 2011, 8:55 am
#2953
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 53
Any Canadians have or know if you can cross whirlpool bridge for on day of interview, since it's nexus cards only?
My frien advised the whirlpool interivew is more straight forward then the other enrollment centres, but I would prefer to go to ft.erie since I won't have to cross and can get my iris scan, how is ft.erie?
Did a search, think I saw one tough interview at ft.erie so far.
My frien advised the whirlpool interivew is more straight forward then the other enrollment centres, but I would prefer to go to ft.erie since I won't have to cross and can get my iris scan, how is ft.erie?
Did a search, think I saw one tough interview at ft.erie so far.
May 9, 2011, 9:26 am
#2954
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Montebello, CA, USA
Posts: 2,365
The Whirlpool Bridge is for NEXUS cards and you do not have one. I would highly recommend against that, unless you want to give them a reason to deny your application.
I did Ft Erie at the beginning of the month. It was fine/no big deal. I assume it is one of those things where it just depends who you get.
BillJ
I did Ft Erie at the beginning of the month. It was fine/no big deal. I assume it is one of those things where it just depends who you get.
BillJ
May 9, 2011, 9:54 am
#2955
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Canada
Programs: *G
Posts: 2,304
I did my interview at the Whirlpool Bridge, and crossed at the Rainbow Bridge without any delay. I was able to get an appointment virtually next day. I did my iris scan at YYZ, again without delay (well, a few minutes).