When you see the Customs hall is a mess (usually due to the CATSA dimwits backing things up), grab some food (not fruit or meat), something simple like a muffin or cup of coffee from a nearby vendor before going inside, then declare 'YES' to the food question - go directly to secondary, tell them you're Nexus with food to declare, let them clear your muffin (which should take all of 2 minutes) and the exit from that room dumps almost directly into the screening area, bypassing the hundreds of people waiting to exit the hall.

Eat your muffin while waiting in the screening line and voila - you just saved an hour or two of frustration. I never leave Canada without my Smarties, so it's automatic for me, but if you're food-free, the vendor muffin route works in a pinch.

How long do NEXUS applications take these days? Mine is still 'pending review' since June 12....

Damn NEXUS offices in Canada - all appointments start on September 30 or so... :( And that's just because I thought I had lost my card... :( :mad:

my friend applied it on June 2nd and finally got the conditional approval on June 29th...

No, the sticker is just something you can flash if you are challenged about not going into the normal line. The kiosk scans your passport and finger prints, so it's really just an affectation.

You apparently have confused the US PreClearance Customs Hall with the one I was referring to which is the baggage carousel area in YYZ1. Even without checked bags, you must navigate this area to get out of the secure area and there are only two agents (Border Security Agents) collecting customs card and determining who will go to Secondary. There is almost no way of avoiding these lineups when your flight arrives either in the early morning (Asia, SAmerica, US west coast redeyes), mid-afternoon (Europe), or mid-evening (Caribbean, Asia, US). In fact, it would be good if there were some rent-a-cops directing people into appropriate channels so these lines could move faster. As I noted, this is done at all major US airports but still not done at YYZ1.

Ah, I misunderstood - I always arrive late evening, so I'm out the door in 2 minutes including the Nexus console.

My card was stolen and I went to a close land border crossing where there is no wait. In this case, Niagara Falls. Made a day trip with the wife with it.

Since the iris scan was already on file, this was fine.

My SO's application was very, very close, or right at the 4 week limit (I say 4 weeks, because they tell you if you haven't received a message by then to email to find out the status). She applied in late April, I think the 27th if I'm not mistaken, and got approval on May 24th, I believe.

Keep checking, because people cancel. For my SO mentioned above, we got an appointment at Pearson on 28th. Most of the time, kept saying July or August was the earliest, but kept checking several times a day, and finally, late the Thurs. night, found one on the Sat.

That's horrible, you'd think customs would match staffing levels with incoming flights! The flight schedule is known weeks in advance.


I flew to UK two years ago, a decade after my last overseas trips, and experienced the same mega line-ups when trying to exit YYZ customs. I guess nothing has changed.

Is there any way to complain, or is it an AC style system (web form -> canned reply)? Unions strike again! I'll bet the break room was filled with these overpaid union tough guys, feet up, watching TV, "keeping our borders safe". It's all a big joke to most elite union members, they know they are jerking the system. I passed two city of Toronto cops today, standing beside road construction sites earning $65/hr + goldplated benefits/pension and possibly overtime. They know exactly what they are doing, as did the car company workers...untill the scheme collapsed.

That's what I was asking, despite the Nexus line one is still 'kettled' into long exit lines. :(

Seems my impression of Monday night wasn't unshared:

http://www.thestar.com/travel/articl...-lousy-tippers

Maybe this will get CBSA to add more officers to the final exit point when this happens in the future...like every early morning, mid-afternoon and mid-evening!

Some blame can be put on the border agency if enough counters are not staffed, but how are they supposed to improve staffing at that exit point? It's only big enough for two queues, thus two officers. It's a design problem.

question about updating information for NEXUS
 

I've renewed my driver's licence and I'm waiting for it to arrive in the mail before I go into the NEXUS office to update the information.
Is it true they're no longer updating driver licence information?
There seems to be some debate about this. In any event, I'm planning to drop by a NEXUS office to update my information.
Would I be meeting with both Canadian and US officers for this? It seems to me that the two systems aren't inter-linked or they don't share this sort of information. :confused:

Has anyone updated work or home telephone numbers for NEXUS? I can't update my work number on GOES but I dropped into a NEXUS office and told them of my new number. The Canadian side has this information but not my GOES profile. Is GOES not concerned with phone numbers?
Any responses would help.

I updated a whole bunch of information in May (address, phone number, employment) at the YYZ office, and none of it has changed on GOES. Not sure why. I am also a dual citizen of US and Canada, and while both passport info. shows up on my home page once I log in, when I see that detailed page, my "primary" citizenship (whatever that means) is Canada, but no passport info. shows up there, and my "secondary" citizenship is said to be US, and that passport info. does show up.

Not sure why that is, though everytime I think about calling and asking, its always after hours. In the meantime, I never had a problem, and know I did my due dilligence to show up at the office and report everything per the guide.

How long can it take to accept a card from a traveller? 10 seconds per passenger (families up to four can go through on one card) should be more than enough.

I've experienced the same problem at YYZ, but never at YUL (it only has two lines as well).

Better yet, why do they bother at all? Why not use the system they have in the UK and many other European airports? Observe the passengers rather than focusing their attention on the random number written on the card by the immigration officer.