Yes that is correct - I just did that 2 weeks ago. You go to the US side for your interview. Once it is completed you ask for the iris scan. They will give you a one time toll pass to cross the bridge for free (you need this as you don't actually get the Nexus card for 6-10 days). On the Canadian side you go into the office, have your eyes scanned and you are good to go.

This is definately the way to go. The wait for an interview in Niagara Falls is typically less than 2 weeks.

Dumq question time..

We are in Paris with the family ...all of us are nexus

My wife bought some chocolate

Is it a food ... Do we have to enter yes on the customs card ... And should we then not use nexus?

I always say yes and when they ask i say chocolate...then they roll their eyes usually. LMAO

They are more worried about meats, vegetables, fruits, etc. Things that can bring in pests, etc.

Going to apply for a Nexus Card for myself, the wife, our 6 year old and 15 month old. We do enough traveling, every little bit of efficiency helps!

US Customs seems to have said a few times to other posters in this thread that if you poop it out afterward, it's food; if you pee it out, it's not.

We always use Nexus and do declare "food" items, even though we know they are know problem. I was told when I applied for NEXUS to even declare chewing gum as food since the rules were so strict.

I have had to answer yes to those questions on the Nexus machine, but we always put on the declaration form what they are and say so to the card collectors. Only once was I pulled aside for secondary and in that one time, there was a guy going through the long line asking what everyone was there for. When I showed him what I declared (some Chinese snack food), he just said "get out of here":D

The 'food' question is different for entering Canada and entering the USA.

Here is a link to the Canadian card:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...s/e311-eng.pdf

Note:

I am/we are bringing into Canada:

Meat/meat products; dairy products; fruits; vegetables; seeds; nuts; plants and animals or their parts/products; cut flowers; soil; wood/wood products; birds; insects.


Since chocolate does not fall into any of those categories, simply mark the 'No' box.

Excellent idea - especially considering kids are free.

If you want to get technical, most chocolate probably could be considered dairy. Not sure Canadian customs would get that technical though.

But yes - probably different entering Canada than the US. US card specifically asks about "food," so everything has to be declared. Canada asks about certain types of food (meat, dairy , nuts, etc.).

Had my first chance to use Global Entry a few days ago.

Arrived on NZ behind Air France A380 at LAX. Insane lineups at immigration.

I was off with my luggage before any people from my flight even got to the immigration podiums.

The $50 appears it will turn out to be best investment ever.

Similar experience at YYZ T1 pre-clearance on Monday - massive lineup, easily an hour or more to clear and I was through there in under 1 minute. The nasty glares from people stuck in line were happily accepted :)

$50 for Nexus is like buying a new Porsche for $1,200.

Exactly what happened. The entire process took less than 1 hour. My interview at NF office was scheduled about 2 weeks ago, and ORD-BUF r/t was about $200. A good MR, too, if you live farther away. :)

It took me longer than an hour to get back to BUF, because an overturned RV blocked I-190 (all lanes) at I-290 interchange, and the traffic was backed up for 5 or 6 miles.

If coming into Canada, the specifics relate to meat and dairy products, nuts and seeds, and fruits/vegetables. There are specific categories on the form and chocolates do not appear (unless you consider the milk in the chocolate falling into one of the specific categories listed) among them. So chocolates are not FOOD per se vis a vis the Canadian entry requirements.

The US card form does mention FOOD, all types. Though I did notice on the Global Entry screen it was more like the Canadian form and listed specific types of banned foods. If what you have is not listed among these types, then unlike the card form, you don't have to respond that you have FOOD.

This is becoming an increasingly popular program so under the constraint of limited staff and budgets, only a certain number of people can be processed each day. And US agents also process people here and they may face restrictions as of next week if the US government shuts down, or goes on reduced levels.

I haven't found Ontario's privatized licensing bureaus any better than the old government offices. In fact, privatization resulted in theft of information and cards!

NEXUS approval times
 

(US Citizen)

Applied May 9
Conditionally Approved May 30
Interviewed July 21
Approved July 21
Received NEXUS/Trusted Traveler Card July 27

By far the longest wait was for an appointment at YYZ (Toronto). At this point it is normally about 3 months to get an appointment, unless there are cancellations. Much quicker to go to Buffalo or Niagara Falls. I got lucky on the appontment as (on the advise of another FTer:D) I constantly checked for cancellations-every hour or two!