I had time in Montreal today, so stopped in the Nexus office to ensure that
my new passport info ( updated on GOES) was cleared for GE.

While I was there, the Canadian agent noticed that my DL info was expired.
I told her that I had been told that DL info did not need to be updated, she said " Wrong", and took my DL to update.

All told, about 15 minutes to do.

How does one do that? just show/waive the NEXUS card to them? or jump into the priority line with NEXUS card?

Just used my card for the first time at YYZ today. I have to admit, there is no going back! GE and security took at most 5 minutes total.

so brutal ... applied june 18th, conditionally approved today....

first available appointment in calgary - dec 20th. toronto - mid november. so brutal for any of the major airports (other than wpg or halifax)

watching for cancellations, but still, you'd think they would do something about the backlog.

Kids and Biometric Data
 

All,

I'm curious if anyone has first hand (not Google Search) on what children are required to give in terms of biometric data. I've heard that they only need to give their picture? Or do they need to give Finger Prints.

Been that way since the beginning, I think

My kids (5 and 2) were only asked for a photo.

The agent offered to try and scan my son's retina's; he is 5, but she didn't think it would work. I told her not to bother most of our crossings are land anyway.

Can NEXUS be used to get priority to see the customs agent, when arriving in Canada from a non-US international airport - ie can one use NEXUS to enter Canada from abroad, just as one can use Global Entry to enter USA from abroad?

As I have used NEXUS when returning to Canada internationally (non-U.S.) for the past four years, I assume that the answer is "yes."

Yes - you can use Nexus to enter Canada from anywhere.

Question for you all:

Flying SAN-YVR-yEG tomorrow (wed)

Four travelers:
Wife
Me
Son-6
Daughter -2
All nexus, but daughter has iris exemption.

What's faster?
3x nexus +special services for daughter
Or
All of us use the automated non nexus kiosks that YVR has? We always do this but we are now "trusted ;)"

I wanted my son and wife to try out the Nexus machines to become familiar but god knows how that will go with daughter in tow.

Global Entry Kiosk Machines
 

I went through customs this morning in Edmonton, and they have installed the new Global Entry Kiosk machines to use vs. the old Nexus machines, which were turned off. It took me a couple of minutes to figure it out, but now I know for the future.

Do all airports in Canada now have these machines, or is Edmonton a test location. The agent told me the machines were just installed last week.

Children can be exempted from the iris scan at the discretion of the CBSA officer. The office I went to (Whirlpool Bridge) wasn't busy, so the CBSA officer asked if I wanted to try to do the iris scans on my kids (6 and 7). I did, and both succeeded, although the officer did tell me they've had mixed luck with kids that young. Makes life simple, as the "Nexus/airport kiosk/kids without iris scan" scenarios in this thread are confusing.

For the Global Entry portion, kids under 14 weren't accepted into the program until this year. If the kids have Nexus, you can drop into any Global Entry enrollment center to get them GE for free. Younger kids can get a waiver from the fingerprint requirement, and still be able to use the GE kiosks.

All preclearance airports in Canada now have global entry kiosks:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/...l/06252012.xml

I do like the Nexus/GE program, except for the fact that the rules are confusing at best. I would presume that most who enroll in Nexus or GE do so with the best intentions of following the rules, but that is very hard to do when even CBP/CBSA/DHS don't seem to know them.

For example, I posed the question a few months back regarding the need to report an updated drivers license, and we now have first-hand accounts that go both ways. I guess if YYZ tells me I don't need to do it, all I can do is make sure I signed in, document the date and time of my visit, and keep that on file in case I ever need to appeal an "expired document black mark".