I spoke to the office in Fort Erie. They said if I am in the area, I can just drop in and they will add the scan to the card. Takes just a few minutes. But others say I can just do it at YYZ. So I will probably do it before my flight.

I was thinking of just driving to Fort Erie after my interview (it's open till 3:00 pm) but I think one needs the actual card to do the iris scan. I'll ask about this in the interview, if I can remember.

But one of the guys at work says there is a great restaurant (Gars Lounge) in Marine City, MI. So I just make a day out it and head south to there and then take the Blue Water Ferry back into Canada.

I would take the motorcycle to have some fun but the car has A/C, satellite radio and cup holders. (You can NEVER have too much coffee!)

Opening for YYZ on 8/5. This is the best way to find something.

I am planning to use the St almand-Highgate Springs crossing tomorrow. I checked the nexus lanes and found out the lane into the US is open 7 days a week from 6 -8:30. Is this a typo or are they really only opening the nexus lane on one of the busiest border crossings at those times?

How busy do they get around 10-11 am on a Sunday? Is it worth taking a detour and using the derby lane crossing?

There's only like 4 or 5 lanes at this crossing and it's not used by that many people. The NEXUS lane is a regular lane they "convert" to NEXUS only during the opening time. Having a 6AM-12AM NEXUS lane like at Champlain would considerably slow down the "regular" traffic. It is not uncommon for this crossing to have only one lane open for entering the US during most of the day. Maybe when Autoroute 35 will finished in 2016 they will add more lanes or even a dedicated NEXUS lane to absorb the projected higher traffic between Montreal and Boston

Peak waiting time at this crossing outside big holidays is about 15-20 minutes at most.

What you can do if the waiting time is really too long (over 1 hour) you can take Hwy-15 and cross at Champlain which has longer nexus hours and then take the bridge to cross to Vermont (routes US-11/US-2/VT-78) by exiting at exit 42 on I-87 and you will arrive on I-89 near Swanton within about 25-30 minutes. Depending on where you live you could save time that way if NEXUS is closed when you need to use the crossing and the wait time is too long.

As for the return trip, you're lucky because Canada operates at this crossing the only 24/7 NEXUS lane of the whole system...

This weekend the problem will be coming back to Canada at the 3 major crossings in Quebec (A-15, R-133, A-55) as it is the end of the "Construction Holiday" here in Quebec.

As for using the Derby Line crossing, I am not really a fan of using smaller border crossings since every time I used them I got charged tax and duty on my purchases or had my car searched. If the waiting time is over 1 hour, I would use the Champlain crossing and take the bridge to Vermont if it's not too much of a detour for you.

Yes I was actually thinking of taking the champlain crossing and then the ferry into Vermont. This would also avoid about 40 km of a busy 2 lane highway.

Once my appointment was within 24 hours, I could not see the available times anymore. The 'reschedule' button was not available. I tried to find another way to see the schedule but was unable to find anything.

Oh well. It's the old 'bird in the hand thing'. I got my approval and can sleep in tomorrow. :D

Out of curiosity, were you able to do your iris photo there (Fort Erie)?

The quick answer is no.

There was a Canada Border Services Agency person there (I went to Port Huron) and she said you need the actual card first. So gotta wait 7-10 days (as they say) for that to arrive.

I work near the airport so I might just pop in one evening after work. The CBSA agent was not sure if the iris scan is in a non-secure area (I'm going to call to find out) so my easiest option is to just wait until my flight at the end of this month.

But I DID have a huge burger at Marine City and had a nice afternoon at the Oil Museum of Canada at Oil Springs.

That is a bit strange. In Champlain they took the iris snap straight after the interview. Nevertheless, if it is convenient for you to swing by YYZ, then no worries.

Well done on the hamburger!

Port Huron does not have the iris thingie.

As to the hamburger, I'm still full.

[Bolding mine] Was that a typo? And if not, are you serious?

I used to use that crossing a few times a year, and unless things have expanded significantly there recently, there is no way it is even close to one of the busiest crossings. Southern Ontario to Niagara Falls/Buffalo, Windsor to Detroit, Peace Arch - these are busy crossings. Quebec to Highgate Springs certainly wasn't one of those that DHS referred to way back when as a crossing where the only thing stopping someone from entering over night was an orange cone, but by far not one of the busiest crossings, either.

I have crossed at this location well over 100 times in the past five years or so. It's not that busy as you said. Generally, the wait time is 5-10 minutes. Sometimes it can be worse, but it seems rare.

Last time I came back in to Canada at this crossing, there was a bit of a line and not a single car used NEXUS. I really wish I had my card at that point. I was wondering if someone is sitting in the booth in lane 5 the entire time :P Hope they have a nice book or something to read, lol.

The NEXUS lane is right next to the truck inspection booth at the far right of the plaza. I think that during the "off-peak" hours (NEXUS is open 24/7) the person sitting in the booth for the trucks is doing the inspections for the NEXUS lane also (from the passenger side of the car). At least it looked like that the last time I used that crossing late at night, I didn't see anybody in the NEXUS booth.

This makes sense. Thanks for the tip on that. It would have completely thrown me off when I tried to use it.

You seem knowledgable on this, so I want to ask one more question. During my interview, I asked the guy about having multiple people in the car and what to do at a land crossing. He said to just hold all the cards up to the reader at the same time. Do you have to hold them fanned out, or can you hold them all stacked? I'll likely only ever have 2 cards max, but don't want to screw up and have the customs agent get angry.