There are virtually no questions from the agents with Nexus arriving back into Canada as once you've scanned your iris all they've ever asked me is if I've got the receipt from the machine and if I've completed the declarations form and wave me on through. Usually there's nobody ahead of you so it's super quick.

Going into U.S. it's rarely more than a simple question or two, like where are you going, how long and then a wave through.

I can only speak about YVR.

Coming into Canada at YVR there are zero questions - You don't interact with an officer.

Coming into the USA at YVR you do interact with an officer. The questions range from zero ("have a nice day") to the full gamut of immigration and customs questions...

My primary motivation for Nexus was reducing the interview process because it is awkward being deaf and having them say "citizen of what country?" and me saying "Saturday" because I did not correctly lipread them through the top of their head while they looked down at my paper. I have crossed southbound using GE machine once in preclearance at YYZ and returned using the iris machine at YYZ. In both cases, I got a slip of paper from the respective machine and waved it in front of me pre-emptively until I reached the person who collects the forms that you normally get stamped in the interview. I did not encounter any other human obstacles between machine and that person. It was heavenly. I wish I'd done this ages ago.

I went through YVR to US today (with my wife) - first time going into the US as a trusted traveler from an airport other than YYZ, where its usually easier since you don't need to talk to anyone - you just hand the customs card/receipt and show them Nexus card (for Nexus), and they stamp your BP, or GE receipt, to the card collector.

Not a big deal today. Spoke to the officer, who just looked at receipts/passports, asked how long we'd been here, and if we had any food/alcohol/tobacco. Didn't say anything about my receipt, which took a picture of the side of my face (I wasn't looking at the camera, apparently, when it took the shot - totally my fault - I admit).

On the other hand, inbound into Canada a few days ago, and we used the automated machines instead of Nexus (my wife needed to update her info, so she couldn't use Nexus). Really easy, and great that this is now an option, at least at YVR.

How long does it normally take to get your card once approved? I had my interview on November 19th and got the approval notice the next day. (I'm in Vancouver if it makes a difference, and had the interview in Blaine)

(Forgive me if this has been answered - I looked back through the last ten pages or so and didn't see it.)

Usually 1-2 weeks.

At the interview, they told me card in 7-10 business days. Interview was Thursday and got card on Wednesday, and that includes crossing the border from Vermont to Canada.

Just went through US CBP 30 minutes ago at YVR. Nexus lane using Global Entry, travelling on business.

Usual gamut of questions - Where are you going, why, who do you work for etc.

The worst experience I had crossing into the US was by land, where it went like this:

Where are you going?
Buffalo, the airport, then San Francisco.
Whose car is this?
Mine
How long are you going to be there?
Three days
Whose car is this?
Mine
What's the purpose of your trip?
I'm attending a conference
Whose car is this?
Mine
How much money do you have with you?
$200 and a credit card
Whose car is this?
Mine
Give me your keys and pop your trunk

I've had other similar experiences. Airports were generally better, but I felt it was only because I had no car (for which I easily could have produced the registration, if they were for some reason unable to look it up).

For the record, I was born in Canada.

Anyway, this is why I applied to NEXUS. To avoid this kind of stuff.

I connected through YVR from YYZ to SFO last night, and because I had a checked bag and very little time, I had to talk to CBP. It was the first time I haven't felt harassed crossing into the US. I loved it. He asked me if I was bringing anything, and why I was going, but it felt more like a conversation than an interrogation.

Do these guys NOT get the Memo re: Trusted Traveller??

We're trusted, but only so much.

Trust everyone completely, and you give people incentive to get NEXUS and then to turn very, very dishonest.

YVR which entrance to use?
 

10 days ago I had a 7h25m AC SYD-YVR-LAX transit during which I took off into the city. I had one checked bag and GE which included US passport only. When I came back to the airport, I found a break between check-in counters and entered the line labeled "no checked bags" which had CATSA before USCBP. I asked airport personnel at the entrance who said I was OK. USCBP personnel said it was OK. I never saw my bag at YVR. At LAX my bag came out very early (I did make UA S after SYD-YVR but AC had no knowledge and bag wasn't priority), which probably suggested it went on LAX-YVR pretty late. Was "no checked bags" the correct line for me to enter?

We did the same flying YQR-YVR-DEN-SAN (weird route, I know). We went groundside to eat at the White Spot and then went to US Customs rather than going to the US Customs transfer line (that let us use NEXUS too). We accidentally got into the "no bags" line but no ill came out of it. Both our bags arrived in San Diego.

Wow, already got our cards in the mail. ^

Interview: Wed, Nov 21
Received card: Mon, Nov 26

Note that between those dates were Thanksgiving and a weekend!

I was able to grab a cancellation and complete my interview today while transiting through YYZ. I do have some "cheers and jeers" concerning the NEXUS interview staff/process at YYZ.

The "cheers" part is that a flight change and subsequent equipment delay caused me to miss my original appointment by several hours, yet they still accommodated me later in the day without much wait time and were even friendly about it. They did not have to do that, so I really appreciated it.

Unfortunately, they would not entertain the idea of a simultaneous interview with my wife who was also conditionally approved but did not have a same-day appointment scheduled.

The "jeers" part is that two other families appeared to be allowed to complete simultaneous interviews in approximately the same amount of time required for one person. From the state of the waiting area, it appeared that my wife perhaps could have been feasibly accommodated.

One of these families (2 adults, 2 children) had 4 consecutive interview slots (1 hour, 20 minutes of time reserved) yet held a simultaneous interview that took < 30 minutes. Once they completed the process, the waiting area really cleared up, and agents appeared to be idle.

I understand that the requirement is a separate appointment for each individual, but I have read instances in this thread of families being accommodated under one appointment when there was time. It was just a bit frustrating that it wasn't our lucky day at the YYZ NEXUS office in that regard. I suppose this is more of a "whine" than a "jeer" since they were just following the defined process. My point is... don't rely on being able to squeeze a family member in at the same appointment in a busy NEXUS office like YYZ.

I should temper my generally positive experience with this... one gentleman walked in inquiring about an interview without having an appointment scheduled, and he was treated with nothing short of contempt. The CBSA agent told him that the only available appointments were those listed online, and if the system said May 2013 was the next available appointment, he should not come back until then. Completely unhelpful and undeniably rude. That said, the applicant should have read the instructions and scheduled an appointment online. There were no winners in this situation.