- You'll exit with the mob, and you'll be deposited in the Customs / Immigration hall.

- You'll use the Nexus machines - Can't miss them, to the left of the queues.

- You proceed out to the baggage carousels, without talking to immigration.

- You pick up any checked baggage, if applicable.

- You proceed to the Air Canada check-in desk, at the back of the customs hall.

- You drop your bag on the belt.

- You then proceed upstairs to your connecting gate, after you go through security.

Very thorough, thank you :)

Does anyone have any recent application wait time data from start to finish?

If one applied today (with interview @ YUL), how long would it take before s/he could physically get a card in hand (assuming that s/he is accepted and assuming that no one already in line cancels their interview)?

I got conditional approval 4 days ago (on Mon), after applying 23 days earlier.

The earliest appointments at YUL or YOW were in early July. However, I got a cancelled slot for this coming Tues, a few minutes ago.

Halifax can give you a slot within a couple days of conditional approval. Champlain is not too bad- esp with cancellations, well within a month of conditional approval.

Just an update on this, he was indeed approved for his Nexus card! They did tell him he is right on the cusp of eligibility, so he can't make a single mistake with his card.
So glad! We've had so much confusion with his status when going through secondary every time we travel. Hopefully this will make things easier!

Interview in Ottawa on Tues - I am quite nervous
 

I am nervous, but I have nothing to hide.

What discretionary documents (not listed in the conditional approval letter) should I bring to the interview? My only listed document is a passport. Of course, I am bringing the letter of conditional approval.

Should I bring my wallet sized birth certificate? Should I bring some evidence of my home address?

The car issue deals with SENTRI? - not nexus? So, i do not need to bring my car registration? - I plan to drive different cars across the border.

I have applied for nexus for my wife and daughter 2 weeks after I applied - so if they get conditional approval in the same time frame as me, then it will be either Easter Monday or the day after that.

They may ask me about why I want nexus - so I will say to facilitate travel between the 2 countries - for business (ie medical conferences and meetings), or pleasure. When I state pleasure, should I just refer to myself, or should I say that I often go with my family - if the latter, then they may ask about their nexus (application) status.

What are the usual reasons that one gets turned down during the interview - I have nothing to hide - their is nothing in my history that would get me turned down, so I am trying to figure out the most common reasons that one can stumble in the interview (without a negative factor in one's personal history), and get turned down.

Applied: March 2
Conditional Approval: March 23 (21 days)
First date near YVR: Two appointments June 27 at Blaine (as of 2pm PDT March 23)
First revision of date: One app't on April 9 at Vancouver Downtown (as of 4pm PDT March 23)
Second revision of date: One app't on March 25 at Blaine (as of 9am PDT March 24)
Receipt of first card (for app't March 25): April 3 (33 days from application to receipt of card)
Receipt of second card (for app't April 9): April 15 (45 days from application to receipt of card)

My wife and I applied within minutes of each other. I received my notification email first, logged in to mine, and booked an appointment.

We then logged into hers and found it was still in Initial mode. Three minutes later (!), while the screen was still up, she got an email. We hit "Refresh" and VOILA, she's conditionally approved.

So folks (like me) who were wondering whether there is a delay between getting conditional approval and getting an email saying you're approved -- it looks like that delay is less than 3 minutes!

... and, less than 2 hours later, I snagged an appointment for my wife at Vancouver Downtown on April 9 (she works a 5 minute walk from the centre). They only had the one though... not a big deal, I can take time off work much easier than she can.

... and, less than 24 hours later, I snagged another appointment at Blaine, WA for myself on March 25 (tomorrow!)

Doesn't your letter of conditional approval request that you provide proof of your home address?

Even if it doesn't specify, here's what I would bring:
- Any proof of name changes (marriage certificate, etc)
- Proof of home address (either a utility bill, your rental agreement, etc)
- Birth certificate if it's handy
- Passport
and, of course, anything else specified in the letter.
Correct, SENTRI only, only a worry if you're crossing the US/Mexico border.

Just tell them the truth! I used to work as a customs officer... no need to couch your words (facilitate travel), etc. Tell them you go across the border by yourself often for work, occasionally with your family. Tell them the rest of your family has applied. They deal with this all the time, they won't be concerned. Answer in your own words. Don't rehearse. It makes customs officers suspicious.

Remember: Relax and tell the truth. You'll only be rejected for two reasons:
1) You have disclosed something which makes you ineligible for the program
2) You lie or withhold facts from the customs officers

You can control #2 by telling the truth. If #1 happens, well, that's life and you simply don't qualify.

You'll do fine, I'm sure.

When they asked me, I told the truth: I absolutely hate standing in lines. That seemed to satisfy them.

It's a dumb question anyway. What would you have to say to be denied Nexus?

Easy peasy. Tell the officer of the other country that you intend on taking a job in their country or taking up residence when you are not entitled to, or try to conceal the reason you want it.

Ultimately if you tell the truth you're golden. You'll either be approved, or you were never qualified.

Right, of course. What I actuallly meant was, would anyone who applied be dumb enough to give an answer like that?

Is it "dumb" to be honest? :p

I actually had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day. I moved to the US last year for work, and he's thinking about it, so we were talking about the process. He asked me what kind of visa you need to go to an interview in the US. I had no answer. When I came down, the trip had some business, some pleasure, and the interview, and I just used NEXUS. I never gave it a second thought.

I'm actually wondering now. In my industry, a lot of people want to work in California. So I could conceivably see someone getting NEXUS simply because they expect to have a lot of interviews in the US, and then if they take a job, they'd use NEXUS for "frequent" travel back and forth (which is my current use case). Would this be a bad answer to give? You're not trying to bypass immigration law, you just know that a legal immigration might be happening in the near future, and you want to be prepared.

When dealing with CBP or CATSA it's dumb to be dishonest. That doesn't mean you have to be dumb about an honest answer. In your case, an answer like "I want to reduce the hassle and queing time at the border" would be honest and reasonably intelligent. An answer like "I'll be going for a few job interviews" would be honest but unwise.

Easy..

"I want to lower my risk of getting caught when smuggling drugs and weapons across the border". I'd really like to be present in the NEXUS office if someone actually said this.

Agree, if the purpose is business, say business. Don't bend over backward to wave a flag that "I am going to steal jobs from legal residents" but business travel is common and a better justification for frequent travel than pleasure/vacation.

They did not ask me about my family and their travel patterns or NEXUS intentions. If they had, I would have said they had not applied and travel primarily for pleasure, which would have been truthful.

I go to a lot of conferences and international standards meetings and training. I don't emphasize that I am often delivering training because then it raises questions of well, perhaps you're paid, and in fact I never receive payment from US sources for delivering training. Because I get no chance for pure vacation, I do try to enjoy myself on my business travel and often take some extra days or detours but I claim most of my expenses in connection with the business travel, so "business" it is.

I'm not in a job-interview situation but it's a fine line between a "business meeting" and a "job interview", isn't it? If the "business meeting" were to lead to employment offered and accepted with all the necessary immigration paperwork fully approved, then NEXUS would have no cause for concern as long as they were promptly updated on the status, address, changed reason for travel, etc.

The second reason I gave was the anxiety I experience anticipating face to face interviews. Navigating that process by lipreading for a deaf person can result in what looks like suspicious responses, I wanted to minimize my face to face interviews, while understanding that I could be required to have an interview at any time. I found them very understanding.

We give up a lot of privacy to even be considered for NEXUS and I think they take that into account. They are not there to prevent travel. We are essentially an open book, and the only responses that will be coherent with what they already know are the honest ones.