I know someone who was asked for his NEXUS card at YYZ. I cannot recall which direction he was going. He did not have it. He got a warning, and now always carries it.

I have never been asked to produce my NEXUS card while using GE at YVR. I have been asked to produce my passport. That got into an interesting discussion with the officer along the lines of "You just had it out to use in the machine, why did you put it away?" "No, I used my NEXUS card in the machine." "Are you sure? I'm pretty sure that's not possible." "Yes. Yes I am."

I have been asked for my Nexus card by the CBP in YYZ once out of a number of crossings. So it occasionally happens, but not often.

There is a new nexus kiosk iris scan question?

Does anyone know what it is ?

I can not remember the exact wording of the question. But it did ask the passenger if he/she was member of A--- forgot the last 3 letters)?

ABTC - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Card

The new kiosk question was first documented in this post:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trust...l#post21521740

Yes, I have read this link:

http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2013/10...ss-travel-card

So, it looks like the passenger must be a nexus card holder, in order to get the ABTC.

I do not see much benefit of that passenger coming to Canada, over the one with nexus without ABTC?

What are the advantages of the ABTC for Canadians going to other countries? Can they use the expedited customs and immigration lanes in (eg) South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand?

The big advantage for Canadians is the ABTC waives the requirement to obtain an advance visa for Vietnam, Russia, and the PRC. Chinese and Russian visas in particular can be a big PITA to get.

If you're talking about smartgate in AU it doesn't work as my Canadian passport is not an epassport (and I hope not to have to get it, either.)
Yes-I have used those lanes in Korea, Japan, Malaysia, S'pore, Vietnam, Thailand, and HK (sometimes this is faster than using a HKID reader)

Any news on your application. Still waiting here. Tomorrow will be 7 weeks.

Newbie Here
 

Hi everyone,
I've been trying to learn as much as I can through the websites, friends, FT on certain airline forums, etc. but one question still nags me and I haven't gotten quite a clear answer:

For Nexus w/ GE benefits, is there any benefit whatsoever by having these cards when landing in a foreign country, at all (such as, Fast Track, etc.)? Or, is it purely for expedited re-entry into the US upon arriving home?

I'm attempting to ascertain the benefit for me and my family (4 of us, 2 adults and 2 kids under 18). I know the kids are free under NEXUS, but the interview process could be a bear for us, even though we're in PDX. Usually when we travel internationally, we're on F or J award travel, which to date has always come with Fast Track benefits, both arriving in a foreign country as well as back in the US. Is NEXUS worth it, then?

Any and all help, insights appreciated! Thanks!

NEXUS will benefit you between US and Canada. GE bundled with NEXUS will benefit you returning to US from anywhere. It will do diddly for you arriving in Japan, say, or Belgium, as those countries are not party to the agreement. It's clear in the sense that if benefits aren't mentioned, there are no such benefits. You may be able to use the NEXUS card as "government issued photo ID" anywhere in the world. (I do use it as that.) But it doesn't have its "magic powers" of generally expedited border processing outside of the US/Canada (or Mexico with SENTRI, I guess).

For the one border crossing that I know of that has a dedicated SENTRI pedestrian lane (San Ysidro/Tijuana), I can confirm it works, and works well, for entry back into the US (it doesn't expedite entry into Mexico, but that's usually smooth). My best record is clearing the border 90 minutes ahead of a colleague without NEXUS or SENTRI who had to use the normal lane.

If you have a vehicle and are trying to use a SENTRI lane, it's only useful if the vehicle owner is the driver and the vehicle is FAST-inspected.

Today and tomorrow I am off for eye surgery -- it's called "Refractive Lens Exchange" or "Lens Replacement Surgery" -- they'll remove my natural lens and replace it with a permanent one to provide me better and near vision, and to avoid wearing contacts after 34 years. It's like cataract surgery before you get the cataracts. (And it's not LASIK -- which we abandoned a day before the procedure in the summer.).

Does anyone know if this will impact my use of the Retina machines in Canada for Nexus?

The short answer is maybe. My partner had the same surgery about 2 1/2 years ago, and sometimes the retina machines work and sometimes they don't. I'd say it's about 60/40 tilted towards not working.

Is there a purpose for this?
Glasses leave my eyes in good condition and without the side effects of contacts (and continual insertion/removal of them is even more work than cleaning my glasses.)
It is not covered under MSP (and isn't covered under my employer either, for that matter, while glasses are. I have a different plan now that I am not ordinarily resident of Canada, but I still have the terms of my old plan.)

Lens replacement surgery is customarily done as a treatment for cataracts. Glasses won't fix that. Since it's a proven procedure in that context, and has a fairly known outcome, it seems like a pretty controllable procedure. (I'd be actually more comfortable with that than LASIK, if it were me - but I like my frames, although my glasses cost FAR more than my health insurance pays.)