Lesson learned:

Present only your NEXUS card, even if it's a non-NEXUS lane.

I presented my passport and, when they asked what I was doing in Canada, I said I just came over to get a SIM card for my phone. Apparently that in conjunction with the dozens of stamps from MRs and trips all around the world (including several stamps from the Middle East courtesy of the Wideroe fare) was enough to make them send me to secondary and grill me for 45 minutes on my travel habits.

I forgot that the NEXUS card itself is a valid entry document. Best believe I'll be showing only that at future crossings.

Incidentally, despite the International Bridge checkpoint at Sault Ste. Marie being reported to have a NEXUS lane, none was marked at all during my crossing today.

I just applied for Global Entry, still pending approval. I also want to apply for NEXUS, as i will be traveling to and from Canada frequently for work.

Should I have just saved my time and applied for NEXUS, since apparently it comes with Global Entry and TSA PreCheck if you are a US Citizen?

And now that I have applied for Global Entry, how would I go about applying for NEXUS, after I am approved for Global Entry? Will I have to visit a Canadian Border to have my Iris scanned ?

First off, yes, you would have saved time and $50 as NEXUS comes with Precheck and Global Entry for free.

Secondly, you would need to apply though GOES, like you did for GE, and when you get conditional approval, schedule an appointment at a NEXUS enrollment center which are located along the Canadian border or at Canadian airports as you need to be interviewed by a CBSA officer. To get the iris scan, you need to visit a center on the Canadian side as ones on the American side don't have scanners. But you don't have to get the iris scan at the interview. You can do the interview on the American side, get approved, then go to a Canadian center to get the iris scan.

When did you cross? The NEXUS lane is open going into the US M-F 7am to 8pm while only M-F 3pm to 4pm going into Canada.

Source: http://www.ezbordercrossing.com/list.../#.U779KZRdX1Y

15 minutes - you go in and sign up on the "updates" clipboard, listing "iris scan" as what you want updated. To get an idea of how long it will take, check the person who signed in immediately before you. They will have written down their sign-up time, and if their name has been initialed by a Nexus employee they will have been seen.

Be very careful - you MUST update passport information at a NEXUS office for Canadian officials. If you do not, you are in violation of your membership if you applied as a Canadian.

I speak from experience - I just did my APEC interview last week (disaster for a different reason), and was told that my passport had expired in 2011, and I'd been in violation for the last 3 years.

When I mentioned that I'd immediately updated it on GOES, they told me that the US does not share any of that information with CBSA, due to privacy laws.

Apparently there was a note of the violation on my file from 2011, even though I've used the NEXUS machines and priority security dozens of times. They did not email me, or contact me about it - it was only when I went into a NEXUS office that they gave me a hard time for the violation.

NOT TRUE. You can change passport and DL info online on GOES.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexu...nnees-eng.html



Updates to personal informationNEXUS members can access the Global Online Enrollment System (GOES) to update address changes and passport information that is already on file. Even if you did not apply using GOES, you can still confirm or update your information by creating a GOES account, which enables you to view and modify your file.

NEXUS members must report to an Enrolment Centre to update or change all other information including:

Legal Name Changes
Changes to Citizenship Documents
Changes to Permanent Resident Card Information
Changes to Naturalization Certificates
Changes to Work Visas or Study Permit Information
Changes to Employment Information if the change affects your eligibility to the program
Changes to Legal Custody and Legal Guardian Status or Jurisdiction (For all NEXUS members under 18)
Changes that could affect your NEXUS membership such as an arrest, a criminal charge, a conviction or a customs or immigration violation in Canada or the United States.
Purpose of travel changes (business/pleasure/school, etc)
On occasion, NEXUS will need to contact you regarding program changes. Therefore, please ensure that NEXUS always has your current contact information on file.

Yesterday in YUL domestic / international they were no specific Nexus lane anymore.
Nexus lane is now the same as priority lane (elites...)

Bummer. It was nice not having to be subjected to the nude-o-scanners.

Ha, in April, 4 of us (all have NEXUS) couldn't use the NEXUS lane because ........ we have a baby stroller ........ I was like WTH....

and there wasn't a Family lane either (vs. YYZ T1)

Anyway, good thing we had plenty of time at YUL and enjoyed the International MLL before our YUL-ZRH flight

Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, I'm saying that you must visit a NEXUS office if your passport changes - as in you lose it, renew it, or replace it. That your passport number changes.

These are the critical lines CBSA calls out, as a new passport/passport number is not on file with CBSA. Replacing a passport in GOES does not send the new passport to CBSA; your old one will still be listed. Changing a passport is considered a citizenship document change, since you listed it when you applied for NEXUS.

Now, updating the address of a passport and DL, can certainly be done on GOES, however.

You are right. I called them and they said that they need to update this info manually. So a Canadian still needs to go to the office to update passport info.

Why on earth can they not make this all online.

Sorry, that is incorrect. For one thing, there is no "address of a passport" - ever. It only proves citizenship - there is never an address there. Second, you can only update your "mailing address" on GOES.

Actually you can update:

1. Passport
2. DL
3. Mailing address

on GOES. Problems is that When you update the Passport info, it only flows to the US authorities not the Canadian.

Oh believe me, I thought (and did) the same thing - online only - when I renewed in 2012. It was only when I went into a Nexus office that they pulled out a sheet of violations, highlighted the "updated document" line, and asked me whether or not I signed an agreement to abide by them when I joined the program.

They put me through a big ringer, with a "violation" note in my file since 2012... and made me feel I was lucky they didn't pull my NEXUS membership on the spot.

I don't want anyone else to go through that!