I can't go back to a world without NEXUS...
 

Hi folks, wanted to reach out and get some advice/opinions on a major screw-up on my part this past weekend.

Short story is - I was driving back home after helping one of my nephews relocate to the US for school. Crossed at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie with another nephew (who has NEXUS like me) and a niece (who does not have NEXUS). As an honest mistake and out of pure reflex, I veered to the right at the crossing and went into the NEXUS lane. Couldn't reverse out at that point, and I admitted my mistake right away to the agent. I even offered to turn around and drive back.

Agent sent me to the office, they inspected my car, all good. But in the end, the customs official took my NEXUS card away and said that it has been 'suspended'. I didn't get any documentation or anything, it was just taken from me. The agent told me to follow up with NEXUS directly. Thankfully my nephew's card was returned.

It was a pure reflex action - I instinctually just go to the NEXUS lines at airports and land borders and declare everything now, even granola bars that I pack. 90% of the time I'm traveling alone, and even in this case when I crossed into the US on Friday my nephew that has NEXUS was with me so again I wasn't even thinking about going through a normal line.

I've put in a voicemail to the enrolment office in Fort Erie, because that's where I initially enrolled and that's where the incident happened. Waiting for a call-back.

I've looked up the rules, and I'm really worried that this stupid mistake on my part will affect my NEXUS status. Anyone have any words of advice (or sympathy) for my situation? I'm dreading losing my status and all that it provides me as a frequent traveler. I'm an idiot, I know :(

The funny part is that I've been lecturing my niece and the whole family to get NEXUS cards for themselves for years, and most in my family have so when we travel together even it's usually very easy.

Thanks for your attention, hoping that someone can help shed light on what might happen.

CBSA was correct in taking your NEXUS card as you were the driver and were responsible to make sure all of your passengers had valid NEXUS cards (which by your own admission, they did not).

You're going to be using the regular lines for at least the next six years and probably subject to more intense scrutiny when you cross.
From the CBSA's website:

Eligibility following violation:
May be eligible to (re)apply after six years have elapsed since the violation.
NOTE: The six-year period begins from the date that the violation occurred.
3. A member facilitates or attempts to facilitate the entry of a non-member at time of passage.

The driver, boat master or pilot has the responsibility of ensuring that all accompanying travellers in the conveyance are carrying a membership.


Sorry, but it sounds like you're SOL.

+1

The rules are very clear with regard to this matter.

Proving once again that when it comes to bureaucracy, honesty is the worst policy.

You think that somehow the officer wouldn't have noticed the non-nexus traveler in the car?

No, the officer should've shown more leniency after the immediate admission of an honest mistake. Having one's NEXUS privileges rescinded should be the penalty for being intentionally deceitful, not for driving into the wrong lane :rolleyes:

I'm sympathetic too. I hope they get a second chance.

However, for this very reason, I'm pretty militant about making sure everyone in the car has their passes before we approach the border. I have all passes in hand well before we are segregated into the NEXUS lane.

Not that they care what we think, but I sort of agree, given that traffic flow can be stressful approaching the border and it is difficult to change lanes. I think it probably happens unintentionally a lot more than we read here in the forum. If they would (a) permit people to turn back BEFORE the booth and take a different lane, or (b) let the non-NEXUS person out of the car to go through a pedestrian route, then it would better meet the intent of the zero tolerance. However, neither of those are permitted.

In my experience, it is easy to get into the wrong lane going from two lanes to 20 lanes, or whatever it is, with people weaving and crowding in all directions, particularly for a driver with passengers, directing everyone to get their papers ready for the officer and so on. On the way to my daughter's NEXUS interview in Ft Erie, we had to stop at the retail building for the washroom, and on exiting, we found ourselves in a lane to the USA. I can't recall exactly how it worked, but there was a way to turn back before US Immigration, although it cost us a toll. We were in that lane before we knew where it was going.

I agree with zero tolerance for abuse. I even have some sympathy for penalizing a lack of attention. I think you should be on your toes before you reach the border. If they just show leniency, then they encourage a lot of faux "oopsie, my bad" line-cutting. The question is whether a reasonable driver (not the most attentive and paranoid driver ever, but a reasonable one) could fail to notice the indicator that they were entering the NEXUS lane and had no exit other than crossing with NEXUS or violating NEXUS rules, and what kind of penalty would be sufficient to discourage it without being excessive.

I think it would be compassionate to have a U turn that would take the car to the very back of the regular line. (I think that's enough penalty, not 6 years of NEXUS ban.) If there is no space to provide a U-turn lane, have the car pull in for a scary "secondary" and make them sit there for a time equal to the time they would have waited in the regular line, process them with all the scrutiny given to non-NEXUS holders, and send them on.

Not that they care what we think.

A 2 hour timeout in secondary for line cutters who use the Nexus lane and merge into the normal lanes would be appreciated. Even with the cones there's people blocking the Nexus lane at Peace Arch and Pac Highway, with no punishment for flagrantly abusing rules

Interesting anecdote:

I was at the border crossing between Hyder, AK and Stewart, BC (Google Map it--it's not a common stop on any normal journey!). There's actually no US customs station at the border (since there's no way out of Hyder, AK except back through the Canadian checkpoint...or hiking a hundred miles over some of the most rugged terrain in North America), but the Canadian side did have a checkpoint you had to stop at before continuing back on to BC. The CBSA agent working there was surprised to see our NEXUS cards, and he asked if all the information was up-to-date on our NEXUS accounts. We confirmed it was, and he said, "Are you sure? I actually normally work at the NEXUS head office and can update anything right here if you need."

I'd direct anyone who lives in southern Yukon or northern BC who needs a NEXUS update to head there, but a) I'm not sure there's anyone on FT from that entire area and b) he's only on temporary assignment in Stewart, so you'd need to get yourself down to that border crossing in the next few weeks. ;)

Interesting that NEXUS-trained agents can access the NEXUS update portal from anywhere in Canada, though, even outside of a NEXUS office.

In terms of NEXUS violations trying to bring a non-member through the NEXUS lane is probably just a notch below making a false declaration to an officer in terms of severity.

During my interview, it was made clear that doing either that or having a non-member exit your vehicle, cross the border on foot and rejoin you on the other side was considered an attempt to circumvent the rules of the program and would result in an immediate suspension of NEXUS privileges.

I am willing to take your account at face value but I have to admit it's not exactly a compelling story.

I encourage you to plead your case but given my experiences with both CBSA and USCBP I don't like your odds.

Might be a stupid question, but if we get a visa for other countries (NOT US or Canada), do we need to go to Nexus Enrollment Centre to get that information in? I'm assuming no, but....

I've also assumed no. Actually, the folks at the Nexus office have gone through my passport with its 'unreported' visas on numerous occasions without problem. IME the US folks don't even care about dual citizenship; when I brought my EU passport to the Nexus office to have it added to my Canadian file, the US side told me they didn't care about it and sent me on my way.

Did you get Hyderized?

:D

That might've made the interaction with the CBSA officer more interesting...