Hi
I usually cross at Huntingdon as I live in Maple Ridge, but I am on a course in Vancouver next week and need to go directly to US. (Highway 5)
Whats the best crossing to take????
Anyone help?

Depends. The quickest to get to is the Peace Arch crossing. Follow Hwy 99 southwards from Vancouver and stop when you get to Customs. (Or, more likely, when you get to the line up.). The commercial vehicle crossing, often called the Pac Hwy crossing, is a mile to the east. Leave Hwy 99 at 8th avenue - it is well signposted and you can't miss it.

Your choice is based on the length of the lineups. Check the radio (try am 1130) for information. If the lineups are long, and you need to get across the border quickly go to the Pac hwy crossing and head into the duty free. You HAVE to buy something to get out of the car park, but it cuts about two hours off the waiting time.

Even better, if you cross often, get a NEXUS card. Then, like me, you will be able to drive down the NEXUS lane, with a smug self-satisfied expression on your face, past people who have hours to wait yet, right up to the Customs booth.

Hi!!!!
Thanks so much for the advice...........great tip about Nexus, not sure Huntingdon has a Nexus lane though?????? do you know?

Unfortunately I don't. It has been several years since I used this crossing and I can't remember seeing a Nexus lane.

If you are not a citizen of the US or Canada, you have to have been resident in Canada for 3 years before you can get one. Not sure whether there is a residency requirement if you are a citizen. Bizarrely the US authorities told me that you had to be a citizen - the Canadian authorities said differently, but didn't mention the residency requirement until rejecting the application.

What you were told is no longer correct:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/tr...prog/nexus.xml

Not sure which bit you meant but I have a month old rejection letter stating that I can reapply in 2010 and that I was not eligible under the 3 year residency rule.

The eligibility criteria were not detailed on the form, or by the nice person at the airport that supplied the form, or on the website you have linked to (perhaps the very general bullet point 6 in the "Who qualifies" section covers it). There is however information about eligibility on the CBSA website that specifies a 3 year residency requirement.

...You may qualify to participate in NEXUS if you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada or the U.S. and have lived in one of these countries continuously for the last three years...

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel/ne...g-admis-e.html

Of course, this may now be out of date if it has changed in the last couple of months...

Possibly. You should ask again. Refer them to the CBP website.

It is possible that Canada and the US have different rules. I first received my Nexus card shortly after the program started. I think this was early in 2002 but I cannot remember exactly. I had been a PR for less than three years then but I had also been a member of the pre 9/11 commuter program so maybe this helped.

Nexus is a joint program so the rules should be the same.

Ha! That's a bit naive. NAFTA is a joint programme too.