canadian_critic

Hi,

I have just applied for the Nexus program and have no idea how long applications typically take to process. Does anyone here have recent experience of applying for this who can give their experience of

1. time it takes to review applications
2. how soon after review, an interview is typically offered
3. whether doing interview at yvr instead of douglas is quicker / better
4. approximate end to end time

The other question is what happens with the Visa Waiver forms? I'm a PR in Canada so would I have to still go in and fill those I94W forms out still even with Nexus or does that replace the old greenie?

Last time I went south I went via Pacific Crossing (BC) and with 90 minute delay decided to try my luck with the duty free, skip the wait trick. Ha did I get egg on my face. Ended up in 4 hour queue with other toe rags doing exactly the same.

$50 and a bit of a chin-wag with Canadian and US border people doesn't seem too bad for a 5 year, front-of-line privilege at the border.

Thanks for any help.

Jingle

Hi - our application went as follows:

Applied: 7th March 2010
Invited for interview: 22nd March 2010
Interview date: 14th April 2010

Re Visa Waiver - yes unfortunately you still have to complete the visa waiver forms at the border. The nexus card simply sends you to a different queue, which may be shorter if you are crossing at at a busy port of entry and of course if there is a nexus lane (we always cross by car at Eureka so it won't help us as they don't have one). There are Nexus lanes at Peace Arch and Pacific Crossing so you will probably save a bit of time in line ups when crossing there.

I got one because my boss is doing a lot of new business in California and it means that I will be flying to LAX and SFO quite a bit over the next year so it will at least speed me through the airport lineups at those airports.

We have our interview this Wednesday so I'm not sure how long it is before you get cards but I seem to remember that my boss got them immediately but I may be wrong.

Good luck! J

cov-canuck

We just got ours last week.

It won't be worth it for us - of course they didn't tell us that until we drove 2 hours down to the border!

We applied, and got approved after about 2 weeks. I'm a Canadian citizen, my husband is a PR with a pending citizenship application.

We made appointments at the Peace Bridge location, drove down there, arriving at 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon.

Got processed on the Canadian side (of the office - literally the Canadian cubicles were on one side, the US ones on the other) in about 40 minutes - very friendly, chatty guy.

Went to the US side, very abrasive, obnoxious woman, who asked where my OH's WT30 form was. We had no idea what she was talking about. We then had to cross the border to get his form, then come back to the Canadian side for them to finish the application. Every time he gets a new visa waiver form, we are supposed to go BACK to the Nexus office to give them the new number. They don't issue the cards on the spot, you receive them by post 5-7 days later.

It turns out that if you are a PR you have to have a valid visa waiver form, which is good for 90 days. Unfortunately if you fly, the airport has to remove it every time you leave the US. As such, as fliers, he can't use the Nexus lane in the airport until he is a citizen (so just under two years from now).

If you're driving over the border, it's totally worth it. Flying...not so much.

canadian_critic

Thanks for the response and best of luck with the upcoming interview. Would you mind sharing your post-interview experience here. I and I'm sure others would be grateful to know what to expect.

Cheers

cov-canuck

Interview is really a poor word for it.

They ask if you know of any reason why you wouldn't be allowed into the states. That's pretty much the only "question" that is asked.

The rest of the time is an information session about Nexus, and they make it very clear that ignorance is not an excuse. As an example - if you use the Nexus lane and someone in your vehicle is not a Nexus member, they can cancel your Nexus card on the spot, and you can't apply for another one.

canadian_critic

What a kerfuffle! They're meant to be impartial but I guess they're just people and take their personalities with them to work. It's more like a courtesy lottery. I've always found both US and Canadian officials to be reasonable, although so far I've not been challenged over anything. I would probably get quite defensive in your situation and that would bring a completely different side to the border guards personality out.

Roll on your OH's citizenship. I have my citizen application in the system too.

Take care

JonboyE

We renewed ours in 2008. As far as I can tell the procedure is exactly the same as a first time application. It took two to three weeks to get the invitation to an interview. However, the first available interview time was six or seven weeks away (Blaine Nexus office).

At the time they issued our Nexus cards at the end of the interview. However, these have now been replaced by the new high security cards so I don't know if they still do this or if you have to wait for them to be mailed.

JonboyE

Absolutely - it is zero tolerance program. Although you are usually asked a few superficial questions at the border, or even just waved through, they do pull people out of the Nexus lane at random for a thorough questioning and to search your vehicle. You have to be squeaky clean.

JonboyE

In this case you might want to think about your user name, and you might want to go back and delete all your "anti-Canadian people and all things Canadian" rants.

I thought you were desperate to go back to the UK?

canadian_critic

Yes I saw this on a different forum, specifically about Nexus. Some people just dump their non-nexus passengers off just before the crossing, thinking that this would escape the attention of the boarder guards. I suspect they have some pretty sophisticated monitoring equipment everywhere around the border. I'm sure anything that is said even on the approach to the border is monitored and reacted to.

Whatever clever trick we might think of to get around the inconvenience imposed on a system like nexus, I'm sure border patrol are a billion steps further ahead. And when they catch us out, that's it.

canadian_critic

My posts may appear that way to someone narrow-minded or blind, but literally hundreds have thanked me for telling it how it is. You may not agree with me and I suspect I won't agree with you, but it's about time someone spoke out.

I am NOT anti-Canadian. I'm doing a service to those looking to move over by telling them how it is from my perspective. The problem with people like you is that you don't accept other people have a different experience and different experience compared with your own.

There's a massive contingent of people who would like to speak out but are too scared to do so. I am not one of those.

And there you go again, harping on about my name. If you understood English you'd know that a critic can be positive or negative, and if you look through my posts, they are too. I'm not changing my name just because it confuses the likes of you.

Souvy

I looked into getting one of those because I do travel to the US once or twice a year. I decided against it because the negatives (time and cost) would have outweighed the positives. I go to the US from Ottawa, where the US has a border post (ie you enter before you leave). The line-up is never long and the questioning is quick. It never takes more than ten minutes to get from check-in to the gate.

dbd33

Literally?

Atlantic Xpat

lit·er·al·ly   /ˈlɪtərəli/ Show Spelled[lit-er-uh-lee] Show IPA
–adverb
1.in the literal or strict sense: What does the word mean literally?
2.in a literal manner; word for word: to translate literally.
3.actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy: The city was literally destroyed.
4.in effect; in substance; very nearly; virtually.
Use literally in a Sentence
See images of literally
Search literally on the Web

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1525–35; literal + -ly


—Can be confused: figuratively, literally, virtually (see usage note at this entry).


—Usage note
Since the early 20th century, literally has been widely used as an intensifier meaning “in effect, virtually,” a sense that contradicts the earlier meaning “actually, without exaggeration”: The senator was literally buried alive in the Iowa primaries. The parties were literally trading horses in an effort to reach a compromise. The use is often criticized; nevertheless, it appears in all but the most carefully edited writing. Although this use of literally irritates some, it probably neither distorts nor enhances the intended meaning of the sentences in which it occurs. The same might often be said of the use of literally in its earlier sense “actually”: The garrison was literally wiped out: no one survived.

dbd33

In my view the most current meaning of literally is literally, not virtually, not exaggeratedly, but literally.