Nexus Cards

[FayeW]

I just applied for Nexus cards for my children and myself. I decided to go with these instead of the passports because they are free for children 14 and under (my daughter will be 15 in October) and they are good for 5 years. If I get passports, the kids' will expire when they are 16, so my daughter's would only be good for about 15 months. It seemed like a waste of money, to me.

Can anybody share their experience with wait times and what to expect with the interview?

Thanks!

 

[RainbowsMist]

I'm curious as well. My daughter will be 15 when we leave also so her passport would only be good for less than a year.

 

[CanadianPaco]

We applied for ours on line in mid June. We were notified for the interview fairly quickly. You'll get an email prompt to goto the GOES web site for the details. You can book your interview on line, I think. But we called in to make the appointment at Pearson. (You actually are calling the office in San Diego to book the appointment.) There is a 30 d time restriction to book the appointment but the appointment doesn't have to be in 30d of being approved.

We did our interview at Pearson last Wednesday. It was for 11am but we were 1hr early because we predicted worse traffic than we had. They took us almost right away. We actually were done by 11am. They review your paperwork - bring what they tell you to bring. They take retina photos and finger scans. Answer questions and explain the rules. You get a declaration book each and tonnes of reading material. Some are approved right away like DD and DH were. I was approved the next day. No big. We all received approval emails with 24hr of the interview and the cards are in the mail. It was so simple I have no idea why we didn't do it sooner.

Hope that helps.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I thought the passports issued before a person turns 16 were good until they expired? From the passport canada site:

Will my child require a new passport once he or she reaches the age of 16 and still holds a valid one?
No. The passport of a child who turns 16 years of age continues to be valid until it expires. A passport issued to a child is identical to a passport issued to an adult.


I have no dealings with Nexus cards though. To me they are not worth it, because I feel they limit me. I would need a passport to travel anywhere else but the US. That's just MHO though. Hopefully you won't need to wait too long.

 

[FayeW]

I thought the passports issued before a person turns 16 were good until they expired? From the passport canada site:

Will my child require a new passport once he or she reaches the age of 16 and still holds a valid one?
No. The passport of a child who turns 16 years of age continues to be valid until it expires. A passport issued to a child is identical to a passport issued to an adult.


I have no dealings with Nexus cards though. To me they are not worth it, because I feel they limit me. I would need a passport to travel anywhere else but the US. That's just MHO though. Hopefully you won't need to wait too long.

Thanks for the information, I had always thought the kids' expired at 16. I guess I didn't do enough research.

The big benefit of the Nexus card is that you pretty much bypass the lines at border crossings. I was talking to a US Customs officer who works at the airport here in Ottawa, and he said he waited for an hour and a half in the regular line at a land crossing, but the cars in the Nexus line were zooming past and through within a couple of minutes. Alot of people have both the Nexus and passports, just so they can get through US customs more quickly. For us, the big draw is the fact that they are free for children and last 5 yrs.

Now that I know that I can get passports for the kids and they will still be good for 5 yrs, I may decide to get them as well at a later date. We have a trip to Jamaica booked for March Break, but it's just the hotel reservation for now. I have until end Jan to decide if we are going or not, so if we find good airfare I will have to get passports after all.

 

[CanadianPaco]

That by pass line is precisely why we applied for the cards!!! We have passports. But to spend 1-2 hr waiting to corss the bridge (Sarnia/Port Huron) - no way no more!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

We applied for ours on line in mid June. We were notified for the interview fairly quickly. You'll get an email prompt to goto the GOES web site for the details. You can book your interview on line, I think. But we called in to make the appointment at Pearson. (You actually are calling the office in San Diego to book the appointment.) There is a 30 d time restriction to book the appointment but the appointment doesn't have to be in 30d of being approved.

We did our interview at Pearson last Wednesday. It was for 11am but we were 1hr early because we predicted worse traffic than we had. They took us almost right away. We actually were done by 11am. They review your paperwork - bring what they tell you to bring. They take retina photos and finger scans. Answer questions and explain the rules. You get a declaration book each and tonnes of reading material. Some are approved right away like DD and DH were. I was approved the next day. No big. We all received approval emails with 24hr of the interview and the cards are in the mail. It was so simple I have no idea why we didn't do it sooner.

Hope that helps.

Thanks OP and Canadian Paco. Think we're going to get the cards as well. We have passports but we always dread the lines - and that's just at the airport. LAND CROSSINGS can be just as CRAZY, so for us the cards would be worth it.
DH HATES HATES HATES lines.

 

[minnie56]

That by pass line is precisely why we applied for the cards!!! We have passports. But to spend 1-2 hr waiting to corss the bridge (Sarnia/Port Huron) - no way no more!

Remember not all borders have Nexus..just a heads up

 

[FayeW]

Remember not all borders have Nexus..just a heads up

Really? How can we find out which ones do?

 

[minnie56]

I am sure somewhere there is info out there..where? Not sure..
Also, last Friday we returned from Buffalo around 11:00pm and there was quite the line up into Canada for Caribana..Nexus was closed. So we had to wait

 

[minnie56]

Wondering..if Nexus is closed and you don't have a Passport? What happens?
I guess they must just scan it at the regular lane?

 

[sachs1999]

You do still need to have a passport and carry it with you when you travel even with the nexus card. If you look at your nexus info it states this. If you go to a place and the nexus machines are down or there are no nexus machines you must produce your passport. also airlines tend not to know that the nexus card is id and they will not accept it as such when you check in you still need to give your passport.

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Land and Water
http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/whti-ivho/ls-tm-eng.html

Nexus Process
http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/menu-eng.html

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

WHERE - Scroll down to bottom for locations:
http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/land-terre-eng.html

 

[rjan67]

You do still need to have a passport and carry it with you when you travel even with the nexus card. If you look at your nexus info it states this. If you go to a place and the nexus machines are down or there are no nexus machines you must produce your passport. also airlines tend not to know that the nexus card is id and they will not accept it as such when you check in you still need to give your passport.

Nexus is an approved traveller card. You can use it anywhere in the U.S., Mexico and the Carribean. You don't need a passport also. If this is not correct then the Nexus official at the Port Huron Nexus Center is giving out misinformation, because that is what they told us. You can use your Nexus for I.D. to enter the U.S. even if the line is not open. You can use it for air travel if you have the retina scan done and are using a Canadian airport to enter the U.S. I used my card today and saved at least 1 hour, even with a random search thrown in.

 

[dancin Disney style]

You do still need to have a passport and carry it with you when you travel even with the nexus card. If you look at your nexus info it states this. If you go to a place and the nexus machines are down or there are no nexus machines you must produce your passport. also airlines tend not to know that the nexus card is id and they will not accept it as such when you check in you still need to give your passport.

This is true....my best friend travels for business, mainly to the US, about 3 times per month and has Nexus. We just had a discussion about 3 weeks ago about Nexus VS. passport. She said you still require a passport.

 

[FayeW]

Well, that certainly sucks. It appears I have wasted $100. today. We usually cross at Hill Island (outside Kingston) and they are not on the list that Daisy provided. I did find an old archived article from a Watertown newspaper Dec/08 that said they were opening a Nexus enrollment centre at Hill Island, so hopefully that means that by the time we are ready to cross there again, they will be taking Nexus cards.

 

[Eveningsong]

Every member in the vehicle must have a valid Nexus card to use the Nexus lane. I have friends with valid Nexus cards for the whole family, and they often take a friend along for their daughter on their Disney trips. They must use the regular lanes because the friend does not hold a valid Nexus card.

I believe unless it has changed your Nexus card is only good at the location were you interviewed. If you interview at Sarnia for your Nexus Card you cannot use it at Fort Erie.

 

[minnie56]

Every member in the vehicle must have a valid Nexus card to use the Nexus lane. I have friends with valid Nexus cards for the whole family, and they often take a friend along for their daughter on their Disney trips. They must use the regular lanes because the friend does not hold a valid Nexus card.

I believe unless it has changed your Nexus card is only good at the location were you interviewed. If you interview at Sarnia for your Nexus Card you cannot use it at Fort Erie.

No, that's not true. You can use it anywhere Nexus is available. At any border and airport that has the scanners.

 

[FayeW]

I believe unless it has changed your Nexus card is only good at the location were you interviewed. If you interview at Sarnia for your Nexus Card you cannot use it at Fort Erie.

Nah, that's wrong. You can use it anywhere that has Nexus capabilities. The website also says that you have to present ONE of the required documents...Passport OR Nexus OR EDL Driver's License, etc. I haven't read anything official that said we had to have passports as well.