That happens at most busy border entries across the US/ Cdn border. It’s often a 2 hour wait at the entries near Buffalo, at Detroit/Windsor, and at Port Huron/Sarnia.
I don’t have Nexus, for some other reasons, but the former Canadian Chowhounds who shop in Buffalo have had it for a long time.
I think it’s kind of funny that some people have an expectation that they won’t have to wait at the Border, or that they should be able to squeak through before everyone else because they paid for Nexus.
Is Nexxus like Global Entry, but for land travel/border crossings?
Our hopeful expectation is only that NEXUS saves us some wait time and scrutiny.
I don’t find the program elitist by virtue of the application fee. NEXUS is part of the Trusted Traveler Program, which pre-screens applicants in order to save them and CBP time and money. Same with the Pre 
with TSA. Whether NEXUS actually saves us any time is a question of fact we’ll answer if we finally get approved.
Yes but it also works for US and Cdn airports.
…with the retinal scan.
This is how one should think of Nexus.
It isn’t like paying off a bouncer, which is how many Nexus-carrying Canadians see Nexus.
But it only works at Canadian or US airports, not globally (?).
I also don’t think it is elitist, and I’m a person who generally gets mad when people can buy a fast pass at Disney to get to the front of the line or pay money to use the carpool lane as a solo traveler. Nexus is eminently affordable at $50 for 4 yrs. Free for those under 18. If people can’t afford that, then how are they affording going back and forth between the 2 countries? We only got our Nexus this summer after having lived at the border for 15 yrs. Not sure what took us so long. We haven’t even used it yet for the border (planning on changing that soon with a weekend trip for some great Asian eats). But we’ve used and loved it for the TSA pre check it’s afforded us on 2 flights already. It’s a huge timesaver once you can actually get the appt and interview, and apparently, once the traffic at the border clears enough to get to the nexus lane. People aren’t getting through faster because they paid a fee. They’re getting through faster because they agreed to a background check and became a “trusted traveler.” Same at the airport as the border. For those trusted travelers, you don’t have to answer lots of questions, you don’t submit to the extra screening of you and your things, and so the line goes faster.
Otoh, border waits and anger are a real thing. I was just reading a neighbor’s rendition today of his weekend when someone antsy tried to cut in front of a bunch of cars at the border and sideswiped this guys car as he was trying to get back to the USA. It was on the CA side, so BP said they couldn’t help - no jurisdiction. He was seeking advice on what to do with his car and repairs…
If you guys like NEXUS (and Global Entry) then you should try the APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC). For Americans, once you have Global Entry, it’s an easy add-on. Gets you to the priority immigration lane in almost every country that touches the Pacific ocean. I used it a ton pre-COVID. In China especially it would cut the typical one hour immigration line to maybe 5 minutes max.
https://www.apec.org/groups/committee-on-trade-and-investment/business-mobility-group/abtc
@kaleokahu today was the first day we tested our nexus pass at the border. We decided to go have a leisurely lunch and shop at Richmond. Door to door was 4 hrs, and I estimate we saved 3 hrs of waiting at the border all together. It is amazing and I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner.
Great to hear.
Our interviews are in 10 days. What questions were you asked?
I’ve done Global Entry twice which is similar. If there is nothing amiss, they will throw you softballs that just confirm what you’ve already given them. Like “Were you in XXX country on XXX? What were you doing there?” If they throw you a curve ball like “Have you ever brought in agricultural products?” or “Have you ever been arrested?” then there’s a chance they dug up something that you may have forgotten or thought maybe “didn’t count” like maybe you forgot an apple in your backpack when going through Customs. Then answer with a hedge “Not to the best of my recollection.” If you had said “No” but the answer is actually “Yes” then that’s game over, you’re declined as you will have lied in your application. Otherwise it’s pretty painless, no need to stress about it.
Pretty basic stuff and took all of 5 min. How often do you go to CA. Why do you go. Do you bring things back. Not even sure I recall anymore. It should be easy peasy for you. It was a bit harder for me personally because my parents let me sign my naturalization papers with my nickname rather than my formal name, and my birth cert was in Ukranian. But if you don’t have any quirks, you should breeze through.
Thanks!
I need to thank you again for your calming advice.
For others’ benefit, it probably was all of 5 minutes, excluding my inept attempts with the optical fingerprint scanner. After checking in, and a short wait for our names to be called, we were directed to a stand-up counter with a partition. US CBP officer on one side and Canadian on the other. No trick questions. Nothing about why we wanted NEXUS. Basically we were asked to verify 3-4 facts we’d already put in our applications. Face photos were taken for purposes of facial recognition comparisons at airports. Both interviewers were friendly.
Surprisingly, much of the time with the Canadian half was her explaining how to make crossing both ways even faster (The Canadian crossing staff no longer MUST ask questions, so we were encouraged to just announce how long we’d be in Canada, where we’d be going, and whether and what we brought with us, e.g., no weapons).
Also, we learned that NEXUS automatically includes TSA PreCheck. So I learned I wasted $70 when I recently renewed my PreCheck. There’s also some tie-in with Global Entry, but I want to read up on that.
Glad it was smooth sailing for you. We used ours for 2 family RT flights - precheck - before ever using them to cross the land border. That was wonderful. And then no issues a weekend ago when we actually used nexus as nexus for the first time. My only sadness was the vast number of prohibitions on foods you can bring back home. No dice for doing any major shopping over there.
I don’t see a difference between paying for Nexus or buying a fast pass at Disney - both get you in/through more quickly. You pay more for a front seat at the concert than the guy who’s standing at the back.
The difference in price makes it a huge difference. Again, Nexus - $50 per adult, for 5 yrs. Under 18 is free. Unless you live at the border and can drive across easily and often, you’re not likely to get it.
Disney - oftentimes parents go with kids. Assume 2 kids. You’re talking $500 to get all four in for a single day. Now you also have to pay another $15-20 pp to not stand in a line that people are constantly cutting into. Keep in mind unlike Nexus, 90% of Disney visitors are not local. I personally find that distasteful highway robbery. It’s already a stretch for most families to get there in the first place, only to be asked to pony up more.
Also, Kaleo mentioned that the nexus fee is used to do the background checks. Disney just pockets the extra fee. They don’t provide you any extra labor or service.
If you don’t see a difference between these two experiences, then you don’t. I do.
Today we returned to Van and our fav breakfast place there, the Red Umbrella. There was a wait list as usual, but the wait itself was under 5 minutes.
I again had what’s become my must-order, the breakfast salad. So good, pretty unique IME.
If anyone considers another Vancouver breakfast place better, I’d like to hear about it.
