NEXUS Renewal, is 90 days enough?

[Maverick]

This is my renewal. 

 

[moeman]

Mine took about 18 months but had no issues using the "expired" card until the new one showed up.

[Airband]

Canada-U.S. dispute over Nexus sparks backlog of applications

Tue Oct 03, 2022 - The Globe and Mail
by Robert Fife

Quote

'Mr. Mendicino and a U.S. embassy official in Ottawa dismissed as untrue reports that the dispute is over a request for American customs officers to carry guns at Canadian enrolment centres.'

Ottawa and Washington are at loggerheads over the popular Nexus trusted-travel program that allows citizens of both countries to cross the border more quickly, leaving several hundreds of thousands of Canadians waiting in the queue to get their applications approved.

At issue is a dispute over legal protections for U.S. Custom and Border Protection officers who work in Nexus offices in Canada. The U.S. wants the same protection for them as is guaranteed to its preclearance officers at Canadian land crossings and airports under a 2019 binational agreement. Nexus is a joint program and requires applicants to be interviewed by both Canadian and U.S. customs officers before approval is granted.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino on Tuesday said Ottawa is standing firm that U.S. customs officers can’t have the same legal protection at Nexus enrolment centres as they do at Canadian preclearance halls.

“There is an importance principle of Canadian sovereignty around making sure the laws applies to officials as it would to any other person, foreign officials who are here to discharge an official function,” he said. “We want to be pragmatic but we want to adhere to important Canadian principles and one of them is that Canadian law applies on Canadian soil.”

He said Americans who work in preclearance areas enjoy legal protections because “travellers are moving immediately on to the United States as opposed to Nexus enrolment centres where they are away from official ports of entry.”

Mr. Mendicino and a U.S. embassy official in Ottawa dismissed as untrue reports that the dispute is over a request for American customs officers to carry guns at Canadian enrolment centres. Neither Canadian nor U.S. customs officers are permitted to carry guns in Nexus centres, which are located at or near airports but separate from customs clearances, he said. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the official because they were not authorized to be publicly identified.

The U.S. official said the issue is the absence of standard legal protections for official duties performed by CBP officers at trusted traveller enrolment centres in Canada. For example, American customs officers are allowed to be tried in American courts for most offences if they’re charged with an on-duty crime in Canada.

Canada and the U.S. remain in discussions about when the Canadian enrolment centres, which have been closed since March, 2020, will reopen for applicant interviews. The American offices just recently reopened, although there are reports people are having difficulty getting an appointment.

Mr. Mendicino said he discussed the possibility of virtual interviews with U.S. customs offices when he recently held talks with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. But the U.S. official at the embassy told The Globe that the virtual option is not practical and is unlikely to get off the ground.

Before the pandemic, the U.S. official said 60 per cent of Nexus processing were done in Canada and 80 per cent of the applications were from Canadians.

The official said Canadians will have to either travel to U.S. Nexus enrolment offices or to the U.S. border to be interviewed before they can obtain a Nexus card. Existing Nexus members, whose card is about to expire, can continue to use the travel document for another five years, provided they submit a renewal application online.

“Canada is doing everything it can to process those Nexus applications on our side, right up to the point where the Americans have to do their own screening prior to applications,” Mr. Mendicino said.

The minister was unable to provide a timeline on when the dispute might be resolved but he’s stressed the importance of the fast-track documents to the U.S. economy.

“The case we have made to our American friends is this is a significant economic driver. It contributes, when it is running at full capacity, to somewhere in the range of $8-billion to their economy.”

[Kip Powick]

My renewal took 36 days at the height of the Pandemic early in 2021

[Airband]

Pilot project at Canada-U.S. border crossing offers hope for stalled Nexus program

While Nexus enrolment centres in the U.S. have been open since April, most of the centres in Canada have remained closed since the COVID pandemic

Tue Nov 22, 2022 - National Post

WASHINGTON — There’s a glimmer of hope in the ongoing impasse between Canada and the United States over the Nexus fast-traveller program.

The Canada Border Services Agency says the two countries are exploring “shorter-term measures” to shrink a backlog of applications.

At the Thousand Islands crossing between Ontario and New York, in-person Nexus interviews are being conducted separately by U.S. and Canadian agents on opposite sides of the border.

Spokeswoman Rebecca Purdy says the pilot project, which began in late September, allows applicants to be interviewed on the Canadian side before entering the U.S. to meet with Customs and Border Protection officers.

The rest of Canada’s enrolment centres, where agents from both countries would normally interview applicants together in person, remain closed due to a lack of U.S. personnel.

Purdy says the project could be expanded to include additional border crossings where demand is highest and the two agencies have the capacity to implement it.

She says 49,482 new, renewed or replacement Nexus cards were issued between Oct. 6 and Nov. 5.

“Canada and the U.S. continue discussions about the reopening of Canadian enrolment centres and are pursuing solutions to address the current backlog,” Purdy said in a statement.

While Nexus enrolment centres in the U.S. have been open since April, most of the centres in Canada have remained closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

That’s because Customs and Border Protection won’t send U.S. agents to staff them unless they get the same measure of legal protection agents have at existing ports of entry.

“Both Canada and the U.S. remain committed to a binational Nexus program that is accessible and expedites passage of low-risk members,” Purdy said.

She confirmed that senior officials from the two agencies met in person earlier this month to discuss “options for shorter-term measures that continue to increase the number of people being issued new or renewed Nexus cards each month.”

The pilot project is reminiscent of a proposal floated around the same time by Scotty Greenwood, chief executive of the Canadian American Business Council, who has been aggressively pushing for a resolution.

The council has launched a public awareness campaign at savenexus.ca that encourages Canadians to pressure their members of Parliament to reopen the enrolment centres.

The site has generated more than 1,500 emails so far, said Greenwood, who urged both agencies to be more transparent about their efforts to date.

“It’s important, in my judgment, to be more forthcoming about what the next steps are,” she said.

“(People fear) Nexus is hanging by a thread, and they have no idea that it’s getting any better; no one has any idea how this is going to go; this is not an issue that’s going to go away.”

[Falken]

Just get bour Transport Minister to get an APP for it- 54 Million dollars and problem solved. (Maybe)

[conehead]

I just received the approval for the Nexus application, and now must attend an interview. However, all of the locations anywhere near me show "no appointments available". How do I access this new interview process at the thousand islands location? It's not even listed on the website as a interview location...

[Kip Powick]

1 hour ago, conehead said:

I just received the approval for the Nexus application, and now must attend an interview. However, all of the locations anywhere near me show "no appointments available". How do I access this new interview process at the thousand islands location? It's not even listed on the website as a interview location...

Try here........Lansdowne (Thousand Islands Bridge)

 

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/offices-bureaux/223-eng.html

 

That is where my wife and I were interviewed, just prior to the Thousand Island Bridge, (Canada Side )

[conehead]

Thanks Kip.

[Airband]

Nexus application fee increasing to $120 US at beginning of October

Canada Border Services Agency says current $50 US fee doesn't cover cost of administering program

Tue Apr 02, 2024 - CBC News

The cost to apply for the Nexus trusted-traveller program will increase from $50 US to $120 US on Oct. 1 of this year, the federal government announced Tuesday.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says the current $50 fee was set two decades ago and no longer covers the cost of the program.

"The new fee would reflect more accurately the cost of administrating the program and the investment required for future program improvements, including technology and infrastructure enhancements," the agency said in a press release.

Cont.