NEXUS Renewal Questions

[Fouremco]

Last week, I submitted renewal applications for DW and I. I wasn't really worried about the processing time, as we wouldn't need them until June of next year. Three days later, we found a good price on a February 3rd cruise aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam and booked it. Now the turnaround time for the renewal is starting to concern me. Can anyone who has recently renewed tell me how long it took to be approved and to receive your new card? Also, the CBSA website now states that "It is no longer necessary for the majority of renewing members who have not had changes to their information and have maintained their low-risk status to attend an interview." Has anyone actually renewed without an interview?

[rafinmd]

I did not experience that when I renewed last summer.  What I do remember was that took 2-3 months from submitting the renewal application until the "conditional approval" came.  The card expired well before my interview but I was told at the interview that once I got the conditional approval the old card was still good right up until I got the interview.

 

Roy

[DC1979]

My renewal application took just over three months from initial application to conditional approval. I haven’t had my interview yet, but it is scheduled for next month. I was hoping I’d get approved without requiring an interview but sadly that wasn’t the case! 

[Alberta Quilter]

I renewed without having to go for another interview.  I got my new card in the mail.  I believe I renewed early this year.

 

BTW, thanks for the thread.  It reminded me to check my DM's expiration date!

Edited December 4, 2018 by Alberta Quilter

[Fouremco]

59 minutes ago, Alberta Quilter said:

I renewed without having to go for another interview.  I got my new card in the mail.  I believe I renewed early this year.

 

BTW, thanks for the thread.  It reminded me to check my DM's expiration date!

Hopefully your DM's expiration date is many years in the future. Her NEXUS card's date is another issue. 

[Fouremco]

I'm surprised at the time required for renewals, as most security-related updates are less time consuming than initial applications. I'll keep my fingers crossed, and hope that we can speed through with no interview.

[comcox]

My last renewal took much longer than in previous years.

 

[rafinmd]

13 hours ago, Fouremco said:

I'm surprised at the time required for renewals, as most security-related updates are less time consuming than initial applications. I'll keep my fingers crossed, and hope that we can speed through with no interview.

I do hope you still have your passport in your possession.  Is there an interview facility in Ottawa or do you need to go to Toronto/Montreal?

 

Roy

[Alberta Quilter]

16 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Hopefully your DM's expiration date is many years in the future. Her NEXUS card's date is another issue. 

 

We laughed last night at your post!  Yes, we hope DM's expiration is many years away!  We did check her Nexus expiration, it, too, is several years away.  We must have renewed ours last year, not earlier this year.  Neither of us had to have an interview.

[POA1]

For those of you in the US, the website for the Trusted Traveler Programs has changed. If you have a login to the old CBP site, you'll need to create a new account on login.gov in order to access your account and see your status and expiration.

 

I'd do this now, rather than waiting until your card is close to expiration. Start here:

 

https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov/

 

Creation of the new login requires both email and phone verification, either by text of voice call.

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, POA1 said:

For those of you in the US, the website for the Trusted Traveler Programs has changed. If you have a login to the old CBP site, you'll need to create a new account on login.gov in order to access your account and see your status and expiration.

 

I'd do this now, rather than waiting until your card is close to expiration. Start here:

 

https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov/

 

Creation of the new login requires both email and phone verification, either by text of voice call.

Canadians have the option of submitting a paper renewal application by mail or using the TTP online renewal. If by mail, the cost is $50 CAD; if online, $50 USD. We opted to spend the extra few dollars to expedite the process, especially with the huge backlog of mail following the recent Canadian postal strike, and went through the login change described above. I found that it was a quick and easy process, though, that linked flawlessly to the information in our old CBP accounts, but doing it in advance is a good idea.

 

One of the things that I discovered somewhere along the process is that an early renewal of your card doesn't shorten the period of validity of your existing one. The new one apparently becomes effective for five years from the date of expiry of the current one, unlike a passport renewal where you lose any remaining months. Had I been aware of this previously, I would have renewed a few months ago.

 

 

[POA1]

3 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

One of the things that I discovered somewhere along the process is that an early renewal of your card doesn't shorten the period of validity of your existing one. The new one apparently becomes effective for five years from the date of expiry of the current one, unlike a passport renewal where you lose any remaining months. Had I been aware of this previously, I would have renewed a few months ago.

 

Interesting. I wonder how that works here, "South of the Border."

[Fouremco]

4 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I do hope you still have your passport in your possession.  Is there an interview facility in Ottawa or do you need to go to Toronto/Montreal?

 

Roy

Yes, Roy, we never let our passports expire, so if there is a delay in the renewal of the NEXUS cards, we will still be able to travel.

 

Ottawa has an enrolment centre at the airport. When we applied initially, it was located in the main terminal building, but it has move to a far less busy facility in an area of the airport housing various shipping and cargo enterprises. Parking now is much easier should we need to go for an interview.

[Fouremco]

12 minutes ago, POA1 said:

 

Interesting. I wonder how that works here, "South of the Border."

I imagine that it would be the same north and south, but that's just an assumption.

[rafinmd]

foremco, I guessed you did.  I THINK you can actually get NEXUS without a passport but am sure it's rare.  You should also be able to fly to Florida with just a NEXUS, and I can actually do most Caribbean cruises with just a birth certificate and photo ID, but have a feeling that option is only available to US Citizens.  In any case it's good to now you're good to go.  Living in Maryland renewing my NEXUS is a pain but I have family near Montreal so last time I did it I combined it with a family visit.

 

POA1, at least for Americans NEXUS expires on our birthday so it would would be a calendar 5-year renewal.

 

Roy

[POA1]

2 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

POA1, at least for Americans NEXUS expires on our birthday so it would would be a calendar 5-year renewal.

 

Thanks.  We didn't opt for NEXUS since Global Entry include US reentry - although not entry into Canada.

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

foremco, I guessed you did.  I THINK you can actually get NEXUS without a passport but am sure it's rare.  You should also be able to fly to Florida with just a NEXUS, and I can actually do most Caribbean cruises with just a birth certificate and photo ID, but have a feeling that option is only available to US Citizens.  In any case it's good to now you're good to go.  Living in Maryland renewing my NEXUS is a pain but I have family near Montreal so last time I did it I combined it with a family visit.

 

POA1, at least for Americans NEXUS expires on our birthday so it would would be a calendar 5-year renewal.

 

Roy

While a NEXUS card is all that is required to travel between Canada and the US in theory, and we've done so innumerable times both driving and flying, I can cite two personal examples of being refused boarding without a passport. The first was in 2015, when the staff at the Black Falcon Cruise Port in Boston would not let us board the Maasdam for our Canada/New England cruise with our NEXUS cards alone. We argued the point, and spoke to the the supervisor, but they were adamant that we wouldn't be allowed to board without passports. The second occurrence was in March of this year, when a WestJet employee at check-in in Toronto told us the same thing, that the NEXUS card was not acceptable for travel to the US and must be backed up with a valid passport. It's not just me! Here's one of many examples of others suffering similar problems: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/passenger-denied-boarding-over-travelling-with-only-a-nexus-card-1.3029989

 

As DW and I never travel out of Canada without our passports, we argued the point that our NEXUS cards were sufficient but, when faced with absolute boarding refusal, dug out our trusty passports. In the Toronto example, we then put them away, headed to the NEXUS security line with cards in hand, and made our way to the boarding gate. There the staff were quite happy to let us board when shown the cards, with no demand for passports.   

[winenwaves]

We recently renewed, it took approx 8 wks to show it was approved and cards were here a week later. No interview was required. A friend renewed several weeks prior and had approval in 6 weeks. There is hope.

[Fouremco]

12 hours ago, winenwaves said:

We recently renewed, it took approx 8 wks to show it was approved and cards were here a week later. No interview was required. A friend renewed several weeks prior and had approval in 6 weeks. There is hope.

Thanks for the encouragement! 

 

As expiry dates are based on one's birthday, I'll actually be OK with my late February birthday. However, DW's birthday comes in January, so she's definitely keeping her fingers crossed hoping for a quick processing. If they don't come in time, I'll have to be chivalrous and join her in the long, slow moving lines.

[*Miss G*]

But you have begun the renewal process so your cards are still valid, pending the approval.

 

I was called in for another interview.  My husband was not.  Go figure.

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

But you have begun the renewal process so your cards are still valid, pending the approval.

 

I was called in for another interview.  My husband was not.  Go figure.

I've looked at both the CBP and CBSA websites and can't find anything suggesting that an expired card can still be used if a renewal application has been submitted. Can you point me in the right direction?

[*Miss G*]

 

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

I've looked at both the CBP and CBSA websites and can't find anything suggesting that an expired card can still be used if a renewal application has been submitted. Can you point me in the right direction?

 

Certainly!  It’s in the 3rd paragraph of the CBP Find an Aswer page:

 

[Fouremco]

46 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

 

Certainly!  It’s in the 3rd paragraph of the CBP Find an Aswer page:

 

Many thanks, Miss G! That certainly covers it perfectly.👏

 

In my defence, that paragraph is in a section entitled "I have submitted my Trusted Traveler application for review. Did CBP receive my application?" which I skipped over as I already had confirmation that it had been received.

[ninefishes]

I had mine renewed early last year: No interview, applied online, and received the new card through mail within a month. At the same time, DD was called in for an interview at YVR office and we were told it's because she's a minor (teenager).  A few years ago we were told at Vancouver port that they didn't accept NEXUS, another time was in LA port. So we only use passports at cruise terminal since then, and save our NEXUS for flying and driving.

[bleacher04]

Good thread.  My current NEXUS card doesn't expire until 2021, but now I have put a reminder in my calendar for October 2020