Nexus vs Global Entry?

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waterlife10

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C-24 C
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Maggie Mae
Hello,

I will be traveling this summer in the Northwest. I expect to be going in and out of USA and Canada by private boat, which is the most efficient entry to apply for.....Nexus or Global Entry?

Thank you
 
Nexus. You do however need to have a face to face interview with Canadian and US Customs folks so, don't wait to apply. They are backed up.
 
As David mentions, the initial application for Nexus takes some time and effort, but renewals after 5 years can be done online. Update your personal history with them, and a new card comes by mail. Easy and convenient.

One word of advice: Don't break any of the cross-border rules, like taking something into the other country that's illegal there (guns are not permitted in Canada), or not declaring goods, no matter how little, when returning back to your home country. If they catch you and you are blacklisted, you can forget about crossing the border again.

Ron
 
FWIW, we've been going through BC to SE Alaska and back for many summers now with passports, no Nexus. Entering BC by road at Osoyoos, entering AK by water from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan, and then back much the same way, once each summer. Smooth and easy every time, with the occasional exception of having to forfeit some food items - last summer it was frozen chicken entering BC.

Heartily agree on not trying to slip something past the BC border folks. Have your passports ready, your sunglasses off, and answer all their questions with a smile on your face.

Maybe I'm missing something, but it never seemed worth the trouble to to get set up with Nexus. If we were going back and forth more often, at busy border crossing points near the coast, it might be more worthwhile??
 
We travel to BC via boat a couple of times each year. It is so much nicer to be able to just call in to customs and declare. The US side when returning is even easier.

The other benefit to getting your Nexus is, you can automatically enroll in Global Entry and TSA Pre Check. It is a three for one bargain.
 
I have Global Entry....does that do me any good in this instance?

THANKS

TK
 
Thank you to all.

Sounds like it is the ticket in and out of Canada by water.
 
I have a Nexus card. I can tell you for sure that it makes a pretty big difference when returning to my berth in Seattle from Victoria, British Columbia. There is NO place to go through US Customs on the direct route from Victoria to Seattle! The one time I did that trip before Nexus, I had to detour into the San Juan Islands to clear customs - a 100 mile day, which is just too darn long 🙂

With Nexus, I can proceed directly across the Straits of Juan de Fuca and down Admiralty Inlet and simply call in to US Customs. It was worth the $50 application fee and the 5 month wait!

For those of us who frequently travel between Washingon and British Columbia, I highly recommend the Nexus system.
 
Stella Maris":3cymljrx said:
We travel to BC via boat a couple of times each year. It is so much nicer to be able to just call in to customs and declare. The US side when returning is even easier.

The other benefit to getting your Nexus is, you can automatically enroll in Global Entry and TSA Pre Check. It is a three for one bargain.
Click to expand...

I think I may already know this answer, but just in case - what then is the difference or benefit of Global Entry over NEXUS? I think NEXUS is currently restricted to just US/Canada border whereas Global Entry is only returning to US from anywhere?

I fly to Mexico and boat to Canada - am I looking at possibly having to be enrolled in both NEXUS and GE? NEXUS so I can just call using boat between US and Canada, but GE so I can fly between US and Mexico? Or has NEXUS been expanded to include Mexico yet?

Thanks in advance for feedback or clarification
 
I expect, but am not sure, that it is the same in the US as it is in Canada but an additional advantage of a Nexus card is that you can join shorter lines at airport security when leaving Canada for any destination - not just the USA - and also even when going to another destination in Canada. Upon returning to an airport, again from any destination, you can clear customs rapidly simply by going to a kiosk and having your passport and eyes scanned and answering by keyboard any declaration questions. As for boating, calling in avoids the necessity of sitting in the harbour behind a lot of boats waiting for your turn to get alongside the customs dock. In my limited experience, entering the USA requires just a phone call as you enter US waters but Canadian customs still requires going alongside the customs dock. I do not know why the extra hassle when entering Canada.

As others have stated, do not fudge on anything. I am told that even the smallest infraction will result in the cancellation of the card and that you cannot re-apply for 5 years.
 
Joan and Jim":bupwpykt said:
In my limited experience, entering the USA requires just a phone call as you enter US waters but Canadian customs still requires going alongside the customs dock. I do not know why the extra hassle when entering Canada.
Click to expand...

To clarify, when entering Canada with Nexus there are designated Nexus entry points which include the customs docks but also include many other locations, other government docks, or marinas that have signed up for Nexus entry. No need to talk to anyone at the dock, either in person or via telephone. Just call from the boat prior to arrival and be at the dock at the designated time +/- 5 mins. If there is no customs official there looking for you (there never has been for us) you are on your way. We usually avoid the customs docks because they are invariably busy and with Nexus we would just be in the way.

We love using Nexus. It really speeds things up. We traveled with friends last year that did not have Nexus and thus had to clear at a customs dock when coming back to the US (we chose Anacortes). What a pain! The customs office is onshore and the harbormaster put us at the far end of the dock (even though we told her we had to clear customs). Two long walks for me, two long walks for the customs officer (he griped about it too) and a half hour later they clear us with no issues noted. With Nexus it would have been two minutes while underway and we wouldn’t even have changed course, much less stopped.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I guess what I was trying to determine for myself was why pay more for Global Entry versus paying less for Nexus.

Both Nexus and Global Entry give US citizens TSA pre-check at US based airports. Both give US citizens expidited entry back into the US by either boat, car or airplane.

But I think the best way to sum it up is only Nexus gives rapid clearance into Canada, either by boat or car. Global Entry doesn't.

So unless I plan to visit Australia or Japan or the few other Global Entry participating countries as frequently as I will Canada, there's no point even looking into Global Entry at all.
 
This is for WA state residents. I thought I would share the steps for getting NEXUS as we are now waiting on our cards in the mail. The timeline was as stated about 8 weeks for interview. Process forms were mailed off Jan 15, 2018. I did snail mail as do not like creating yet another account. Credit Card got processed Feb 15, 2018. Was conditionally approved March 19th, which means you can now schedule interview. The Seattle office was booked until mid June. Blaine had open appoints this week so we booked an appointment and headed up to Blaine. Completed the interview on March 22 and should get the NEXUS card in the mail 7 to 10 days.
I did ask about the "expedited" process I saw on line and was told by the agent that there is no expedited process. The fee is $50 and goes through the same for everybody. No need to pay the extra fee that you see on line.
Using NEXUS does require everyone on the boat to have NEXUS or you go through normal process.
We have made several trips to Canada in a boat and found the waiting around for custom dock space can be nerve wracking especially in windy weather, rain or crowded marinas like in Roche Harbor during the summer. We are choosing to go through the NEXUS process to ease the re-entry into the US. Going into Canada was never the issue, it was the return waiting around for custom dock space.
 
Checking the appointment schedule in Blaine is always a good idea. You will be interviewed by agents from both U.S. and Canada. There are many more Canadian agents at the boarder, as well as U.S. agents, and they can handle far many more interviews.

Funny story: we drove up for our interview in Blaine and I missed the left lane exit ramp up to the admin building. Ended up crossing the border and parking. We walked back to U.S. for our interview. Walked across the border back to Canada to get our car, and then drove across the border to the U.S. We crossed the border 4 times when we didn't need to cross it at all.

Don't miss that exit!

Cheers
 
Nexus gives you all the benefits of Global Entry plus the phone-call clearance for the US / Canadian border. We initially had GE, but were told to destroy the GE cards when we got Nexus. With Nexus we still get TSA pre-screen and fast-lane service at airport passport control when returning to the US from another country.

We had the Nexus interview in Blaine, and just over the border for the CA portion including the optional biometric iris scan.
 
We were able to have US and Canada interviews at the new NEXUS Blain office. Yes, we too opted for the retina scan at this same office.
 
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