Due to the lasting effects of the pandemic, processing times for new NEXUS applications currently exceed one year. This is particularly frustrating to people who live on the border and have been waiting for such a long time to get access to this wonderful program.
I’ve currently waited for 14 months for my NEXUS application status to change. I’m hoping there will be a conditional approval heading my way soon. In the meantime, I’ve attempted to find out more details about my application status. Here’s the three ways that you can try to check your NEXUS application status. Only one of them provided me with any insight.
Here, you’ll be able to see whether your application is Pending Review or Conditionally Approved. There isn’t any more specific information you’ll be able to get from here. This is the method recommended by CBP and CBSA. At least I get to see my status 24/7 without calling, I guess?
My application has been stuck in Pending Review for 14 months now and there’s still no movement on it. Clearly, this status is not specific enough. I wanted more information on where exactly my application is in the review process.
I read on the FlyerTalk forum that giving them a call might yield more information. Someone commented that they got specific info on where their application was in the process. Encouraged by this, I decided to give it a try.
Although NEXUS is jointly operated by the U.S. and Canada, the NEXUS application process is coordinated by the United States on the Trusted Travelers Program portal. As an American, I figured it would be a good idea to call CBP because I applied as a U.S. citizen.
I found the toll-free phone number for Trusted Travelers Program questions and gave it a call. The automated system warned me that I should be checking my status on the TTP portal and the phone agent wouldn’t have any additional information for me. Once I connected to an agent, she was very stern with me. I could tell she had heard the same question over and over again—“what exactly is my status?”—and was tired of answering it. She recited the canned answer she was told to say, but in a very unsympathetic manner: “sir, you will find your application status on the TTP portal, THAT IS ALL THE INFORMATION WE HAVE FOR YOU”. An attempt to request more information by invoking FOIA resulted in me being placed on infinite hold, which is their equivalent of hanging up on me.
I was surprised at why the person on FlyerTalk was able to get an agent who was able to give them detailed info on where they were in the application process. I didn’t think about it any further until a few months later.
As you can see, the attempt to call CBP did not go well. I was discouraged and wondered how on earth the FlyerTalk person got so lucky.
I eventually re-read that thread, as I was desperate for some updates. Upon rereading it, I realized that the FlyerTalk person had contacted CBSA rather than CBP. I was under the impression that only the CBP operated the public-facing phone line for NEXUS, but I was wrong.
Today, I looked up the NEXUS line for CBSA and attempted to contact them.
As an American, I called the Ontario/U.S. line, which is +1 (800) 842-7647. After listening to an automated message that lasted about 3 minutes, which was in both English and French, I was put in line for talking with an agent. I only had to wait 30 seconds before being connected to a friendly customer service agent. I told her that I wanted to check my application status. She asked me how long it had been, and I told her I applied 14 months ago in May 2022.
To my surprise, rather than condescendingly telling me I needed to check the TTP portal, she asked me for my phone number and my name so she could check my status. I gave it to her and she told me some specific information:
“Your application passed the background checks on the Canadian side in June 2022. After that, your application was forwarded to the U.S. You are now waiting for the American background check to be completed.”
Finally, some clarity! It looks like the bottleneck wasn’t on the Canadian side, but the U.S. side. (Both countries need to do their due diligence when approving me for NEXUS.) I thanked her profusely and told her I really appreciated how kind her treatment of me was.
I can only wonder where the delay came from. I already have Global Entry, so I’m not sure why it’s taking so long for the U.S. to process my background check. It took 4 months for me to gain conditional approval for Global Entry, so I’m not sure why exactly my background check has taken over a year now. Maybe it’s because I’ve visited more countries since I applied to Global Entry? Well, if so, that’s still annoying. You’d think they could just reuse my Global Entry approval to give me my NEXUS conditional approval already, but apparently not.
I now have clarity over what the holdup in my application is. Thanks to the Canadian government not being so oblique over the application status, I was able to gain insight into what is taking so long with my application.
A few days later, when I went in for my APEC Business Travel Card signature collection, I asked the interviewing CBP officer whether he had any insights. He repeated the same line that the CBP call center agent said, adding on: “the application has to be reviewed by the Canadian government, and that’s where the holdup might be”. I mentioned the Canadian government told me I had passed their background check, and the U.S. is the holdup. He said “they don’t know what they’re talking about”. Right; obviously, the Canadian government has no idea into their own processes. 🙄
The best way I can describe this phenomenon is, it’s like you ask both of your parents for permission to do something. One of them says no but the other says yes. It only matters that one of them says yes. The U.S. was the lame parent here, while Canada was the cool parent.
Realistically, the only option I have is to keep waiting. The good news is I’ve passed the Canadian background check. In the past, I already passed the U.S. background check when I applied for Global Entry. I’m no longer concerned about being rejected, because all that’s left is for my U.S. background check to pass again. Based on current patterns of who has been approved and how long it has taken, I expect to be conditionally approved in either September or October of 2023. Then, I’ll hope I can snag an appointment at a NEXUS interview center. If not, I might have to fly to Detroit for an appointment. We’ll see how things go.
Wish me the best of luck! I can’t wait to skip the border wait when visiting Canada.
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