How long does Nexus approval take?

[zebsterama]

Just wanted to say - thank you! Great thread / info! I'm definitely getting our family of 4 Nexus'd for our next trip ... will fill out our applications this weekend, and see how it goes.

 

[Toy Story Fan]

Just wanted to say - thank you! Great thread / info! I'm definitely getting our family of 4 Nexus'd for our next trip ... will fill out our applications this weekend, and see how it goes.

Hopefully this time of year your applications get processed faster. Good luck!!

 

[dvcdisney]

My family of 4 (2adult,2 children) received all our conditional approvals within a week. However, when I went to check for the next available appointment close to us, it was a 4 wk wait. So I checked another location which was about an hour drive and it was taking appointments within a week. Then we received our cards about 2 wks later. So it was about 5 wks from applying to receiving the cards.

 

[zebsterama]

Hi everyone - thanks for the info! ... and a couple of questions please.

1. I applied online for my family of 4 this past Saturday Sept 24 ... how do you receive conditional approval notice? Do you get an email, letter - or do you just go back and check online at GOES periodically?

2. I'm assuming once you receive conditional approval - you're then able to book your appointment online via some kind of link/calendar? Can you please confirm?

Thank you!

 

[uandmfan]

Hi

I believe you will get an email. We mailed in our application and I set up the online accounts after and I received email notification once our status changed to conditional approval.

Yes, once you are approved there will be a link for booking your appointment. It will tell you the next available appointment and then there's a calendar you can see to view appointments on different days. For your family, you will have to book them one at a time. Which is sort of annoying. We are in Ottawa and had zero trouble doing so but other centres seem to be a lot busier.

 

[Toy Story Fan]

Does anyone know how to apply a Nexus number to their existing Westjet flights? I called Westjet and was told they cannot put the number on our reservation. She said we had to see an agent at the counter at the airport, but she was not totally sure. I thought maybe it could be added when you check in 24 hours before your flight. Has anyone done this? The reason I'm asking is because we park at Jetset parking and they take our luggage and check us in, but I was told they are not able to add the Nexus number.

 

[Starwind]

Does anyone know how to apply a Nexus number to their existing Westjet flights? I called Westjet and was told they cannot put the number on our reservation. She said we had to see an agent at the counter at the airport, but she was not totally sure. I thought maybe it could be added when you check in 24 hours before your flight. Has anyone done this? The reason I'm asking is because we park at Jetset parking and they take our luggage and check us in, but I was told they are not able to add the Nexus number.

When I flew WestJet in December 2015 they could only add it at the checkin counter in the airport. It could not be added before. It worked out ok for us since WestJet for some reason does not let me checkin except via a human being at the counter.

However, according to this May 2016 announcement they must have changed their system to allow it to be entered before or during online checking: https://blog.westjet.com/enhancements-airport-experience-flights-to-from-united-states/ (otherwise how could you do online checkin and get a boarding pass with PreCheck on it ?)?

On this page they say you can add a KTN during/using any of the checkin types (web, mobile, kiosk, guest assistance(=human)): https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/travel-info/check-in/options


SW

 

[Toy Story Fan]

When I flew WestJet in December 2015 they could only add it at the checkin counter in the airport. It could not be added before. It worked out ok for us since WestJet for some reason does not let me checkin except via a human being at the counter.

However, according to this May 2016 announcement they must have changed their system to allow it to be entered before or during online checking: https://blog.westjet.com/enhancements-airport-experience-flights-to-from-united-states/ (otherwise how could you do online checkin and get a boarding pass with PreCheck on it ?)?

On this page they say you can add a KTN during/using any of the checkin types (web, mobile, kiosk, guest assistance(=human)): https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/travel-info/check-in/options


SW

Thank you Starwind! I thought I had read that somewhere. I guess their own customer service people don't know this. I hope it works for online check in!

 

[Shumshine]

Thank you Starwind! I thought I had read that somewhere. I guess their own customer service people don't know this. I hope it works for online check in!

Definitely make sure you update your airline profile to include the KTN - SOOO key to get the TSA Pre-check on your boarding pass.

When you come home - back into Canada - the Nexus makes a huge difference!

 

[Toy Story Fan]

Definitely make sure you update your airline profile to include the KTN - SOOO key to get the TSA Pre-check on your boarding pass.

When you come home - back into Canada - the Nexus makes a huge difference!

This is why I wanted to add the KTN to our flight reservations now. I really don't understand why it cannot be done ahead of time. Maybe down the road. Rep from Westjet said the program is very new and she didn't know much about it. I don't consider 2015 very new, this is when Westjet was accepted to be a airline to use Nexus.
Thanks again Shumshine.

 

[tgropp]

My family of 4 (2adult,2 children) received all our conditional approvals within a week. However, when I went to check for the next available appointment close to us, it was a 4 wk wait. So I checked another location which was about an hour drive and it was taking appointments within a week. Then we received our cards about 2 wks later. So it was about 5 wks from applying to receiving the cards.

I applied last week of July for my wife and myself and my credit card was billed the same day. Still no reply

 

[Toy Story Fan]

I applied last week of July for my wife and myself and my credit card was billed the same day. Still no reply[/QUOTE

I applied last week of July for my wife and myself and my credit card was billed the same day. Still no reply

Contact your processing centre and ask them if you have been approved yet. I was told over the phone we were accepted and given our id numbers to use on the GOES website to make our appointments. I did not receive notice of my approval until 2 weeks after I had called. Here is the page with the processing centres.
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/menu-eng.html

 

[Toy Story Fan]

I applied last week of July for my wife and myself and my credit card was billed the same day. Still no reply

Call the processing centre and ask if you have been approved yet. I called and received ours and was able to go on the GOES website and make our appointments. I did not receive the approval notice until 2 weeks after I had called.
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/menu-eng.html

 

[uandmfan]

I applied the last week of June and my card was billed immediately. It took 10ish weeks for conditional approval - it was around Labour Day. It may just be taking awhile. But you can check and CBSA can tell you if you've been approved on their end. They can also give you your GOES numbers so you can create online accounts if you don't already have one. If you do, the information online is the most recent information available and the CBSA office can't tell you anything that's not there. As soon as you're approved you should get an email saying you're approved and then you can book the appointment. At least in my experience.

 

[Gigi22]

Just wanted to add that our experience has been that if you apply by mail you receive no notification of any sort from CBSA. Three of us applied separately by mail in June of early July and not one of us has received any notification at all. I called CBSA and only found out I was approved that way. Unfortunately, it is now too late to get appointments early enough to get our NEXUS cards for our trip.

 

[uandmfan]

We applied by mail and were told we'd get a letter in the mail. Since we had such a long wait for approval, I had called CBSA and signed us all up for the GOES accounts. I found out online that we were approved (via email and logging in) but, over one month later, no letter has arrived.

Also, the conditional approval letters in my husband and son's accounts (but not mine or my daughter's) disappeared. I called the Ottawa centre and was told that we don't need the letters when we go in, even though the letter says we do. It may not be the same at all offices though - in case anyone else has the same issue.

 

[uandmfan]

My sister applied online at the very end of July. She just got her approval today - so just over 2 months. The earliest appointment available in Ottawa is mid-November.

 

[dvcdisney]

I applied last week of July for my wife and myself and my credit card was billed the same day. Still no reply

It's strange that people have different waiting experiences. I understand that it takes less time when applications are done online and that's what I did. But they do warn people that it may take several months. I was prepared to wait.

One speculation with the differences is that some people's applications may need longer to process if they had visited certain countries....I do recall that during the interview, they did go over countries we visited. I guess since our trips have only consisted of US cities and cruises in Bahamas and Caribbean, there wasn't much issue. Just a thought.

 

[dvcdisney]

My sister applied online at the very end of July. She just got her approval today - so just over 2 months. The earliest appointment available in Ottawa is mid-November.

When I checked for available appts near our area, there was a long wait as well. So I was able to find one within the week but the location was about an hour away. We decided to visit the surrounding area so we didn't waste the drive.

 

[tgropp]

It's strange that people have different waiting experiences. I understand that it takes less time when applications are done online and that's what I did. But they do warn people that it may take several months. I was prepared to wait.

One speculation with the differences is that some people's applications may need longer to process if they had visited certain countries....I do recall that during the interview, they did go over countries we visited. I guess since our trips have only consisted of US cities and cruises in Bahamas and Caribbean, there wasn't much issue. Just a thought.

Just got an email to book an appointment. I did my wifes application 2 days after mine so will book when hers is approved. Since we are a bit further to Sarnia then Toronto, we may just do Sarnia as we can get a Saturday date and in a few weeks.