B.C. family plans 2,500 km trip in attempt to renew NEXUS card amid delays

Making use of to get into the quick lane throughout the Canada-United States border is coming to a grinding halt for a lot of Canadians.

The NEXUS go program is presently experiencing main backlogs, with greater than 341,688 purposes presently within the queue.

Vancouver resident Barbara Collins is so anxious her daughter goes to lose her NEXUS card she has booked a visit for the 2 of them throughout the U.S. border to Warroad, Minn.

Her daughter Aeon’s card was set to run out in 2020, however a two-year extension was given as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

Since earlier than the pandemic, Collins has been attempting to schedule an interview for her daughter so as to full the renewal.

The Canadian places of work had been closed in 2020 and haven’t reopened. The American places of work only in the near past reopened and it has been extraordinarily troublesome discovering an appointment.

“My daughter’s NEXUS is expiring in September 2022 and we don’t know what we’re going to do,” Collins mentioned.

“The issue is we go throughout the border a bunch of instances a month to see my widow mom throughout the border, and we don’t need to have to attend in line.”

Collins acknowledges she is lucky to have the means to journey half approach throughout the continent to entry an obtainable appointment.

There may be little data on the NEXUS web site obtainable as to what occurs as soon as a card is 2 years previous an authentic expiry.

Traditionally, as soon as a card expires, the person should begin the appliance course of over.

“What I’m anxious about is that they have two weeks to approve after the interview. What in the event that they don’t approve it? It’s cash down the drain?” Collins requested.

“We don’t know what’s going to occur when the two-year interval is up. Whether or not they may simply cancel all, or proceed on.”

NEXUS is a joint program managed by each the Canada Border Providers Company and U.S. Customs and Border Safety.

Canada and the U.S. are in discussions concerning the timing of the reopening of Canadian enrolment centres.

One of many hold-ups is round whether or not U.S. officers can be allowed to hold weapons whereas working in Canadian enrolment centres. Till the distinction is labored out, enrolment centres in Canada will proceed to be closed.

Present NEXUS members who renew their membership previous to the expiry date will retain their advantages, permitting them to proceed to make use of their membership privileges.

“There are respectable considerations about labour, I perceive that, however having disputes over this is not sensible to me,” Jill Wykes from Snowbirdadvisor.ca mentioned.

Patrick Ah-Yu has been awaiting a NEXUS renewal since 2019. He utilized in 2019, earlier than his card expired, and was knowledgeable the renewal required an interview.

He scheduled his first interview for April 2020 and it was cancelled as a result of pandemic.

After they started taking interviews once more he rescheduled for September 2021 and that was cancelled additionally.

He now has only a few weeks earlier than the cardboard expires with no appointments obtainable in Canada or shut within the U.S.

“You’re simply alongside for the journey,” Ah-Yu mentioned. “It’s out of my palms. I’ve to attend till they are saying ‘we are able to do (the) interview, or it’s important to begin once more.’ It’s irritating.”