NEXUS Card Guide 2026: Benefits, $120 Fee and Interviews

NEXUS at a Glance

NEXUS is a single credential administered by two agencies. CBP runs the American side, CBSA runs the Canadian side, and both must clear you before a card is issued. That dual vetting explains why the application asks about employment, travel history and criminal records in both countries, and why a problem that looks minor in one system can still stop a file.

The membership and the card are separate things. The membership is what opens a kiosk or a dedicated lane. The card is the physical credential you present at a land port or use at a marine reporting site, and CBP requires it to be activated through the Trusted Traveler Programs account after it arrives.

What the NEXUS Card Gets You

The benefits divide into three groups: entry to Canada, entry to the United States, and airport security screening that has nothing to do with a border at all.

• NEXUS kiosks and eGates at Canadian airports. Dedicated NEXUS processing at nine Canadian airports, instead of the general arrivals queue.
• Dedicated lanes at Canadian land borders. 18 land crossings operate NEXUS-dedicated lanes for faster entry into Canada.
• NEXUS lanes into the United States. Dedicated lanes at 16 US land ports of entry on the Canadian border.
• Global Entry kiosks for US entry in Canada. At the eight Canadian airports with US preclearance and Global Entry infrastructure, members use those kiosks for US inspection.
• TSA PreCheck at US airports. Expedited security screening at more than 200 US airports at no additional cost. This is the benefit that surprises most people, because it applies to ordinary domestic US flights.
• Marine reporting. Members can report arrival by boat at more than 400 marine reporting sites rather than a staffed port.
• CATSA expedited screening in Canada. Beyond CBP and CBSA processing, Canadian domestic screening is also expedited for members.

Two of these are easy to undervalue. TSA PreCheck is the one that changes weekly behaviour, because it applies to flights that never touch Canada, so the card keeps paying out between border trips. Marine reporting is the one that matters to a narrow group but matters enormously to them: a boater arriving at a small marina can clear by phone instead of diverting to a port of entry.

The headline point is that a single $120 fee buys both border-crossing privilege and airport screening privilege, which is why NEXUS is frequently recommended ahead of buying either benefit separately.

Who Can Apply for NEXUS

CBP lists five qualifying groups. Everything else in the application is about admissibility rather than nationality.

Canadian permanent residents face the strictest test. CBSA requires three years of legal residence in Canada, with physical presence in Canada for 183 days in each of the three years counted back from the application date, not the calendar year. There are narrow exemptions for US armed forces personnel stationed abroad and for the family of Canadian or US military and diplomatic staff posted abroad.

Minors can enrol without a member parent, but a parent or legal guardian must consent to the application. Minors do not get a simplified process: they submit their own application and attend their own appointment.

Everyone else is not eligible. Travellers who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States or Canada, and who do not hold Viajero Confiable membership, cannot apply, whatever visa, work permit or study permit they hold.

Beyond status, both agencies assess risk independently. You must be admissible to both countries, answer truthfully, and have no customs, immigration or agriculture violations on record. CBSA notes that a criminal conviction without a pardon may disqualify an applicant, citing impaired driving as an example, and that fingerprints and a criminal record check can be requested as part of the assessment.

What a NEXUS Card Costs and How Long It Lasts

The fee is charged once, at submission, in US dollars. It is not refunded if the application is denied, withdrawn or left incomplete, so the $120 is spent before any human reviews the file. If you are denied and later reapply, you pay again, which is the main argument for resolving any doubt about eligibility before you submit rather than after.

Children are the exception, with a condition attached. CBSA waives the fee for under-18 applicants where a parent or guardian is applying at the same time or is already a member. The child still submits a full application and still needs an appointment; only the payment step changes. Applying as a family is therefore substantially cheaper than the per-adult arithmetic suggests.

Five years is the term, and renewal is not automatic. The renewal window opens 364 days before expiry and costs the same $120. CBP allows benefits to continue for up to 24 months after the expiration date where a renewal was filed before expiry, which is a useful cushion if processing runs long. Let the membership lapse and that cushion does not apply.

Replacing a card is a separate $25 charge. Report a lost, stolen or damaged card and order the replacement through the Trusted Traveler Programs account. Until the new card arrives, the membership exists but the credential you present at a land lane does not.

How to Apply for NEXUS, Step by Step

1. Step 1: confirm eligibility before you pay. Check your status against the five groups above, and if you are a Canadian permanent resident check the three-year residence and 183-day presence test first. Resolve any criminal record question, including whether a pardon or discharge applies, because the fee is not refundable and a denial is the expensive way to find out.
2. Step 2: create a Trusted Traveler Programs account. Applications are submitted online at ttp.cbp.dhs.gov. Create the account, select NEXUS and complete the form, which covers citizenship, residence, employment, travel history and criminal history for both countries.
3. Step 3: pay the $120. Payment is taken at submission by credit card or US bank transfer. The fee covers five years and is non-refundable.
4. Step 4: wait for conditional approval. Both CBP and CBSA run background checks. When those clear, conditional approval arrives by email and in the dashboard, and the file moves to the interview stage.
5. Step 5: book the interview inside the deadline. Scheduling happens through the same portal. Conditional approval carries a booking window, described in the next section, and missing it closes the file.
6. Step 6: attend with original documents. The interview covers identity, documents, eligibility, the program terms, fingerprints and a photograph. After approval the card is produced and mailed, arriving four to six weeks later, then activated in your account.

The step people skip is step one. Because payment comes before any review, an application that was never going to succeed still costs $120, and the denial arrives months later with a written reason rather than a refund.

What Conditional Approval Means

CBP approves in two stages, and the first stage is widely misread. A conditional approval email means the background checks have not produced a blocking finding and you are cleared to book an interview. It is not approval, it does not issue a card, and it does not let you use a NEXUS lane or kiosk.

The booking deadline changed. For applications conditionally approved on or after 1 April 2027, CBSA requires the interview to be scheduled within two years. For conditional approvals issued before that date, the window is five years or 1 April 2029, whichever comes first. If the deadline passes without a booking, the file closes and the $120 is not refunded.

There are three ways to complete the interview, and the choice affects how long the process takes:

1. Joint interview at a US land enrolment centre. One appointment with both agencies present, the fastest route if a centre near you has availability.
2. Split interview. One appointment at a Canadian enrolment centre and a second at a US land enrolment centre, useful when joint slots are scarce.
3. Two-step at an airport. A Canadian interview at a participating airport, followed by a US interview at a preclearance airport.

Whichever route you take, the interview covers the same ground: application review, identity, original documents, eligibility, the terms of the program, fingerprints and a photograph, how to use the lanes, and a warning about the consequences of failing to declare goods.

How Long Does NEXUS Approval Take?

Neither CBP nor CBSA publishes an average processing time for the vetting stage, so any specific average you see quoted is not an official figure. What is published is narrower and more useful: the conditional approval booking windows above, and the card production timeline.

CBSA states that the card arrives four to six weeks after approval. That clock starts after the interview, not after submission, and the card is printed and mailed rather than handed over at the appointment. So the four to six weeks is the final segment of a longer chain, not the whole wait.

In practice the calendar has four segments: submission to conditional approval, which is unpublished and varies by file; booking an interview, which depends on centre availability; the interview itself; and four to six weeks for the card. You control two of those. Booking as soon as conditional approval lands avoids losing weeks to full appointment slots, and bringing the correct original documents avoids a second visit.

That has a planning consequence. If a trip is inside three months, do not count on holding the card in time, and do not book travel that depends on it. The membership is a five-year asset, so the sensible approach is to apply when the next twelve months will contain several crossings, not when the next fortnight will contain one.

The Interview: What to Expect and What to Bring

The interview is a document check and an admissibility conversation, not a formality. Officers from both countries review the application against original documents, confirm identity, apply the eligibility rules in person, capture fingerprints and a photograph, and explain how the lanes and kiosks work.

Bring originals, not photocopies. The appointment is where both countries' standards are applied by people who can see the document in front of them, and a missing original can mean a rescheduled visit and another wait for a slot.

For minors, one or both parents, a guardian or another accompanying adult must attend. Bring a letter of consent if only one custodial parent attends or if a non-parent brings the child; the letter is not required where you have sole custody or you are the only parent named on the birth certificate. Where custody is shared, bring the custody agreement and supporting documents.

Can You Use a NEXUS Card for Air Travel?

For a US citizen flying into the United States, yes. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative lists a Trusted Traveler Program card, which includes NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST, as an acceptable document for air entry alongside a US passport. CBP still advises members to travel with a passport and, for permanent residents, proof of permanent residence, so the card is an accepted alternative rather than a reason to leave the passport at home.

For entry to Canada by air, no. CBSA's NEXUS documentation treats a valid passport as the travel document and the card as the credential that opens kiosks and eGates. A member flying into Toronto or Vancouver still clears immigration as a passenger with a passport, then uses NEXUS processing to move through faster.

Two practical caveats follow. The airline applies the destination country's rules at check-in and may ask for a passport regardless of what a border agency accepts, and no trusted-traveller card does anything for travel to a third country. A NEXUS card is not a substitute for a passport on a flight to Europe, Asia or anywhere else outside the US-Canada relationship.

One asymmetry is worth remembering: Global Entry cards are not valid for entry to Canada and cannot be used in NEXUS lanes or kiosks, while NEXUS members can use Global Entry. The credential is not symmetrical in the other direction.

What a NEXUS Card Does Not Replace

The card is a processing credential, and it stops working the moment a journey falls outside the conditions attached to it. These are the limits that most often catch members out at the border.

• A passport for entry to Canada or any third country. Carry the passport as well as the card, as covered above.
• Immigration status documents. CBSA requires the card plus the appropriate immigration documents, which means a visa, a work permit or an electronic travel authorization where one applies.
• Commercial goods and promotional samples. NEXUS lanes and kiosks cannot be used when you are carrying commercial goods.
• Restricted and prohibited goods. Firearms and other goods that require a permit, and prohibited goods generally, take you out of the NEXUS stream.
• Large currency movements. Amounts of CAN$10,000 or more must be declared and cannot go through NEXUS.
• Other people. Everyone travelling with you must be a member, regardless of age, so a single member cannot bring a non-member through the lane.

The pattern is consistent: NEXUS accelerates low-risk, personal travel. The moment a crossing involves goods for sale, regulated items, large amounts of cash or a non-member passenger, it reverts to a normal inspection, and trying to use the lane anyway is itself a violation.

NEXUS for Families, Minors and Passengers

Family applications are where the paperwork most often goes wrong, because the program treats every traveller as an individual from the first day.

Everyone needs their own card. There is no family card and no dependent card. An infant travelling in a car seat needs an approved membership to accompany the vehicle through a NEXUS lane, and CBSA states that everyone accompanying a member must also be a member, regardless of age.

Everyone needs their own appointment, minors included. A family of four books four appointments, though centres often schedule them consecutively. A single parent cannot have a child's interview folded into their own.

Consent is a document, not a conversation. One or both parents, a guardian or another adult must accompany a minor at the interview. A letter of consent is required where only one custodial parent attends or where a non-parent brings the child, and it is not required where the attending parent has sole custody or is the only parent named on the birth certificate. Where custody is shared, bring the custody agreement and supporting documents.

Crossing with a child in shared custody has its own rules. The child's card, the custody documents and a letter from the absent parent should travel with you. A non-custodial parent crossing with the child needs the child's identification and a permission letter that includes the addresses and telephone numbers of both parents.

Kiosk mechanics matter for groups. A kiosk can process up to four other members in the same transaction, while an eGate takes members one at a time. Members under 14 are not prompted for a photograph at the kiosk.

Two housekeeping points: notify CBSA if a minor's circumstances change, such as a custody change or a new travel document, and expect to update the file in person at an enrolment centre for changes to a passport, citizenship or residency. Name, address and document details can be updated through the Trusted Traveler Programs account, but CBSA also needs to be told so the two systems stay in step.

What Happens If Your Application Is Denied

A denial is written, and it comes with reasons. CBP decides on the information in the file, and where that information was inaccurate or incomplete, the decision can be challenged through a formal reconsideration rather than a fresh application.

The reconsideration request goes through the Trusted Traveler Programs portal and has specific requirements:

• Written in English, with the date of the denial and the reasons given.
• A summary of what was inaccurate or incomplete, or what has changed since the decision.
• Court dispositions for any arrest or conviction, supplied as a PDF, including for expunged records.
• Supporting documents in PDF, DOCX, DOC, PNG, JPEG or GIF format.

The fee is not refunded by a denial, and a denial is not necessarily permanent. CBP's reconsideration route exists precisely because files can contain errors, and CBP also points applicants to the Ombudsman where a problem cannot be resolved through the normal channel. What a denial does not do is create an appeal to the interviewer: the decision is made on the file, and the remedy is a better file.

On the Canadian side, cancellation is a separate process from denial, and CBSA publishes fixed ineligibility periods for the conduct that triggers it. Those periods are set out in the next section, and they run from years to permanent.

NEXUS vs Global Entry vs SENTRI vs FAST

The comparison makes the positioning clear. If the United States is your only frequent destination, Global Entry is the natural choice because it is built around US international arrival. If you drive across the southern border, SENTRI is the program that owns those lanes, and its fee is charged per application rather than per five-year term. If you move freight, FAST is a commercial clearance tied to CTPAT certification across the supply chain, open to truck drivers from the US, Canada and Mexico who are at least 18 and hold a valid driver's licence, not a substitute for a personal travel card.

For anyone crossing between the US and Canada, NEXUS is the strongest of the four, because it delivers both border and airport benefits for the same $120 that Global Entry charges, and it is the only one of the four that covers marine reporting. NEXUS members can also use Global Entry, while Global Entry cards are not valid for entry to Canada, so the value runs in one direction. Our Global Entry vs TSA PreCheck guide covers the other pairing in depth, and our passport card vs passport book comparison explains which physical document you still need alongside any trusted-traveller card.

Which Violations Get a Membership Cancelled

Membership can be cancelled for conduct at the border, and CBSA publishes the ineligibility period attached to each category. These periods apply to future applications, so a cancellation is not only a loss of the current card.

• Permanent: human smuggling or trafficking, and offences involving narcotics, controlled drugs, weapons, child pornography or currency.
• 10 years: a contravention of Canadian immigration law, and a summary Criminal Code offence counted from the sentence.
• 1 to 7 years: a Customs Act seizure, an undeclared amount of CAN$10,000 or more, prohibited animals, plants or goods, and prohibited weapons or firearms.
• 2 years: facilitating a non-member through a NEXUS lane, and transferring a card to another person.
• 1 year: failing to declare goods, carrying commercial goods, failing to carry the required documentation, and failing to update a change of status.

The common thread is misuse of the privilege rather than the original application. A member who lends a card, waves a non-member through, or treats the lane as a way to skip a declaration loses the membership and faces a waiting period before applying again, separate from any criminal or administrative penalty the underlying conduct attracts.

Frequently Asked Questions