Residents who are looking to speed up border crossings by obtaining a NEXUS card will only be able to complete half the process, leaving an undetermined wait time for application approvals.

As the United States government is currently shut down due to budget discrepancies, all non-essential government positions are on hold until an agreement can be made. Including those requiring the services of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The NEXUS program is designed to provide low-risk, pre-approved travellers streamlined access to Canada and the United States and is a process that is half completed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Recently there have been reports of individuals and families carving out time to go to an enrolment centre to find out they will then have to reschedule to finish the application when the United States government shutdown has ended. In a recent interview with the CBSA, communications officer, Luke Reimer stated that the CBSA service standard is, that within 30 business days of receipt of a completed application, the applicants will be advised of the next steps.

Those who have booked appointments for the application are being made aware of the delays if the applicants follow the CBSA on social media or have checked their website, which could leave some surprised to learn that it could be quite awhile before the next steps are taken in their application approval.