NEXUS Interview Window Shrinks
From 1 April 2027, conditionally approved NEXUS applicants get two years, not five, to book their interview. Older approvals face a hard stop in 2029.
If you have NEXUS conditional approval and haven’t booked your interview, the clock is about to get shorter.
What changes. From 1 April 2027, anyone conditionally approved for NEXUS must schedule the enrolment interview within two years of that approval, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said on 1 October. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced the same change. The limit was stretched to five years during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CBSA says there is now enough interview capacity to return to two.
If you were approved before 1 April 2027. You keep the five-year window, but it ends on 1 April 2029 at the latest. CBP gives two examples: an approval dated 1 January 2023 expires on 1 January 2028; one dated 1 January 2026 expires on 1 April 2029, not in 2031.
What the interview involves. Two parts. The CBSA interview takes place at a NEXUS enrolment centre. The CBP part can be done at a CBP enrolment centre or through Enrolment on Arrival when you next enter the United States. Expect identity checks, fingerprints and questions from both agencies. Approved members get priority lanes at select crossings, plus TSA PreCheck and Global Entry benefits. The CBSA lists a non-refundable application fee of US$120.
What to do now. Check your approval date in the Trusted Traveler Programs dashboard and book the earliest slot you can use. CBP says its mobile app can send alerts when interview slots open.
For advisors: Flag this to corporate travellers and frequent cross-border clients who applied but never finished enrolment; an expired application means reapplying, and the US$120 fee is non-refundable.
Takeaway: Approved but not interviewed? Book now. Older approvals lapse on 1 April 2029 at the latest; new ones get two years.
Sources
- Canada Border Services Agency, ‘Changes to NEXUS Interview Deadlines’, news release via Newswire, 1 Oct 2026: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/changes-to-nexus-interview-deadlines-832899390.html
- https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2026/09/changes-to-nexus-interview-deadlines.html
- https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/travel-voyage/prog/nexus/menu-eng.html
- https://www.einpresswire.com/article/946903952/cbp-to-return-nexus-fast-north-enrollment-interview-timeframe-to-two-years (U.S. CBP release)
- https://www.cp24.com/news/canada/2026/10/01/changes-are-coming-to-the-nexus-application-program-heres-what-we-know/