Nexus Card updating after becoming a citizen - new card?

[Quink]

Just when you think you're done with all this, right?

I went into the Nexus office to update my details now that I hold a Canadian passport (I also still remain a citizen of my original country, which is not the USA). I'd read in other posts here that it's a good idea to ask them to re-issue the Nexus card so that my nationality will read as Canadian, so as to prevent needing to get an I-94 when entering the US and to prevent mistakenly entering Canada as a foreign national.

So far so good. Except when I went to the registration desk the guy there just took a photocopy of my Canadian passport, and said I was good to go! I asked him if I should get the card re-issued and he told me "yeah that's probably a good idea". Thanks for your help buddy... Anyway, after pressing him how I should do that, he told me to wait until my Canadian details show up on the online Nexus enrolment page, and then request a new card and say my old card has been lost or stolen.

This seems like really bad advice, in spite of it coming directly from an employee at the Nexus office. Not only would I be lying that I lost the card, but also how would I know for sure that they won't just re-print the same one again with the incorrect nationality?

Does anyone have any similar experience with this, and with what method it took to successfully get a new card with Canada as your nationality?

 

[keesio]

What office did you do this at?

When I went to the NEXUS office at Pearson airport, the agent took my passport and entered in my new information into the system right then and there. She also told me that my current card is still relevant since the citizenship listed on it is US, so there is still no change on that and I won't be getting a new card. It sounds like you didn't talk to an actual agent but just some frontline support person who took a photo copy of your passport to give to an agent later. That person obviously does not have as much knowledge or authority. Maybe all the agents were unavailable or out of office or whatever.

In your case, yeah you should be getting a new card

 

[2_of_5]

No, no, NO. Do NOT put "lost or stolen", put "damaged". I was emphatically told this by a CBP agent at the Detroit enrollment centre just a few weeks ago. Putting lost or stolen will cause you a world of headaches.

I updated my citizenship info immediately after my oath in March, but could not get my card updated from USA to Canada, because the US doesn't officially recognize dual citizenship. They consider you ONLY a US citizen, not any other, thus won't change the card. I know this doesn't apply to you, but . . .

Two months ago I renounced my US citizenship, and the embassy in Ottawa took my Nexus card along with my passport. To use it after renouncing would be misrepresentation, as it said US citizen on it. I had to go to the enrollment centre in Detroit again, show him my loss of nationality documents and my Canadian passport again. He updated my file by removing my US citizenship, which made my Canadian one the only. He advised me to wait one week for the computer systems to "sync up" as he called it, then go into my online account, make sure the info looked correct, and then apply for a replacement for a "damaged" card.

I did as instructed, and lo and behold, three weeks later a fresh new Nexus card was in my mailbox.

 

[keesio]

I updated my citizenship info immediately after my oath in March, but could not get my card updated from USA to Canada, because the US doesn't officially recognize dual citizenship. They consider you ONLY a US citizen, not any other, thus won't change the card. I know this doesn't apply to you, but . . .

They don't recommend you changing it but you can. They gave me the option to update the citizenship on the card to Canadian. I declined because of the potential headaches, and also so I don't have to deal with getting a new card.

 

[Quink]

Thankyou both for your replies. Just wanted to update this situation. Finally, after I'd almost given up, I saw online that my Canadian citizenship details have been added to my Nexus account. For some reason though, my Permanent Resident card details are still listed, which is obviously incorrect now.

I had a look at the online options for getting a replacement card and there are the three options (Lost, Stolen, or Damaged) as 2_of_5 said. There is also the following text under the help icon: "Please select a reason for requesting a card replacement. This site supports only the reasons listed. If you have never received your card, select "Lost Card". If the reason is not listed (e.g., you have had a name change), you must go to an Enrollment Center to request a card replacement."

So I have decided that since my card is not lost, stolen, or damaged, I will go back to the enrolment centre on Monday, armed with the text taken from the website, and see if I can get past the gatekeeper at the front and make my request to someone else that actually knows what the rules are.

If anyone has any other experiences or advice about this situation I'd be glad to hear about it.

Thanks again!

 

[SideshowLoki]

No, no, NO. Do NOT put "lost or stolen", put "damaged". I was emphatically told this by a CBP agent at the Detroit enrollment centre just a few weeks ago. Putting lost or stolen will cause you a world of headaches.

I updated my citizenship info immediately after my oath in March, but could not get my card updated from USA to Canada, because the US doesn't officially recognize dual citizenship. They consider you ONLY a US citizen, not any other, thus won't change the card. I know this doesn't apply to you, but . . .

Two months ago I renounced my US citizenship, and the embassy in Ottawa took my Nexus card along with my passport. To use it after renouncing would be misrepresentation, as it said US citizen on it. I had to go to the enrollment centre in Detroit again, show him my loss of nationality documents and my Canadian passport again. He updated my file by removing my US citizenship, which made my Canadian one the only. He advised me to wait one week for the computer systems to "sync up" as he called it, then go into my online account, make sure the info looked correct, and then apply for a replacement for a "damaged" card.

I did as instructed, and lo and behold, three weeks later a fresh new Nexus card was in my mailbox.

A bit off-topic, but how was the process to renounce US citizenship? I'm considering renouncing after I get Canadian citizenship. Do you have trouble at the border? I had heard that US border agents tend to give renounced persons (renounce-ees?) shit.

 

[Quink]

Also, one other thing I just noticed...

On the Personal Info page, my original citizenship is listed first, followed by all associated documents to go along with it. Then, in the same formatting is another section where my Canadian citizenship and documents are listed.

What I noticed is that there is a little gold flag icon next to "CANADA" in the second set of details.

Does anyone know what this means? Is this the "active" citizenship on the Nexus Card? Is it because it's new and flagged to be checked? I'll ask them about it on Monday but any earlier insight would be great too!

 

[keesio]

I had heard that US border agents tend to give renounced persons (renounce-ees?) shit.

Yes, this can happen. Since entry is at the discretion of the CBP officer, some have been known to hassle former US citizens. Sometimes it depends on the purpose of the trip - visits are not so bad, while if coming for business can be more of a pain.

 

[Quink]

Another update...

Went back into the enrolment office to ask about why my PR card details were still listed. I was told that this was wrong and could cause a problem, so the guy at the front desk looked it up. He claimed that it wasn't there, so I pulled out the printout I brought with me to show him (I suspected this might happen so I came prepared!). This was enough to FINALLY get me through to speak to an actual uniformed CBP officer.

He checked my details, and removed all traces of my PR card info from my file. Problem 1 solved. Onto the next one.

I asked him whether the system saw me as a default Canadian or not, and he said that it did. I then asked him what happens if I used my current card since it has my other nationality on it, and he said that it shouldn't matter but could cause problems for officers who only look at the card without scanning it. So I asked how to get a replacement card, because the website only has options for lost, stolen, or damaged and none of those were true...... He replied "yes, but it doesn't matter, there are no other options and there's no way for us to order a card from here, even though that's what the website says".

I double checked again that it wouldn't be an issue if I did that, and he (and also another officer) both confirmed that it'd be fine.

So that's three people who've said this is how to do it - therefore I went home and did exactly that!

I selected "damaged" just to be safe, confirmed my address and paid my $25USD. All seemed to go through fine, and now I'll wait and see if I get a new card with CAN written on the front....

Stay tuned, LOL.

 

[Quink]

Last update... received my new Nexus card in the mail today, which arrived WAY quicker than I thought it would. It now says that I am Canadian on the card.

Sooo, that's it then. I'm done. Everything is in order. Journey complete!

 

[forumnewbie]

How do you make an appointment with Nexus enrollment centre to update info?

 

[GrantM]

How do you make an appointment with Nexus enrollment centre to update info?

You don't, just walk in during office hours.

 

[2_of_5]

A bit off-topic, but how was the process to renounce US citizenship? I'm considering renouncing after I get Canadian citizenship. Do you have trouble at the border? I had heard that US border agents tend to give renounced persons (renounce-ees?) shit.

Hey there, sorry for the late reply

The process wasn't bad at all, except I had to drive from Windsor to Ottawa. Appointments in Toronto were quite a bit further in the future. The paperwork is simple, and the actual interview and oath experience was pretty quick.

So far I've crossed 16 times, with only one agent copping a bit of an attitude with me. I was going to visit my son, and she had trouble understanding he was US born and raised, she thought he was Canadian for some reason and wanted to know why he was working in the US.

I entered once with some co-workers to go to a meeting/holiday potluck at our US office, not a problem at all. And once for a quarterly meeting, no issues there either.

For actual work, I have an E1 Treaty Trader work visa in process, I should have it in the next couple of weeks.

Renunciation did lift a burden off of me as far as not being able to do certain things that a 100% Canadian could do: certain investment opportunities, business ownership, etc.

Good luck!

 

[avrilko]

Also, one other thing I just noticed...

On the Personal Info page, my original citizenship is listed first, followed by all associated documents to go along with it. Then, in the same formatting is another section where my Canadian citizenship and documents are listed.

What I noticed is that there is a little gold flag icon next to "CANADA" in the second set of details.

Does anyone know what this means? Is this the "active" citizenship on the Nexus Card? Is it because it's new and flagged to be checked? I'll ask them about it on Monday but any earlier insight would be great too!

Hey. Have you found the answer to your question? I am curious too.

 

[Quink]

Hey. Have you found the answer to your question? I am curious too.

I never asked that explicitly but they did say that the system saw me as a Canadian first. So I'm not 100% sure but I strongly suspect that is what the little flag means.

I have used my new card (at the airport) since that last post too, and there were zero issues at the border.