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My background: UK citizen, Canadian Permanent Resident.

I applied for Global Entry via the UK Government website but upon proceeding with the application I was told I am ineligible as a landed immigrant of Canada 1 (Canada cannot be selected from the radio buttons) and that I should apply for the NEXUS program instead.

When reading the requirements for the NEXUS program, I read that I need to be resident in Canada for three years before applying. Since I've only been in Canada for 19 months I do not qualify.

Is a British citizen in this situation eligible for any of the "fast track" entry programs?

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  • At what point are you told that you cannot apply as a non-resident? There doesn't seem to be anything in the regulations preventing non-UK residents (but UK citizens) from applying. – Calchas Jan 2 '17 at 21:08
  • Edited question @Calchas – Ash Jan 2 '17 at 21:23
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Got my rejection letter from the CBA today and the check box ticked was because I failed to meet the residency requirements of the program.

The minimum is 3 years despite the ambiguity of the website.

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  • Incorrect. "In addition, certain permanent residents are also exempted from the three-year residency requirement. However, permanent residents who do not fall within an exempted group are reminded that the three-year residency requirement still applies." cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/notice-avis-eng.html – Ash Jan 17 '17 at 20:10
  • The now deleted comment above alleged that the executive order only affected Citizens. – Ash Jan 23 '17 at 14:52
  • I have subsequently applied and have been accepted for Nexus following 3+ years residency. – Ash Feb 2 at 18:52
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I think you can apply for NEXUS, though the requirements are ambiguous.

Prior to 2012 all NEXUS applicants, regardless of citizenship, had to be resident in Canada or the USA for the prior 3 years. In 2012 the residence requirement was eliminated entirely for Canada and US citizens, and the 3 year requirement was done away with for "certain permanent residents".

Unfortunately I can find no authoritative reference for who is a "certain permanent resident", but I believe the 3 year requirement was in fact eliminated for everyone and replaced with simpler requirement that the permanent resident actually live in the country where they have residence (for a Canadian PR in particular it is possible to live outside Canada for an extended period without losing the status; for a US PR not so much). I believe this because I know the 2012 changes were meant to align NEXUS qualifications with US Global Entry qualifications, and GE has no 3 year requirement.

In any case, lacking more authoritative information, it might be worth just applying for NEXUS to see if you are a "certain permanent resident" since you can't lose much beyond the $50 application fee by doing so. I suspect you'll need to provide documentation showing that you actually reside in Canada, but the fact that you've lived there for less than 3 years won't be a bar. As a Canadian resident you have no choice but NEXUS in any case, so it is that or nothing.

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  • Applied for NEXUS which didn't mention anything about residency requirements at any stage of the application. Will post the outcome. – Ash Jan 3 '17 at 6:10
  • @Ash, NEXUS conditional approval usually takes a month or so (longer than GE alone). If you get that, meaning they didn't care about the <3 years, I imagine you'll want to take documents connecting you to the Canada address you gave them (driver licence, pay slips, bills) to the interview in case the residence issue comes up there. – Dennis Jan 3 '17 at 20:29
  • I always take my entire cache of documents to these types of interviews. Better to be over prepared. If they find me ineligible due to the residency requirements then I'll apply again once I'm a citizen. Thanks. – Ash Jan 3 '17 at 21:48
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    The 3 year requirement was removed for citizens, not PR. – DJClayworth Jan 13 '17 at 3:30
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The 3 year residency is residency in either US or Canada as a citizen, permanent resident, or resident alien of these two countries check this link

Depending on which website you check, the requirements can be stated ambiguously, e.g. some non-CBP and non-CBSA/GC websites states you have to be a resident of the country you are a permanent resident in, for 3 years. Other websites state differently. I think you should be a resident of either of these two countries for 3 years, even if you are not a PR in the country you are living in, but PR in the other country. E.g. my application was approved since I am a Canadian PR but living in US for over 7 years.

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No. I am not sure why I can't submit just "no": you are told you are not eligible for Global Entry, and you were told correctly, so says the CBP:

Canadian citizens and residents are eligible for Global Entry benefits through membership in the NEXUS program.

and you can clearly see you are not yet NEXUS eligible. How could we help? What did you expect?

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