It’s a program you might be familiar with, Nexus, essentially a fast track across the border. For our friends up north, the process to get Nexus is taking some people years.

“I cross the border fairly frequently,” said Tiffany McKenzie.

The Peace Bridge is a familiar sight for McKenzie.

“I'm a Canadian citizen. I work in the United States," she explained. "I am truly a commuter at the border.”

Also familiar to her are the wait times.

“Without my Nexus card, it's been like two hours before,” she explained. "Since my Nexus card, like 30 seconds."

Getting that NEXUS card was a ride that goes back to July 2019. The government shutdown and pandemic forced offices to push back and then cancel processing interviews. In May 2022, U.S. centers reopened. Canadian ones stayed closed.

“That's all we heard. COVID, COVID, COVID," said Rosanna Berardi, managing partner at Berardi Immigration Law. "In reality, the slowdown has been an argument between the United States and Canada over U.S. citizens working in Canada at the Nexus enrollment centers.”

Berardi says around 330,000 Nexus applications are being held up because of a dispute over immunity for U.S. workers in Canadian enrollment centers.

“Criminal immunity, civil immunity, we're not sure, but basically, if something happens to them on Canadian soil, they want immunity and protection," she explained. "Because of that, there has been a stalemate.”

Renewals are slowly going through thank to waived interviews, but no luck for first timers.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a timeline for when this dispute may settle,” Berardi said.

While this mostly impacts Canadians, it has ripple effects here.

“If I'm a Canadian and I know I'm going to be stuck on the bridge for two and a half hours, maybe I'm less incentivized to come over and spend my money here," said McKenzie. "Maybe I'll just do it on the Canadian side.”

McKenzie eventually got an interview, but she had to do that in the U.S.

“My saga finally came to an end in June when, three years later, I have a Nexus card in hand,” she recalled.

For others, that might not be an option.

“If you were a Canadian living anywhere near Toronto, you could go to Pearson, but obviously with the closures of the Nexus centers in Canada, that's not happening,” McKenzie said.

That means the wait will just have to continue.

“This is a program between our two countries that really helps people at the end of the day," McKenzie said. "I really just hope that there's a way that they can find a resolution.”