iahh

Dear members,

Seeking your advice for B2 visa application. My situation is :

We (me, my wife & two kids) are Permanant Residents of Canada. My wife and kids are living in Vancouver BC where as I am working in Dubai-UAE. I visit my family around twice a year. We would like to visit NY during coming summer vacations for one week. There are no relatives or close friends in US.
Can we file our applicaition in Canada all together, keeping in view that I am not working in Canada? I can provide all the required documents i.e. employment letter, salary certificate, good bank statement, leave approval etc.

One more thing I'd like to mention here. in 2010, while travelling to Canada I purchased my ticket from Delta which had a connection in US while coming back from Vancouver to Dubai. Before purchasing ticket, confirmed from Delta that I can take transit from US as I have a PR card in Canada. At the Vancouver airport Delta gave me bording passes after checking my PR card and Dubai residence visa. When I went through US immigration at Vancouver airport, they didn't allow me to take transit from US. They told me that I need a visa to travel through US. Immigration officer gave me I-877 form after completing the administrative procedings. I went back to Delta, told whole story. Staff just apologized and re-scheduled my flight with KLM.

Please advise if I can still apply for B2 visa and what are the chances?

Looking forward for your advise please.

Regards,

paulpur

you donot say what passport you hold, this could vary the answers and guidance given as if it is from a country that participates in the visa waver program then you do not need a visa to travel to the US

iahh

Thaks Paulpur for your quick response.

I have a Pakistan passport.

paulpur

i think you can still apply for the B2 visa ok, and you should be able to file them all in Canada as you asked about , just be sure to take all your pertinent documentation with you to the interview.
you may also need the I-877 form that you received previously so it would be better if you also took that with you to the interview.
as for the chances of it being approved, 50/50 , but then i know that if you dont even apply for it , then the chances are 100% that you wont get it

iahh

Thanks dear Paulpur for your advice.

I was thinking that there is no chances at all due to (1) I-877 (2) not working in Canada. Now we will apply in Canada as a family.

One more question. Suppose, after interniew, Consular Officer put my application in review (for security check) which takes normally 2 to 3 months, some times even more. After the review he asks to drop the passports for visa stamping. Can I send my passport through Fedex or any other service from outside Canada? In my case from Dubai as I will be back to join my duty during the review period. Same way, it's possible for them to send my passport to me outside of Canada if I give them my Dubai address. Just asking in case if this happened.

Appriciate your feedback please. Thanks.

paulpur

you could always do it through your wifes address in Canada if that happens, send her the passport and she can drop it into the consulate and when its ready for returning get it sent to her place and she can always fedex it back to you in Dubai
im assuming that your wifes place in Canada is your residence when youre 'home' , so i would believe thats the address that you would use for the application...perhaps someone can give their thoughts on this point?

iahh

I really thankfull to you and all the members of this excellent forum. It's a huge source of information. I'll come back if I may have any other query.

With Best Wishes...

scrubbedexpat099

Seems an awful lot of effort for a one week holiday.

You would have to schedule an appointment around one of your visits.

You apply individually, not as a family.

iahh

Thanks dear Paulpur and Boiler.

Yes, I will schedule my appointment during my visit but why it's better to apply alone? Actually, there are two reasons for B2 visa. (1) For tourism and shopping bcoz it's just 1 hour drive to Blain-Seattle from our residence (2) It'll help me for taking connecting flights in US as I visit my family arround twice a year. Emirates airline just started new route from Dubai to Seattle very economical as well.

Actually, I was thinking that it's better to apply alongwith family bcoz we will be visiting together. And which address should I use? Canada address or Dubai address or both? one as living address & one as postal address? What you expers suggest?

Thanks once again.

iahh

Dears,

Appriciate your feedback on the queries above. Thanks.