kaiser1967

My family are moving to Canada and we are having some issues getting my wife's visa as she is a Brazilian citizen. The quickest way turns out to be getting a new USA B1/B2 applied for in the UK. We have made the application, and in the documents required section it requests 'Accompanying family members, unless entering the United States for another purpose, should present a marriage certificate (spouse) and/or birth certificate (for unmarried children under 21), as applicable'.

Can anyone advise if this would be required given my son and I are both UK citizens and would travel on ESTAs if we were entering the USA? Should we maybe just include these documents just to be on the safe side?

Any advice would be welcome

tht

You need a Canadian visa to move to Canada, the USA is a separate country.

kaiser1967

Yes, but for a Brazilian a valid USA visa allows them to get a Canadian eTA. If they do not have this they require to apply for a Canadian visitor visa which my agent has told me is taking in excess of 500days! My wife had a USA visa, but they are viewing it as invalid as she has taken my name in marriage, so her new passport surname doesn't align with the USA visa. They obviously use this as evidence that background checks have been done. Our visa agent has suggested that it shall be quicker to get a new USA visa then eTA than get a Canadian visitor visa.

S Folinsky

I find your post to be quite confusing; I don’t understand your question. You indicate below that you have a visa advisor.Perhaps you should ask them.

kaiser1967

Apologies, I can totally see how it looks confusing. We do have an advisor who is in Canada, who has said the quickest way for my wife to be eligible for a Canadian eTA, is by having a valid USA visa as the Canadians use this as suitable background check for Brazilians applying for the eTA there.

As a result we have applied for a renewal on her USA visa (as her surname has changed from a previous visa), and my question is should we include our marriage certificate and child's birth certificate when sending documents to the USA consulate in London

S Folinsky

Fair enough. Why do you think the quoted instructions are not valid? I don’t know the answer, but I assume you have your reasons. Just curious.

kaiser1967

The reason I wondered is that myself and my boy have UK passports and therefore ESTAs with no issue. I wondered if requesting birth certificates and marriage certificates is more directed towards other dependents who also have to go through visa application process along with my wife. Basically I never like sending original documents through couriers etc unless I really have to, and just wanted to ensure it was needed.

SanDiegogirl

Maybe if you explain how you, as a family, as moving to Canada, then people can help more.
Most countries need you to have a visa prior to moving e.g. a work visa?
Do you not have visa to cover you and family for the move?
Personally I don't understand how you are planning to enter on eSTA's when these are only required for people who are from non visa counties and are VISITING Canada.
Maybe Canada does things differently ...

S Folinsky

OP is being confusing and can’t or won’t clarify. He has his doubts about the quoted instructions bur does not give the origin of those doubts.

kaiser1967

As I have already clarified, my question is simple and has nothing to do with the Canadian part of my situation.

When my wife is applying for a B1/B2 visa for the USA in the UK, is it a requirement for her to send our marriage certificate and child's birth certificate in the supporting documents? I am asking if anyone has had this experience, as not all the supporting documents are required, and I prefer not to send original documents if it can be avoided.

christmasoompa

He’s moving on an intra-company work permit. For Canada, you apply via London but don’t get a visa, instead you get a Port of Entry pre-approval letter to take with you, then you get the work permit upon arrival. So you need something to get you to Canada. Obviously most Brits can just go on the eTA scheme but the OP’s wife can’t do that so needs a visitor visa (which takes ages), or she needs to qualify for the eTA scheme and she’ll do that if she has a valid non-immigrant visa for the US.

However, as I’ve pointed out to the OP in his thread in the Canada immi forum, the eTA/visitor visa application is done as part of his work permit application. Thereby bypassing the long queues for a separate visitor visa for his wife (or at least some of it - still a long wait for a work permit but about half the time a visitor visa would take anyway).

So it’s not needed for his Canadian work permit application, and I think mention of that has confused things here! I’m assuming the OP has decided to go ahead with the US visa application anyway as they’ve already got the interview booked so may as well.

OP, not sure why you’d have to send supporting docs? Never heard of that before, I thought you just had to take them to the interview with you. But marriage & birth certs aren’t listed among the documents needed - https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/touri...red-documents/

HTH.

kaiser1967

She has been told she is exempt from interview, I assume its because she has had a previous visa and has UK residence. The document checklist states:
'Accompanying family members, unless entering the United States for another purpose, should
present a marriage certificate (spouse) and/or birth certificate (for unmarried children under 21),
as applicable.'

S Folinsky

The link that Christmasoompa provided contains the following language-Important: Please do not attempt to give documents to the consular officer unless they are specifically requested from you. Applying for a U.S. visa is not primarily a document based process and the decision on whether you qualify to receive a visa under U.S. law will be based on the information you provide through your application form and during your visa interview in response to questions.

That said, you note that interview has been waived.

christmasoompa

OK, so yes, she'll need to submit docs via courier if it's being done under the interview waiver scheme (I had to do the same for my O visa). But that doesn't sound as though it will apply to her? So no need to include them from what you've said.

S Folinsky

As an aside, your post demonstrates that the DS-160 application is for any non-immigrant visa regardless of the classification. The instructions for the birth or marriage certificates would be applicable for an O-3 concomitant with an O-1.