AOS - K-1 applied for visa to visit Canada denied

[garlicknots 0]

Hi, so my wife and I are in AOS of right now.

She does not have a green card, she did receive her EAD. We have not received her advanced parole but we thought it better to apply for earlier for a Canadian visa to attend my cousin's wedding in June.

We submitted the appropriate paperwork and then some including letters.

We applied for multiple entry.

Earlier today she received a refusal letter. Two reasons in the checklist were cited:

1. Travel History [she has only visited the US and spent 1 week in China]

2. Immigration Status?

Questions:

Do pending K-1 AOS not get Canadian temporary visit visas?

Should I have applied for single entry?

I did not include my marriage certificate, in retrospect I really should have included that -- would that have affected immigration status?

Should we have waited for the AP and then added that document?

Any experience or suggestions? It's kind of a I have to reapply by next Monday to have a change to get it adjudicated in time, if so.

[ppihtr123 68]

NO AP? Check the EAD. They are combo cards! One card for both EAD/AP.

Edited May 3, 2013 by ppihtr123

[garlicknots 0]

really?

But would that make a difference in the canada visa application?

NO AP? Check the EAD. They are combo cards! One card for both EAD/AP.

[ppihtr123 68]

So there are two questions I guess that you need answered.

1. The first is the AP - need that to get back in the US. Your wife may already have that in her purse.

2. The second is entry into Canada. Looking at your timeline, she is from Mongolia hence the need for a Canadian visa to enter.

I would include a copy of her EAD/AP combo card and your marriage cert when you reapply next week. Without those in the application, it is likely that they interpreted the application as no strong ties back to Mongolia. You need to show she has strong ties to the US and will leave Canada.

[Pitaya 2,577]

Having the Advance Parole (AP) document either by itself or with the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) in the "combo card," has nothing to do with getting out of the USA. The purpose of the AP document, if you are adjusting status from K-1 visa, is to allow you to return to the USA after temporary foreign travel. Refer to VJ example form for details:

http://www.visajourney.com/examples/INS-Form-I-131.pdf

You should not leave the USA without having the AP document or "Green Card" in your possession. You will not be allowed back into the USA without one or the other, and USCIS will likely consider that you have abandoned your AOS application:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-131instr.pdf

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

No, pending AOS K-1 visa people do not get visas to Canada automatically. She was denied a tourist visa, so she cannot go. The end.

[hmh33 117]

Having the Advance Parole (AP) document either by itself or with the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) in the "combo card," has nothing to do with getting out of the USA. The purpose of the AP document, if you are adjusting status from K-1 visa, is to allow you to return to the USA after temporary foreign travel.

But it may actually have an effect on whether she'll be able to obtain a Canadian visa. Consider Canada's point of view - they want to be sure she'll be able to get back in to the US before they let her visit Canada, otherwise she might end up stuck in Canada. As it turns out, Canadian immigration is familiar with US immigration laws and can use US immigration status as a factor in making a Canadian immigration decision.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Does being denied the visitors visa to Canada now impact her ability to use her green card when she gets it to come and go ( like people that try for a B2 losing VWP )

[Pitaya 2,577]

But it may actually have an effect on whether she'll be able to obtain a Canadian visa. Consider Canada's point of view - they want to be sure she'll be able to get back in to the US before they let her visit Canada, otherwise she might end up stuck in Canada. As it turns out, Canadian immigration is familiar with US immigration laws and can use US immigration status as a factor in making a Canadian immigration decision.

No doubt that they are familiar with US immigration laws, and since they are a sovereign country they can do as they please. However, CBP is only interested in alien's US re-entry through the use of AP:

http://cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/lpr/adv_parole.xml

As others have mentioned, since she is a Mongolian national, does she have a valid Canadian visa?

http://canada.visahq.com/requirements/Mongolia/resident-United_States/

Edited May 9, 2013 by A&B

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

As others have mentioned, since she is a Mongolian national, does she have a valid Canadian visa?

http://canada.visahq.com/requirements/Mongolia/resident-United_States/

No, she was denied a visitor visa to Canada.

They applied before the immigrant even had AP. Even if all the ties were good, the fact that she would be stuck in Canada would probably cause her visa to be denied. When the OP applied she did not have the ability to return to the US if she went to Canada. They know that. Denied.

If she had applied after her AP was approved, then Canada would know that she could return to the US... probably. AP does not guarantee reentry and Canada might still be worried that the document is not dummy-proof enough to satisfy that aspect of the requirements. That is in addition to lack of ties to the US and hardly ever having travelled anywhere before.

The Op seems to think that his wife deserves automatically the right to go with him everywhere. He asks "don't pending AOS automatically get Canadian visas?" No, that is not the case.

Edited May 9, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[Pitaya 2,577]

Gotcha.