Visiting the USA

[Jason&Sarah2025 1]

I was wondering about something: I am finding out for a relative. If someone who got lifetime bann from USA and went back to canada. Now became a citizen of canada will that person be allowed to visit usa with canadian passport? to drive over and visit family? Also, the person would have lots of paper to support going back to canada, owning a house, job, and car and all of that... I am just trying to find out how the lifetime ban works. Also, this person dont have any paper to say lifetime bann they just know from when they tried to apply for visitor visa four years ago. 

[Roel 7,192]

No.

Doesn't matter what passport you have, you're still the same person, with the same lifetime ban.

 

If they don't have a paperwork, I don't see why not, just contact the embassy.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

Acquiring a new passport/citizenship does not change you into another person. If you have a lifetime ban then you have a lifetime ban, period.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

A lifetime ban means banned FOR LIFE. 

Changing nationality doesn't matter. It was the person who was banned, not their previous passport.

 

What was the ban for? 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Yup, the ban is on you, not your nationality, not your passport. They’ll know it’s you through biometrics when you try enter. 

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

The life time ban means just that, life time ban. Under limited circumstances, the person can apply for a waiver of the ban. But we need to know why/how the person was banned and if there is a qualified US Citizen relative that can be a basis for a waiver. In even more limited circumstances, a person can file a brief (definitely needs an attorney) to the authority who issued the ban (DOS, Embassy, CBP, ... ) to see if they are willing to reverse the ban. Again, a hail Mary, but not unheard of.

[Going through 5,671]

52 minutes ago, Jason&Sarah2025 said:

I am just trying to find out how the lifetime ban works. Also, this person dont have any paper to say lifetime bann they just know from when they tried to apply for visitor visa four years ago. 

Basically banned for life, but can be waiverable depending on certain circumstances, and takes several months to process.

They don't need to have a paper saying this---although they would have had a letter from when they were denied the tourist visa stating why.  

Letter or not, best believe it's in CBP's system.

 

Change of citizenship---nor a change of name (if that were to  happen later on)---is irrelevant since it's easy enough to find out he/she's the same person.

[Iamy 4]

A change of nationality does not change your identity. If it is a lifetime ban, I would say it must be of serious reason. The CBP has record of any entry attempt which I could attest based on my personal experience. Way back in 2014, we did a wrong turn from Niagara Falls, Canada which led us to the US territory after the bridge. We were held for almost 2 hours after explaining that it was not our intention to cross the border. After they checked our documents and they said “wrong turn happens”, they escorted us back to the Canadian soil without any stamps on our passport. I thought they did not record that as an entry but I just found out lately, after 4 years, when I printed my i94 after my K1 visa entry last Feb. 2018, voila! it showed that my first entry to the US was that wrong turn incident. So, to say that they have no record of the ban, I am sure they do.

[CEE53147 559]

OP,  IIWY, I'd get out of this messy situation.  Tell the person to get an attorney since this problem is far too much for forum advice.

[nastra30 2,287]

Lifetime ban is attached to you as a person (like your physical body). Change in documents, gender, country, nationality, etc. does not impact the ban. As others have suggested already there very limited circumstances where it can be limited but you'll have to lawyer up. Hoping for the best for your relative.

[geowrian 22,337]

One can be issued a bar without any documentation being provided beforehand.

Obtaining a new citizenship does not change any inadmissibilities one has.

 

They need a properly issued visa. Depending on the cause of the inadmissibility, they may or may not be eligible for a waiver.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

OP hasn't logged in to update what their relative's lifetime ban was for.