Traveling to the US via Toronto with K1 visa question

[Lemonslice 4,836]

2 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

with a valid US visa ,,  u can transfer in Canada

go thru US preclearence there 

Not necessarily. You have to enter Canada, there's no international area like in some other airports.

 

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada.html?utm_source=slash-visit_visiter&utm_medium=short-url-en&utm_campaign=visit

Edited April 2, 2023 by Lemonslice

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

Not necessarily. You have to enter Canada, there's no international area like in some other airports.

 

The portions of the airports behind US pre clearance approach an international area concept.  Thus at some airports, depending on the inbound international flight you will not deal with CBSA and you will head straight to CBP. Of course if CBP bounces you, you will be handed over to CBSA. 
 

 https://www.torontopearson.com/en/connections/customs-immigration

 

“You may need to clear:

 

* Canadian customs and immigration if your flight into Pearson is international (includes US) and your flight out of Pearson is domestic

 

* US Customs if your flight out of Pearson is to the US”

 

I haven’t experienced it at YYZ yet. I have  at YVR: no  encounter with CBSA when arriving from an international flight and making a connection to U.S. 

[Lemonslice 4,836]

37 minutes ago, Mike E said:

The portions of the airports behind US pre clearance approach an international area concept.  Thus at some airports, depending on the inbound international flight you will not deal with CBSA and you will head straight to CBP. Of course if CBP bounces you, you will be handed over to CBSA. 
 

 https://www.torontopearson.com/en/connections/customs-immigration

 

“You may need to clear:

 

* Canadian customs and immigration if your flight into Pearson is international (includes US) and your flight out of Pearson is domestic

 

* US Customs if your flight out of Pearson is to the US”

 

I haven’t experienced it at YYZ yet. I have  at YVR: no  encounter with CBSA when arriving from an international flight and making a connection to U.S. 

I wish my next flight through Pearson will work in a way where there's no CBSA interaction. Fingers crossed.

[manyfudge 291]

I recently had the slightly unpleasant experience of transferring through NRT and having to clear Japanese immigrations and customs. And Covid controls.  In spite of lengthy email from airline that it was unnecessary.

[Sam Burns 155]

Needless to say, not coming in through Canada based on the responses…

[Stook 24]

Transiting through an intermediate country is not the same as entering that intermediate country.

 

[AndiB 677]

On 4/2/2023 at 9:21 PM, manyfudge said:

100% what @Mike E said.  I would not take the risk of transferring through Canadian or any other pre clearance port.

 

I can confirm that they do not allow you to wait overnight at the gate.

 

My flight was not delayed or cancelled.  In 2019, there was an AC computer meltdown and the system lost my booking even though I had a paper boarding card and passed through US immigrations.

 

I had to buy a $1000 ticket for the next day at the airport counter as interwebs and phone help down (slept there overnight).  AC paid me back every cent eventually. 
Not easily.

 

You should not want to take that risk.

 

 

 

 

 

I mean that's surely true of any layover. I've gotten stuck on layovers before, obviously if you can choose being stuck in US layover or Canadian layover then US is preferable but not sure US layober exactly removes the risk of issue on next flight as someone who has missed or had her flight cancelled on 3/4 trips to US in last 18months

[AndiB 677]

On 4/6/2023 at 2:00 PM, Stook said:

Transiting through an intermediate country is not the same as entering that intermediate country.

 

True but may depend on country a lil, US for instance requires you have a visa for transit + not sure if you *always* go through border or if you can skip it if you're doing international to international. I know when I do international to international in the middle east I never actually cross their border. Geneva also has a system where technically part of the airport is france so people don't have to technically enter Switzerland.

 

You can def enter a foreign airport without technically entering the country though. Also they may not let you stay at the gate overnight but I've def slept overnight in airports as do many who have to wait for a flight, just depends on airport. Generally super normal in international airports when someone gets bumped or changed to a morning flight 

[Mike E 11,739]

1 hour ago, AndiB said:

mean that's surely true of any layover

No.

 

Here is is again:

 

On 4/2/2023 at 7:44 AM, Mike E said:

I will explain:

 

Case A:

 

One has a K-1 visa and books a flight from Warsaw to ORD via FRA

 

The flight to ORD is canceled, and next available seat  is a 2 days later. The K-1 holder crashes at a nearby hotel and comes back. Because the visa is not stamped as used,  the airline boards the passenger.

 

Case B:

 

One has a K-1 visa and books a flight from Warsaw to ORD via YYZ

 

The flight to ORD is canceled, and next available seat  is a 2 days later. The K-1 holder crashes at a nearby hotel and comes back. Because the visa is  stamped as used,  the airline refuses to board  the passenger.

Also the 90 day clock starts when the visa is stamped. A day or more wasted in Canada can be costly. Your timeline shows you have not received your K-1 visa yet. Review

relevant posts, guides; and wikis to understand the challenges.

 

1 hour ago, AndiB said:

sure US layober exactly removes the risk of issue on next flight

Of course it does, because the K-1 passenger that misses a domestic connection is already in U.S. The K-1 visa authorizes a 90 day stay. So even if the airline or TSA was inclined to look at the used and canceled K-1  visa, any referral to CBP would quickly be resolved in favor of the passenger.

 

1 hour ago, AndiB said:

You can def enter a foreign airport without technically entering the country though

This has  not been true in the U.S. for decades (and was only true for select flights). It is true in Canada sometimes, but only when the next flight is to the U.S. 

[Stook 24]

3 hours ago, AndiB said:

True but may depend on country a lil, US for instance requires you have a visa for transit + not sure if you *always* go through border or if you can skip it if you're doing international to international. I know when I do international to international in the middle east I never actually cross their border. Geneva also has a system where technically part of the airport is france so people don't have to technically enter Switzerland.

 

You can def enter a foreign airport without technically entering the country though. Also they may not let you stay at the gate overnight but I've def slept overnight in airports as do many who have to wait for a flight, just depends on airport. Generally super normal in international airports when someone gets bumped or changed to a morning flight 

Thank you for politely pointing out my error. You are absolutely correct; I gave inaccurate information. 
It looks like Canada also does require transit passengers to obtain a transit visa. https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=420&top=16

[meladee 160]

4 hours ago, AndiB said:

I mean that's surely true of any layover. I've gotten stuck on layovers before, obviously if you can choose being stuck in US layover or Canadian layover then US is preferable but not sure US layober exactly removes the risk of issue on next flight as someone who has missed or had her flight cancelled on 3/4 trips to US in last 18months

I think the context you're missing here is that it's not just a layover in a foreign country, it's a layover in a foreign country that also has US CBP processing prior to the flight to the US (Preclearance). So having your K-1 already activated and then trying to get another flight a day or so later could have complications.

Edited April 11, 2023 by meladee

[manyfudge 291]

On 4/11/2023 at 7:19 AM, AndiB said:

I mean that's surely true of any layover. I've gotten stuck on layovers before, obviously if you can choose being stuck in US layover or Canadian layover then US is preferable but not sure US layober exactly removes the risk of issue on next flight as someone who has missed or had her flight cancelled on 3/4 trips to US in last 18months

I was not on a layover.  But the process was not any different than transiting through Toronto for a U.S. flight.