Canadian RP holder visiting the USA

[Bangkokcanuck]

Just curious, assuming my wife (Thai citizen) receives her RP ok and all that jazz. What is it like hassle wise for her to visit the US with me?
We would be settling in BC and have friends in both Seattle and San Fran, would she just be able to pop down there with me whenever we want and her RP would make her appear as a Canadian citizen (for lack of a better term) or does she still have to jump through all the hoops Thai citizens do when visiting the USA?

Thanks,

 

[newtone]

Just curious, assuming my wife (Thai citizen) receives her RP ok and all that jazz. What is it like hassle wise for her to visit the US with me?
We would be settling in BC and have friends in both Seattle and San Fran, would she just be able to pop down there with me whenever we want and her RP would make her appear as a Canadian citizen (for lack of a better term) or does she still have to jump through all the hoops Thai citizens do when visiting the USA?

Thanks,

No special treatment for PR, just like dressing up in a bear costume does not make you a real bear similarly having a PR does not automatically make you appear as a Canadian citizen, she'll require a visa to enter U.S just like any Thai passport holder

 

[nylalisa]

She still needs to obtain a Visa. If she needed one as a Thai citizen that doesn't change, because she is still a Thai citizen holding PR in Canada.

 

[Rinnerz]

What everyone else has said. From the US government's own travel website (http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1260.html):

"Permanent residents (aka landed immigrants) of Canada must have a nonimmigrant visa unless the permanent resident is a national of a country that participates in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), meets the VWP requirements, and is seeking to enter the U.S. for 90 days or less under that program."

 

[toby]

It's true; the USA is the only country (as far as I know) that doesn't place any importance on the PR status. Every other country grants the PR almost the same permissions as to Canadian bona fide citizens.

However, if you intend to cross the border frequently, you might be able to get your wife a Nexus card -- where the Americans do their investigation once, then allow the card holder to cross without hassles thereafter.

 

[Bangkokcanuck]

Thanks for all the answers guys/gals... thanks for the Nexus info Toby I had one of those years ago in Niagara Falls completely forgot about it seems the best route to take as one of the reasons for settling in BC is we have many friends on both sides of the border on that coast...

god bless american ;D

 

[scylla]

Bangkokcanuck -

You'd better double check - but I don't think your wife will qualify for a Nexus card yet. To qualify, I think you have to either be a citizen of Canada or the U.S. - or have lived in one of these countries as a permanent resident for at least the last three years.

Again, you'd better verify this. Maybe (hopefully) the rules have changed. However when I applied about three years ago, I'm pretty sure someone who just became a PR didn't qualify.

 

[scylla]

Ok - just did some checking and I think the same rules are still in place. See:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/elig-admis-eng.html

Specifically this bit:

Eligibility
You may qualify to participate in NEXUS if you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada or the United States and have lived in Canada and/or the United States continuously for the last three years.

Looks like the three years applies to both citizens and PRs. Not sure how strict they are about the three year bit...

 

[Bangkokcanuck]

Bangkokcanuck -

You'd better double check - but I don't think your wife will qualify for a Nexus card yet. To qualify, I think you have to either be a citizen of Canada or the U.S. - or have lived in one of these countries as a permanent resident for at least the last three years.

Again, you'd better verify this. Maybe (hopefully) the rules have changed. However when I applied about three years ago, I'm pretty sure someone who just became a PR didn't qualify.

No need to verify you did all the work for me, thanks for that. ;D

Sorry the answer wasn't better of course.

So I wonder how much of a pain in the butt its' going to be for the first three years to get visitor visas for her to do short term trips it does seem odd there is not some sort of consideration that a RP holder has been checked out to some degree by the Canadian gov't

 

[angelbrat]

Have a friend that works at the Nexus office in Seattle, issuing cards to Canadians.

They are very strict. To get a Nexus, you almost have to go through the same security checks as when getting your PR.

This system only works because the USA and Canadians work very strictly to the guidelines and rules for Nexus. There is no decision through personality,unlike a PR application, where you can get either a good IO or bad IO and they can make their own call. Its either you qualify or you don't. Period.

 

[Bangkokcanuck]

Ok so then I wonder would my wife having a RP hold any weight to make it easier to get visitor's Visa's to the US?

There must be some benefit from having gone through this from that side of things. I know when we got my wife her first visitors visa to Canada it was a bit of a job providing all the proof we would be going back to BKK etc..etc.. but the second time it almost a 24 hour rubber stamp, like we've seen your details as long as nothing radical has changed you are good to go...

I guess the next logical question is for me to find out what is needed for short term visitor visa's to the US.

 

[AlieW]

Can your wife get a 'long term' vistor Visa to the states?

This is what we did with my partner, he got a visa which is multiple entry and vaild for 10 years. It obviously doesn't allow him to stay in the US for more then several months but it does circumvent having to renew it every time you want to go accross the border.

However, this may be very country specific - but perhaps worth looking into.

I'm sure if your wife has a PR to canada (and you have a stable and steady life there) it will be fairly straight forward to convince the US government that you don't plan on staying in the states.

 

[CharlieD10]

She will need proof of her ties to Canada, and her PR status might help that along.

I hold a 10-yr multiple entry visa to the US, and was quite surprised to be given one for that length of time, when I applied for it, I only wanted to visit my family in the US that one time, and thought I might be given a single entry visa. Considering how much of my family lives in the US, I was worried at being considered high risk for overstay, but never got that impression from the IO.

I think it helped that I had previously held a student visa, and had returned home at the end of my studies, and not applied for another US visa in the 10 years since it expired. It also helped that I was bonded to my employer until last December (I applied in Feb 2009), as I had none of the other usual "ties" to Jamaica (home ownership, husband and children, large bank account) that visa officers are so fond of. I was also brutally honest in my application, even about my trips to Cuba, which everyone told me I shouldn't have done.

Be prepared to show her ties to Canada, even if you are not asked for them it doesn't hurt to be prepared. I had a one inch file worth of paper with me when I applied for my US visitor's visa, the IO looked at none of them, asked me 4 questions about my stay as a student (did I finish school) and my current situation (where do I work and how long have I been there, do I have any children), took my previous passport and cancelled my expired student visa, told me I was approved and sent me to pay at the DHL kiosk to get my current passport back with my visa. I got the feeling that decision had been taken long before I ever made it through security into the embassy, LOL.