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Hi Everyone,
Wasn't sure where to post - hopefully I'm in the right place. I was hoping I could get some information/advice on my situation:
We are Canadian citizens living near Toronto and my dad was recently told at the border crossing that he needs to get a US visit visa and was refused entry. None of us had any issues and only he was denied entry, even though he's a senior citizen (almost 70) and has never had any issues with the law, etc. Here's some background to this:
In 2006 or 2007 my dad became a Canadian citizen (formerly Pakistani citizen). He had traveled to the US several times on a visit visa even before becoming a Canadian citizen and has never been denied entry prior to this or had any issues. Prior to getting Canadian citizenship he had a multiple entry visit visa to the US (which he got from the Toronto consulate) while he was a permanent resident and he traveled twice on that visa (in 2004 and 2005). After we became Canadian citizens in 2006-7 we have been traveling to the US by road a few times annually and each time we had to go inside the office at the border for secondary inspection because they seemed to have some issue on his file. They never really asked him too many questions or anything, we were just told to sit there for anywhere between 15minutes to an hour, while they did something on their computer and then let us go. A few times they asked my dad if his visa was ever revoked or if he had overstayed or denied entry to the US. That seemed very odd to us because neither was his visa revoked (at least he wasn't informed of it) nor did he ever overstay nor was he ever denied entry. We didn't seem to get any clear information from them on what was causing this issue every time and how we could get it resolved.
Last year he applied to the Department of Homeland Security TRIP program to see if there was any error on his file due to which we had to go through a secondary inspection every time. After several months we got a reply from the Department of State saying his application had been transferred to them by DHS and they can't do anything about it and he may consider applying for a visit visa. After receiving that we continued to travel to the US and each time we would have to wait inside for a few minutes and then they would let us go. He even took a flight there last year and although he was made to wait an hour or so, he was allowed to travel.
However on our last trip there, they denied him entry, saying that in the past he has had a visa revoked for overstay (the last visa he had was from 2004 while he was a permanent resident, so presumably they were referring to that one), and they mentioned that the Department of State requires him to get a visit visa. All this seems very odd because he has never received a notification of visa revocation nor has he overstayed or done anything that would result in his visa being revoked. He even has entry and exit stamps from the Toronto airport on the Passport that has his visit visa, indicating the dates he left and returned to Toronto.
He has been told that he needs to contact the Toronto consulate to get a visa.
So here's a couple of questions:
-Anyone heard of or experienced anything similar or have any idea why this could be happening?
-Any suggestions on next steps or how this can be resolved? Is there some head office for the Department of State that we can write to, to seek clarification?
There's only one possible explanation for this situation I have read about online, that he may have been given an I-94 during his trips on the visit visa he previously had and he could have failed to return it, although he doesn't recall that being the case. If this is the case, would he still be able to get a visit visa on his Canadian passport or is he likely to be denied? (He is almost 70 and has strong ties to Canada, and plus his old Passport shows the entry and exit dates for travel on his visit visa)? Would it be of any use to write to the Toronto consulate first to try and resolve this issue before applying for a visa?
Sorry for the very long-winded story - hopefully someone can offer some advice!
Thanks!
Wasn't sure where to post - hopefully I'm in the right place. I was hoping I could get some information/advice on my situation:
We are Canadian citizens living near Toronto and my dad was recently told at the border crossing that he needs to get a US visit visa and was refused entry. None of us had any issues and only he was denied entry, even though he's a senior citizen (almost 70) and has never had any issues with the law, etc. Here's some background to this:
In 2006 or 2007 my dad became a Canadian citizen (formerly Pakistani citizen). He had traveled to the US several times on a visit visa even before becoming a Canadian citizen and has never been denied entry prior to this or had any issues. Prior to getting Canadian citizenship he had a multiple entry visit visa to the US (which he got from the Toronto consulate) while he was a permanent resident and he traveled twice on that visa (in 2004 and 2005). After we became Canadian citizens in 2006-7 we have been traveling to the US by road a few times annually and each time we had to go inside the office at the border for secondary inspection because they seemed to have some issue on his file. They never really asked him too many questions or anything, we were just told to sit there for anywhere between 15minutes to an hour, while they did something on their computer and then let us go. A few times they asked my dad if his visa was ever revoked or if he had overstayed or denied entry to the US. That seemed very odd to us because neither was his visa revoked (at least he wasn't informed of it) nor did he ever overstay nor was he ever denied entry. We didn't seem to get any clear information from them on what was causing this issue every time and how we could get it resolved.
Last year he applied to the Department of Homeland Security TRIP program to see if there was any error on his file due to which we had to go through a secondary inspection every time. After several months we got a reply from the Department of State saying his application had been transferred to them by DHS and they can't do anything about it and he may consider applying for a visit visa. After receiving that we continued to travel to the US and each time we would have to wait inside for a few minutes and then they would let us go. He even took a flight there last year and although he was made to wait an hour or so, he was allowed to travel.
However on our last trip there, they denied him entry, saying that in the past he has had a visa revoked for overstay (the last visa he had was from 2004 while he was a permanent resident, so presumably they were referring to that one), and they mentioned that the Department of State requires him to get a visit visa. All this seems very odd because he has never received a notification of visa revocation nor has he overstayed or done anything that would result in his visa being revoked. He even has entry and exit stamps from the Toronto airport on the Passport that has his visit visa, indicating the dates he left and returned to Toronto.
He has been told that he needs to contact the Toronto consulate to get a visa.
So here's a couple of questions:
-Anyone heard of or experienced anything similar or have any idea why this could be happening?
-Any suggestions on next steps or how this can be resolved? Is there some head office for the Department of State that we can write to, to seek clarification?
There's only one possible explanation for this situation I have read about online, that he may have been given an I-94 during his trips on the visit visa he previously had and he could have failed to return it, although he doesn't recall that being the case. If this is the case, would he still be able to get a visit visa on his Canadian passport or is he likely to be denied? (He is almost 70 and has strong ties to Canada, and plus his old Passport shows the entry and exit dates for travel on his visit visa)? Would it be of any use to write to the Toronto consulate first to try and resolve this issue before applying for a visa?
Sorry for the very long-winded story - hopefully someone can offer some advice!
Thanks!
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