Using a canadian passport after being from US with a different passport

[AshesNdust]

Hi,
A friend of mine has a bit of a tricky situation and I wanted to see if anyone has ever dealt with something like this.
The friend over stayed a student visa is the US, was caught, and had the 10year ban placed on her. She returned home and has since immigrated to Canada and received her PR. She’s planning on applying for Canadian citizenship next year.
The 10 years has since past and she was looking to reapply for a US visa to visit friends and family down there.
However, would it be better for her to just wait and get a Canadian passport? If she gets the passport, would it even be an issue since she would no longer need a visa to travel to the US? Or is this something that would still show up even though it was attatched to a different countries passport?
She doesn’t want to do anything that’s not 100% correct. She definitely learned her lesson from her youth!
Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[scylla]

Hi,
A friend of mine has a bit of a tricky situation and I wanted to see if anyone has ever dealt with something like this.
The friend over stayed a student visa is the US, was caught, and had the 10year ban placed on her. She returned home and has since immigrated to Canada and received her PR. She’s planning on applying for Canadian citizenship next year.
The 10 years has since past and she was looking to reapply for a US visa to visit friends and family down there.
However, would it be better for her to just wait and get a Canadian passport? If she gets the passport, would it even be an issue since she would no longer need a visa to travel to the US? Or is this something that would still show up even though it was attatched to a different countries passport?
She doesn’t want to do anything that’s not 100% correct. She definitely learned her lesson from her youth!
Anyone have any experience with this?

The 10 year ban will show up regardless - even once she has a Canadian passport.

She no longer qualifies for visa-free travel to the US as a result of the overstay. So she needs to apply for a visa each time she wants to visit, even once she has a Canadian passport.

The US does not mess around when it comes to overstays. She very well knows she had a 10 year band - so trying to cover that up and pretend it never happened would obviously be lying. I'm sure she doesn't want to end up being detained at the border or risk a lifetime misrepresentation ban. She will need to apply for a visa and be 100% honest about her immigration history. She should have no issues being approved since the overstay was a long time ago and presumably she has now established strong ties to Canada.

 

[AshesNdust]

Thank you very much for the reply! Yes, she knows about the 10 year ban and really wants to make sure she does everything right this time around. She knows she did a very stupid thing and is extremely sorry for doing it and is angry with herself.
She wasn’t sure what would have to be done once she got a Canadian passport as Canadians don’t have to get visas for the US. So, she wasn’t sure if/where ahe would have to declare that. This totally clears it up.
She already filled out the DS-160 form and was completely honest about it. Various family memebers were telling her to wait to turn it and maybe hold off until getting her citizenship. Glad she asked me about it and I thought to post the question!
Thanks again!

The 10 year ban will show up regardless - even once she has a Canadian passport.

She no longer qualifies for visa-free travel to the US as a result of the overstay. So she needs to apply for a visa each time she wants to visit, even once she has a Canadian passport.

The US does not mess around when it comes to overstays. She very well knows she had a 10 year band - so trying to cover that up and pretend it never happened would obviously be lying. I'm sure she doesn't want to end up being detained at the border or risk a lifetime misrepresentation ban. She will need to apply for a visa and be 100% honest about her immigration history. She should have no issues being approved since the overstay was a long time ago and presumably she has now established strong ties to Canada.

 

[meyakanor]

There are various waivers which she can apply for, and technically, she doesn't even need to wait to become a Canadian citizen in order to apply for them.

However, the process is much more streamlined for Canadian citizens, since Canadians do not need visa for most non-immigrant status, and thus, can apply directly at the border.

I'm assuming that she would need not only the waiver for the overstay, but also for removal.

Look up form I-192 (for overstay), and form I-212 (for removal).

The 10 year ban will show up regardless - even once she has a Canadian passport.

She no longer qualifies for visa-free travel to the US as a result of the overstay. So she needs to apply for a visa each time she wants to visit, even once she has a Canadian passport.

The US does not mess around when it comes to overstays. She very well knows she had a 10 year band - so trying to cover that up and pretend it never happened would obviously be lying. I'm sure she doesn't want to end up being detained at the border or risk a lifetime misrepresentation ban. She will need to apply for a visa and be 100% honest about her immigration history. She should have no issues being approved since the overstay was a long time ago and presumably she has now established strong ties to Canada.

You were mostly right, except for the part about needing visa.

That would only apply to those from countries part of the visa waiver program (such as the UK, Germany, Singapore, etc). If, say, an Australian citizen violated US immigration terms in the past, then they would never be able to come back to the US visa-free anymore, and would have to apply for a visa (+ waiver) in the US embassy.

Canada (and Bermuda), however, is not part of the visa waiver program, and would never need to apply for non-immigrant visas in most cases (except for K visa, and few other exceptions), including those with prior immigration or criminal violations.

She would still be inadmissible, so what she would need is to apply for a waiver (or waivers depending on her specific circumstances), but she can do so directly at the border.

There is a whole business scene in Ontario about Canadians needing waiver, and they all can apply for waivers at the border without needing to go through US Consulate (though the application process can take about 4 to 6 months).

 

[scylla]

There are various waivers which she can apply for, and technically, she doesn't even need to wait to become a Canadian citizen in order to apply for them.

However, the process is much more streamlined for Canadian citizens, since Canadians do not need visa for most non-immigrant status, and thus, can apply directly at the border.

I'm assuming that she would need not only the waiver for the overstay, but also for removal.

Look up form I-192 (for overstay), and form I-212 (for removal).



You were mostly right, except for the part about needing visa.

That would only apply to those from countries part of the visa waiver program (such as the UK, Germany, Singapore, etc). If, say, an Australian citizen violated US immigration terms in the past, then they would never be able to come back to the US visa-free anymore, and would have to apply for a visa (+ waiver) in the US embassy.

Canada (and Bermuda), however, is not part of the visa waiver program, and would never need to apply for non-immigrant visas in most cases (except for K visa, and few other exceptions), including those with prior immigration or criminal violations.

She would still be inadmissible, so what she would need is to apply for a waiver (or waivers depending on her specific circumstances), but she can do so directly at the border.

There is a whole business scene in Ontario about Canadians needing waiver, and they all can apply for waivers at the border without needing to go through US Consulate (though the application process can take about 4 to 6 months).

Thanks for the correction. You're right. I was thinking of individuals who were previously allowed to travel through ESTA but then overstayed. Doesn't apply to Canadians.