anyone received a US transit visa in order to land in Canada?

[BrianDell]

I advised my wife to renew her US visa before she lands in Canada because she is exempt from having to interview at a US consulate if she renews in the same country she received her earlier US visa and would no longer be exempt after becoming a Canadian resident (so we'd have to drive to nearest US consulate for an interview, which for us would be Calgary). We're going to want to travel to the US a few times before she gets her Canadian citizenship.

I am concerned, however, that I turned a slam dunk US visa renewal application for my spouse (she's been to the US twice now) into a rejection by disclosing in my letter promising to support her visits to the US that a reason we're applying now to renew her US visit visa is so that she has the option of transiting the US in order to land in Canada. I see on the US embassy in Ottawa's website that
"Transit visa applicants must establish to the satisfaction of the Consular Officer that they intend to pass in continuous transit through the United States and that they have a residence abroad that they do not intend to abandon."

Obviously she is abandoning a residence if she is en route to land as an immigrant to Canada. I could yet potentially withdraw the application to avoid a rejection. It's not critical to transit the US in order to land in Canada, just potentially more convenient (could go through Canadian immigration at her final destination in Canada instead of joining the lines at Vancouver or Toronto and stressing over missing her connection).

But perhaps the US "Consular Officer" would be satisfied that she does have a residence "abroad", namely a new one in Canada, or alternatively this only concerns admission at a US port of entry and does not effect whether she'd be issued a US visa. The word "abandon" remains an issue but if she has a valid US visa I'm not concerned about her getting turned around at a US airport.

Has anybody successfully applied for a US transit visa for the express purpose of landing in Canada as an immigrant? Previous threads on this forum on this question just have recommendations to avoid transiting the US in the first place. Has anyone successfully ignored that advice and received a US transit visa, or any kind of US non-immigrant visa where US officials were aware that the applicant is emigrating from their country of origin?

 

[OhCanadiana]

While I don't have first hand experience, if I were in your shoes I would try not to worry since I would imagine that the fact that her husband lives in Canada and that she is traveling to land in Canada would convince the Officers that she is unlikely to stay in the US longer than her authorized entry permits (i.e., you have a compelling case they she will just be transiting as she has a strong incentive to land and live in Canada).

Hopefully someone who has personal experience chimes in soon to put your mind further at ease.

 

[BrianDell]

Yesterday I was supposed to get an issue or deny decision and instead got "administrative processing", which usually means an extended wait and in US visa lingo is technically a denial even though most admin pro cases ultimately still end up being issued. As a technical denial, she wouldn't qualify for a non-interview renewal in the future and would have to disclose it as a past denial in future applications.

However, I checked again today and it said issued. Admin pro typically lasts a couple weeks, so this might have been a straight up issuance with the "administrative processing" here being the ordinary term and not the legal Section 212(g) term. S. 221(g) administrative processing decisions are usually made at the time of interview where the applicant is handed a coloured form stating on it that "further action in your case has been suspended under section 221(g) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act". It usually means they decided to do security checks with FBI databases, or check with an authority to confirm the authenticity of a document or claim, or commune with Washington over an obscure element of immigration law, etc.

I learned today about "U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 9 - Visas". In 9 FAM 41.11 N2.2-2 "Intent to Establish Residence Abroad (TL:VISA-670; 01-11-2005)" one finds "The residence in a foreign country need not be the alien’s former residence. For example, an alien who has been living in Germany may meet the residence abroad requirement by showing a clear intention to establish a residence in Canada after a temporary visit in the United States."

So there you go. They were probably either just looking that up, or confirming our wedding certificate with the issuing county in Washington state (which would also indicate our national origins), or double-checking to ensure that I've never had a green card (when I've entered the U.S. before with my spouse, they've sent us to secondary suspicious that I'm a U.S. resident).

 

[OhCanadiana]

However, I checked again today and it said issued.

Excellent news! You must be very happy.

Hopefully the rest of the info helps others out in the future who want to transit through the US to land.