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Visitor Visa for self and parents from US - Experience

stackystack

Full Member
Dec 21, 2016
46
16
Hi folks,
I read this forum a couple of times before submitting my application, thought I would share my experience as well.

Profile:
I have been working in the US from past 10 years and I was a grad student for 2 years prior to that. This was the first time I applied for a Canadian Visa.

I won't go into the whole detailed timeline but like most have said here in the past, it took around 2 weeks to get my passport back in my hand from the date of online application submission.

Documents supplied:
1. Pay stubs from past 6 months
2. Employer Letter mentioning title and annual salary
3. Bank statements from past 6 months
4. Itinerary (Tentative) - I have seen people talking about attaching return tickets, hotel bookings and what not. I didn't attach a single such thing. Simply typed a signed letter addressing to the consulate mentioning my probable dates and hotel addresses. I still haven't booked anything.
5. Letter of Purpose - H1B stamping/Tourism and I mentioned I haven't booked a slot yet.

Now, on to the second part, my parents:
My parents are visiting me in the US these days and they decided that they would possibly like to join me on my trip. Without much hope (as they don't have any documents with them besides their passports), I submitted their application with me being the representative. In the letter of purpose, I mentioned that they are visiting me and lacking most of the documents because of no prior plans for Canada. I took sole responsibility of their trip along with the insurance.

Documents Attached:
Exactly the same set of documents mentioned above besides their own passports. Within 4 days, they got their passport submission request. As of this writing, their passports are in transit through USPS to my house.

I hope this helps anyone who is in a similar situation.

PS: One thing that worked in my parents favor could be their US visa. This is their 5th trip to US in the last 9 years.
 

Vivaronaldo

Full Member
Feb 20, 2016
22
0
My H1B visa is currently being extended (first one expired few months ago). I also have a valid Canadian TRV until 2019. Would you happen to know if I could go to Canada to get my H1B stamped once it gets approved? Or would it be a concern at entry since my actual H1b has expired and I would only be carrying the approval notice with me in order to get the visa stamped. Thanks.
 

stackystack

Full Member
Dec 21, 2016
46
16
Vivaronaldo said:
My H1B visa is currently being extended (first one expired few months ago). I also have a valid Canadian TRV until 2019. Would you happen to know if I could go to Canada to get my H1B stamped once it gets approved? Or would it be a concern at entry since my actual H1b has expired and I would only be carrying the approval notice with me in order to get the visa stamped. Thanks.
You can most definitely travel. Visa and Status are two different things anyway.
 

tonmyot7

Newbie
Dec 9, 2016
3
0
stackystack said:
Hi folks,
I read this forum a couple of times before submitting my application, thought I would share my experience as well.

Profile:
I have been working in the US from past 10 years and I was a grad student for 2 years prior to that. This was the first time I applied for a Canadian Visa.

I won't go into the whole detailed timeline but like most have said here in the past, it took around 2 weeks to get my passport back in my hand from the date of online application submission.

Documents supplied:
1. Pay stubs from past 6 months
2. Employer Letter mentioning title and annual salary
3. Bank statements from past 6 months
4. Itinerary (Tentative) - I have seen people talking about attaching return tickets, hotel bookings and what not. I didn't attach a single such thing. Simply typed a signed letter addressing to the consulate mentioning my probable dates and hotel addresses. I still haven't booked anything.
5. Letter of Purpose - H1B stamping/Tourism and I mentioned I haven't booked a slot yet.

Now, on to the second part, my parents:
My parents are visiting me in the US these days and they decided that they would possibly like to join me on my trip. Without much hope (as they don't have any documents with them besides their passports), I submitted their application with me being the representative. In the letter of purpose, I mentioned that they are visiting me and lacking most of the documents because of no prior plans for Canada. I took sole responsibility of their trip along with the insurance.

Documents Attached:
Exactly the same set of documents mentioned above besides their own passports. Within 4 days, they got their passport submission request. As of this writing, their passports are in transit through USPS to my house.

I hope this helps anyone who is in a similar situation.

PS: One thing that worked in my parents favor could be their US visa. This is their 5th trip to US in the last 9 years.
Could you please tell us when did you submit the application and when did you get the passport request. I applied online TRV on November 4th 2016 but there is no update till now.
 

stackystack

Full Member
Dec 21, 2016
46
16
tonmyot7 said:
Could you please tell us when did you submit the application and when did you get the passport request. I applied online TRV on November 4th 2016 but there is no update till now.
Sure. My application was submitted on Nov 11th, Friday and got the request to submit the passport on following Tuesday, Nov 16th. I submitted my parent's application on Dec 4th, Sunday and got the passport submission request on Dec 12th, Monday.

Feel free to ask any other questions.