Can I apply for a Canadian visitor visa in the US with an expired US F-1 visa and an valid I-20?

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Accepted answer

There are two things you need to be aware of with American student F-1 visas: 1. Your F-1 visa (in your passport) expiration date 2. Your I-20 validity

Your F-1 visa (in your passport) is your permission to present yourself at a port and request to enter the USA. If it is expired, you cannot enter the USA. The immigration officer will also want to see your I-20 form which also needs to be valid. Once you enter, your passport will be stamped "D/S" which means that you are valid for the "duration of status" which is controlled by your I-20.

Your I-20 form determines whether you still have valid status in the USA. If you leave your program (whether by graduating, getting expelled, etc.), your I-20 loses status and you have to leave the USA even if your F1 visa is still not yet expired.

So there are a couple of variations:

  1. F-1 valid and I-20 valid: you are in status and can enter and leave the USA freely
  2. F-1 expired and I-20 valid: you are in status while in the USA but cannot re-enter the USA if you leave without getting a new F-1
  3. F-1 valid and I-20 invalid: you are out of status and need to fix your I-20 status or leave immediately
  4. F-1 expired and I-20 invalid: well, duh.

Re-reading your original question, it appears you are in situation #2 (F-1 expired; I-20 valid), which means that you're legally in status while in the USA but that you cannot re-enter if you leave.

Phoog points out that an F1 student with an expired F1 but valid I20 should be re-enterable after a short trip to Canada under automatic revalidation but the Canadian agent processing your visa request may not be aware of this so I would include a printout in your visa application as well as with you when you try to enter Canada. They may still deny your visa on other grounds though.

In the long run, you need to get a new F-1 and you can only get those out of country. Theoretically, you could set up an appointment at an USA consulate in Canada and get a new F-1 there, but......

a. Consulates tend to only want to deal with citizens and residents of the country they're in (Canadians and Canadian permanent residents) and so they may decide not to handle your case and might tell you to do this in your home country.

b. because of the risk of the USA embassy in Canada not renewing your F-1 visa and allowing you back, the Canadian border agency (either when you apply for the visa or at the port of entry) may decide not to allow you to enter Canada as you would be really screwed if the American embassy screwed you.

tl;dr: Best to get a new F-1 by going back to your home country but looks like a short trip to Canada is exempt but not all agents will know so keep a copy of the policy. Even then, they may decide to not let you into their country.

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