Canada's visa process is not necessarily easier. Besides, not all of Canada's Embassies / Consulates provide visa services. For instance, Canada has a big Embassy in The Hague (Netherlands), but they don't do visas there, so my (Brazilian) colleague living in The Hague had to travel all the way to Berlin (!) to apply for a visa.

I am told YVR does no longer have transit facilities and all passengers need to clear Canadian immigration / customs.

In my experience (travelling as many times to the US as to Canada), both immigration / customs services are a PITA. Sometimes, it is just a quick series of questions (reason of visit?, how long are you staying?) in both countries, but more often you get the third degree in the USA _and_ Canada.

Unless he was a case that specifically required an interview, there was no need to TRAVEL to Berlin to get the visa - he could have just as easily sent it by mail - an option that is simply not available for a United States visa.

http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canadae...ocedure-en.asp

Well, he needed the visa within a week, and the only option the Canadian Embassy gave him was to travel to Berlin.

Oh no, really? In the past, passengers going from MEX to NRT on the JL MEX-YVR-NRT flight were put in a sterile area of YVR without needing to go through immigration & customs. This was the major advantage of this flight vs. connecting somewhere in the US.

You were given bad information in that case. A number of airlines continue to maintain transit facilities through Vancouver - most notably Cathay, Phillipines and JAL.

http://www.yvr.ca/guide/around/connecting.asp

As I understand it, this is only for passengers continuing on the same flight / plane to another international destination.
But if I arrive at YVR on for example KL it used to be possible to stay air-side and fly on another airline to Seattle. This is no longer possible and I am told I will have to clear Canadian immigration / customs.

The 10 million $ question of course is: why can't the US and Canada have sterile international / international transfer zones that almost all other countries / airports have?

http://www.yvr.ca/guide/around/conne...asp?id=int2usa

I will admit that YVR's sterile transit facility tends to maintain highly random hours - it is open whenever it feels like it rather than by a schedule - but it still exists.

Many of those "sterile international/international transfer zones" that other countries have, require transit visas from citizens of non-West Europe/US/Canada - for them, it is just a regular part of making travel plans.

I suspect there aren't enough passengers who wish to avoid staying a few days in US/Canada in between their trip for many airports to have a such a secure area - unlike European or Pacific rim airports, which get many trans-continental passengers.

On another note - yes, it adds another $100 to your trip budget, but its extra security. If the OP wants to do a RTW, why not stay in the US a couple of days in between? - if you are getting the visa anyway.

Edited for typo.

Rubbish. Many countries do not require transit visas if you are connecting international to international (incl same flight continuing).

Also what about european/australian/nz transit pax who now are subjected to fingerprinting? Dont have this anywhere else and dont do it to visitors (or transit pax) in our country so why should US?

I have personally think it should go the other way......all countries should be fingerprinting and I have no problem with being fingerprinted by your country when I visit next year. I dont know if the OP has a problem with the fingerprinting though or just the fact that US transit is well impossible and useless.

I knew that, graraps was asking if any carrier flew from Asia to S. America, I apologize if it didn't follow the routing he/she expected.

Has this question been answered yet? I think everyone's input so far is useless unless the original poster tells us which country issued his/her passport.

Please note that you can currently fly from South America to Asia (not going to North America) with several carriers. Some options I list below:

AR will fly you from EZE to Auckland - you can then go onto Asia proper.

MH will fly you from EZE to KL via South America.

SA will fly you from EZE to South Africa, you can then take SQ or a ton of other carriers to Asia.

RG will fly your from EZE and Brazil to Asia, transpac or transatlantic, no US connection needed.

Qantas was also doing EZE-Sydney flights, I dont know if these have been discontinued though.....

Im sure there are a couple of more options that Im not listing here.... and dont forget the european connection possibilities...

AR was supposed to have launched EZE-China service via Europe. I think AR wanted to use ZRH but couldn't get the rights. Any further news on this?

I'm sorry that you got misinformation, but the US indeed has transit visas. They're called C-1 visas. Here are some links:

http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/co1/wwwsc092.shtml
http://faq.visapro.com/C1-Visa-FAQ3.asp#Q5

There's a catch. The application process for these visas is pretty much the same. The transit visa has the same cost as a regular B1/B2 (business/tourist) visa and both require an interview. B1/B2 visas are much more flexible, and assuming that you qualify for a 10 year multiple-entry B1/B2 visa, I'd go for that. I'm pretty sure that C-1's can be issued as multiple entry too. I'd expect the interview for a C-1 visa to be a little easier than the interview for a B1/B2 visa, but YMMV.

- notam

I'm Greek. Does it make any difference?