Applied for AINP earlier this year, now applying for Student VISA

Hi:

Leon and/or BC Guy, your comments would be particularly appreciated.

We applied for AINP in January this year, under the SRS H1B stream, needless to say after getting the file number the application has not progressed, still waiting on nomination. My wife is the primary applicant.

I have been admitted to the PhD program at the University of Calgary with the start date in January 2010. I am preparing to apply for a Student Visa with the Canadian consulate in the US. I have guaranteed funding for the next four years from the graduate school. I have been continuously residing in the US for the past 11 years, but I am a citizen of India. I have an MBA from a top 3 school in the US and my PhD program is in the business field.

However, I am concerned about the visa processing on the following two fronts:
- How will our PNP app from earlier this year impact the process, because clearly this shows an intent to immigrate permanently which contradicts the purpose of a student visa
- How will I establish ties to my homeland (my parents and my in-laws still live in India and we have some property there, but not much) given that I have lived in the US for more than 11 years

Any suggestions to address these two issues would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,