@starlordavuthu : Sorry, just to clarify, did you mean that we can enter US from Canada just based on a valid I-797 and without a stamp? My H1B got extended October 2020, but I do not have an updated visa stamp because I couldn't travel to India during Covid. If I go to Canada for soft landing (since CoPR is expiring in July, 2021), then will I be able to return back to US without a valid visa stamp in passport? I know that it is not allowed when entering US from other countries at least (i.e., a valid visa stamp is mandatory, but not sure if returning from Canada is an exception?)
Soft Landing/Moving to Canada
- Thread starter futureCanadian2021
- Start date
Ah, I guess you perhaps meant this - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/visa-expiration-date/auto-revalidate.html ?
Yes, anyone with valid I797 and I94 can re-enter USA without a valid visa in a passport. This is only applicable if you travelled to Canada or Mexico and your stay is 30 days or less.
I personally used this option so it is pretty easy to come back to the states but I am not sure how things are at border with new restrictons and what not.
Hi,
Did you get a COPR extension once before already ? Or is this your first COPR ?
Thank you!
Yesterday i called cbp just for verifying that our visa status is okay to come back, sorry to write it again as u might already be annoyed because of me repeating same stuff.
both of our i94 are valid.
me - visa stamp from old employer until september but with new i797 until next year.
wife - visa stamp until september.
so technically i have a new i94 on my i797 and whatever i94 i download from internet for my wife.
1. The officer was telling that as canada is refusing you to enter and i am returning back, he cant extend the i94/ give a new one. i didnt understand this at all.
2. One of my friend was telling that sometimes the officer could backdate the i94 like in my case even though i have i797 until next year, because i am returning on this old visa stamp valid until september, can the officer make my i94 to be valid only until september. Can this happen?
Thanks in advance
both of our i94 are valid.
me - visa stamp from old employer until september but with new i797 until next year.
wife - visa stamp until september.
so technically i have a new i94 on my i797 and whatever i94 i download from internet for my wife.
1. The officer was telling that as canada is refusing you to enter and i am returning back, he cant extend the i94/ give a new one. i didnt understand this at all.
2. One of my friend was telling that sometimes the officer could backdate the i94 like in my case even though i have i797 until next year, because i am returning on this old visa stamp valid until september, can the officer make my i94 to be valid only until september. Can this happen?
Thanks in advance
Yes it can happen, mostly it is upto CBP officer's discretion. Try explaining this to the officer and show your new I797 and hope for the best.
thank you i actually did the same today and was so nervous but finally everything was good with the soft landing attempt.
Thats great. They are going to ease US-Canada border restrictions soon so it will be even easier to do soft landings.
Hi Sowsiv,
I am glad everything went smoothly for you! Please can you share your experience more ? Did they allow you to do a U-turn ?
I am attempting my soft landing in middle of June at Niagara falls as well. I am on F1 CPT and so I am a bit nervous about getting back into US afterwards. To avoid car rental issues if I am dont get back into U.S., I am planning to just walk across the Rainbow bridge with AirBnb booked in Niagara town on Ontario side for quarantine. Do you see any issues with walking across the bridge ?
Thanks!!
Feel free to travel by a rental car on CPT. Make sure you have the required signature. I did travel on OPT by road and had no issues.
Thanks for the reply. I am actually on day 1 CPT (after completing OPT before).
Actually, I am on day 1 CPT (after completing my OPT though). I have read other people mention issues with traveling with day 1 CPT.
hello all,
First of all this forum was so helpful for all the insights and info which helped for my soft-landing experience. Thank you all for your time in answering queries. i really appreciate it. Now wanted to share our timeline and process and i will try to share extensively so that someone can get benefited from it.,
date: 15-may-2021, copr getting expired 19-may-2021
statuses:
me - valid h1b stamp with old employer until september and i797 with new employer until next 12/22.
wife - h4 valid visa stamp until september as of old employer. we havent started the h4 extension yet and we also have our US born baby.
We three reached the US border before taking the bridge, for some reason the gate was open and we didn't need to pay for the toll. crossed bridge, and reached canada by 12:30 to realize only single gate open and there are so many cars waiting as this was lunch break or something.
some officers changed their shift after a while we went to the gate,
officer - bonjour?
me- hello officer, we are confirmed permanent residents and here to finish the landing procedure.
officer - okay, are you planning to move today?
me - no sir, we will be moving later this year, but our copr is getting expired in 4 days and wanted to complete the landing procedure. We also booked airbnb in case of mandatory quarantine, but it will be great if we are let to turn back.
officer - what? for how many days did you book airbnb?
me - 14 days.
officer - you dont have to quarantine if you are not coming to canada. if you are returning back you can go ahead and we are not forcing you to quarantine.
me - thank you sir
officer - what do you have in car?
me - luggage and baby food for the stay
officer - any weapons or such?
me - no, just a pair of dumbells
officer - oh, yeah that can be used as a weapon nowadays haha. you are fine. did you fill gtf?
me - i took the printout but not sure what to fill in it. but i can fill it now.
officer - the officers inside will let you fill it.
He gave me a yellow slip along with other documents and asked me to go to the customs office.
Inside the office:
took my papers, covid test reports and verified those. Asked me if I am filling out the GTF list, and he told me to bring the car details, like title, registration and odometer readings. I went back to parking lot and got the papers, and he verified those and told me to not worry about the GTF right now as he thought by the time we actually move things could change on the GTF list. so he gave me a gtf form which has all the options striked off in the bottom other than 'settler' section.
He entered the date and address on the form and told me to use it whenever I am permanently moving in.
He told me he can't take my cousin's canadian address, neither my usa address to send out the pr cards (but not sure why he took my driver's license in the end). He told me in order to move permanently i have to come by road. By that time, i was okay with anything to complete the landing process so didn't ask much from him.
The process got completed and we were shown the way to uturn. I can say the officers were so friendly both at the booth and also at the office.
US side:
I was so nervous about the US side, and the officer at the booth took our passports.
me - hello, we went to canada to complete the landing procedure like less than 3 hours ago.
officer - your i94 ends september, until then if you are travelling you have to carry both visa+i797 everywhere. if you would like, we can update the i94 for you. and your wife's i94 is good for september.
me - yes sir, we are planning to initiate the extension in june, we thought of going to india but due to covid didn't do it.
asked us to follow him to the office, parked outside. another officer came to me and asked me to come inside. took my fingerprints, and asked my profession and not sure why asked me to call my wife to the office.
My wife went inside and came saying they took their fingerprints too.
This part I didn't understand, he handed us the passports where a new slip is stapled saying my name and i94 date to be until next year. so basically my i94 got extended. But the same was done for my wife's passport too. Is this normal?
Now, after we came back and checked i94 dates, both of our 'admit until date' is displayed 12/2022.
First of all this forum was so helpful for all the insights and info which helped for my soft-landing experience. Thank you all for your time in answering queries. i really appreciate it. Now wanted to share our timeline and process and i will try to share extensively so that someone can get benefited from it.,
date: 15-may-2021, copr getting expired 19-may-2021
statuses:
me - valid h1b stamp with old employer until september and i797 with new employer until next 12/22.
wife - h4 valid visa stamp until september as of old employer. we havent started the h4 extension yet and we also have our US born baby.
We three reached the US border before taking the bridge, for some reason the gate was open and we didn't need to pay for the toll. crossed bridge, and reached canada by 12:30 to realize only single gate open and there are so many cars waiting as this was lunch break or something.
some officers changed their shift after a while we went to the gate,
officer - bonjour?
me- hello officer, we are confirmed permanent residents and here to finish the landing procedure.
officer - okay, are you planning to move today?
me - no sir, we will be moving later this year, but our copr is getting expired in 4 days and wanted to complete the landing procedure. We also booked airbnb in case of mandatory quarantine, but it will be great if we are let to turn back.
officer - what? for how many days did you book airbnb?
me - 14 days.
officer - you dont have to quarantine if you are not coming to canada. if you are returning back you can go ahead and we are not forcing you to quarantine.
me - thank you sir
officer - what do you have in car?
me - luggage and baby food for the stay
officer - any weapons or such?
me - no, just a pair of dumbells
officer - oh, yeah that can be used as a weapon nowadays haha. you are fine. did you fill gtf?
me - i took the printout but not sure what to fill in it. but i can fill it now.
officer - the officers inside will let you fill it.
He gave me a yellow slip along with other documents and asked me to go to the customs office.
Inside the office:
took my papers, covid test reports and verified those. Asked me if I am filling out the GTF list, and he told me to bring the car details, like title, registration and odometer readings. I went back to parking lot and got the papers, and he verified those and told me to not worry about the GTF right now as he thought by the time we actually move things could change on the GTF list. so he gave me a gtf form which has all the options striked off in the bottom other than 'settler' section.
He entered the date and address on the form and told me to use it whenever I am permanently moving in.
He told me he can't take my cousin's canadian address, neither my usa address to send out the pr cards (but not sure why he took my driver's license in the end). He told me in order to move permanently i have to come by road. By that time, i was okay with anything to complete the landing process so didn't ask much from him.
The process got completed and we were shown the way to uturn. I can say the officers were so friendly both at the booth and also at the office.
US side:
I was so nervous about the US side, and the officer at the booth took our passports.
me - hello, we went to canada to complete the landing procedure like less than 3 hours ago.
officer - your i94 ends september, until then if you are travelling you have to carry both visa+i797 everywhere. if you would like, we can update the i94 for you. and your wife's i94 is good for september.
me - yes sir, we are planning to initiate the extension in june, we thought of going to india but due to covid didn't do it.
asked us to follow him to the office, parked outside. another officer came to me and asked me to come inside. took my fingerprints, and asked my profession and not sure why asked me to call my wife to the office.
My wife went inside and came saying they took their fingerprints too.
This part I didn't understand, he handed us the passports where a new slip is stapled saying my name and i94 date to be until next year. so basically my i94 got extended. But the same was done for my wife's passport too. Is this normal?
Now, after we came back and checked i94 dates, both of our 'admit until date' is displayed 12/2022.
thanks for details. Couple of questions:
1) did you fill arrive canada app?
2) did they tell how will you recieve your PR CARDS? Whats procedure for PR Crds?
3) did you carry any new photos?
4)did you use you car or rental car?
5) what all documents you carried for cbsa and cbp?
Thanks in advance..
Thanks buddy .. for so much detailed information.. just one question.. since u were not issued PR cards.. and your copr expired... how can you cross tge border again via land.. can you explain.. this.. Can we use our expired copr to cross border... pleaaw if u know answer to this question..
1) No i havent
2) no because they mentioned i have to move permanantly to give the canadian address for pr cards. i am in a similar situation as people here : https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/softanding-complete-permanent-residency-actiavted-but-pr-card-not-issued.726898/
3) No
4) Own car paid off the loan. have title and registration on my name.
5) pretty much basics.
cbsa- bank statements, covid tests, marriage certificates, birth cerificate for baby, not required but found the docs which i used for application like police clearance and etc. officer only asked covid tests and copr docs. asked me about balance in bank but never bothered to check bank statements. ggood guy
cbp- i797 old and new, paystubs etc.