I successfully completed my soft landing with my wife on December 10 at Peace Bridge and entered back using AVR. I am on H1b visa which got renewed earlier this year and my wife is on H4 dependent visa. My h1b stamp on passport has expired. Following is my experience:
Canada side:
Entered the Canada side of Peace Bridge and officer at the post asked me the purpose of the visit. I mentioned I am here for my PR stamping and planning to return back today itself to U.S. Officer asked why I am not moving today and going back. I explained due to the pandemic I would like to move later in the summer. Officer wasn't sure and looked a bit confused so he confirmed by asking "you want to move to Canada but at your own convenience, is that correct?". I replied yes. I was given a yellow slip and was asked to park and enter the building with my documents.
Inside the building another officer asked me the purpose and I had to explain why I am not moving today and planning to return back. I told due to covid my current employer doesn't allow to work from Canada. She seemed to be fine with that. Asked me the GTF and I told her I won't be submitting anything today. She told me I won't be able to submit it again in future. I was fine with that. I handed over the Copr, passports and bank statements as financial proof. Officer told me I won't be getting a pr card as they are not delivering to other addresses these days. Copr was stamped and stapled to the passport and I took a U-turn and started driving towards the U.S side.
Nobody at the Canadian side seemed to have any issue with the soft-landing even though its not officially allowed. All the officers were nice.
U.S side:
At the U.S side I was asked to handover passports. They asked the country of citizenship. I mentioned we are returning back using AVR and passed over i-797. Officer asked the duration of our visit to Canada and the purpose. I answered 20 minutes and wanted to get my Canadian pr stamped. I was also asked where I live and what I do. They took my passports and asked to park in front of a building and wait inside for a new stamping on the passport. They called my name inside and asked if I wanted to get paper i-94 which makes things more convenient for the officers. I agreed to that and paid 6$s per i-94 printout. They stamped and stapled the paper i-94 to my passport and we were all set to go. Again, officers were quite familiar with the AVR process.
The entire process took not more than one hour.
Canada side:
Entered the Canada side of Peace Bridge and officer at the post asked me the purpose of the visit. I mentioned I am here for my PR stamping and planning to return back today itself to U.S. Officer asked why I am not moving today and going back. I explained due to the pandemic I would like to move later in the summer. Officer wasn't sure and looked a bit confused so he confirmed by asking "you want to move to Canada but at your own convenience, is that correct?". I replied yes. I was given a yellow slip and was asked to park and enter the building with my documents.
Inside the building another officer asked me the purpose and I had to explain why I am not moving today and planning to return back. I told due to covid my current employer doesn't allow to work from Canada. She seemed to be fine with that. Asked me the GTF and I told her I won't be submitting anything today. She told me I won't be able to submit it again in future. I was fine with that. I handed over the Copr, passports and bank statements as financial proof. Officer told me I won't be getting a pr card as they are not delivering to other addresses these days. Copr was stamped and stapled to the passport and I took a U-turn and started driving towards the U.S side.
Nobody at the Canadian side seemed to have any issue with the soft-landing even though its not officially allowed. All the officers were nice.
U.S side:
At the U.S side I was asked to handover passports. They asked the country of citizenship. I mentioned we are returning back using AVR and passed over i-797. Officer asked the duration of our visit to Canada and the purpose. I answered 20 minutes and wanted to get my Canadian pr stamped. I was also asked where I live and what I do. They took my passports and asked to park in front of a building and wait inside for a new stamping on the passport. They called my name inside and asked if I wanted to get paper i-94 which makes things more convenient for the officers. I agreed to that and paid 6$s per i-94 printout. They stamped and stapled the paper i-94 to my passport and we were all set to go. Again, officers were quite familiar with the AVR process.
The entire process took not more than one hour.
