Change to Automatic Visa Re validation since Oct 2017 and Impact
- Thread starter canacani
- Start date
Hey DEEPCUR,
What was the issue you faced and you had to go through all this stuff like inspection site !!! I thought you had smooth landing back to US via Windsor. Please help to understand, I have to do AVR because my passport is expired and need to activate PR before June.
I didn't face any issue. After AVR, I didn't get new i94 online. So my company attorney suggested to visit deferred CBP inspection site and get it fixed. So I went there and they issued me a new i94. However, it is not required. New i94 is purely officer's discretion. We went to fix our dependents' i94 in a different state, and they said we won't be getting a new i94, and petition i94 would be our new i94. It was no issue, but seemed complicated because my company attorney pushed me to get it fixed.
My Landing Experience: I reached Canada border @ Peace Bridge on the 1st of March 2018.
There was a blizzard that day, so a 3.5 hr. journey turned out to be a 9 hr. drive. I told the lady at the booth that I am here to do my landing for the PR. She jokingly said "And you decided to do it in this storm"
I told her that I had it planned 2 months ahead and had applied for leaves. She asked if I am importing my car. To which I answered no, it’s a rental. She was skeptical about this and her opinion was that I cannot take a car. She directed me to the office and gave me a slip which said “Rental Car??". When I entered the building there were very few officers and one of the lady officer said that we cannot do the landing today since there is no one to do that. I asked her, where I should go now. Then she called up someone and said that we will try. Since she was new at this, she was okay to do whatever I was asking for. She processed everything and then I asked her about the GTF list.
She took that list and I showed her the pictures of gold. The officer sitting next to her took a look at the pictures and said that, they are a lot of pictures and the gold should be evaluated. He said that he is impressed with the documentation but since the gold is not evaluated, they will just take the value and when I bring the gold with the estimation done; I should be good and won’t have to pay any tax on that list of items.
I had written some items on the form and for some I had created an excel.eg: I had written $30000 gold, details in excel and photos. In the excel I had mentioned each item.
For small electronics, I had written "Small Electronics" $3000 CAD. I feel that I should have created an excel with all the small electronics and kitchen appliances, like Routers, Kitchen Aid Mixer, Instant Pot etc. I feel that I should have created another excel with the details of all the items which I missed and would suggest others to do so.
The officer was new and even though I told her that I am returning back to US, she still took my Canadian address for PR. I have heard cases where they say that they will send the PR when we move for good.
I also received a receipt with the total value of items and tax which was 0 dollars. She also stamped my excel with the list of gold items.
My AVR experience: I have an expired Visa (Expired in July 2017) and my wife also has an expired Visa (Sept 2013). We have renewed passports. Mine does have a stamp and my wife’s doesn’t, both are on H1B.
I reached the booth around 7:30PM and the officer said that the VISA is not valid. I told him that I have a renewed petition. He said that since there is no stamp on the new passport and the new passport had never been stamped with a US entry, I should go in and get the passport with an entry stamp. He took my passport and directed me to the secondary. The passport was later brought in by one of their officers.
When I was called, the officer told me that I cannot enter since I do not have a valid Visa. I told him that I will be using AVR today. He said that your wife’s Visa expired 5 yrs. ago, not sure if you can enter. He went to his supervisor and came back and called me again. He said your wife can enter but he was not sure how I was still on H1B after 7 yrs. in US. I told him that I have an approved I140 (my green card is in process). My extension is based on the approved I140. He said, “Okay, that makes sense”. Then he said that the officer at the booth should have let us in since we have valid I94’s and we didn’t have to come for secondary, but since we came in, he asked, if we need new I94’s. I told him that he can do whatever he thinks is best, I was good with any option. I just wanted to be out of that building (I didn’t say this to himJ). Although I believe that with AVR, you don’t need a new I94. (My personal opinion)
He then issued new I94’s and we were out in 30-35mins.
I have my passport stamped with the entry date in US, the new I94 and the I94 is available online as well. The new I94 was available the same night. I also tried to link the PR card with my application the same night within a couple of hours and it worked after a couple of times. The place of birth being entered should be exactly same as the application; else it’s hard to link.
My suggestion for the landing:
Prepare you GTF form with some details, like electronics and value and then in an excel, mention all the electronics. I did prepare a list of gold items but now I feel that I should have prepared a list of all the electronics as well. The officer himself suggested that put the values on the higher side so that I do not have to pay any tax later on when I am bringing them in.
Edit 1:
During Landing: The lady officer asked me, how much Cash I am carrying. I had less than $1500 CAD so she asked for Proof of Funds. I showed her my bank statement and she was okay.
She also asked me, why was I doing my landing now and not when I am permanently moving. I told her that the visa issued to me expires on April 3rd, 2018 and I wont be able to pack up and move from US by that time.
Edit 2:
In my opinion, if the officer at the booth allows you to enter without issuing you a new I94, then please do not request for a new I94, else you will be send to secondary and there will be tons of questions. the I-94 on the extension is totally valid so no need for a new I94. Also if you later on feel that there is a need for a new I-94 then you can go to a local Border Protection office(they are usually located near airports) and they will issue you a new I-94
There was a blizzard that day, so a 3.5 hr. journey turned out to be a 9 hr. drive. I told the lady at the booth that I am here to do my landing for the PR. She jokingly said "And you decided to do it in this storm"
I told her that I had it planned 2 months ahead and had applied for leaves. She asked if I am importing my car. To which I answered no, it’s a rental. She was skeptical about this and her opinion was that I cannot take a car. She directed me to the office and gave me a slip which said “Rental Car??". When I entered the building there were very few officers and one of the lady officer said that we cannot do the landing today since there is no one to do that. I asked her, where I should go now. Then she called up someone and said that we will try. Since she was new at this, she was okay to do whatever I was asking for. She processed everything and then I asked her about the GTF list.She took that list and I showed her the pictures of gold. The officer sitting next to her took a look at the pictures and said that, they are a lot of pictures and the gold should be evaluated. He said that he is impressed with the documentation but since the gold is not evaluated, they will just take the value and when I bring the gold with the estimation done; I should be good and won’t have to pay any tax on that list of items.
I had written some items on the form and for some I had created an excel.eg: I had written $30000 gold, details in excel and photos. In the excel I had mentioned each item.
For small electronics, I had written "Small Electronics" $3000 CAD. I feel that I should have created an excel with all the small electronics and kitchen appliances, like Routers, Kitchen Aid Mixer, Instant Pot etc. I feel that I should have created another excel with the details of all the items which I missed and would suggest others to do so.
The officer was new and even though I told her that I am returning back to US, she still took my Canadian address for PR. I have heard cases where they say that they will send the PR when we move for good.
I also received a receipt with the total value of items and tax which was 0 dollars. She also stamped my excel with the list of gold items.
My AVR experience: I have an expired Visa (Expired in July 2017) and my wife also has an expired Visa (Sept 2013). We have renewed passports. Mine does have a stamp and my wife’s doesn’t, both are on H1B.
I reached the booth around 7:30PM and the officer said that the VISA is not valid. I told him that I have a renewed petition. He said that since there is no stamp on the new passport and the new passport had never been stamped with a US entry, I should go in and get the passport with an entry stamp. He took my passport and directed me to the secondary. The passport was later brought in by one of their officers.
When I was called, the officer told me that I cannot enter since I do not have a valid Visa. I told him that I will be using AVR today. He said that your wife’s Visa expired 5 yrs. ago, not sure if you can enter. He went to his supervisor and came back and called me again. He said your wife can enter but he was not sure how I was still on H1B after 7 yrs. in US. I told him that I have an approved I140 (my green card is in process). My extension is based on the approved I140. He said, “Okay, that makes sense”. Then he said that the officer at the booth should have let us in since we have valid I94’s and we didn’t have to come for secondary, but since we came in, he asked, if we need new I94’s. I told him that he can do whatever he thinks is best, I was good with any option. I just wanted to be out of that building (I didn’t say this to himJ). Although I believe that with AVR, you don’t need a new I94. (My personal opinion)
He then issued new I94’s and we were out in 30-35mins.
I have my passport stamped with the entry date in US, the new I94 and the I94 is available online as well. The new I94 was available the same night. I also tried to link the PR card with my application the same night within a couple of hours and it worked after a couple of times. The place of birth being entered should be exactly same as the application; else it’s hard to link.
My suggestion for the landing:
Prepare you GTF form with some details, like electronics and value and then in an excel, mention all the electronics. I did prepare a list of gold items but now I feel that I should have prepared a list of all the electronics as well. The officer himself suggested that put the values on the higher side so that I do not have to pay any tax later on when I am bringing them in.
Edit 1:
During Landing: The lady officer asked me, how much Cash I am carrying. I had less than $1500 CAD so she asked for Proof of Funds. I showed her my bank statement and she was okay.
She also asked me, why was I doing my landing now and not when I am permanently moving. I told her that the visa issued to me expires on April 3rd, 2018 and I wont be able to pack up and move from US by that time.
Edit 2:
In my opinion, if the officer at the booth allows you to enter without issuing you a new I94, then please do not request for a new I94, else you will be send to secondary and there will be tons of questions. the I-94 on the extension is totally valid so no need for a new I94. Also if you later on feel that there is a need for a new I-94 then you can go to a local Border Protection office(they are usually located near airports) and they will issue you a new I-94
Congrats on successful landing. Does this mean that you need to go back with appraisal from jeweler and get it stamped before you move your goods?
Hi, do you know why they are pushing for new i-94 while using the AVR? My wife will use AVR for her F1 and the university is insisting to get new i-94 by explicitly asking the CBP officer.
Even I'm not sure of that. Probably attorney didn't know what actually need to be the case. The paralegal with whom I dealt had to discuss this with his firm's senior attorney finally on this, and said new i94 is not needed and it is totally at the discretion of the officer.
Requesting new i94 is good idea, but if they say you don't need one, then you may not be able to insist beyond that.
Many people in this forum who regularly used AVR confirmed that they didn't get new i94, but just travel history update.
Question about Automatic Revalidation of Visa
Firstly, I am immensely thankful to everyone for sharing their experience and suggestions for others in this forum. I have mostly been following the posts until the point now where I have a question myself and I was required to post this message. Can you please go through the following points and share your thoughts on the same?
1. I have a valid H1B petition with my I-94 till 17 June 2018 (H1B visa expired on Sep 2015). My company is in the process of initiating my extension. However, I have an approved COPR (Confirmation of Permanent Residence) for Canada and I have to appear physically at a Canadian Port of Entry along with my family before 28 June 2018 to complete my PR formalities.
After completing the PR formalities, I want to enter USA on the same day. Is it possible to re-enter US via the "Automatic revalidation of a Nonimmigrant Visa" process and use the valid I94 on my petition instead of my expired visa? At this point, I can legally resume my work in the US upon entry if admitted as my petition is valid? Does it influence the admission into the US if
a. the petition for extension has been filed or
b. if the petition for extension has not been filed
2. My wife has a valid H1B petition and I-94 till Oct 2018 (H1B visa expired on Sep 2015). However, we had applied for a Change of Status (H1
to H4 via I-539) on 20-Nov-2017 and it is still in progress. Now, in order to complete the PR formalities, she would also need to accompany me to Canada and return on the same day. I have the following questions:
1. Is she eligible to be readmitted to the USA via the "Automatic revalidation of a Nonimmigrant visa" process?
2. Is her current I-94 on the H1B Petition still valid and can it be used in order to enter US via the "Automatic revalidation of a Nonimmigrant visa" process (since her H4 has not been approved yet)?
Firstly, I am immensely thankful to everyone for sharing their experience and suggestions for others in this forum. I have mostly been following the posts until the point now where I have a question myself and I was required to post this message. Can you please go through the following points and share your thoughts on the same?
1. I have a valid H1B petition with my I-94 till 17 June 2018 (H1B visa expired on Sep 2015). My company is in the process of initiating my extension. However, I have an approved COPR (Confirmation of Permanent Residence) for Canada and I have to appear physically at a Canadian Port of Entry along with my family before 28 June 2018 to complete my PR formalities.
After completing the PR formalities, I want to enter USA on the same day. Is it possible to re-enter US via the "Automatic revalidation of a Nonimmigrant Visa" process and use the valid I94 on my petition instead of my expired visa? At this point, I can legally resume my work in the US upon entry if admitted as my petition is valid? Does it influence the admission into the US if
a. the petition for extension has been filed or
b. if the petition for extension has not been filed
2. My wife has a valid H1B petition and I-94 till Oct 2018 (H1B visa expired on Sep 2015). However, we had applied for a Change of Status (H1
to H4 via I-539) on 20-Nov-2017 and it is still in progress. Now, in order to complete the PR formalities, she would also need to accompany me to Canada and return on the same day. I have the following questions:
1. Is she eligible to be readmitted to the USA via the "Automatic revalidation of a Nonimmigrant visa" process?
2. Is her current I-94 on the H1B Petition still valid and can it be used in order to enter US via the "Automatic revalidation of a Nonimmigrant visa" process (since her H4 has not been approved yet)?
My Landing Experience: I reached Canada border @ Peace Bridge on the 1st of March 2018.
There was a blizzard that day, so a 3.5 hr. journey turned out to be a 9 hr. drive. I told the lady at the booth that I am here to do my landing for the PR. She jokingly said "And you decided to do it in this storm"
She took that list and I showed her the pictures of gold. The officer sitting next to her took a look at the pictures and said that, they are a lot of pictures and the gold should be evaluated. He said that he is impressed with the documentation but since the gold is not evaluated, they will just take the value and when I bring the gold with the estimation done; I should be good and won’t have to pay any tax on that list of items.
I had written some items on the form and for some I had created an excel.eg: I had written $30000 gold, details in excel and photos. In the excel I had mentioned each item.
For small electronics, I had written "Small Electronics" $3000 CAD. I feel that I should have created an excel with all the small electronics and kitchen appliances, like Routers, Kitchen Aid Mixer, Instant Pot etc. I feel that I should have created another excel with the details of all the items which I missed and would suggest others to do so.
The officer was new and even though I told her that I am returning back to US, she still took my Canadian address for PR. I have heard cases where they say that they will send the PR when we move for good.
I also received a receipt with the total value of items and tax which was 0 dollars. She also stamped my excel with the list of gold items.
My AVR experience: I have an expired Visa (Expired in July 2017) and my wife also has an expired Visa (Sept 2013). We have renewed passports. Mine does have a stamp and my wife’s doesn’t, both are on H1B.
I reached the booth around 7:30PM and the officer said that the VISA is not valid. I told him that I have a renewed petition. He said that since there is no stamp on the new passport and the new passport had never been stamped with a US entry, I should go in and get the passport with an entry stamp. He took my passport and directed me to the secondary. The passport was later brought in by one of their officers.
When I was called, the officer told me that I cannot enter since I do not have a valid Visa. I told him that I will be using AVR today. He said that your wife’s Visa expired 5 yrs. ago, not sure if you can enter. He went to his supervisor and came back and called me again. He said your wife can enter but he was not sure how I was still on H1B after 7 yrs. in US. I told him that I have an approved I140 (my green card is in process). My extension is based on the approved I140. He said, “Okay, that makes sense”. Then he said that the officer at the booth should have let us in since we have valid I94’s and we didn’t have to come for secondary, but since we came in, he asked, if we need new I94’s. I told him that he can do whatever he thinks is best, I was good with any option. I just wanted to be out of that building (I didn’t say this to himJ). Although I believe that with AVR, you don’t need a new I94. (My personal opinion)
He then issued new I94’s and we were out in 30-35mins.
I have my passport stamped with the entry date in US, the new I94 and the I94 is available online as well. The new I94 was available the same night. I also tried to link the PR card with my application the same night within a couple of hours and it worked after a couple of times. The place of birth being entered should be exactly same as the application; else it’s hard to link.
My suggestion for the landing:
Prepare you GTF form with some details, like electronics and value and then in an excel, mention all the electronics. I did prepare a list of gold items but now I feel that I should have prepared a list of all the electronics as well. The officer himself suggested that put the values on the higher side so that I do not have to pay any tax later on when I am bringing them in.
Edit 1:
During Landing: The lady officer asked me, how much Cash I am carrying. I had less than $1500 CAD so she asked for Proof of Funds. I showed her my bank statement and she was okay.
She also asked me, why was I doing my landing now and not when I am permanently moving. I told her that the visa issued to me expires on April 3rd, 2018 and I wont be able to pack up and move from US by that time.
Edit 2:
In my opinion, if the officer at the booth allows you to enter without issuing you a new I94, then please do not request for a new I94, else you will be send to secondary and there will be tons of questions. the I-94 on the extension is totally valid so no need for a new I94. Also if you later on feel that there is a need for a new I-94 then you can go to a local Border Protection office(they are usually located near airports) and they will issue you a new I-94
Very useful detailed information, thanks and appreciate it.
So you returned 'same day'..and did you apply SSN ?
Also curious to know if you carried CAD cash or USD cash and was your statements from US bank..?
thanks,
Hi DEEPCUR,
Thank you for directing me to this thread. I'm on my F1 OPT Extension and my H1-B petition has been picked in the lottery. My Visa stamp on the passport will be expiring on May 30th and I have valid work visa till Feb, 2019. Can I do a soft landing in Vancouver and come back to USA? Will my pending petition not allow me to accomplish this. I don't think my H1-B will be approved pretty soon considering the # of RFE's they are issuing. Please advise.
Pending H1b doesn't matter, you can definitely use your visa to come back after short landing. But do check with your university office too before making travel plans.
You can even do automatic visa revalidation on F1 if the visa gets expired. check this link and the information posted in that site..
- https://www.ice.gov/sevis/travel
I wish to travel to Canada, Mexico, or one of the islands adjacent to the United States. Can I return if my visa is expired?
Yes, in most cases. You can usually revalidate an expired visa automatically when returning from a visit of less than thirty days to Canada, Mexico, or one of the islands adjacent to the United States provided that you have a valid Form I-20 and a valid unexpired Form I-94. This process is known as automatic visa revalidation.
I'm not sure what document you get with i94 as a proof of extension of status like H1 holders get i797a. Just carry that along with i20, and discuss it with your university before heading out. But it is definitely possible to do this for your circumstances.
Did you request for new i94 for your wife while coming like you had mentioned?
Hi DEEPCUR,
Thank you so much for your reply. In the case of F1, we do not get an i94 with an expiry date. It just states D/S which means that Duration of Status. I have read some articles regarding this and it means that - D/S on your Form I-94/admissions stamp means that you may remain in the United States so long as you maintain your nonimmigrant student status, which includes finishing your program by the program date listed on your Form I-20, "Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Status." If you need more time to finish your program or want to apply for a post-completion training opportunity, work with your DSO to print an updated Form I-20.
I have done some more research on pending petition for H1-B and it states that my H1 won't start until I get my visa stamped from a consulate, since I had travelled outside of USA, when my petition was in processing stage. Any idea about this. It is basically Consular visa processing for Change of Status.
Okay, as I said earlier, I don't much idea on how things work for F1. Given that AVR is possible for F1, if you know what you need, then good.
Regarding change of status, you are absolutely right. If it is consular processing, you have nothing to worry about. Until you get stamped and enter as H1, your status will remain F1. That also means you can do your landing even after October or petition approval.