Transfer US H1B Visa to Canadian Passport or to surrender my Indian citiziten

[perfectBush]

@harirajmohan, Thanks for all the info shared here on this thread for various questions asked by the members.

Please let me know what you suggest for my scenario based on your knowledge and your or your friends experiences
1. I have booked appointment with an US embassy for my H1B and H4 for my dependents. It is only a couple of weeks away. The I797 mentioned COB as India, DS160 used the Indian passport details.
2. Canadian citizenship application has been recently submitted and I am hearing most application are processed quickly these days.

In this scenario, do you see any worth in delaying the US Visa appointment until we get Canadian Citizenship and Canadian passport, if it would then be possible seek stamping on the Canadian passport itself. As my DS160 was already submitted, I don't know if it's even possible, unless I decided to cancel the appointment and loose the visa fees amount. Even if I am ready to cancel the current appointment, I don't know if it is even be possible to use a canadian passport for US visa stamping when the H1B petition approved by USCIS has Indian passport details.

 

[Mum2Can]

Hi @Mum2Can, I am also in the same situation. We will be getting H1B visa for myself and H4 for my family members on Indian passports before we could get the Canadian Citizenship which is in process now. if you already travelled to the US, alone or with family, could you please share your experience and how the process was with H4 dependents? Did your dependents get H4 approval doc from the USCIS or you directly applied for H4 visa at the US consulate in Canada?

Thanks

We haven't travel yet to US, our Canada Citizenship oath schedule next month. But as many updated in this forum as well as I have consulted my employer attorney and as per them I797 + Canadian passport is sufficient to travel back to US (Canadian passport holder doesn't required H1-B or H4 stamping).

In your case, you can continue to get stamping on your Indian passports for H1-B and H4 and once you get Canadian citizenship (current timeline is 3-5 months, seen trend based on applications submitted between Oct-2023 to Jan-2024) travel to US with Canadian Passport + I797 (applicable to both H1B and H4). some reference link for visa perspective:
https://ca.usembassy.gov/visas/do-i-need-a-visa/
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wizard.html

 

[harirajmohan]

@harirajmohan, Thanks for all the info shared here on this thread for various questions asked by the members.

Please let me know what you suggest for my scenario based on your knowledge and your or your friends experiences
1. I have booked appointment with an US embassy for my H1B and H4 for my dependents. It is only a couple of weeks away. The I797 mentioned COB as India, DS160 used the Indian passport details.
2. Canadian citizenship application has been recently submitted and I am hearing most application are processed quickly these days.

In this scenario, do you see any worth in delaying the US Visa appointment until we get Canadian Citizenship and Canadian passport, if it would then be possible seek stamping on the Canadian passport itself. As my DS160 was already submitted, I don't know if it's even possible, unless I decided to cancel the appointment and loose the visa fees amount. Even if I am ready to cancel the current appointment, I don't know if it is even be possible to use a canadian passport for US visa stamping when the H1B petition approved by USCIS has Indian passport details.

Passport detail submitted in uscis is not needed to be same passport to seek entry on Canadian passport based on that uscis approval. This is not a problem. We, most of us have one approval with previous passport including myself and i have used to enter using Canadian passport.

Whether you need stamping now or delaying would be depending on if you can wait till citizenship comes. if you dont have travel plan then you can delay but not sure how long it takes nowadays. Processing time varies based on your application which may be less or even more than standard times you hear. So its your willingness to wait till you get new passport.

 

[cicuser]

We haven't travel yet to US, our Canada Citizenship oath schedule next month. But as many updated in this forum as well as I have consulted my employer attorney and as per them I797 + Canadian passport is sufficient to travel back to US (Canadian passport holder doesn't required H1-B or H4 stamping).

In your case, you can continue to get stamping on your Indian passports for H1-B and H4 and once you get Canadian citizenship (current timeline is 3-5 months, seen trend based on applications submitted between Oct-2023 to Jan-2024) travel to US with Canadian Passport + I797 (applicable to both H1B and H4). some reference link for visa perspective:
https://ca.usembassy.gov/visas/do-i-need-a-visa/
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wizard.html

This is correct and exactly what my employer attorney also said.