H4 Visa for Canadian citizen?

[Badal_11]

My husband and I are naturalized Canadian citizens. Our kids are born Canadian citizens. I am on h-1b and living in Canada. We want to move to the USA. Which is the best way to get H-4 for ny dependents?

 

[swan0206]

My husband and I are naturalized Canadian citizens. Our kids are born Canadian citizens. I am on h-1b and living in Canada. We want to move to the USA. Which is the best way to get H-4 for ny dependents?

You can activate your H4s during arrival into United States at the border. They would ask for I797A of H1b holder and your marriage certificate as a proof. thats it.

 

[Takita]

You can activate your H4s during arrival into United States at the border. They would ask for I797A of H1b holder and your marriage certificate as a proof. thats it.

Is there anything need to fill before arriving at the border?

Can H4 EAD applied within US soon after getting H4 at the border then stay 1-2 days until EAD package gets delivered and then come back to Canada?

 

[fr72]

Is there anything need to fill before arriving at the border?

No.

 

[Rawhide]

I am moving in December. Please help with the information

I ended up driving a uhaul by myself.

 

[yv9205]

Hi ,

I would like to know if anyone got their H4 visa stamped at ay CBP office in Canada or at any POE in USA ?
Let me know with your experience and the documents you carried for this process

Thanks

 

[poojamodi]

1. Yes, you will get it at the land border. Probably will need marriage certificate and spouse's I797
2. Same day is also possible, but I would wait one night. Don't believe it would make much difference.

I have done both above multiple times.

Hi,

I am in a similar situation. I will be due soon for my citizenship. Only oath pending. My husband is a h1b. I would require h4 on Canadian passport after I get the passport.

I just crossed Kingsgate border on my current Indian Passport with valid stamp. I asked at border whether we can get h4 at port of entry with Canadian citizenship but they mentioned that we will require a valid visa and visa can be issued only by embassy.

From which town did you cross the border where the officer was aware and helped you out for h4?

What should I exactly mention at port of entry for a smooth process?

@Dhivya95 Was it Kingsgate (BC/Idaho) for you by any chance? What did you ask them for them help you out?

It will help me for planning my trip back to US after my oath.

 

[swan0206]

Hi,

I am in a similar situation. I will be due soon for my citizenship. Only oath pending. My husband is a h1b. I would require h4 on Canadian passport after I get the passport.

I just crossed Kingsgate border on my current Indian Passport with valid stamp. I asked at border whether we can get h4 at port of entry with Canadian citizenship but they mentioned that we will require a valid visa and visa can be issued only by embassy.

From which town did you cross the border where the officer was aware and helped you out for h4?

What should I exactly mention at port of entry for a smooth process?

@Dhivya95 Was it Kingsgate (BC/Idaho) for you by any chance? What did you ask them for them help you out?

It will help me for planning my trip back to US after my oath.

They act as per the situation and on the spot. If you are asking a futuristic question they are bound to answer like this/may be the officer that you came across is a trainee or a new guy. There are senior staff who are assigned/have handled these scenarios sitting inside the office. So after you get your Canadian passport, take the required docs to the border and you will be served accordingly.

 

[swan0206]

no you don’t . Just h4 stamp when you cross the border

Today, we went to the border to activate H4s for both spouse and kid. They didn't stamp the passport even after asking them. I did check with the officer, she told that they aren't stamping passports anymore and did confirm that it would reflect on the website. But after coming back from secondary inspection, while checking on the website, it said "Records not found" for both of them. Then i went back to find it out and there was another officer who said it did update on their end and print it for me. After a while he said he couldn't print instead stamped(entry stamp) the passports. Now im wondering, do Canadian citizens have an electronic i94 available on the website or its only stamp thats valid? For H4 EAD, do we only include the stamped page as a proof??

 

[swan0206]

Is there anything need to fill before arriving at the border?

Can H4 EAD applied within US soon after getting H4 at the border then stay 1-2 days until EAD package gets delivered and then come back to Canada?

What did you end up doing?? Did you come back after 1 or 2days after package getting delivered and your EAD went through fine without any RFEs for not being in the country during their process? About to send a EAD packet in this week so just wanted to figure this out.

 

[swan0206]

Just call cbp office and they will confirm.
Visa is just a travel document to reach the immigration post. This visa is required only for commercial carrier to board us in, not going to be helpful beyond that point(all passports are same). Canadian passport is the only passport US allows to travel for most visa category without a visa. My colleague's wife and kids dont get visa, as @shevas2003 said they just jut the border directly with principal's I797 and they will get I94.

Hi Hari, once we get those entry stamps for dependents for H4, should we able to check it on the website? It says "No records found". And what do we fill in i765( for H4 EAD) where it asks for i94 number? As far as i have researched theres no i94 for Canadian citizens on whatever Visa they get in? Is this right?
But for spouse if we give the Indian passport details then it shows the travel history for B visa on the website. Should we use that i94 number?

 

[harirajmohan]

Hi Hari, once we get those entry stamps for dependents for H4, should we able to check it on the website? It says "No records found". And what do we fill in i765( for H4 EAD) where it asks for i94 number? As far as i have researched theres no i94 for Canadian citizens on whatever Visa they get in? Is this right?
But for spouse if we give the Indian passport details then it shows the travel history for B visa on the website. Should we use that i94 number?

All passports are foreign passport and same after reaching cbp check point. Visa is just used to get to that first stage of cbp from a different country via commercial vehicle.
So canadian too will get I94, same as H1 candidate. Not sure which threads you read or which websites you read on it.
My family member received it and we can check online and which is needed to even get the license and ID cards. We wont get ID with B status.
So you need H4 status to get the H4EAD as its based on H4.

When my wife travelled via abudhabi, the cbp was not ready to issue H4 instead giving only B status. that officer was telling that he cant issue H4 for some reason. So we are avoiding that route and trying to land directly in US via some country that doesnt have preclearance to avoid this issue.

So i am not from which post you came through. YOu can email them asking about correct status or go to airport or border location to get it corrected before applying for ID/EAD.

 

[swan0206]

All passports are foreign passport and same after reaching cbp check point. Visa is just used to get to that first stage of cbp from a different country via commercial vehicle.
So canadian too will get I94, same as H1 candidate. Not sure which threads you read or which websites you read on it.
My family member received it and we can check online and which is needed to even get the license and ID cards. We wont get ID with B status.
So you need H4 status to get the H4EAD as its based on H4.

When my wife travelled via abudhabi, the cbp was not ready to issue H4 instead giving only B status. that officer was telling that he cant issue H4 for some reason. So we are avoiding that route and trying to land directly in US via some country that doesnt have preclearance to avoid this issue.

So i am not from which post you came through. YOu can email them asking about correct status or go to airport or border location to get it corrected before applying for ID/EAD.

So you were able to see i94 on the website after punching in new Canadian passport details and Country of citizenship as "Canadian?" correct me if iam wrong! Is it automatic or do we need to "Apply for a new i94 on the website after getting that entry stamp? I am not coming from any thread as there is no discussions about it on this forum and or anywhere. I only see people saying they got their passports stamped. thats it. And we are unable to see it online after double checking with them but they are able to see it on their end is what the officer says. For us its "No records found"

 

[harirajmohan]

So you were able to see i94 on the website after punching in new Canadian passport details and Country of citizenship as "Canadian?" correct me if iam wrong! Is it automatic or do we need to "Apply for a new i94 on the website after getting that entry stamp? I am not coming from any thread as there is no discussions about it on this forum and or anywhere. I only see people saying they got their passports stamped. thats it. And we are unable to see it online after double checking with them but they are able to see it on their end is what the officer says. For us its "No records found"

Few cases i have seen post on same, for some people its not found. No idea why. But as long as they are on H4 then should be fine but its better to keep the I94 copy while sending EAD form. I dont know how you can get copy of I94 to know the number to apply ead.

Yes, we can see I94 online for all 3 of us, yes with Canadian passport number. It doesnt matter if it shows earlier passport. Sometimes initially for one of us it appeared on earlier Indian passport but will show H status with valid expiry date with I94 number. Seems in your case, the current one is not showing up even under earlier passport.

When landing directly through plane, we dont usually apply I94 online as i always do it when seeking via land to avoid paying cash at land border.
So even if you dont apply online while going via land/air, it doesnt matter as they will process you at the inside checkpost secondary or at airport checkpoint. Applying online is not mandatory as it is only an initimation that you are going to arrive to seek that status but you dont get an I94 automatically, whether you paid fee online or directly visiting the checkpost air/land.

 

[swan0206]

Few cases i have seen post on same, for some people its not found. No idea why. But as long as they are on H4 then should be fine but its better to keep the I94 copy while sending EAD form. I dont know how you can get copy of I94 to know the number to apply ead.

Yes, we can see I94 online for all 3 of us, yes with Canadian passport number. It doesnt matter if it shows earlier passport. Sometimes initially for one of us it appeared on earlier Indian passport but will show H status with valid expiry date with I94 number. Seems in your case, the current one is not showing up even under earlier passport.

When landing directly through plane, we dont usually apply I94 online as i always do it when seeking via land to avoid paying cash at land border.
So even if you dont apply online while going via land/air, it doesnt matter as they will process you at the inside checkpost secondary or at airport checkpoint. Applying online is not mandatory as it is only an initimation that you are going to arrive to seek that status but you dont get an I94 automatically, whether you paid fee online or directly visiting the checkpost air/land.

We went back to border again today and found out that their system is reading passport number wrong for my wife. My kid's i94 is showing up however. The officer did corrected the i94 but he again did a mistake by replacing Zero with "O" which is actually "Q" . Their system is reading "Q" as 0. Thats the issue. Probably sending an email would be best as you mentioned.