Canada PR H1B Commuter Entering US on Weekend?

[yyang262]

Someone may have asked this before. But I cannot find a good answer for it:

I currently have the Canada PR and I am planning to move to Windsor and start commuting soon with my H1B. My question is that if you are trying to enter the US on weekends with the H1B visa stamp, is there going to be an issue? I crossed the bridge/tunnel several times and the CBP officers always asks where do you live. If I say I live in Windsor then I would expect they will ask why are you going to the US? I guess at this instance then I can only say, for work? Since I only have H1B and that is the only purpose it has. So if I want to enter the US for some other reasons over the weekend, will I be rejected?

I was wondering if any of you guys had this experience?

 

[justinline]

As far as I understand......on H1b you can only enter for work. Even on weekends you can say going for work.

If you want to go super safe get B1/B2 visa stamped as well.

 

[greencard14]

As far as I understand......on H1b you can only enter for work. Even on weekends you can say going for work.

If you want to go super safe get B1/B2 visa stamped as well.

Do you know if we can have H1B and B1/2 stamped at the same time? Depending on the "purpose of visit", the officer will use the appropriate stamped visa?

 

[justinline]

I do know people.....who had B1/B2 visa, then got H1b stamped, then went back to India, came back on visit on the previous B1/B2 visa.

So getting B1/B2 visa along with H1b should be fine......well considering there are no changes in rules and regulations. Things are so fluid now, every few weeks you hear there is new memo or new rules for H1b.

 

[yyang262]

As far as I understand......on H1b you can only enter for work. Even on weekends you can say going for work.

If you want to go super safe get B1/B2 visa stamped as well.

Thanks man. Have you tried before? by saying going to work over weekend and they allowed you to pass?

I can get B1/B2 but I would really like to keep it simple. When I go visa stamping for my H1B it may create a lot of confusion if I have a B1/B2 as well...

 

[harirajmohan]

Someone may have asked this before. But I cannot find a good answer for it:

I currently have the Canada PR and I am planning to move to Windsor and start commuting soon with my H1B. My question is that if you are trying to enter the US on weekends with the H1B visa stamp, is there going to be an issue? I crossed the bridge/tunnel several times and the CBP officers always asks where do you live. If I say I live in Windsor then I would expect they will ask why are you going to the US? I guess at this instance then I can only say, for work? Since I only have H1B and that is the only purpose it has. So if I want to enter the US for some other reasons over the weekend, will I be rejected?

I was wondering if any of you guys had this experience?

You can enter US with your H1 visa stamp for shopping. They are allowing without any issue. I do enter in weekends and sometimes alone or with my family (they are on B1/B2).
Just tell which mall are you going or which friend you are visiting. No issue in that 100%.
As far as i know, you wont get B1 visa if you already have H1 while still working in US.

 

[harirajmohan]

As far as I understand......on H1b you can only enter for work. Even on weekends you can say going for work.

If you want to go super safe get B1/B2 visa stamped as well.

If you dont know please dont suggest.

 

[greencard14]

You can enter US with your H1 visa stamp for shopping. They are allowing without any issue. I do enter in weekends and sometimes alone or with my family (they are on B1/B2).
Just tell which mall are you going or which friend you are visiting. No issue in that 100%.
As far as i know, you wont get B1 visa if you already have H1 while still working in US.

Which border do you usually cross? Detroit-Windsor?

 

[justinline]

If you dont know please dont suggest.

Man.....I have already started with "As far as I understand......"........just my understanding.

I have known people who have valid H1 and B1/B2 simultaneously. Consultants living in Canada handling multiple clients in US....working for one client on H1 and then handling others, going for site visits for meetings on B1. yyang62 is going to live in Windsor and commute from there.

Yes you are getting admitted to US, H1 entry is still for work.....that doesn't make it self evident gospel. It just takes one CBP official who sees things differently and guess what.......you might get accused of breaking the law.

To give small example happened to wife of an acquaintance, she had 2 TN approval in past, same job same qualification. This time around when she try to renew, the CBP officer refused saying her undergrad education does not qualify her for Computer Systems Analyst position......go figure!!!

I usually travel Monday-Friday, sometime Sunday-Thursday for work to US. On Sunday, I do tell them I am heading for work.

 

[VOBuckeye]

You can enter US with your H1 visa stamp for shopping. They are allowing without any issue. I do enter in weekends and sometimes alone or with my family (they are on B1/B2).
Just tell which mall are you going or which friend you are visiting. No issue in that 100%.
As far as i know, you wont get B1 visa if you already have H1 while still working in US.

Thanks! I was curious about that.

 

[yyang262]

You can enter US with your H1 visa stamp for shopping. They are allowing without any issue. I do enter in weekends and sometimes alone or with my family (they are on B1/B2).
Just tell which mall are you going or which friend you are visiting. No issue in that 100%.
As far as i know, you wont get B1 visa if you already have H1 while still working in US.

Thank you man,

I just want to confirm. In your scenario, are you a PR of Canada that reside in Canada? Because I understand that if you live in the US then you will have no problem entering.

 

[yyang262]

Man.....I have already started with "As far as I understand......"........just my understanding.

I have known people who have valid H1 and B1/B2 simultaneously. Consultants living in Canada handling multiple clients in US....working for one client on H1 and then handling others, going for site visits for meetings on B1. yyang62 is going to live in Windsor and commute from there.

Yes you are getting admitted to US, H1 entry is still for work.....that doesn't make it self evident gospel. It just takes one CBP official who sees things differently and guess what.......you might get accused of breaking the law.

To give small example happened to wife of an acquaintance, she had 2 TN approval in past, same job same qualification. This time around when she try to renew, the CBP officer refused saying her undergrad education does not qualify her for Computer Systems Analyst position......go figure!!!

I usually travel Monday-Friday, sometime Sunday-Thursday for work to US. On Sunday, I do tell them I am heading for work.

Thanks for your input, man. Are you living in the windsor area?

 

[harirajmohan]

Thank you man,

I just want to confirm. In your scenario, are you a PR of Canada that reside in Canada? Because I understand that if you live in the US then you will have no problem entering.

I was in US and continuing my work status in US after moving to Windsor (yes in PR status).
There is no difference in eligibility if one had stayed in US earlier. As long as you are eligible to qualify for your visa, then you wont see an issue.

Which border do you usually cross? Detroit-Windsor?

Yes, Windsor Home to Detroit Office.

To give small example happened to wife of an acquaintance, she had 2 TN approval in past, same job same qualification. This time around when she try to renew, the CBP officer refused saying her undergrad education does not qualify her for Computer Systems Analyst position......go figure!!!

Even couple of TN guys at my office had the same denial. They were working for 15+ years on same TN visa. I think that nowadays they are restricting approvals of TN if they have education in the same field of their work. We can see many cases recently to similar situation in H1 approvals from uscis as well.
Officers suddenly following the rule of book under current administration hence some(actually many) denials. They should have restricted from the beginning but at least they started now.

 

[rakakatoofaan]

As far as I understand......on H1b you can only enter for work. Even on weekends you can say going for work.

If you want to go super safe get B1/B2 visa stamped as well.

Please do not suggest to say something which is incorrect!!

If you are gong for work say that. If you are going for shopping say that. Please do not misinterpret information to a CBP officer. It is not a solid advice.

Having said that, yes, you can enter US on weekends ( This is my experience). Just tell the officer, where you are going.

 

[VOBuckeye]

Please do not suggest to say something which is incorrect!!

If you are gong for work say that. If you are going for shopping say that. Please do not misinterpret information to a CBP officer. It is not a solid advice.

Having said that, yes, you can enter US on weekends ( This is my experience). Just tell the officer, where you are going.

True. You can use H1B to enter even on weekends and holidays. I always say where I'm going; shopping, church, restaurant. Just be honest