H1B visa appointment availability

[swan0206]

1. They allow personal trips on H1 while we still on employment in US. No issues. You dont need separate b1 visa for that. But now i dont know if they still allow other than essentials due to canada-US restrictions for the time being. You need to check on that if you are going for personal trip.
2. If you return to Canada from the work trip then they wont ask you to quarantine. cbsa will ask on why you went, where you went, where do you work, title etc. So based on that they will determine if you need quarantine but till now they never asked me to do it in the last 5 times.

@harirajmohan .Just checked with the cbsa at Champlain border, the officer there says , even if you stay in US for 10mins and return you need to quarantine after coming back. I told him that i will be travelling there for my work purpose and would return on the same day.

Is this something left to cbsa officer's discretion or was that rule imposed. i am not sure!!

 

[harirajmohan]

@harirajmohan .Just checked with the cbsa at Champlain border, the officer there says , even if you stay in US for 10mins and return you need to quarantine after coming back. I told him that i will be travelling there for my work purpose and would return on the same day.

Is this something left to cbsa officer's discretion or was that rule imposed. i am not sure!!

If you call the border for nexus eligibility, he/she will say that you should have stayed 3 years after PR inside Canada which is not the case.
So they generically tell based on whats applicable for most. Over the phone he cant define which is considered work and which is not, instead he just says all should quarantine to avoid people rushing.

Just travel. you will be asked many questions - and tell where you went to work, which company etc. they will let you in without any word on quarantine if you have gone for work at your work location.

Discretion on exemption is only applicable for tourists(and people who do short landing). The above exemption is not under discretion, as i never requested for exemption or i was told to quarantine since june(6 times travelled).

This exemption for sure is available for residents who travel to US and return back to Canada from work.
Why are you talking about coming to Canada and returning back to US and expecting not be quarantined? What is your plan, are you not planning to commute from Canada? In this case, its up to the discretion of officer for sure.

 

[IamBeingPatient]

H4 visa approved on October 15th emergency appointment at Halifax. Officer asked for i797,i94, H1b copy and marriage certificate for supporting documents. She had to make notes on my file regarding the national interest exception(quoting specific paras of the proclamation) so that the officer at the border can see them and said that my visa stamp will have a notation saying NIE(national interest exception) indicating the same. The officer was kind and patient. Posting this for future applicants. Special thanks to @harirajmohan for the constant updates on everything leading up to today.

 

[harirajmohan]

H4 visa approved on October 15th emergency appointment at Halifax. Officer asked for i797,i94, H1b copy and marriage certificate for supporting documents. She had to make notes on my file regarding the national interest exception(quoting specific paras of the proclamation) so that the officer at the border can see them and said that my visa stamp will have a notation saying NIE(national interest exception) indicating the same. The officer was kind and patient. Posting this for future applicants. Special thanks to @harirajmohan for the constant updates on everything leading up to today.

Vow, its very fast. I thought they would take time to stamp the visa but you got the visa on same day(by seeing the note on NIE which i came to know after seeing the visa). I was surprised yeseterday to see NIE noation as it looks like cbp was even ready to deny people if this is not mentioned. interesting time period of corona/administration.
Congrats buddy. when are you planning to travel?

 

[IamBeingPatient]

Vow, its very fast. I thought they would take time to stamp the visa but you got the visa on same day(by seeing the note on NIE which i came to know after seeing the visa).
Congrats buddy. when are you planning to travel?

Just to clarify. They didnt stamp it yet. But she said it was approved. Ill get the passport back in 5 to 10 days.

 

[harirajmohan]

Just to clarify. They didnt stamp it yet. But she said it was approved. Ill get the passport back in 5 to 10 days.

Ok got it. Does the status say issued/adminprocessing?

 

[IamBeingPatient]

Ok got it. Does the status say issued/adminprocessing?

As of now it still says application received. Might take a while for it to be updated. My interview just got over an hour ago.

 

[dry.00]

For those of you who are not Canadian citizens, did you run into any trouble because you're applying for a visa outside your home country?

Also, how did you request emergency appointments?
I work at a university as a postdoc in Michigan, but I can't think of a compelling reason(?) to make my case urgent

 

[IamBeingPatient]

For those of you who are not Canadian citizens, did you run into any trouble because you're applying for a visa outside your home country?

Also, how did you request emergency appointments?
I work at a university as a postdoc in Michigan, but I can't think of a compelling reason(?) to make my case urgent

Theres no trouble applying outside your home country. It just depends on which US consulate and in which country you're planning to apply from as they are all working at different capacities. They might ask for proof of your residence status in that country (worker/student/ pr). Im not sure which visa you are applying for and from where but check out the website for the consulate you plan to apply from to get more info on what kind of visas they are processing.. In Canada, we have the ais portal where we schedule appointments and then can request an expedite/emergency if needed. If not you can email the specific consulate where you intend to book an emergency appointment asking for one just in case there are no open slots on the portal. So it depends on your case. From what Ive seen Family Separation (my case) , financial reasons (harirajs case) are all being considered as emergency requests. The list of reasons that they mention on the website to request emergency appointments are not conclusive and other genuine reasons can be considered if that is the case.

 

[dry.00]

Theres no trouble applying outside your home country. It just depends on which US consulate and in which country you're planning to apply from as they are all working at different capacities. They might ask for proof of your residence status in that country (worker/student/ pr). Im not sure which visa you are applying for and from where but check out the website for the consulate you plan to apply from to get more info on what kind of visas they are processing.. In Canada, we have the ais portal where we schedule appointments and then can request an expedite/emergency if needed. If not you can email the specific consulate where you intend to book an emergency appointment asking for one just in case there are no open slots on the portal. So it depends on your case. From what Ive seen Family Separation (my case) , financial reasons (harirajs case) are all being considered as emergency requests. The list of reasons that they mention on the website to request emergency appointments are not conclusive and other genuine reasons can be considered if that is the case.

Ah, ok.
I just got my change of status from F-1 OPT to H-1b approved. I'll be moving to Windsor next week.
For the time being, I'm planning on commuting to the US using AVR, but I'd like to get a visa stamp just to be safe.
I was in the US at the time of the executive order, so I don't think the ban applies to me, but I don't know if there are any other documents that I should bring besides the usual H-1b interview documents?

I'm single and alone, so I don't have family separation issues.
For financial reasons, what was your reason for the emergency appointment? @harirajmohan

 

[swan0206]

If you call the border for nexus eligibility, he/she will say that you should have stayed 3 years after PR inside Canada which is not the case.
So they generically tell based on whats applicable for most. Over the phone he cant define which is considered work and which is not, instead he just says all should quarantine to avoid people rushing.

Just travel. you will be asked many questions - and tell where you went to work, which company etc. they will let you in without any word on quarantine if you have gone for work at your work location.

Discretion on exemption is only applicable for tourists(and people who do short landing). The above exemption is not under discretion, as i never requested for exemption or i was told to quarantine since june(6 times travelled).

This exemption for sure is available for residents who travel to US and return back to Canada from work.
Why are you talking about coming to Canada and returning back to US and expecting not be quarantined? What is your plan, are you not planning to commute from Canada? In this case, its up to the discretion of officer for sure.

Hi Hariraj,

No, i was talking about going to US and returning back to Canada. Even officer got confused, when i have asked this questions. he was like yes, you can go back to US if its a 1 day stay in Canada. Then i clarified him, its the other way round.

Yes, i am planning to commute from Canada.

 

[IamBeingPatient]

As of now it still says application received. Might take a while for it to be updated. My interview just got over an hour ago.

Status is issued as of now.

 

[dry.00]

Status is issued as of now.

CONGRATS

 

[IamBeingPatient]

Ah, ok.
I just got my change of status from F-1 OPT to H-1b approved. I'll be moving to Windsor next week.
For the time being, I'm planning on commuting to the US using AVR, but I'd like to get a visa stamp just to be safe.
I was in the US at the time of the executive order, so I don't think the ban applies to me, but I don't know if there are any other documents that I should bring besides the usual H-1b interview documents?

I'm single and alone, so I don't have family separation issues.
For financial reasons, what was your reason for the emergency appointment? @harirajmohan

From what I've seen theyll send you a list of documents you would have to take to the appointment once they approve your emergency request.

 

[harirajmohan]

Status is issued as of now.

Good. Congrats.
If the interview went without any issues then its quick to see the status changed.