My girlfriend AVR experience at Niagara Falls:
The plan was to initially walk across the rainbow bridge to the US but in order to access the pedestrian walkway you need either 1 or 5 dollar bills and I only had 10 dollar bills. At that time there was a taxi who kept saying he can take me to Buffalo airport and I got in. The taxi driver took my passport along with his Nexus card and he drove the short distance to the US border. He presented both identifications to the guy in the booth. His was fine. I presented my I 797A to the officer and told him that I work in the US and would like to use AVR. He nodded but he didn’t know what I was talking about. He asked me if I was taking anything to the US and I said chocolates. He then called another guy and that presented to him my paperwork. That guy asked him to ask me some questions and the guy at the booth asked me when I graduated and about OPT but he looked confused. The other guy said I will handle it, took my paperwork and went into the office. The guy at the booth asked my driver to pull up, asked me to get out and then checked the cab. The driver had to go around while I waited and he came, picked me up and we pulled at the immigration office. It was pretty free since it was a Tuesday afternoon. They called my name and I went up.
Officer: what’s your nationality?
Me: Indian
O: so you came to the US in 2015-2016 (he had my entire history in front of him on his computer but still tried to intimidate me)
M: no, I came to study in 2014 and graduated in 2016
O: and then?
M: I was on post completion OPT and then got a job in October 2016
O: where?
M: I told him where and what location in the US
O: it tells me here that you only started working there in October 2018
M: no, I started there 2016 but was on OPT and then got H1B
O: that’s what I meant (trying to mislead) what were you doing in august 2020?
M: I was at another job in 2020
O: it says here your status was revoked ( misleading)
M: no I got my visa transferred
O: that’s what I meant (BS, he was trying to intimidate)
M: I have all the other approval notices ( I gave it to him)
O: this makes it easier. Where are you coming from?
M: Canada
O: where?
M: Toronto
O: why?
M: visiting my boyfriend
O: you haven’t left the country in 6 years. Where did you meet this boyfriend?
M: we went to school together in Boston and he moved to Canada
O: stand in front of the camera and also give me your fingerprints
M: okay
O: what’s your US address?
M: gave address
O: you are all set. This makes it easier to process you next time.
M: thanks.
Overall experience was positive. They do try to intimidate. Keep your paperwork ready and be confident. You should be okay. It took about 10 minutes with him overall in the office.
