Automatic Visa Revalidation (AVR) to enter USA

[harirajmohan]

Hello experts,

I had a quick question regarding AVR.
I have an expired us f1 visa stamp and an approved i797A with a valid i94 from my current employer.
I had gotten my initial i797A approved for my first employer and then had it transfered when I switched jobs to my current employer. Basically, I haven't left the country since I got my h1 COS and I had switched emplyer in that time as well.
Can I still use the AVR process with the i797 of my current employer and the expired visa? I will carry the previous employer's i797A as well.

Any adivse would be very helpful!
Thank you!

Yes you can. Browse some pages on this thread. You can find people who had same situation had traveled.
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...-avr-to-enter-usa.604996/page-20#post-9134377

 

[mkustocanada]

Yes you can. Browse some pages on this thread. You can find people who had same situation had traveled.
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...-avr-to-enter-usa.604996/page-20#post-9134377

I checked the pages! More confident now! Thank you!

 

[littleelsa]

Here is my experience.
We landed by road at the Lewiston–Queenston bridge, stayed in quarantine for 14 days and then came back using the Peace bridge using AVR.
1) You can land if your COPR was approved after March 18th and you are traveling from the U.S.
2) You can enter the U.S back using AVR without any issues. It is not affected by the new E.O.

Do you have to do the landing on Tue, Wed and Thur?

 

[CanucksRajiv]

One quick question, i came back using AVR and i noticed they didn't stamp the passport. Is it normal process for re-entry using AVR?

 

[swan0206]

One quick question, i came back using AVR and i noticed they didn't stamp the passport. Is it normal process for re-entry using AVR?

Yes it is normal. They ll swipe your passport. you can check your i94 getting updated.

 

[siddsin]

Yes you can. Browse some pages on this thread. You can find people who had same situation had traveled.
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...-avr-to-enter-usa.604996/page-20#post-9134377

Hello Sir,

According to the https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1218?language=en_US it states that

"
A person is eligible for automatic visa revalidation provided the following conditions are met:

• The underlying authorization for the current status continues to be valid for the Form I-129 for non-immigrant workers and Form I-20 for students in F status.

"


No mention of H-4 in this. Can spouses on H4 still travel to Canada for soft landing and utilize AVR to re-enter USA?

 

[harirajmohan]

Hello Sir,

According to the https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1218?language=en_US it states that

"
A person is eligible for automatic visa revalidation provided the following conditions are met:

• The underlying authorization for the current status continues to be valid for the Form I-129 for non-immigrant workers and Form I-20 for students in F status.

"


No mention of H-4 in this. Can spouses on H4 still travel to Canada for soft landing and utilize AVR to re-enter USA?

Those are of specific conditionals additionally applicable for F. There is no additional condition for H4.

 

[siddsin]

Those are of specific conditionals additionally applicable for F. There is no additional condition for H4.

Thank you for your quick response! much appreciated

 

[gprawtap]

Hi all, Has anyone entered US via land border Near Seattle, WA? Is H1b traveling back from Canada allowed through land border?

Yes, did it last week. Took no more than 5 minutes.

 

[gprawtap]

Yes it is normal. They ll swipe your passport. you can check your i94 getting updated.

Yup. They don't stamp your passport, but you can download I-94 right away and I recommend doing so immediately. Check for any inaccuracies. The U-turn within US was blocked, and we had to re-enter Canada and then the US again to fix the I-94.

 

[mkustocanada]

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.

 

[santaguy]

HI,

We are planning to Visit Canada for soft landing. Our status in USA is:
- H1B Valid stamp and i94 (Me)
- H4 (Spouse and child) with expired visa and valid i94 (Till May 2022)
- US Citizen child

Do you think if we would have any problem while coming back to USA if we return back withing 10 days. Can someone share the recent experience with expired h4 Visa?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ameha]

We completed our landing procedures yesterday at peace arch in WA. Overall a very smooth experience.

I am on H1 and wife on H4; both with expired visas and valid i797s.

We used AVR to return back. And it was very quick! The officer just scanned our passports and looked at our i797s. That’s really it. They didn’t give us any new i94s, but when asked about it — they pointed to our i94s in our I797 and said those are the new ones.

Note that the online i94 hasn’t updated but the travel history has.

Has anyone seen this situation before? Is this expected at a border crossing while using AVR?

 

[re2020]

Does anyone has experience using AVR flying from Mexico? I have an expired visa foil and an unexpired I-94 in a I-797A. I’m a bit concerned that the airline might not be aware of AVR and they may deny printing my boarding pass. Should I consider to a land crossing instead? Also, I submitted a DS-160 back in April but never went through the whole process of paying, scheduling or attending an interview. Am I safe to use AVR?

 

[swan0206]

Does anyone has experience using AVR flying from Mexico? I have an expired visa foil and an unexpired I-94 in a I-797A. I’m a bit concerned that the airline might not be aware of AVR and they may deny printing my boarding pass. Should I consider to a land crossing instead? Also, I submitted a DS-160 back in April but never went through the whole process of paying, scheduling or attending an interview. Am I safe to use AVR?

*You are in the wrong forum*

However, people have flown using AVR from Canada. But you cannot get answers regarding mexico stuff here.
Try asking the questions in immihelp or trackitt or any FB pages.