H1B Stamping in Toronto (Indian passport with Canada Tourist visa)

[dipjyoti]

Hi,

I am planning to go to Toronto for H1B Visa stamping from US. I am an Indian citizen and I don’t have Canadian PR. My previous H1B stamp done at Chennai expired on May 2020. I am applying for Canada Tourist Visa. I prefer to travel to Canada due to work reasons and I can stay and work at my friend's place in Toronto. I have a few questions to clarify:

1) Am I eligible for Dropbox appointment in Toronto without Canadian PR or the only option is in-person interview in Toronto ?

2) For applying Canada Tourist visa online, do I need to upload DS160 confirmation appointment with US Embassy? Canadian immigration officer may want to know how am I returning to my country of Residence – USA since my H1B stamp has expired ?

3) If due to some reason, US Embassy returns me the passport without H1B Stamp, then I won’t be able to enter US. In that scenario I have to book another dropbox appointment in my home country – India. Or can I enter US from Canada in 30 days even without a US Visa stamp with automatic revalidation. I do have a valid I94.

If there is anyone who has experienced this similar scenario, please advise and I would really appreciate your help.
Thanks

 

[vkamath]

1. You are applying for a Canadian Tourist Visa but you plan to work?
2. Since your H1B has already expired, it is likely the Canadian Authorities may refuse your application. When applying do mention about auto-revalidation
3. You are right about Auto-Revalidation https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1218?language=en_US however do confirm that before.
4. There is a worse thing than Embassy outright rejecting an application. its For 221G admin processing.


I had to get my L1 to H1B done few years back. I had thought of Canada/Mexico but decided otherwise. Went to India and got the stamp. Much safer if something happens

 

[dipjyoti]

Thanks for the response.

1. I don't plan to work in Canada. I thought if it takes more time to get the passport back, then I can work from home (from my friend's place) in Toronto. Its easier to tell my manager that I am in Canada as its similar time zone and there have been mass layoffs in the company recently. When I say work reasons, I mean working from Canada would be easier. Although one can also work from India, its just that HR/Manager get a bit hesitant when I have to travel to India for H1B stamping in the current company situation and I have to take 2/3 weeks holiday.
As I read more, I don't think I am eligible for dropbox in Toronto.

2. For Canada visitor application, yes that's a possibility. They might deny my visitor application as I don't have valid H1B stamp. That's why I thought if I should mention in Letter of Explanation about H1B Stamping and upload Interview confirmation letter with US Embassy in Toronto

3. For Automatic Revalidation, what I understood is that if I apply for visa then I can't return to US from Canada. It only works if one does not have any visa application and one can return from Canada/Mexico to US within 30 days.

4. Thanks for pointing this out. 221G processing would be worse as it won't tell me how many does its going to take to get the passport back.

Now that I see, its better to go to India only for H1B Stamping as I would also be eligible for dropbox in India. I hope the Company would be ok with that. That was my only reason to do H1B Stamping from Canada instead of India.

Thanks