hello all,
First of all this forum was so helpful for all the insights and info which helped for my soft-landing experience. Thank you all for your time in answering queries. i really appreciate it. Now wanted to share our timeline and process and i will try to share extensively so that someone can get benefited from it.,
date: 15-may-2021, copr getting expired 19-may-2021
statuses:
me - valid h1b stamp with old employer until september and i797 with new employer until next 12/22.
wife - h4 valid visa stamp until september as of old employer. we havent started the h4 extension yet and we also have our US born baby.
We three reached the US border before taking the bridge, for some reason the gate was open and we didn't need to pay for the toll. crossed bridge, and reached canada by 12:30 to realize only single gate open and there are so many cars waiting as this was lunch break or something.
some officers changed their shift after a while we went to the gate,
officer - bonjour?
me- hello officer, we are confirmed permanent residents and here to finish the landing procedure.
officer - okay, are you planning to move today?
me - no sir, we will be moving later this year, but our copr is getting expired in 4 days and wanted to complete the landing procedure. We also booked airbnb in case of mandatory quarantine, but it will be great if we are let to turn back.
officer - what? for how many days did you book airbnb?
me - 14 days.
officer - you dont have to quarantine if you are not coming to canada. if you are returning back you can go ahead and we are not forcing you to quarantine.
me - thank you sir
officer - what do you have in car?
me - luggage and baby food for the stay
officer - any weapons or such?
me - no, just a pair of dumbells
officer - oh, yeah that can be used as a weapon nowadays haha. you are fine. did you fill gtf?
me - i took the printout but not sure what to fill in it. but i can fill it now.
officer - the officers inside will let you fill it.
He gave me a yellow slip along with other documents and asked me to go to the customs office.
Inside the office:
took my papers, covid test reports and verified those. Asked me if I am filling out the GTF list, and he told me to bring the car details, like title, registration and odometer readings. I went back to parking lot and got the papers, and he verified those and told me to not worry about the GTF right now as he thought by the time we actually move things could change on the GTF list. so he gave me a gtf form which has all the options striked off in the bottom other than 'settler' section.
He entered the date and address on the form and told me to use it whenever I am permanently moving in.
He told me he can't take my cousin's canadian address, neither my usa address to send out the pr cards (but not sure why he took my driver's license in the end). He told me in order to move permanently i have to come by road. By that time, i was okay with anything to complete the landing process so didn't ask much from him.
The process got completed and we were shown the way to uturn. I can say the officers were so friendly both at the booth and also at the office.
US side:
I was so nervous about the US side, and the officer at the booth took our passports.
me - hello, we went to canada to complete the landing procedure like less than 3 hours ago.
officer - your i94 ends september, until then if you are travelling you have to carry both visa+i797 everywhere. if you would like, we can update the i94 for you. and your wife's i94 is good for september.
me - yes sir, we are planning to initiate the extension in june, we thought of going to india but due to covid didn't do it.
asked us to follow him to the office, parked outside. another officer came to me and asked me to come inside. took my fingerprints, and asked my profession and not sure why asked me to call my wife to the office.
My wife went inside and came saying they took their fingerprints too.
This part I didn't understand, he handed us the passports where a new slip is stapled saying my name and i94 date to be until next year. so basically my i94 got extended. But the same was done for my wife's passport too. Is this normal?
Now, after we came back and checked i94 dates, both of our 'admit until date' is displayed 12/2022.
