Canada to US on H4 visa

rahulsharma_176

Registered Users (C)
Hi,
I am on H1B visa and marrying a canadian citizen, I want to bring her to US on H4 Visa. Does she needs to schedule an appointment at US consulate in Canada to get the H4 visa or she can get the H4 visa stamped at border?. Can you please give me details information/references for the same
Thanks in Advance
Rahul
 
I am on H1B visa and marrying a canadian citizen, I want to bring her to US on H4 Visa. Does she needs to schedule an appointment at US consulate in Canada to get the H4 visa or she can get the H4 visa stamped at border?. Can you please give me details information/references for the same


As a cdn citizen, ur wife does not need a US visa and therefore, does not need an appointment in the US embassy. She will get a H4 stamp at the border.

All she needs is: Your original I-797 (H1B), your marriage certificate, her cdn passport. It will be good to carry some of ur recent pay stubs..
 
thanks for ur response.
We are getting married in India and we both are coming back to US together, and she would come to US on Visa waiver initially(as I cant give her my H1 document because i would be needing that too to enter US) and then after couple of weeks we can go to the border to get the H4 stamped. My question is that Can we go to the border, cross the border and the immediately turn back and get the H4 visa stamped at the US border. I am assuming that we cant get the visa without crossing the border, right?
 
We are getting married in India and we both are coming back to US together, and she would come to US on Visa waiver initially(as I cant give her my H1 document because i would be needing that too to enter US) and then after couple of weeks we can go to the border to get the H4 stamped. My question is that Can we go to the border, cross the border and the immediately turn back and get the H4 visa stamped at the US border.

If you are coming to the US together, the question of going back to the border does not arise. Read my earlier post - she can show your H1 to get the H4 - since you are saying that u r coming to the US TOGETHER
 
I was also thinking that since we both are comnig to US together she can get the H-4 stamped at the airport itself. But can we both go to the immigration office together, because I would be needing my H1 document to show to the immigiration officer and she also needs the same to get the H-4 stamped, so i was not sure how we both can use the same H-4 document unless we are together there. do they let us go together?

any idea?

Thanks in advance again.
 
further to the above question, as u said since she ia a cdn citizen she would not need US visa and she can get the h4 visa stamped at the airport itself. actually we will be filing for I-485 after we come back to US and I guess for that she would need to have US visa on her passport, and i think she can cross the border with H4 status but she will still have to apply for Visa in Canada, is that true?
I am little confused, Is US visa different from the H4 stamping they will do on the airport??
 
further to the above question, as u said since she ia a cdn citizen she would not need US visa and she can get the h4 visa stamped at the airport itself. actually we will be filing for I-485 after we come back to US and I guess for that she would need to have US visa on her passport, and i think she can cross the border with H4 status but she will still have to apply for Visa in Canada, is that true?
I am little confused, Is US visa different from the H4 stamping they will do on the airport??


As long as you travel to US together, you are fine. You will be accompanying her all the time - and u will see her getting a H4 stamp while the officer is looking at your marriage certificate and your H1. So do not worry about "being allowed together or not". You will be together throughout this immigration clearing process.

You seem to be too confused...:) There is no relation of filing for I-485 and having a US visa. She is cdn, and also being your wife, I repeat, she does NOT need a US visa. Yes, she does not, even if u r filing for I-485. What she needs is a valid status in the USA, which she will get (H4) on the airport.

Is this clear to you now?
 
hi,

I am back from India and as you said, I tried getting H4 status at the airport but the immigration officer told me that she cant give the H4 status at the airport, She asked me to go to the Immigration office in the city where I am living so I called the immigration office in Columbus and they told me that they cant do it in US you will have to go to canada to get it done, so I treid scheduling an appointment with US embassy in Toronto but it says that since she is Canadian born she dont need appointment she can take the papers to border and get the H4 status there, then we called Immigration office to find out if we can get the status at border they told us that you need to have approval to get the H4 status at border, I am not sure what approval they are asking for.
Could you suggest what is the easiest way to get the H4 status now, Should we go to border with passport and H1 papers etc and what do we need to tell them. Its very urgent as we are ready to file for I-485 and she should have h4 status in order to file for I-485.
Please advice

Thanks
 
I am back from India and as you said, I tried getting H4 status at the airport but the immigration officer told me that she cant give the H4 status at the airport, She asked me to go to the Immigration office in the city where I am living

-- This is really weird - (and not true as you experienced when you called the office in columbus)

I treid scheduling an appointment with US embassy in Toronto but it says that since she is Canadian born she dont need appointment she can take the papers to border and get the H4 status there

-- Correct, That's what I told you.

then we called Immigration office to find out if we can get the status at border they told us that you need to have approval to get the H4 status at border,

-- I am also not sure what approval they want. I guess, they want your H1 approval notice (I-797) (along with the marriage certificate, of course). Then they will be able to issue her a H4. Basically they should have given her H4 at the airport. But now, call any border to confirm what approval they need and drive. You are in Columbus, therefore driving to Ashtabula Port of Entry is about 3.5 hr drive for you. Call them and ask your questions before leaving for the POE. See this link to get their phone numbers and other details..
Good luck..
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/ports/oh/4122.xml
 
Just called US-Canada border at Ambassador Bridge, Detroit to find out the procedure and to confirm what all documents we need to get the H-4 status at the border. He told us to bring passport, H-1 approval, marriage certificatie and few pictures. I asked him if you need any kinda H-4 approval he said no there is no need. So probably we will go this weekend and get this done.

Let me ask you, Can we just cross the border and take a U turn and come back to the border to get the H-4, or is there any other way ?
 
Just called US-Canada border at Ambassador Bridge, Detroit to find out the procedure and to confirm what all documents we need to get the H-4 status at the border. He told us to bring passport, H-1 approval, marriage certificatie and few pictures. I asked him if you need any kinda H-4 approval he said no there is no need. So probably we will go this weekend and get this done.

-- This confirms that the officer you met at the airport was wrong and she should have granted your wife the H4 status.

Let me ask you, Can we just cross the border and take a U turn and come back to the border to get the H-4, or is there any other way?

-- Yes, that is the way to apply for the H4.
 
been to border yesterday to get the H-4 for my wife and was able to get it without any problem.

I have another question and probably you should be able to help me with that. Last month I went to india for a month, In June my company was gonig to apply for my H1B extension as my H1 is expiring in Nov, I told my company not to apply till I come back from India, but they still did and they got the approval while I was in India. When I came back I got the I-94(at airport) till nov 2006 based on my old H1 B apporval.

The I-94 which came with the H1 approval is valid till May 2008, but that is not current anymore because I got another I-94 at airport which is valied only till nov 2006.

Some one suggested me that since I am going to get the H4 for my wife I can as well get new I-94 for me. So while crossing the border I surrender both I-94(on the passport and one on the H1 approval), and whne i took U-turn and came back to the US border I told them that i need new I-94 and H4, he sent me to the office and there he asked me what happened to the I-94 on my approval, I told him that i surrender it while crossing, he said you should not have done that unless you are flying or you are going out for more than a week. Then what he did was, he took out the left bottm portion(which is I-94 copy for personal records) and staple it to my passport ans told me to use that. I tried to explain him the complete case, he said that since this I-94 is valid till 2008 and you have valid approval you should not worry about anything, I forgot to ask him if he has updated this I-94 number in the system, so that it becomes current. But I am assumig he did.

So while driving back home, I called the same border office and explained the situation to the other person, he told me that you should not have submit the old I-94, instead you should have come to us with your I-94 and new petition and we could have issued you the new I-94 based on your petition as you I94 on passport is expiring in november.
I told him that now the other officer has stapled the persnal copy of I-94 on my passport, so he said you should be fine and if there are any question you can always show your valid H1 B. Finally I asked him if the other officer would have updated the system with this I-94, he said said that we keep track of everything so it ahould have been updated.

So I am assuming that when he stapled the personal copy of I-94 on my passport he must have updated the system.

Please let me know hat do you think abt it, I am applying for my I-485 withi a week I a just trying to make sure that it will not have any impact on my green card processing. Please let me know your thoughts.

other concern was that, when i surrendered my I-94 at canadian border, he told me that he will sent those I-94 to US office and they will update the systems. So that mean the systems will be updated next day or so, but I came back to US with 30 min. Does that means when they update the systems with the surrendered I-94, they might assume that I left the contury but never came back because when systems gets updated I am already in US.
 
I told my company not to apply till I come back from India, but they still did and they got the approval while I was in India.

-- They should have waited and applied for an extension for you and your wife together - that would have been a lot easier to deal with..


he said you should not have done that unless you are flying or you are going out for more than a week.

-- Correct

he said that since this I-94 is valid till 2008 and you have valid approval you should not worry about anything, I forgot to ask him if he has updated this I-94 number in the system, so that it becomes current. But I am assumig he did.

-- So do you have a new stamp on your passport indicating the new expiry date? If yes, then you have a solid proof of stay with the new I-94. But in either case, you cannot do much at this point. The officers normally take care of everything. I agree with the officer who told you not to worry. This is not a thing to be worried about and also, there is nothing you can do in case the officers make mistake (which happens rarely).
 
Thanks for your response.

Funny part is that the officer by mistake stamped my wife's passport instead of mine with the H1B on it (along with the expiry date) which we noticed after we came back. Now she has a I-94 with H4 status and also the admission stamp with H1B and expiry date on it and my passport does not have the expiry date stamp on it.

Do you think there can be any adverse affects because of this? We called the border and explained them what happened but they said it's won't be a problem and next time we are at the border we can get it fixed.

I am just concerned if there will be any impact on my green card process because of this mess.
 
rahulsharma_176 said:
Thanks for your response.

Funny part is that the officer by mistake stamped my wife's passport instead of mine with the H1B on it (along with the expiry date) which we noticed after we came back. Now she has a I-94 with H4 status and also the admission stamp with H1B and expiry date on it and my passport does not have the expiry date stamp on it.

Do you think there can be any adverse affects because of this? We called the border and explained them what happened but they said it's won't be a problem and next time we are at the border we can get it fixed.

I am just concerned if there will be any impact on my green card process because of this mess.

The officer seems right - as long as she does not work, it is not harmful. But it is good to correct the mistake asap if the border is close to where you live. Also, get your ppt stamped if possible. I am telling this because the opinion differs from one officer to the other. In case you run into some cowboy officer who is not in a good mood, it might create issues.
 
we will be driving to Toronto this month end so will have it fixed on the way back... thanks for ur responses... u have been a great help...
 
Spouse canadian citizen her H4 stamping in chennai

Hi all,

I am on H1 and married to a canadian citizen 7months ago and successfully entered to the US with no issues H4 issued on border etc. and living together since then, now my H1 and H4 has expired march 2008, but my 3yr extension was applied in 18 Dec 2007 itself still awaiting approval(wasn't sure if she still needed a H4 ext. as a canadian but still applied). Now my question is I am visiting India during December 2008 assuming my H1 approval would be arriving by then (around this month may be as the visa bulletin shows dec 24 as the current date) but her H4 approval may not arrive by then as the dates are still around Aug 2007.

- Now my question is, if I travel to India (Chennai) I am planning to go for my visa stamping with my new 797 extension what happens to her situation does she accompany me to the consulate

- Else I just go by myself and get my H1 stamping and when we fly together she gets her h4 :confused:visa at the US border when we return based on my visa stamping as she is a canadian citizen?

- If I have her H4 ext. by then I hope at least that would be fine but I doubt I may not receive it by then.


(P.S. I have filed my 485 so I would be having my EAD and AP around that time as well)

Appreciate your help on this.

Thanks!
 
Hi Rahul,
I am glad you have reported your case here. Thanks for that. I am having the same case that you had. I am leaving for India on 15th for my marriage to canadian citizen girl. She will be coming with me from India, directly to USA.

The question that I have in mind is, what all documents will the officer at the POE ask her, to enter US. I know she doesnt need any visa but now she is not just visiting US but rather is here for long term. I am landing at EWR & I am not sure if the officer at the airport will be able to give her H4. Should I just request for the H4 visa at the airport or just let her enter independently, showing that she is visiting someone. I can then get her H4 from buffalo, similar to what you did.

Thanks.

Harry.
 
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