Final Regulation on Amendment of Automatic Visa Revalidation

muntasir,
Yah I remember your case and your excellent detail post on SR :) .
They didnt register you on exit, that makes sense.
But on return they still didnt SR you, thats amazing or unusual, as according to a border inspector they now SR every non-immigrant on entry the only exception is AP or if you are Ca citizen on H1B.

Were you with your family or something ?
Or are you a canadian citizen or what ? :D :p ;)
 
They are going to register all non-immigrants starting jan 1. If I am not too wrong, then they are going to implement this in some ports. Land ports are going to have the system by beginning of 2005. Bottomline, they do not register everybody yet.

Were you with your family or something ?

..al by myself buddy...

Or are you a canadian citizen or what ?

...nope, still carrying the green passport from my country.

I guess for some reason, I might looked innocent at the border
:) . As a result they did not register me. I saw many Canadians with our color were being hassled while coming to USA. They also had to answer 1000 questions even though they were not registered.
 
You r right, thats US-VIST program starting Jan 1, 2004.
I was talking about all non-immigrants from SR countries.

innocent... :D

Anyway, glad to see that green passport worked better than blue passport in this case :)

goodluck
 
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I think the regulations say the immigration officer at POE will decide whether they want to register you. Once you have done the call-in-registration at local INS, you are supposed to go back after one year to register again (provided you have not left the country). But if you have left the country, then immigration office may or may not register you while coming back. if they don't then show up at local INS office one year from the date of your recent entrance. I will be more inclined to go back from my initial entrance date.

This is what my understanding is. I will not be surprised if they cancel this program all together after US-VISIT is in place. Otherwise they have to go thru the same registration thing again in coming few months as for most of the people one year bar is approcahing.
 
Hi all,

I am planning to land at Toronto on 20th and get back to US on 22nd. I have 2 expired Visas (total 6 years) and a current H1 Approval. Currently I am in my 7th year of H1.

Do you think I will have any problems using AVR to comeback to US?

I dont want to seek a Visa at a Consulate because they specifically looks for "no intent to immigrate". The fact that I am in 7th year (based on a pending labour) itself shows that I want to immigrate.

Any insights would be really helpful.

Thanks in advance
 
Patnams,

There is no reason why you should be stopped at the border. but given the time tough, I will have some kind of backup-Advance parole. If you do not have a advance parole, then make an appointment with the US consulate on 23rd. This way if anything goes wrong at the border, you can go and apply for the visa. I will have all the papers handy if I have to apply for the visa. If everything is fine (they let u through the border), then come and cancel the appointment. Bottom line, prepare for the worst scenarios. I am not trying to be pessimistic here rather relaistic. Good luck.
 
Patnams,

There is no reason why you should be stopped at the border. but given the time tough, I will have some kind of backup-Advance parole. If you do not have a advance parole, then make an appointment with the US consulate on 23rd. This way if anything goes wrong at the border, you can go and apply for the visa. I will have all the papers handy if I have to apply for the visa. If everything is fine (they let u through the border), then come and cancel the appointment. Bottom line, prepare for the worst scenarios. I am not trying to be pessimistic here rather relaistic. Good luck.
 
Patnams,

There is no reason why you should be stopped at the border. but given the time tough, I will have some kind of backup-Advance parole. If you do not have a advance parole, then make an appointment with the US consulate on 23rd. This way if anything goes wrong at the border, you can go and apply for the visa. I will have all the papers handy if I have to apply for the visa. If everything is fine (they let u through the border), then come and cancel the appointment. Bottom line, prepare for the worst scenarios. I am not trying to be pessimistic here rather relaistic. Good luck.
 
Thanks for reply Muntasir.
I am flying to Toronto, I am hoping that they are more aware and considerate than the officers at borders. Do you think otherwise?

Thanks
 
As I said, You should not be stopped for any reason. but if I was you, I will always keep a back up plan to enter back.
 
One final question, when you present documents for Automatic Revalidation, do we have to fill any form at the airport immigration. How long the whole process takes. ?

Thanks for help
 
you just tell them that you went within last 30 days. you do not need to fill out any form. surprisingly they gave me a new I-94 last time where they admitted me in H1B status. The whole process should not take more than 5 minutes if you are lucky. if you are unlucky, it may take up to couple of hours. good luck.
 
I went to Canada last week (12/19/03) to get my PR via Rainbow bridge. Me any my wife have expired H1-B/H4-B VISA but new H1-B/H4-B petitions from new employer. Next day while coming back from Canada, I was asked to park my car and go to Immigration Office. Immigration officer just asked me that when did I go to Canada and where are you going in USA.

As per 30 day rule, I was allowed to reenter without any further questions asked.

:)
 
Originally posted by nehalshah50
I went to Canada last week (12/19/03) to get my PR via Rainbow bridge. Me any my wife have expired H1-B/H4-B VISA but new H1-B/H4-B petitions from new employer. Next day while coming back from Canada, I was asked to park my car and go to Immigration Office. Immigration officer just asked me that when did I go to Canada and where are you going in USA.

As per 30 day rule, I was allowed to reenter without any further questions asked.

:)
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. Did you show them the valid I-797 and I-94 or the I-129 with supporting documents if your new H-1B was not approved at that time? I am worried if my family and I can get back to US after landing Canada in eariler April 2004 becasue my H-1B and my family's H-4 may not get approved for extension due to the current backlog. So I may have our expired H-1/H-4 I-797 and I-94 forms and the I-129 & supporting documents of H-1/H-4 extension to get back to US. Don't if this is too risk. Any info about people with H-1B/H-4 status were rejected US entry at Rainbow or Peace bridge at the US border offices? I heard some officers were familiar with 30 day AVR but some were not. So people with valid status might be requested to get new visa stamps at US consulate in Canada.
Nehalshah50, did you drive your own car or rental car for landing? What is your landing experience at Canadian border? Thanks.
 
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