H1B & Canadian TN Combination in US

arpitaggaral89

New Member
I am a Canadian citizen currently residing in India. My husband is travelling to Us Chicago in march on H1B. My plan is to join him in Chicago in April for few months and then search for job there itself. Do i need to apply for H4 visa or i can enter US on Canadian tourist status. Also once i get job then do i need to go out of US and come back on TN visa status ?
 
You don't want to enter as tourist. You are not a tourist.
Canadian citizens do not need a visa to enter the US (unlike citizens of India), there are a few exceptions for a very minority of Canadians (with criminal history, etc).
If your husband has an approved H1B petition, form I-797, you can arrive in Chicago airport and show your Canadian Passport, your husbands original I-797 approval notice, your original marriage certificate (and official translation if not in English) and the CBP will admit you in H-4 status for the same validity as your husbands H1B. (or the validity of your Canadian passport, which ever is shorter)
If your husband has an approved I-140, you can apply for H-4 EAD (Employment Authorization Document - although the future of H4 EAD is questionable, and it will take 4 to 6 months to process).
If you can get a job offer and the company is willing to sponsor you for a TN status, and you qualify for TN status, your company can apply to Change of Status from H-4 to TN without leaving the US. Or if you have a solid case for TN, you can drive or fly to any US/Canada (or US/Mexico) border and apply for TN at the port of entry. Ideally the company that wants to hire you will have a legal team that can assist you.
 
I was on TN status living in Southern California, my company applied for H1B for me and was ultimately approved (after initial RFE, then rejection, then they filed MTR, then final approval - a long story for another day).
We drove to US/Mexico border (as it was closer than Canadian border), I shown my original I-797 approval notice, my spouse original marriage certificate, my child original long form birth certificate, and our Canadian passports and I entered on H1B, my spouse and child on H4. (stamp in passport and new paper I-94 to H1B expiry date). No need for a "Visa". Canadian citizens typically don't need a Visa to enter the US. They call it TN STATUS or H1B STATUS or B2 STATUS. (sometimes they don't even stamp the passport, but it is in the "system").
 
I am a Canadian citizen currently residing in India. My husband is travelling to Us Chicago in march on H1B. My plan is to join him in Chicago in April for few months and then search for job there itself. Do i need to apply for H4 visa or i can enter US on Canadian tourist status. Also once i get job then do i need to go out of US and come back on TN visa status ?

You can't enter the US on tourist status if you have no intention of being a tourist.

With a spouse on H1b, you should ideally enter on a H4 visa.
 
In some other forum I got this response.

As a Canadian citizen, all you need to enter the US is your Canadian passport and you need to apply to have advance approval to travel through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). ESTA is just a online thing and they charge $14.

If you do the above, you will be authorized to stay in the US maximum 6 months.

Alternatively, yes you can apply for an H4 visa at the local US Consulate. You will have to do to the interview and if approved, you could potentially stay longer. CBP will typically authorize stay up to the expiration of the H1B petition.

None of the above will allow you to work in the US legally. You are allowed to look for a job and interview for a job. Once you have a job offer, you have to leave the US and re-enter on TN visas. TN can for Canadian can be obtained at any port of entry on the Canadian border, however there are special ones that have optimized processing. If you do this, you will be on TN right after you re-enter and can work right away.

Alternatively, once you have a job offer, you can file form I-539 Application To Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status with USCIS to TN status. This way, you do not have to leave the US, but you have to wait until USCIS approve your I-539 which I don't know what the processing time is now, but it's usually months.

Lastly, TN is only for certain professions, not all jobs qualify for TN. The list can be found here:
 
The responses you got in some other forum are irrelevant in this forum. And frankly speaking some of what they told you there is simply BS and crappy information. @Amberleaf and @1AurCitizen already gave you some sound and accurate information in this forum.
 
Why are getting offended? Purpose of pasting other forum was to instigate a healthy discussion. But it seems you are not interested to contribute. Can you give legal document reference to prove what I posted from other forum is wrong?
 
It is you who appears to be hyperventilating here. Irrespective of advice on another forum, which I've seen (and you posted the words from this forum on that site too, in effect playing word games).

In a nutshell, you got advice to secure an H4 visa from a Consulate as the spouse of an H1b visa holder.
 
I am a Canadian citizen currently residing in India. My husband is travelling to Us Chicago in march on H1B. My plan is to join him in Chicago in April for few months and then search for job there itself. Do i need to apply for H4 visa or i can enter US on Canadian tourist status. Also once i get job then do i need to go out of US and come back on TN visa status ?

Yes
 
Why are getting offended? Purpose of pasting other forum was to instigate a healthy discussion. But it seems you are not interested to contribute. Can you give legal document reference to prove what I posted from other forum is wrong?

Healthy discussion over crappy information compared to the sound advice you already got from here to start with, and you ask why am I getting offended? When I clearly wasn’t even remotely offended by it in the first place.

I might have been interested in providing legal documents if you had asked nicely you know, but then you’re obviously more interested in playing the forums against each other, a shady move by the way (thank you @1AurCitizen) since you’re pasting information back and forth.

Someone told you as a Canadian citizen, you need to apply for ESTA and you want us to engage on a healthy discussion over that???? *smh*
 
Why are getting offended? Purpose of pasting other forum was to instigate a healthy discussion. But it seems you are not interested to contribute. Can you give legal document reference to prove what I posted from other forum is wrong?
For example, Canada is not part of the Visa Waiver Program, and therefore you cannot apply for ESTA on a Canadian passport. Rather, Canadian citizens do not need a visa to enter the US on most nonimmigrant statuses on a different (and much more generous) set of rules.
 
lol
Healthy discussion over crappy information compared to the sound advice you already got from here to start with, and you ask why am I getting offended? When I clearly wasn’t even remotely offended by it in the first place.

I might have been interested in providing legal documents if you had asked nicely you know, but then you’re obviously more interested in playing the forums against each other, a shady move by the way (thank you @1AurCitizen) since you’re pasting information back and forth.

Someone told you as a Canadian citizen, you need to apply for ESTA and you want us to engage on a healthy discussion over that???? *smh*
 
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