L1 stamping in Canada - Help

[lalla]

I work for a Fortune 50 company (with a blanket petition) and hold a L1B that expired in 2002 but with a valid I-94 (and it has another 9 months to go).

I was planning get my visa renewed (by sending it to the state dept here) before travelling out of the US. However my company attorney's tell me that since the visa has expired for more than 12 months now, it cannot be done here (in the US) and the only option is to travel outside and i am planning to visit Canada for that. I cannot go to India as it is taking a long time to get stamping there.

My questions are:

1. Is the >12 month rule (for renewal of visas) true?

2. How safe is it to get a L1 stamped in Canada nowadays? What kind of information/question would the Candian consulate officers look for/ask?

3. Is it pretty common to third world country nationals to go to Canada for a L1 visa stamping?

4. What are the best (in terms of acceptances) consular offices in Canada?

5. Since i have been here for the last 2 years on the L1, what kind of documents do i need to take with me? Do i still need to carry my Indian paystubs (from more than 2 years back) with me as proof my my Indian employment?

Your answers are highly appreciated.

 

[Quietist]

1. Yes, that is the rule. See http://travel.state.gov/hlop.html

2. I did it twice and had no problems. You need to bring with you the L1 approval notice, an employment letter, and any old passports with previous visa stamps, together with the filled-out visa forms and photo. Also it is a good idea to have with you a copy of the L1 petition, an annual report of your company, and some evidence that you worked for an affiliate of this company abroad before you came to the U.S., although I never had to show any of these.

3. I'm Australian, but anyone except a national of an officially designated terrorist-sponsoring country is eligible, and I saw plenty of Indians and others.

4. I went to Vancouver in 2001 and Montreal last year (I have an L1A). Both times it went without a hitch. In Vancouver I had to wait till the next day to get back my passport, while in Montreal I got it back on the very same day. I'm not sure if this is still true.

When I went in 2001, automatic visa revalidation was possible. This meant that one could hold on to one's I-94 when visiting Canada for no more than 30 days, and then return to the U.S. using that I-94 and an expired visa. So even if for some reason I couldn't get the new visa stamp, I could still have come back and maintained L1 status. But by the time I went last year, the rules had been changed so that this was no longer possible. If I had been refused a visa for some reason, I would not have been able to return as an L1 and would have had to go back to Australia and apply from there. In the event there was no problem. But that is one risk you can't avoid.