landing experience

My H1B expires in May 2004 and I have not applied for extension.
---- You can apply H1 extension 6 months advance of your H1b expiry date. If H1 extension applied it may take 3-5 months for the H1 extension approval and if Extension is filed it is not abandoned if you go out of US, only Change of status like H4 to h1b or L1 to H1 is abandoned. You have valid visa and I-94 if your trip to Canada is less than 30 days you can enter with same I-94.
yet. If I land in the next 1-2 weeks, will such short duration of validity (~3 months only ) cause any problems while returning to the US ?
------- No, you can enter till the date Visa is valid, you don’t have any problem just land and come back next day or apply for SIN with HRDC office and provide any friend/relative address for SIN and that will be sent on Canada address to your friend and he can send the SIN card to you in US by FedEx. When land also fill up the form for PR card and provide the Canada address and PR card will be mailed in 4-8 weeks to Canada address and later your friend can send the PR card to you in US by FedEx (request your friend to make copy of PR card or SIN card before he sends because if lost you have the record)
Should I wait till I get h1B extension to land in Canada and return back to the US ?

I don’t know the expiry date of your Canada landing paper or permanent Visa. You can file extension of H1 but it will take to get approval notice 3-5 months and that time your H1B stamp will be expired and you may have to revalidate the H1b visa stamp from DOS and it may take again 3 months to get the passport back from DOS and no guarantee that they will stamp the H1B visa. If I am in your situation I will land now when I have H1B visa stamped in passport and after landing I will be back before H1b visa in passport expire.
 
Hi rshastry ,

I am in same situation, my H1 will expire in 2nd week on March but I am taking chance and going for Toronto last week of Jan for PR /SIN etc.

I think its good to go and come back before your current H1 expires.
 
landed

Hi All ,
I have landed to vancouver airport this weekend. The process was smooth. PR card should be arriving at my relative's address in toronto. didn't apply for SIN and came back next day.
immigration/custom total took just 20 minutes.
Whole application process took 25 months.

Kalpesh
 
Kalpesh,

How about come back to US? Was it smooth entry? Are you on H1 or have GC?

Also while going out did they ask you to go through US-VISIT exit process?

Please post your experience as I will be traving in last week of this month.

Thanks
 
to vahope4gc

It was a smooth entry. Since I am coming back next day, they didn't even take my I-94. All US immigration process was done on vancouver airport. The officers looked at my H1-B, took my fingerprints and picture and customs form. When landed in US, it's treated just as domestic flight.

And YES, I am on H1-B. I wouln't be going through this pain, if I had GC :) :)
 
Kalpesh,

First thanks for infomation but I got some more question for you

Don't we need to give I-94 back to US official before departing US?

Also which Airport did you start from US? I will be flying from Dulles ,VA.

Thanks in Advance
 
pls help...

i got my canadian visa last november 2003. i need to land before may 1 2004. my h1 visa is being transfered to a new employer. will it be a problem if i land to canada with expired h1 visa and expired i94. do the canadian officer ask specifically for i94.

i really need to know what are the documents canadian officers ask for. thanks a lot
_from filipino fellow
 
need to know

i got my canadian visa last november 2003. i need to land before may 1 2004. my h1 visa is being transfered to a new employer. will it be a problem if i land to canada with expired h1 visa and expired i94. do the canadian officer ask specifically for i94.

i really need to know what are the documents canadian officers ask for. thanks a lot
_from filipino fellow
 
vahope4gc,
No they don't take I-94 if you travel to canada. They only make sure you have valid visa. canadian flight is treated as domestic flight...except that immigration checking is done when entering/leaving canadian airport. I travelled from SFO. but that shouldn't matter.
 
Canadian officer will look for valid visa of Canada to enter Canada. He shouldn't care what is your status in US..whether you are legal or not...Correct me if I am wrong...

You need to have valid H1B1 to come back to US.

If you are not coming back then its not a problem. :D

Mayank
 
Hi,
I have had my Immigration visa stamped and received the landing papers.
I would like to go by road to Canada (from Buffalo Border) and then come back to USA within a week. My question is when I enter canada from USA will I have to surrender I94 and then get a new I94 on coming back?
I have been to Canada 4 times in the last 3 years and have never surrendered I94. I have always entered US back onteh same I94. Does it change any how if i eneter Canada as Permanent resident?

I have read some posts and found that the I94 was not taken when they entered. Was anyone asked to surrender I94.
 
I have had my Immigration visa stamped and received the landing papers.
I would like to go by road to Canada (from Buffalo Border) and then come back to USA within a week.
My question is when I enter Canada from USA will I have to surrender I94 and then get a new I94 on coming back?
----- Canada immigration will Not ask you to surrender I-94, if your trip to Canada is lees than 30 days you can be back to US with same I-94
I have been to Canada 4 times in the last 3 years and have never surrendered I94. I have always entered US back on teh same I94. Does it change any how if i eneter Canada as Permanent resident?
------- same, no changes you can enter US with same I-94
I have read some posts and found that the I94 was not taken when they entered.
----- Canada immigration is not going to ask I-94 it belongs to US not to Canada
Was anyone asked to surrender I94
----- I don’t know
 
i-94 issue when going to toronto and then to india;

I am planning to land in toronto and then go to india after a few days. Return is directly to US after a month.
I was advised elsewhere on this forum to ensure that the I-94 is surrendered at the US airport. Since it seems that as a routine, I-94 is not taken out, I am assuming that I will have to insist that the airlines do that. Any suggestions on how do I explain my case to them? Hopefully they should understand this from ticket - but if that is not true - what is the next best bet
Any similar experience will be useful
Thanks
 
Hi,
My landing experience is outlined below-it was very pleasant. This post might be more useful to someone who is planning to reenter Canada to satisfy the 'landing' requirement.

I landed yesterday. Since I was in Canada anyway, I crossed the Niagra falls bridge to USA and returned immediately without crossing over into USA.

The US guys asked me if I have anything to declare-I said "No"
They asked me to pull my car over and go to a customs clearance desk-gave me an orange slip. I was out in about 20 mins. No questions asked but they gave me a white slip to give to the Canadian officials.
When I came to the Canadian side, I handed the white slip.
The immigration officials told me that my pictures that Buffalo had sent are not as per specs. They took pics on the spot (for PR Card), I gave them the 'Goods to follow' list with pics of my wife's jewellery. They stamped each of the pics and the 'Goods to follow list'. I am supposed to carry that with me when I bring the decalred goods. There is no time limit on when I can bring it in.

I did not have sufficient funds at entry but all they asked me was how much money I had in my pocket - I said 50 canadian dollars, and that is what they entered on the papers. Although I was carrying a bank statement that showed $ 5000 aprox. in my bank account. But it was not asked for.
I had also driven my own car-they asked if the car was bought in Canada-I said yes and that was enough.

That's it. Best of luck to all of you.
Satish
 
Hello Friends,

First of all, I would like to thank all the people who shared their experiances and suggestions on this forum so people like me can benifit from them.

I would also like to share my landing experiance with you and as it goes:

At the Colorado Springs airport, the lady at the airline ticket counter asked me to give I-94 to staple 'em to the tickets while issuing them. I explained her that my trip is going to be for 4 days, and usually they don't take I-94 if it is less than 30 days trip to Canada. That lady hesitated a bit and then told me, "Alright, I don't want to cause any trouble to your immigration status. You can keep I-94 with you." I was glad that she did not insist of taking my I-94 as you hear some of the cases of which caused lot of inconvenience to the people by not so informed airline people. My wife and I landed in Toronto airport around 2.20 PM ET and passed through Canadian immigration; an officer stamped on our Customs declaration form, which was given to us in the aeroplane, and directed us to go to different room to go through landing process. As we were asked to take seats, we heard a sweet voice asking us to step in to her cube. My wife and I gave our landing papers to that sweet and courtious lady who entered the info in her computer and took our autograph on the same landing papers. She asked us how much money we have while informing us that I need not show her cashier's check. After that, she gave us a piece of paper as an acknowledgment to our landing and took pictures of us saying we would receive PR card in about one month to the address we gave as a local address. The whole process took about 10 minutes before we went through Customs check. There the officer did not even check our suitcases and signed on the goods to follow form while explaining us that we should be more specific about the entry I made in regards to my wife's gold ornaments on the form, otherwise, they would not accept that entry. I asked him If there is a dealine to declare my wife's gold ornaments, and his answer was "a long time". I did not get any more clarification on that as I was not inclined to do so. That process took about 5 more minutes before that officer wished us "welcome to Canada" and showed the exit door from that room to go to arrivals area of the airport.

It was a pleasent and short landing process for us at Toronto airport. We applied for SIN card on Monday.

While comming back in about 3 days later, US immigration people asked us to show our passport. I gave our Advance Parole papers (our company applied for my GC and I-140, I-485 were pending) along with the passport to the officer who asked if this is first visit to the US after I was issued Parole papers. I said yes, then he walked us to the near by room where he asked us to sit in a waiting area while he handed those papers to different officer. We waited about 40 minutes before we received stmapted paroled papers. That guy did not even smile or talk when he handed the papers to us. They did not even ask us to give finger prints (may be because my GC process is in the progress and reentering the US by Parole papers). Except for the waiting time, it was smooth too just like lading experiance. After that all is well, and we have been living happyly ever after hoping for the best. :)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate. Have a nice day and good luck to y'all.

Regards.
 
Landing experience at Toronto Airport

Here is my landing experience at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Decmber 13, 2003. Hope this helps someone thinking of immigrating to Canada permanently. I may have missed some of the things, my apology. Tried to give an exact picture of what I went through for my settlement from USA to Canada. Including importing a my goods and vehicle.
 
Returning Resident Permit

I plan to land at Ottawa and return within a couple of days.

Should I submit a returning resident permit at that time? Or should it be sent after I return to the US?

Thanks,
raokris
 
I changed jobs and moved to a new company in the US. I also have to land in canada before Aug to keep my PR. Once I get my approval papers from my new company can I go to canada and get my passport stamped with the H1B of my new company at the US consulate in canada since at that time I will be a canadian PR?

Also how long does it take to do that at a US consulate in canada?

Thanks
 
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