TD Visa

[sonicmoj80]

Hello,

I'm a Canadian living and working in the US on a TN Visa. My wife is from Bulgaria and is living with me on a TD visa. Her initial visa stamp expired last year. She then filed an extension (I-539) so her TD visa is good for another 2.5 years matching my TN expiry date. We recently applied for her Canadian PR card and hope to be receiving it sometime in the near future. When the time arrives, we will be moving back to Canada. I plan to continue to work for my company in Detroit on a TN Visa and will live in Windsor, Ontario across Detroit. Can my wife still keep her TD visa since she will be living full-time in Canada or does she have to surrender her TD visa?

If she can keep her current TD visa I have a follow-up question:

1. Since she has a expired visa stamp and did not get a new stamp from the US embassy in her home country but rather filed for an extension of stay (I-539) during her time in the US, she cannot be out the US for more than 30 days if she wants to re-enter the US using AVR to my understanding. She plans to enter Detroit at least once a week from Windsor. With that said, can she keep re-entering the US using AVR given her current TD visa status or does she have to reapply for a new TD Visa at the US Consulate in Toronto to get a valid visa stamp to enable her to have multiple re-entires into the US for any given month?

Thanks you for your assistance.

 

[nelsona]

Since she will be living legally in Canada, she has the choice of keeping TD status or getting B2 status. As you say, since she has an approved I-94 issued by mail, she *could* keep entering on her expired TD visa along with that I-94, but I suspect that they would begin to be annoyed at having to deal with this every week at the border, so getting a new TD visa would be wise. If she surrendered that TD I-94, then she would absolutely need a B1/B2 visa to enter as a tourist.

You do know that she is allowed to get a visa (either TD or B1/B2) at a US consulate in Canada? Since that is the case, I would simply make a convenient appointment at the US consulate and renew her TD visa. This would remove any concern about her qualifying as a tourist, at the time she is transitioning to live in Canada.

 

[sonicmoj80]

Since she will be living legally in Canada, she has the choice of keeping TD status or getting B2 status. As you say, since she has an approved I-94 issued by mail, she *could* keep entering on her expired TD visa along with that I-94, but I suspect that they would begin to be annoyed at having to deal with this every week at the border, so getting a new TD visa would be wise. If she surrendered that TD I-94, then she would absolutely need a B1/B2 visa to enter as a tourist.

You do know that she is allowed to get a visa (either TD or B1/B2) at a US consulate in Canada? Since that is the case, I would simply make a convenient appointment at the US consulate and renew her TD visa. This would remove any concern about her qualifying as a tourist, at the time she is transitioning to live in Canada.

Thank you for the information nelsona! I will have her surrender her expired TD visa and apply for a new one at the US Consulate in Toronto. I was thinking the same thing about her expired TD visa becoming a nuisance for the CBP since she would enter the US several times a month.