Friday, November 20, 2009
Coming Back into the United States
My experience entering the United States from Canada without H1B visa stamp
Let me start with my situation a little bit. I came to the US in 1998 with one-year student visa to study English language. I completed my English course, but I loved living in the US, so decided to pursue Bachelor’s degree. My F-1 visa got expired, but all I needed is a new I-20 to continue staying in the US as my original I-94 had expiration date D/S (duration of study). So, I got a new I-20 and stayed back here. Changed program/major and got another I-20. Changed college and got new I-20. Finished the degree and got new I-20 for OPT. Joined graduate school and got another new I-20. So I probably have more than 30 I-20s. In the beginning of year 2007, I got a job offer while I was doing second master’s degree. Applied for change of status (F1 to H1B) on the first week of April, and started working for my current company on Oct 1, 2007 while still completing my master’s degree which I finished in December 07.
I have never left the US since I came into this country in 1998 until I went to Canada as a PR on Nov 15, 2009. I never had any visa stamp in my passport other than the 1st one-year student visa. I am currently using my 3rd passport. This passport has only Canadian PR visa, nothing else.
We spent our last night in a hotel in Lethbridge, Alberta. Lethbridge is about 1 hour 20 minutes from Coutts, AB/ Sweet Grass, MT. We left hotel about 8:30AM and arrived to Sweet Grass port of entry (US port of entry) about 9:45AM. Approached to the gate and rolled the window down. The officer asked me where we are going. I said Utah. He asked why. I said I work and live in Utah. He asked me to see our passports. I handed him 4 passports (two of them were US passports). He started flipping through the passports of me and my wife. He did not see any visa and any stamp other than the Canadian PR visa and COPR document attached to them. Then he asked me what my status in the US. I said H1B and my wife is in H4 and I handed him both of our current I-94s. Then he asked me how long we were in Canada. I said 5 days. He asked when I came to the US. I said about 12 years ago. He asked me what visa I came in with. I said student visa. He asked me if I have the older passports with that visa stamp. I gave him the old passports of me and my wife. He scanned the older visas and I think he also scanned the kids US passports too. Then the officer chatted with another office for a few seconds and only thing I heard is that he said “I am aware of it”. I am not sure what he was aware of it. I had not shown my travel documents/advanced paroles until this time. The office came out of the booth with our passports and I-94s and asked me to drive slowly to the parking lot with his being close to my window. He showed me where to park. He asked me to turn off the engine and give him the car key. I asked me and my wife to come out of the car and also to pull the kids out as he said it is going to take a while and we need to talk. He then took us inside the building. He grabbed the folder that had all the documents including my old I-20s and Advanced Parole documents. When we got inside, a lady asked me to move forward to the counter and asked me to take off my coat. She also handed me a basket and asked me to drop my wallet, cell phone in it. She kept my coat, wallet and cell phone and asked me to sit down on a bench. The officer who came inside with us handed the passports, my document folder and the car key to another officer. Three officers gathered and started talking and going through every page of passports of me and my wife including the old ones. They also started flipping through the folder documents and saw our advanced parole documents. Then the two officers left and only one started going through the passports and documents. He then asked me to come forward and gave me kids US passports and the car key back. Then he pointed to the AP document and said, so you guys have these documents then. I said yes, but I wanted to use automatic visa revalidation (AVR) instead of AP as I had not been outside the US for more than 30 days and I was in Canada. He asked how long I was in Canada for. I said 5 days. He asked where I visited. I said Calgary, Edmonton, and Banff. He asked where we stayed. I said in a hotel. He asked me if we have the hotel receipt. Good thing my wife had it and we gave him that. After that he said, as you have the AP, you need to use it. He did not mention anything about AVR as I don’t think he knew what I was talking about. Then he said he is going to do the necessary paper works and let us go. He went in an office with all of the documents and came back in about 30 minutes. He asked me to come forward to give finger prints (all 10 fingers). He also took a photo. He did the same thing for my wife. I think we also had to sign something, but I do not remember. He also asked what I do in Utah. I told him the job title. He asked me when I was going to get my US GC. I said I have no idea. I told him that the US GC takes a long time and we cannot predict the time frame. He then said, looks like either you are doing the Canadian PR process or you have already completed it. I said yes we have Canadian PR. That was the reason we went to Canada. He looked at my old passport visa and said you have never left the country since you came in 1998. I said yes I have not left the country until we went to Canada a few days ago.
He printed new I-94s. He stamped the AP documents and kept one copy of it. He made a mistake when he wrote the dates in new I-94s and I told him the I-94’s expiration date should match with my H1B approval document. But he said, he does not know much about these kinds of things as they normally do not handle the cases like mine in that port of entry. He said all he can do is put the date matching with the date of AP document. He asked me to go to USCIS in Salt Lake Utah and talk to an officer there and make whatever changes needed. He gave me all of our documents back. The lady who took my coat, wallet and cell phone was nowhere to be found. Finally, she showed up and gave my stuff back. We left the office about 11AM. They made me feel like I was a criminal. Not a single person ever smiled at us. On the other hand, Canadian side was 20 times friendlier than the US side and they smiled at us all the time.
Let me start with my situation a little bit. I came to the US in 1998 with one-year student visa to study English language. I completed my English course, but I loved living in the US, so decided to pursue Bachelor’s degree. My F-1 visa got expired, but all I needed is a new I-20 to continue staying in the US as my original I-94 had expiration date D/S (duration of study). So, I got a new I-20 and stayed back here. Changed program/major and got another I-20. Changed college and got new I-20. Finished the degree and got new I-20 for OPT. Joined graduate school and got another new I-20. So I probably have more than 30 I-20s. In the beginning of year 2007, I got a job offer while I was doing second master’s degree. Applied for change of status (F1 to H1B) on the first week of April, and started working for my current company on Oct 1, 2007 while still completing my master’s degree which I finished in December 07.
I have never left the US since I came into this country in 1998 until I went to Canada as a PR on Nov 15, 2009. I never had any visa stamp in my passport other than the 1st one-year student visa. I am currently using my 3rd passport. This passport has only Canadian PR visa, nothing else.
We spent our last night in a hotel in Lethbridge, Alberta. Lethbridge is about 1 hour 20 minutes from Coutts, AB/ Sweet Grass, MT. We left hotel about 8:30AM and arrived to Sweet Grass port of entry (US port of entry) about 9:45AM. Approached to the gate and rolled the window down. The officer asked me where we are going. I said Utah. He asked why. I said I work and live in Utah. He asked me to see our passports. I handed him 4 passports (two of them were US passports). He started flipping through the passports of me and my wife. He did not see any visa and any stamp other than the Canadian PR visa and COPR document attached to them. Then he asked me what my status in the US. I said H1B and my wife is in H4 and I handed him both of our current I-94s. Then he asked me how long we were in Canada. I said 5 days. He asked when I came to the US. I said about 12 years ago. He asked me what visa I came in with. I said student visa. He asked me if I have the older passports with that visa stamp. I gave him the old passports of me and my wife. He scanned the older visas and I think he also scanned the kids US passports too. Then the officer chatted with another office for a few seconds and only thing I heard is that he said “I am aware of it”. I am not sure what he was aware of it. I had not shown my travel documents/advanced paroles until this time. The office came out of the booth with our passports and I-94s and asked me to drive slowly to the parking lot with his being close to my window. He showed me where to park. He asked me to turn off the engine and give him the car key. I asked me and my wife to come out of the car and also to pull the kids out as he said it is going to take a while and we need to talk. He then took us inside the building. He grabbed the folder that had all the documents including my old I-20s and Advanced Parole documents. When we got inside, a lady asked me to move forward to the counter and asked me to take off my coat. She also handed me a basket and asked me to drop my wallet, cell phone in it. She kept my coat, wallet and cell phone and asked me to sit down on a bench. The officer who came inside with us handed the passports, my document folder and the car key to another officer. Three officers gathered and started talking and going through every page of passports of me and my wife including the old ones. They also started flipping through the folder documents and saw our advanced parole documents. Then the two officers left and only one started going through the passports and documents. He then asked me to come forward and gave me kids US passports and the car key back. Then he pointed to the AP document and said, so you guys have these documents then. I said yes, but I wanted to use automatic visa revalidation (AVR) instead of AP as I had not been outside the US for more than 30 days and I was in Canada. He asked how long I was in Canada for. I said 5 days. He asked where I visited. I said Calgary, Edmonton, and Banff. He asked where we stayed. I said in a hotel. He asked me if we have the hotel receipt. Good thing my wife had it and we gave him that. After that he said, as you have the AP, you need to use it. He did not mention anything about AVR as I don’t think he knew what I was talking about. Then he said he is going to do the necessary paper works and let us go. He went in an office with all of the documents and came back in about 30 minutes. He asked me to come forward to give finger prints (all 10 fingers). He also took a photo. He did the same thing for my wife. I think we also had to sign something, but I do not remember. He also asked what I do in Utah. I told him the job title. He asked me when I was going to get my US GC. I said I have no idea. I told him that the US GC takes a long time and we cannot predict the time frame. He then said, looks like either you are doing the Canadian PR process or you have already completed it. I said yes we have Canadian PR. That was the reason we went to Canada. He looked at my old passport visa and said you have never left the country since you came in 1998. I said yes I have not left the country until we went to Canada a few days ago.
He printed new I-94s. He stamped the AP documents and kept one copy of it. He made a mistake when he wrote the dates in new I-94s and I told him the I-94’s expiration date should match with my H1B approval document. But he said, he does not know much about these kinds of things as they normally do not handle the cases like mine in that port of entry. He said all he can do is put the date matching with the date of AP document. He asked me to go to USCIS in Salt Lake Utah and talk to an officer there and make whatever changes needed. He gave me all of our documents back. The lady who took my coat, wallet and cell phone was nowhere to be found. Finally, she showed up and gave my stuff back. We left the office about 11AM. They made me feel like I was a criminal. Not a single person ever smiled at us. On the other hand, Canadian side was 20 times friendlier than the US side and they smiled at us all the time.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
My landing experience as Canadian PR
Ok guys, I am back in the US after a week long vacation/landing to Alberta. We visited Lethbridge, Calgary, Banff, Red Deer and Edmonton. We fell in love with Banff and for a bigger city, we liked Edmonton than Calgary. One thing we were shocked to learn that Alberta was much more expensive than where we live in the US (Utah). For example, 24 bottles of water cost us $6.99 in Calgary when we can buy the same size of water for $3.99 in Utah and sometime $3.25 when it is on sale. Restaurant foods were double the price of what we pay here in Utah. For those of you who have lived in bigger and expensive cities like New York and San Francisco, it may not feel very expensive though.
While we were there, we applied for SIN, and Health Cards. We also opened a bank account in the Royal Bank of Canada. The account was NOT free. We have to pay $4 per month maintenance fee. We had to open a bank account before we could apply for the Health Cards as we had to show the proof of address for that. I tried to get Alberta driver license too, but I had to give up my Utah license for that and I did not do that. There were long waits for both SIN and health cards. We had to go to two different placed and we spent about 2 hours in each place.
Let's talk about the landing. We got to Coutts, AB on Nov 15 about 12:45PM and we were out by 1:30PM. The landing process itself was very easy. At the port of entry, I had to roll my car window down and talk to an officer.
Officer: What is the purpose of your visit sir?
Me: We are landing as permanent residents.
Officer: How many people in the vehicle?
Me: 4
Officer: Can I see the passports and PR documents?
Me: They are in the bag in the back of my car. If you want, I can come out of the car and pull them out.
Officer: No need to do that and he gave me a yellow piece of paper and asked me to park on the left parking lot and go to the immigration desk.
Me: Do I put the paper in my car?
Officer: No, you take that to the immigration desk.
Me: Thank you sir!
Parked the car and went in and headed to the immigration desk. There were three officers and two of them were doing nothing. A lady office asked me if she could help us.
Officer: Can I help you?
Me: Gave the yellow paper and told her that we are there to land as PRs.
Officer: Give me your passports.
Me: Here they are.
Officer: Other documents?
Me: What other documents?
Officer: The COPRs?
Me: Oh, I am sorry. I totally forgot to give you the main documents.
Officer: No problem, glad you have them.
Officer: Are you the father of the both children?
Me: Yes, I am.
Officer: Are you going to sign the COPR documents for them as they are obviously younger than 14 years old.
Me: If that is how it works, then I will sign.
Officer: Have a sit and we will call you later.
She started doing some paper works. Called me to sign my COPR and kids COPRs. She asked me to check all the spellings etc on the COPR documents. She asked my wife to come forward and sign the COPR as well. She asked me to mailing address to mail the PR cards and I gave her the address. She asked me a phone number too, and I gave my friend's relatives phone number. The officer also asked me to take a photo for me as she did not like my PR photo as it did not have white background. A male officer took the photo. He printed it right away. She asked me if I wanted to look at the photo and see I like it. I made the face that I did not like the photo very much. She told me that if I am not happy with the photo, she is more than happy to make the male office take the photo until I am satisfied. She said, the photo will stay on my PR card for 5 years and she wants me to be happy with my photo. She also said that the photo meets the CIC requirements, but she wants me to be happy with the photo. I said, if it meets the requirements, then I do not care. So she went ahead with the photo and gave me 3 extra photos to keep. If I had to go through this in the USCIS port of entry, they would have deported me from right there. Canadian Officers were too nice.
After that, she stapled the COPR documents in the passports and asked us to come forward. She explained the residency rules and where to apply for SIN etc. Then she said, congratulations and welcome to Canada. No questions about the fund at all. She pointed us to go to the Traffic and Custom desk. There was another sweet lady waiting for me. She looked at the goods accompanying and goods follow lists. Started filling out some things on the forms. She asked, if I am bringing in a car to Canada and I said in the future and the car is listed on the goods to follow list. She asked what I am driving right now. I said a rental vehicle that is in the parking lot. There were no more questions about the vehicle or goods to follow list. She asked me if I was a US citizen. I said no. She asked me my citizenship and I told her Nepal and she spelled it to make sure she was right. I said yes, She was done with the paper work and gave me a copy of it and said congratulations and welcome to Canada.
Then I asked her about the money as I was carrying a cashier's check of US$20K. I asked her if I need to do some paper work for the money, she said we will fill out a form for you. Then she did. I also said we have some cash too, she said, don't worry about it. Then we said, thank you and headed to Lethbridge.
When we came back after 5 days in Canada, the experience in the US border was not too pleasant. I will explain it on my next post.
While we were there, we applied for SIN, and Health Cards. We also opened a bank account in the Royal Bank of Canada. The account was NOT free. We have to pay $4 per month maintenance fee. We had to open a bank account before we could apply for the Health Cards as we had to show the proof of address for that. I tried to get Alberta driver license too, but I had to give up my Utah license for that and I did not do that. There were long waits for both SIN and health cards. We had to go to two different placed and we spent about 2 hours in each place.
Let's talk about the landing. We got to Coutts, AB on Nov 15 about 12:45PM and we were out by 1:30PM. The landing process itself was very easy. At the port of entry, I had to roll my car window down and talk to an officer.
Officer: What is the purpose of your visit sir?
Me: We are landing as permanent residents.
Officer: How many people in the vehicle?
Me: 4
Officer: Can I see the passports and PR documents?
Me: They are in the bag in the back of my car. If you want, I can come out of the car and pull them out.
Officer: No need to do that and he gave me a yellow piece of paper and asked me to park on the left parking lot and go to the immigration desk.
Me: Do I put the paper in my car?
Officer: No, you take that to the immigration desk.
Me: Thank you sir!
Parked the car and went in and headed to the immigration desk. There were three officers and two of them were doing nothing. A lady office asked me if she could help us.
Officer: Can I help you?
Me: Gave the yellow paper and told her that we are there to land as PRs.
Officer: Give me your passports.
Me: Here they are.
Officer: Other documents?
Me: What other documents?
Officer: The COPRs?
Me: Oh, I am sorry. I totally forgot to give you the main documents.
Officer: No problem, glad you have them.
Officer: Are you the father of the both children?
Me: Yes, I am.
Officer: Are you going to sign the COPR documents for them as they are obviously younger than 14 years old.
Me: If that is how it works, then I will sign.
Officer: Have a sit and we will call you later.
She started doing some paper works. Called me to sign my COPR and kids COPRs. She asked me to check all the spellings etc on the COPR documents. She asked my wife to come forward and sign the COPR as well. She asked me to mailing address to mail the PR cards and I gave her the address. She asked me a phone number too, and I gave my friend's relatives phone number. The officer also asked me to take a photo for me as she did not like my PR photo as it did not have white background. A male officer took the photo. He printed it right away. She asked me if I wanted to look at the photo and see I like it. I made the face that I did not like the photo very much. She told me that if I am not happy with the photo, she is more than happy to make the male office take the photo until I am satisfied. She said, the photo will stay on my PR card for 5 years and she wants me to be happy with my photo. She also said that the photo meets the CIC requirements, but she wants me to be happy with the photo. I said, if it meets the requirements, then I do not care. So she went ahead with the photo and gave me 3 extra photos to keep. If I had to go through this in the USCIS port of entry, they would have deported me from right there. Canadian Officers were too nice.
After that, she stapled the COPR documents in the passports and asked us to come forward. She explained the residency rules and where to apply for SIN etc. Then she said, congratulations and welcome to Canada. No questions about the fund at all. She pointed us to go to the Traffic and Custom desk. There was another sweet lady waiting for me. She looked at the goods accompanying and goods follow lists. Started filling out some things on the forms. She asked, if I am bringing in a car to Canada and I said in the future and the car is listed on the goods to follow list. She asked what I am driving right now. I said a rental vehicle that is in the parking lot. There were no more questions about the vehicle or goods to follow list. She asked me if I was a US citizen. I said no. She asked me my citizenship and I told her Nepal and she spelled it to make sure she was right. I said yes, She was done with the paper work and gave me a copy of it and said congratulations and welcome to Canada.
Then I asked her about the money as I was carrying a cashier's check of US$20K. I asked her if I need to do some paper work for the money, she said we will fill out a form for you. Then she did. I also said we have some cash too, she said, don't worry about it. Then we said, thank you and headed to Lethbridge.
When we came back after 5 days in Canada, the experience in the US border was not too pleasant. I will explain it on my next post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)