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ALAutomatic Revalidation allows certain temporary visitors holding expired nonimmigrant visas who seek to return to the US as long as you meet certain requirements:
1. If you departed for a brief travel (30 days or less) to Canada/Mexico and did not travel for a visa appointment in that country
2. You have a valid unexpired I797 or I94
3. Did not travel to a third country from Canada/Mexico
There are other eligibility criteria that you could check in detail on travel.state.gov
My husband tried automatic revalidation on our trip to Canada, so here is our experience:
- We checked with my husband’s immigration attorney to make sure that we are eligible for automatic revalidation and got a list of documents that we needed to carry
-Made sure we did not schedule a visa appointment in Canada to get our US visa stamped
-We did not get a boarding pass until we showed all the documents i.e. I797/passport. But the Delta airline agents at YYZ (Toronto) airport seemed well informed of this and we did not face any issue
- The US immigration happened in Toronto airport itself and the CBP officer seemed well informed as well. We didn’t have to explain any further. It was just like any other immigration.
Here are a few tips:
- Carry a printout of the official page that speaks about this program in case it is needed
- Call up airlines ahead to make sure they allow passengers on this program
- Preferably go through popular ports of entry as the CBP officers at these ports come across more cases like this and are therefore more experienced
- You will still need to get a visa to enter Canada/Mexico
Please note that I am not an immigration expert and only sharing our experience. Kindly direct your immigration questions to your attorney.
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