Ronitb2004

Can a visa statues be changed by traveling to Canada?
A friend of ours
is in the process of boating his J1 visa (a visiting scholar) he is
currently in the US on a tourist visa. Can he go to a us consulate in
Canada or dose he have to travel all the way to Britain in order to do
the visa statues change ?
Thank you so much for your help. Cheers.

Crg14624

Originally posted by ronitb2004
    > Can a visa statues be
changed by traveling to Canada?
    > A friend of ours is in the process of
boating his J1 visa (a visiting scholar) he is currently in the US on a
tourist visa. Can he go to a us consulate in Canada or dose he have to
travel all the way to Britain in order to do the visa statues change ?

    > Thank you so much for your help. Cheers.

It is
theoretically possible to get the visa in Canada, but they may be very
reluctant to consider it in Canada if the person doesn't have any status
there.

He may not want to try it unless he's prepared to fly back to
the UK from Canada if he fails.

Mark Carroll

In article <>,
ronitb2004 <member25611@british_expats.com> wrote:
(snip)
    >A friend of ours
    >is in the process of boating his J1 visa (a visiting scholar) he is
    >currently in the US on a tourist visa. Can he go to a us consulate in
    >Canada or dose he have to travel all the way to Britain in order to do
    >the visa statues change ?
(snip)

I am British and got my J-1 visa renewed in Toronto. (Warning: I was a
visiting scholar, switched to being a J-1 student for a bit, then
found that you can't switch back from student to scholar!) However, it
wasn't much of a risk for me because there was some deal whereby if
you only go out of the US for a short time, to a contiguous territory,
you could keep you old status instead of being particularly reexamined
for admission, so if they'd refused the renewal I'd not have been
stuck outside the US; I already had J-1 status. I can't remember the
specifics of that, though, and I don't know if it still exists.

-- Mark

Ronitb2004

Originally posted by Mark Carroll
    > In article
<>,
    > ronitb2004
<member25611@british_expats.com> wrote:
    > (snip)
    > >A friend of
ours
    > >is in the process of boating his J1 visa (a visiting
scholar) he is
    > >currently in the US on a tourist visa. Can he
go to a us consulate in
    > >Canada or dose he have to travel all
the way to Britain in order to do
    > >the visa statues change ?

    > (snip)
    >
    > I am British and got my J-1 visa renewed in Toronto.
(Warning: I was a
    > visiting scholar, switched to being a J-1 student
for a bit, then
    > found that you can't switch back from student to
scholar!) However, it
    > wasn't much of a risk for me because there was
some deal whereby if
    > you only go out of the US for a short time, to a
contiguous territory,
    > you could keep you old status instead of being
particularly reexamined
    > for admission, so if they'd refused the
renewal I'd not have been
    > stuck outside the US; I already had J-1
status. I can't remember the
    > specifics of that, though, and I don't
know if it still exists.
    >
    > -- Mark

Thank you Mark. So what
you are saying is that is I do try and get my statues change from B2 to
J1 in Toronto and for some reason it dosen't work, I still have my B2
statues ?

Thank you for your help.

-- Ronit

Sylvia Ottemoeller

"ronitb2004" <member25611@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:...

    > Originally posted by Mark Carroll

    > > In article <>,
    > > ronitb2004 <member25611@british_expats.com> wrote:

    > > (snip)

    > > >A friend of ours
    > > >is in the process of boating his J1 visa (a visiting scholar) he is
    > > >currently in the US on a tourist visa. Can he go to a us consulate in
    > > >Canada or dose he have to travel all the way to Britain in order to do
    > > >the visa statues change ?

    > > (snip)

    > > I am British and got my J-1 visa renewed in Toronto. (Warning: I was a
    > > visiting scholar, switched to being a J-1 student for a bit, then
    > > found that you can't switch back from student to scholar!) However, it
    > > wasn't much of a risk for me because there was some deal whereby if
    > > you only go out of the US for a short time, to a contiguous territory,
    > > you could keep you old status instead of being particularly reexamined
    > > for admission, so if they'd refused the renewal I'd not have been
    > > stuck outside the US; I already had J-1 status. I can't remember the
    > > specifics of that, though, and I don't know if it still exists.

    > Thank you Mark. So what
    > you are saying is that is I do try and get my statues change from B2 to
    > J1 in Toronto and for some reason it dosen't work, I still have my B2
    > statues ?

Things changed after 9-11. If a person travels to Canada or Mexico and
applies for a visa and is refused, the person cannot make use of "automatic
visa revalidation" to get back into the U.S. If you still have a valid visa
in the passport, you are eligible to be admitted to the U.S. in the status
of that visa, and to be issued a new I-94.

Therefore, if you have a valid B-2 visa, you may be able to re-enter the
U.S. in B-2 status after a J-1 visa refusal in Canada. It's up to the
immigration officer at the port of entry. Also, if you are a U.K. citizen
and you actually held visa waiver status, you may be able to obtain a new
period of visa waiver status, if the officer at the port of entry permits
it.

By the way, it is misleading to refer to the process of leaving the U.S. and
obtaining a new visa stamp as "changing status."

"Changing status" is a specific term which refers to changing status within
the U.S. through filing of Form I-539.

Also, while outside the U.S., you do not hold a temporary status. You only
hold status after entering the U.S. in a particular status.

Crg14624

Originally posted by Sylvia Ottemoeller
    > Things changed
after 9-11. If a person travels to Canada or Mexico and applies for a
visa and is refused, the person cannot make use of "automatic visa
revalidation" to get back into the U.S. If you still have a valid visa
in the passport, you are eligible to be admitted to the U.S. in the
status of that visa, and to be issued a new I-94.
    >
    > Therefore, if you
have a valid B-2 visa, you may be able to re-enter the U.S. in B-2
status after a J-1 visa refusal in Canada. It's up to the immigration
officer at the port of entry. Also, if you are a U.K. citizen and you
actually held visa waiver status, you may be able to obtain a new period
of visa waiver status, if the officer at the port of entry permits it.


That's not very good advice. If you seek a visa for one
purpose, get denied, and then immedietly seek admission back to the US
under a different visa classification then you're setting yourself up to
get nailed at the border. If you're seeking admission as a B2 with the
intention of becoming a J-1 then you are subject to expedited removal
and a 5 year bar pursuant to section 212(a)(7)(B)(i)(II) of the INA for
having the wrong visa for your intended purpose. Even if you seek
admission as a B2 with the intention of departing the US to get a visa
in your home country before starting the J program they may still deny
your entry. They will be very suspicious of your intentions.

Also,
this doesn't have anything to do with automatic revalidation and 9/11.
Auto reval only comes into play when you have an expired visa. Auto
revalidation still requires someone to have a visa or I-94 that matches
their intentions. Pre-9/11 you were barred from auto reval if you
sought a visa while outside the US. The rule change after 9/11 barred
citizens of certain terrorist source countries from using auto-reval at
all.

"If you still have a valid visa in the passport, you are eligible
to be admitted to the U.S. in the status of that visa, and to be issued
a new I-94."

Correct. You are eligible to seek admission. You are
also eligible to be refused. There are no guarrantees.

Sylvia Ottemoeller

"crg14624" <member20421@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:...

    > Originally posted by Sylvia Ottemoeller

    > > Things changed
    > after 9-11. If a person travels to Canada or Mexico and applies for a
    > visa and is refused, the person cannot make use of "automatic visa
    > revalidation" to get back into the U.S. If you still have a valid visa
    > in the passport, you are eligible to be admitted to the U.S. in the
    > status of that visa, and to be issued a new I-94.

    > > Therefore, if you
    > have a valid B-2 visa, you may be able to re-enter the U.S. in B-2
    > status after a J-1 visa refusal in Canada. It's up to the immigration
    > officer at the port of entry. Also, if you are a U.K. citizen and you
    > actually held visa waiver status, you may be able to obtain a new period
    > of visa waiver status, if the officer at the port of entry permits it.

    > That's not very good advice. If you seek a visa for one
    > purpose, get denied, and then immedietly seek admission back to the US
    > under a different visa classification then you're setting yourself up to
    > get nailed at the border. If you're seeking admission as a B2 with the
    > intention of becoming a J-1 then you are subject to expedited removal
    > and a 5 year bar pursuant to section 212(a)(7)(B)(i)(II) of the INA for
    > having the wrong visa for your intended purpose. Even if you seek
    > admission as a B2 with the intention of departing the US to get a visa
    > in your home country before starting the J program they may still deny
    > your entry. They will be very suspicious of your intentions.

I tried to draw a distinction between an entry which is prohibited by
regulation, like entry to the U.S. under automatic visa revalidation after a
visa application refusal, and an entry which may be refused, but is not
prohibited, like an entry using a valid visa after a visa application
refusal.

    > Also,
    > this doesn't have anything to do with automatic revalidation and 9/11.

The reason I brought this up was that poster Mark had heard of automatic
visa revalidation after visa refusal in the past, and Ronit thought that
what Mark said might apply to her. It is still not clear whether or not
Ronit has a valid B-2 visa. She referred to "B2 statues."

    > Auto reval only comes into play when you have an expired visa. Auto
    > revalidation still requires someone to have a visa or I-94 that matches
    > their intentions. Pre-9/11 you were barred from auto reval if you
    > sought a visa while outside the US.

Um -- the new regulatory provisions which prevented use of automatic visa
revalidation after a visa application refusal in Canada or Mexico were part
of an interim rule published in the Federal Register (specifically, 67 Fed.
Reg. 10323) on March 7, 2002, which had an effective date of April 1, 2002.

People could and did use automatic visa revalidation after visa refusal
right up until the effective date.

The rule change after 9/11 barred
    > citizens of certain terrorist source countries from using auto-reval at
    > all.

Yes, that was the same rule, effective April 1, 2002. Here's a site:
http://www.nafsa.org/content/Profess...evalid2002.htm.

Crg14624

Originally posted by Sylvia Ottemoeller
    > "crg14624"
<member20421@british_expats.com> wrote in message
    > news:1507198.-
"]news:-
[/url]...
    >
    > > Originally posted by Sylvia Ottemoeller
    >
    > > Things changed
    > > after 9-11. If a person travels to
Canada or Mexico and applies for a
    > > visa and is refused, the
person cannot make use of "automatic visa
    > > revalidation" to
get back into the U.S. If you still have a valid visa
    > > in
the passport, you are eligible to be admitted to the U.S. in the
    > status of that visa, and to be issued a new I-94.
    >
    > >
    > Therefore, if you
    > > have a valid B-2 visa, you may be able
to re-enter the U.S. in B-2
    > > status after a J-1 visa refusal
in Canada. It's up to the immigration
    > > officer at the port
of entry. Also, if you are a U.K. citizen and you
    > > actually
held visa waiver status, you may be able to obtain a new period
    > of visa waiver status, if the officer at the port of entry permits
it.
    >
    > > That's not very good advice. If you seek a visa for
one
    > > purpose, get denied, and then immedietly seek admission
back to the US
    > > under a different visa classification then
you're setting yourself up to
    > > get nailed at the border. If
you're seeking admission as a B2 with the
    > > intention of
becoming a J-1 then you are subject to expedited removal
    > >
and a 5 year bar pursuant to section 212(a)(7)(B)(i)(II) of the INA
for
    > > having the wrong visa for your intended purpose. Even
if you seek
    > > admission as a B2 with the intention of
departing the US to get a visa
    > > in your home country before
starting the J program they may still deny
    > > your entry.
They will be very suspicious of your intentions.
    >
    > I tried to
draw a distinction between an entry which is prohibited by
    > regulation,
like entry to the U.S. under automatic visa revalidation after a
    > visa
application refusal, and an entry which may be refused, but is not
prohibited, like an entry using a valid visa after a visa application
refusal.
    >
    > > Also,
    > > this doesn't have anything to do
with automatic revalidation and 9/11.
    >
    > The reason I brought
this up was that poster Mark had heard of automatic
    > visa revalidation
after visa refusal in the past, and Ronit thought that
    > what Mark said
might apply to her. It is still not clear whether or not
    > Ronit has a
valid B-2 visa. She referred to "B2 statues."
    >
    > > Auto reval
only comes into play when you have an expired visa. Auto
    > >
revalidation still requires someone to have a visa or I-94 that
matches
    > > their intentions. Pre-9/11 you were barred from
auto reval if you
    > > sought a visa while outside the US.

    >
    > Um -- the new regulatory provisions which prevented use of
automatic visa
    > revalidation after a visa application refusal in Canada
or Mexico were part
    > of an interim rule published in the Federal
Register (specifically, 67 Fed.
    > Reg. 10323) on March 7, 2002, which
had an effective date of April 1, 2002.
    >
    > People could and did use
automatic visa revalidation after visa refusal
    > right up until the
effective date.
    >
    > The rule change after 9/11 barred
    > > citizens
of certain terrorist source countries from using auto-reval at
    > all.
    >
    > Yes, that was the same rule, effective April 1,
2002. Here's a site:
    > http://www.nafsa.org/content/Professional-
andEducationalResources/ImmigrationAdvisingResources/autorevalid2002.ht-
m"]http://www.nafsa.org/content/ProfessionalandEducationalResources/Imm-
igrationAdvisingResources/autorevalid2002.htm[/url].

I'm
almost positive that auto-reval has always been barred if you applied
for a visa while outside the US and the only change was regarding the
terrorist source countries.

The criteria were Canada, Mexico or
adjacent islands only, less than 30 days, you have an expired visa, an
I-94, didn't apply for a visa, and are otherwise admissible.

Sylvia Ottemoeller

"crg14624" <member20421@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:...

    > Originally posted by Sylvia Ottemoeller

    > > "crg14624" <member20421@british_expats.com> wrote in message
    > > news:1507198.-
"]news:
[/url]...

    > > > Originally posted by Sylvia Ottemoeller

    > > > Things changed
    > > > after 9-11. If a person travels to Canada or Mexico and applies for a
    > > > visa and is refused, the person cannot make use of "automatic visa
    > > > revalidation" to get back into the U.S. If you still have a valid
visa
    > > > in the passport, you are eligible to be admitted to the U.S. in the
    > > status of that visa, and to be issued a new I-94.

[snip]

Pre-9/11 you were barred from auto reval if you
    > > > sought a visa while outside the US.

    > > Um -- the new regulatory provisions which prevented use of automatic
visa
    > > revalidation after a visa application refusal in Canada or Mexico were
part
    > > of an interim rule published in the Federal Register (specifically, 67
Fed.
    > > Reg. 10323) on March 7, 2002, which had an effective date of April 1,
2002.
    > >
    > > People could and did use automatic visa revalidation after visa refusal
    > > right up until the effective date.
    > >
    > > The rule change after 9/11 barred
    > > > citizens of certain terrorist source countries from using auto-reval
at
    > > all.
    > >
    > > Yes, that was the same rule, effective April 1, 2002. Here's a site:
    > >
http://www.nafsa.org/content/ProfessionalandEducationalResources/ImmigrationAdvisingResources/autorevalid2002.htm"]http://www.nafsa.org/content/ProfessionalandEducationalResources/ImmigrationAdvisingResources/autorevalid2002.htm[/url].
    > I'm
    > almost positive that auto-reval has always been barred if you applied
    > for a visa while outside the US and the only change was regarding the
    > terrorist source countries.
    > The criteria were Canada, Mexico or
    > adjacent islands only, less than 30 days, you have an expired visa, an
    > I-94, didn't apply for a visa, and are otherwise admissible.

Did you look at the Federal Register of March 7, 2002?

Quote:

SUMMARY: Due to the need for greater security screening of visa applicants,
the Department is amending the provision for automatic revalidation of
expired visas for nonimmigrant aliens returning from short visits to other
North American countries or adjacent islands to exclude from its benefits
aliens who apply for new visas during such visits and aliens who are
nationals of countries identified as state sponsors of terrorism.

. . .

Why Is This Action Being Taken With Respect to Applicants for New Visas?

In some cases, persons who are abroad during an absence of 30 days or less
in contiguous terrigory opt to apply for a new visa during that absence in
lieu of relying on an automatic revalidation. Due to the need for greater
security screening of visa applicants, which in some cases may mean delays
in the issuance of new visas, the Department of State believes it is prudent
to restrict the ability of such persons to return to the United States prior
to the completion of all such checks and the issuance of a new visa.

Crg14624

I did read it, but I learned about the no reval after visa application
rule back in 2000. Maybe they won't even let you back in if you still
have time left on the visa now.

Maybe the rule change now applies to
people who still have some time left on their current visa who try to go
north for a new one.