Automatic visa revalidation

Automatic visa revalidation is one of a handful of exceptions to the general rule that a person who is not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident can only lawfully enter the United States if he/she has a valid visa. According to automatic visa revalidation, people on some non-immigrant visa statuses who visit Canada, Mexico or some adjacent islands close to the United States for a period of less than 30 days can re-enter the United States based on a valid Form I-94 even if their visa has expired.[1][2]

Rules

A person is eligible for automatic visa revalidation provided the following conditions are met:[3][4]

Other similar exceptions to the rule that those who are not citizens or permanent residents need visas to enter the United States

Relation with change of status

Automatic visa revalidation also applies to cases where the applicant never acquired a visa for his or her current non-immigrant status but rather transitioned through it by filing the appropriate form to change non-immigrant status (such as Form I-129 or Form I-539). Instead of the "visa", what gets revalidated is the change of status, and therefore in lieu of the visa the applicant must carry the Form I-797 Approval Notice in addition to all the other supporting documentation. In particular, it does not matter if the applicant has never acquired a visa for the new status.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 "Automatic Revalidation". United States Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  2. "Automatic revalidation for certain temporary visitors". United States Customs and Border Protection. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Naik, Vipul (January 5, 2015). "An addendum to visa versus authorized stay: “automatic visa revalidation”". Open Borders: The Case. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  4. "Returning to the U.S. from Canada or Mexico". Cornell University International Students and Scholars Office. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  5. "Automatic Visa Revalidation". Office of International Affairs, University of Chicago. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  6. "Visa & Passport Renewal". International Center, Winthrop University. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  7. "Travel to Canada and Mexico". Berkeley International Office. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  8. "Travel to Canada, Mexico, or Adjacent Islands". Harvard International Office. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  9. "State Sponsors of Terrorism". United States Department of State. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  10. "Automatic Visa Re-Validation". VirginiaTech. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.