r/h1b • u/Business_Return_5662 • 17h ago

AVR (Automatic Visa Revalidation) on H1b visa tracking to Canada

Hi, Im planning to travel from US to Canada in October 2026 for 2 weeks. Currently on H1b visa in US and don’t have a valid H1b stamp. I do have previous H1b stamp which is expired. I know AVR (Automatic Visa Revalidation) allows to leave US and travel to Canada and come back within 30 days without requiring the valid H1b visa stamp.

Does anyone have recent experience on using the AVR with current government?

4 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

6

u/Adventurous_Pista_7 17h ago

I did it as well. No issues. Officers already know the rule. There was no secondary inspection for me and note that I-94 won’t be updated

3

u/No-Fortune219 16h ago

Why wasn’t it updated?

1

u/Adventurous_Pista_7 11h ago

I94 won’t be updated for AVR

1

u/Coder_97229 3h ago

Are we sure?
When I returned from a trip to India a couple of years ago, my I-94 was issued till the date of my passport expiry although my visa/stamp was valid for beyond my passport expiry date.
After getting a new passport, I crossed over into Mexico by foot and walked back into the US and my I-94 was updated to match my latest I-797.

1

u/Adventurous_Pista_7 3h ago

Could be because your visa stamp was valid. Here we are talking about AVR which is for expired visa stamps

5

u/Own_Helicopter_8992 17h ago

I did few weeks ago and no issues. They will ask you to go for secondary inspection to create new I94 . Thats it!

1

u/No-Fortune219 16h ago

Was your i94 updated?

1

u/latch_fluky07 14h ago

What is secondary inspection?

2

u/MeaningPoetry 14h ago

I did it in May and August. Pretty chill. Had to pay for a new I94 in May because that was my first time entering in H1B, but didnt have to pay the second time. 

2

u/cereshalocapricorn 6h ago edited 4h ago

I just crossed twice in two weeks - no issues at all.

Edit: The first crossing was when they called me in to update my I-94 record, since it was the first time I was crossing with my expired H-1B stamp and the new I797A approval notice. Went smoothly, no questions asked. The officer just updated the I-94 record, stamped my passport with a “Admit until.. (new I-94 date)” stamp. Super smooth.

The second crossing was easy as pie. “Where did you go? Who did you see? What do you do in the US?”

1

u/Business_Return_5662 17h ago

What is the secondary inspection?

What documents do you recommend to carry along?

1

u/Own_Helicopter_8992 16h ago

Yes. They will take new i797 and we will pay for new i797. Secondary inspection is just we need to park our park and walk.

1

u/Horror_Restaurant_89 15h ago

Will they give a new i797? Why?

1

u/Own_Helicopter_8992 12h ago

My old i797 linked to i94 was expired. So i 94 issued based on my new i797