Am I eligible to travel on AVR to Mexico and reenter US?

USA H1B
1

Hello!
I am planning to go to Cancun, Mexico for 5 days in may.
My visa stamped on passport is expired and my i94 on the cbp website is also expired But i have renewd h1b and have valid i797 till dec 2023.
I renewed my passport last month. So new passport is blank. And, old passport has expired visa stamped.

  1. Am I eligible for Automatic visa revalidation?
  2. Do I need Mexican visa to travel to Cancun?
  3. What documents do I need to reenter US?
  4. Is it recommended to use AVR in my case? Or, go to India for dropbox appointment in April ( I already have booked an appointment for April 13th) but I will cancel if I can get some confirmation that AVR gets approved without any problems .
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3

Thanks Anil. Do you know the answer to question 2?

4

You can visit Mexico with a valid US visa in the passport.

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5

@anil_am22 - can you please let me know if there will be any problem while boarding flight from mexico using AVR.

I am not sure if the Delta agents will be aware of the process and will there be a problem boarding ?.

I have used Avr from canada in the past but the immigration happens at toronto airport ,however for mexico it dosen’t .

What do u suggest? . Any help appreciated

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@Dinesh123 - can you share your experience if you used AVR from mexico .

I am in the same boat and had to cancel my drop box due to india travel ban.

7

Hey,

I flew sun country airline both ways.

Departure- At the US airport, guy at bag check-in took my 797, took a pic and asked me to keep it safe with me to be able to return. Pretty simple and quick.

Return- At Mexico Airport(May 27, 2021), they had no idea about my situation. They called CBP, took pics of my 797 and passport (expired visa) and perhaps sent it to cbp for verification. I waited there for about 45 min for them to verify. They gave my docs back and boarding pass and i was good to go.
At US immigration , no one asked anything, i was the only one in line.

I am expecting delta associates will know better than sun country. But regardless, they will call cbp to verify and you should be good if you have valid status on paper and valid passport (expired stamped visa). Hope my experience gave you some confidence. Good luck!

8

@Dinesh123 -Thankyou . This really helps .

Yes I am assuming the same hassle while boarding from mexico but good to know they have a system to verify .

One more question - Why was your i797 checked at departure from USA? . I heard there are no exit stamps while exiting from USA .

Also any other document u recommend to carry for AVR.

Thankyou for your prompt reply.

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Not sure. May be they wanted to make sure I had right docs to come back.
I had to apply for Mexico tourist visa which was stamped/pasted in my passport.
While coming back, you need negative covid test proof and a card that you get when you arrive in Mexico.

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Hi Dinesh & Van04, Thanks for your conversation and information. This is super useful.

Dinesh your experience definitely gives me more confidence. Although I have one confusion, To use AVR i797 valid (renewed H1B), expired H1B visa stamp are required. Do I need a Mexican visa as well ? I have been to Mexico before in normal case with valid H1B visa and stamp that didn’t require Mexican Visa.

And Van04, If you have already travelled, Can you share your experience ?

Appreciate help from both of you :slight_smile:

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Hi Vinay, you do need Mexican tourist visa. Its a few hour thing at Mexican consulate. You go in with paperwork, they interview you and give your your passport with the visa.

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Hey Dinesh ! Thanks for the details.

  1. Did your US insurance work for the Covid test in Mexico ? Can you share some detail on where to get a Covid test ?

  2. Do you know anything about the land border rules ? Do they ask for -ve Covid test ? And are they allowing reentry based on AVR ?

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I stayed at an all-inclusive resort and they arranged the test. It didn’t require any insurance.

I flew. Sorry, I don’t know about land border rules.

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Hi Dinesh ,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I am currently on h1b , changed my status from j1 to h1 last year. I have used AVR while returning from Canada this year. Now I am going to travel to Cancun and I want to use AVR to re enter US.
I found on internet that Cancun is part of Caribbean. So h1b are not allowed to use AVR while coming back from Cancun.
Can you please guide me regarding this ?
Thanks in advance .

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I am on h1b and went to Cancun and came back on AVR. Not sure if anything has changed since I went there 6 months ago.

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Thanks for replying . Where did u land in Mexico ? Also did u go via land or air ? Did u go straight to Cancun and come back to US from there ? I dnt know why the internet says Cancun is a part of Caribbean.

17

I flew straight to Cancun international airport and back.

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Which airline did u use ? Were the airlines aware of AVR, how much time in advance I should reach at the airport to avoid hassle while taking off from Cancun ?

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Please read full thread to get more information. I have mentioned these in the thread above as well.
I flew sun country and at Cancun airport on my return, they had no idea. They took 45 min to verify with CBP.

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20

Hello,

I have a valid I 797 till July 2023 and Expired H1b Stamp on the passport. I had an appointment at the US Embassy in Mexico City for May 20th. During my Biometrics, they said that due to some processing issues, they postponed my appointment till July 1st. Can I use AVR to come back to US in the mean time? If so, is there a preferred route - Air Vs Border Crossing?

The reason I am asking is because one of requirements is that you should not have an application for h1b visa pending. I am not sure if this is only for people that had denial and 221(g) or it applies to anyone with the appointment