Leave US at end of visa to Canada

[Siana Stutchbury 0]

My student visa in the US is coming to an end, can I leave to go to Canada (I have an Irish passport), when my visa for the us expires?

 

Thank you!

 

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

3 minutes ago, Siana Stutchbury said:

My student visa in the US is coming to an end, can I leave to go to Canada (I have an Irish passport), when my visa for the us expires?

 

Thank you!

 

Well, that has nothing to do with US immigration. That's up to Canadian immigration. What will you be doing in Canada?

[Roel 7,192]

5 minutes ago, Siana Stutchbury said:

My student visa in the US is coming to an end, can I leave to go to Canada (I have an Irish passport), when my visa for the us expires?

 

Thank you!

 

Well you can't just "go".

Canada has visas too. 😛

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

11 minutes ago, Roel said:

Well you can't just "go".

Canada has visas too. 😛

 

Canada is the most 'welcoming' country in the world though! How dare they require visas lol.

[jkstark 97]

For an Irish citizen, if you travel by land you should not need anything other than a valid passport.  However, if you are going to fly, you will need an eTA first - ie. the Canadian version of the US ESTA and EU ETIAS. 

 

Check the appropriate pages from Immigration Canada to verify, though...

[Siana Stutchbury 0]

I heard from someone that said that you cannot use Canada or Mexico to leave the US when your visa expired. Does anyone know if that is true?

[jkstark 97]

 You cannot use any North American and some (or all) Caribbean nation as a way to "reset" your visa status, though there is nothing saying (AFAIK) that you can't leave the US to one of those countries - you just can't do so with the intent of resetting the clock on stay in the US and using that to return to the US. 

 

For instance, VWP gives you 90 days - you cannot go to one of those countries at say 80 days, and stay 2 days, and come back to the US expecting another 90 days with your VWP privileges.

[Siana Stutchbury 0]

2 minutes ago, jkstark said:

 You cannot use any North American and some (or all) Caribbean nation as a way to "reset" your visa status, though there is nothing saying (AFAIK) that you can't leave the US to one of those countries - you just can't do so with the intent of resetting the clock on stay in the US and using that to return to the US. 

 

For instance, VWP gives you 90 days - you cannot go to one of those countries at say 80 days, and stay 2 days, and come back to the US expecting another 90 days with your VWP privileges.

 

So if I were to leave the US to Canada, I couldn’t come back into the US without going to a non-North American country for some time first? 

 

What if if I am on a student visa, and I were to come back into the country for a couple of weeks on a tourist visa that I already have for the US?

[jkstark 97]

Just now, Siana Stutchbury said:

 

So if I were to leave the US to Canada, I couldn’t come back into the US without going to a non-North American country for some time first? 

 

What if if I am on a student visa, and I were to come back into the country for a couple of weeks on a tourist visa that I already have for the US?

Don't quote me on this one (ie. not certain) but the logic should apply that you are returning to the US on a completely different visa, and thus it should be correct.  However, remember that CBP has the last say in every case.

 

I'm sure that there are others here who can state more definitively, but in my mind leaving the US with your F1, and returning as a VWP tourist *should* work.  Do you actually have a B visa, or are you using the Visa Waiver Program for re-entering as a tourist?

[Mollie09 1,543]

9 minutes ago, Siana Stutchbury said:

 

So if I were to leave the US to Canada, I couldn’t come back into the US without going to a non-North American country for some time first? 

 

What if if I am on a student visa, and I were to come back into the country for a couple of weeks on a tourist visa that I already have for the US?

Theoretically, you could do that, but that would sound like you're just trying to stay longer without the appropriate visa and you might have trouble at the border.

What are your ties to home? What do you have as proof that you need to go back to Ireland once your US visit is done? I'm assuming you've been in the US for some time, so that likely won't work in your favor.

[Siana Stutchbury 0]

2 minutes ago, jkstark said:

Don't quote me on this one (ie. not certain) but the logic should apply that you are returning to the US on a completely different visa, and thus it should be correct.  However, remember that CBP has the last say in every case.

 

I'm sure that there are others here who can state more definitively, but in my mind leaving the US with your F1, and returning as a VWP tourist *should* work.  Do you actually have a B visa, or are you using the Visa Waiver Program for re-entering as a tourist?

 

I already have a B visa.

I also only need to come back into the US for a short time, like a couple of weeks.

 

thanks for your help!

[jkstark 97]

Hopefully somebody will be able to chime in on that here - I'm not certain if that complicates things or not...

[aaron2020 11,651]

1 hour ago, Siana Stutchbury said:

I heard from someone that said that you cannot use Canada or Mexico to leave the US when your visa expired. Does anyone know if that is true?

You can leave for Canada or Mexico.  You can't come back to the US.

 

Going to Canada or Mexico does not reset your allowable time in the US.  

 

After your graduation, you have 60 days to wrap things up.   CBP is well aware of the trick to go to Canada or Mexico so not to overstay in the US, and then a quick trip back into the US under the B visa for another 6 months.  That's prohibited.  They know.  Don't try this.  

Edited April 2, 2019 by aaron2020

[Boiler 45,417]

Canada has some sort of preclearance requirement, eta?, assuming that is OK you can certainly see to visit.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

If you have a Canadian tourist visa, you can travel to Canada. If you have a US b2 visa, you could visit the US after a Canada trip. 

 

Of course CBP would be standing at the border to ask for the purpose of b2 trip when you had 60 days following student status to sightsee etc.