Whenever a non-US citizen travels to the U.S., they must be “inspected” by a Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officer. Often this happens during “pre-clearance” in an airport in your home country, before you board your airplane. Sometimes, this happens after your airplane lands in the U.S., and you de-board the plane. 

U.S. government rules for re-entry to the USA are longstanding. During inspection, the CBP officer will look at your passport, visa and visa documents, electronic devices, and to ask questions related to CBP’s mission and priorities (cbp.gov). These inspection rules apply equally to citizens and non-citizens.

Longstanding U.S. government rules are clear that a valid visa does not guarantee entry to the United States. U.S. government policy grants CBP the power to deny entry – including to visa holders – for a variety of reasons, such as:

• Past criminal history or law enforcement contact. This could include situations where an individual was charged (even if ultimately dropped or expunged) or ticketed (rather than being charged and convicted).
• Past immigration history. Prior immigration violations, even "technical" infractions, may result in denial of entry.
• Social Media. A search of electronic devices at points of entry could include a review of social media and private messages. More information regarding this policy may be found on the CBP website (cbp.gov).

If admission is granted, the CBP will handwrite the visa class of admission into your passport and the end date of your validity period below that. The CBP officer also will input this information into the computer system, which will generate an electronic I-94 record for you.

Admission Documents

• Passport — 
  • In general, your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your anticipated period of stay in the United States. If the passport expires before the end of the H-1B approval, your admission will be valid only until either the passport expiration date or to a date that is 6 months prior to that, depending on your country of citizenship.
• Nonimmigrant Visa
  • (unless you are Canadian, and thus visa-exempt)
• Employment Verification Letter
  • If travel is occurring after the employment at Purdue began, this letter will  be issued to you by International Scholar Services at the time your Travel Request is approved.
  • If this is your first admission after accepting an appointment at Purdue, present your Invitation or Offer Letter.
• Immigration Document specific to your class of visa
  • H-1B or O-1 —
    • Form I-797 Approval Notice. You will need the Receipt Number for your approved petition as it appears in the upper left corner of the Form I-797 Notice, beginning with IOE or WAC.
    • A complete copy of your petition, including the LCA (Form eta e9035). If you have recently been extended but the new approval begins after you re-enter, you should additionally carry the new Form I-797 extension approval, so that you are admitted from the date of re-entry through the end-date of the new approval.
    • Original offer letter for the position you currently hold
    • 2 - 3 recent paystubs
  • J-1 —
    • Current DS-2019 with travel signature within 1 year of your planned re-entry to the USA
    • J-1 Student Interns additionally must have a Form DS-7002 Training Plan. J-1 Research Scholars, Short-Term Scholars, and Specialists do not have a Form DS-7002
    • If employed, 2 - 3 recent paystubs
  • E-3 —
    • Form eta 9035 Labor Condition Application
    • Form I-797 Approval Notice if an I-129 petition was filed on your behalf, or Form I-94 showing prior admission in E-3 status
    • Department support letter and original offer letter for the position you currently hold
    • 2 - 3 recent paystubs
  • TN —
    • Form I-797 Approval Notice if an I-129 petition was filed on your behalf, or Form I-94 Record showing prior admission in TN status
    • TN memo and letter from original admission
    • Education documents
    • 2 - 3 recent paystubs

Citizens of Canada traveling on Canadian passports are not required to obtain a visa for admission to the U.S.  

The Form I-797 serves as notification to the Immigration officers at the port-of-entry to the U.S. that you are eligible for admission. The I-797 approval notice indicates that USCIS has notified the port-of-entry in Canada of the approval of your H-1B petition. 

It is prudent to present your original Invitation or Offer letter during your initial admission. 

For employees holding H, E, O or TN status, an Employment Verification Letter from your department may be presented during subsequent admissions. For J status holders, the DS-2019 with travel authorization is sufficient for subsequent entries.

This is a mechanism created by the law to enable US exchange visitors and international workers to make brief visits to ‘contiguous territories’ without needing to obtain a visa for re-entry to the USA.

When is Automatic Revalidation available?

Automatic revalidation is for

• J-1 Scholars with unexpired DS-2019s (meaning that the end date in Box 3 has not been met, and will not be met during the trip to Canada or Mexico)
• H-1B, O-1, TN, E-3 and other visa holders, including those whose visa status has been changed or extended by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
• Who have a visa stamp in their passport (any visa stamp, for any visa classification)
• Who seek to travel outside the U.S. for thirty days or fewer
• Who will be visiting only
  • For J-1 travelers — Canada, Mexico or an adjacent island (Saint Pierre, Miquelon, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bermuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, The Windward and Leeward Islands, Trinidad, Martinique, Other British, French, and Netherlands territory or possessions in or bordering on the Caribbean Sea)
  • For H, E, TN or O-1 travelers — Canada or Mexico
• Who will reapply for admission to the U.S. to continue their authorized activities

When is Automatic Revalidation not available?

Automatic revalidation is NOT possible if

• you apply for a visa at the U.S. Consulate or Embassy, and at the time of re-admission
• the visa application either is still pending, or
• has been denied
• you are a citizen of Cuba, Iran, Sudan or Syria 

When might Automatic Revalidation be strongly discouraged

Re-entry to the USA is a discretionary decision by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The decision to admit a non-US person may be based on a wide range of factors. Even posession of an valid, unexpired visa is not a guarantee of admission. Admission with an expired visa, pursuant to automatic revalidation, may face additional challenges

Automatic revalidation is not recommended if there may be 'adverse factor' within the immigration history of the applicant. This is because there are concerns that the CBP may leverage such adverse factor(s) to exersize its discretion against re-admission. Adverse factors may include but are not limited to-

• past interactions with the US criminal justice system, even if there was only an arrest or there was an expungement, or
• citizenship in a country listed in either the June 9 or Dec 16 Proclamations, or another nation identified by the USA as representing national interest concerns

Documents You Will Need

When you seek admission to the U.S. using Automatic Revalidation, you must present to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) —

• Your valid and unexpired passport,
• Your original Form I-797 approval notice with unexpired I-94 at the bottom,
• A previously-issued visa (this could be a still-valid or expired U.S. visa in your current or expired passport. It may be a different classification of visa stamp entirely — such as an F-1, J-1 or B visa)
• Documents from International Scholar Services- these are sent to you once we have reviewed and approved your travel documents. You must submit a travel document to obtain the two letters listed below:
  • An Employment Verification Letter, and
  • An Automatic Revalidation Letter and Memo

When you return to the USA, you will be directed to secondary inspection because a CBP officer will need to review your documents manually to determine you are eligible for automatic visa revalidation.

NOTE — This procedure has no bearing on the issue of whether a visa is required of you by Mexico, Canada, or the adjacent island. You are responsible for confirming whether you need a visa to enter the non-U.S. country(ies) you plan to visit.

Once you have cleared the USCBP checkpoint and have access to a computer, you must print the I-94 record from the following website — https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home. CBP officers are extremely busy and because they are human, occasionally make mistakes. Review the I-94 carefully and if the dates or classification on the online record are different from the Approval Notice, please contact ISS immediately at IntlScholars@Purdue.edu. Also be sure to check that your passport has been properly stamped before leaving the port-of-entry post.

Every time you and/or your family travels, you must access the I-94 record for each family member from the following website — https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home. Each time you seek admission, the Customs & Border Protection (CBP) officer who admits you will create a new electronic I-94 Admission record in the government system. The end date they assign in that system overrules the end date for any previously issued I-94 record. If you are an employee holding E, H, TN or O status, the I-94 record assigned during travel can override the I-94 record at the bottom of an I-797 notice of approval; the law states that the most recent I-94 controls your stay in the USA - and travel can thus 'override' your I-797 approval. 

For employees holding E, H, TN or O status, there are two common problems that may arise in connection with travel I-94s —

1. A spouse or child may be issued an authorized stay that is different from the parent, or different from the approval notice. This sort of error can have serious consequences!  
2. A traveler may be issued an I-94 that is shorter than the end date of the approved I-797 period as listed on the I-797 approval notice, if the traveler's passport expires before the end date of the H-1B approval. The law requires that admission to the US after travel be limited to the end date of a traveler's passport.

You must retain a copy of your I-94 in an accessible location.

Your Form I-94 document is your legal "registration document" that US law requires you retain and make available to government reprentatives and/or law enforcement officers on request. Options include

• Printing a copy of the most recent Form I-94 record and retaining that copy in your purse or wallet
• Saving an electronic copy of the most recent Form I-94 record for retention on your phone. Note that if an electronic copy of your I-94 is retained on your device, the act of handing your device over to review this document may be characterized as permission to inspect your device.

This will be the most recent of either

• The I-94 travel record from the online CBP website, or
• For work visa holders, the Form I-797 approval that incorporates an I-94 at the bottom. Please note that you must create a copy of this approval to retain the I-94 record. You should not cut off the I-94 portion of the original Form I-797 approval.