Hello everyone,
I had a question about immigration check at port of entry Seattle returning from an Alaskan Cruise with only US stops. This year due to covid all Alaskan cruises from Seattle will only do Alaskan stops without stopping in Canada. I was wondering if this would be considered as a domestic trip? Would there be an immigration check on the port of entry? The ship will sail through Canadian waters but will not stop at any Canadian ports.
If returning from Canadian waters will need an immigration check would Automatic Visa Revalidation apply? I have an expired H1B stamp and valid unexpired I-94 and recent paystubs from my employer. As this trip is less than 30 days and goes through Canadian waters would AVR apply in case there is an immigration check?
I strongly believe there should be no immigration check if the only stopover is Alaska as it is US territory. I had been to Hawaii with expired H1B and there was no immigration check for flights inbound and outbound from/to the US mainland with not other international stopovers (direct flight).
Just like the airplane travels over international airspace, the cruise is travelling over international waters but do not have any stops at international ports so immigration check should not happen.
It is always best to call and check with the cruise company.
Hi I travelled on the cruise with expired H1b stamp and valid I-797 and did not have any issues coming back in….CBP looked at the documents and let us in….what you want to check is if you cruise line will let you board with the expired visa and I797 coz usually they are the ones that are not aware of all the documents…I used holland america line only because they have a great documentation department that are aware of H1Bs and boarding was smooth….on the other hand steer clear of Princess that gave me the run around for 2 weeks only to be told by one of their employees that this cruise is only for US citizens!!!