I-797B and I-94 renewal at US-border(Mexico/Canada) : with valid old H-1B visa stamp, valid I-94, valid passport

[AdviceSeeker45]

Hi,

I have got some questions regarding the I-797B and I-94 renewal at US/Mexico or US/Canada border. If anyone can answer these, that will be very helpful.

If my H-1B transfer is approved with I797-B(instead of I797-A) for being out of status on H-1B(either because the H-1B petition was filed for consular processing or USCIS itself decided that I797A can't be given due to out of status) and if I have a valid H-1B visa stamp(annotated as M - for multiple entries) from my previous employer, have valid I-94, have valid passport for several years from now, can I just re-enter US from Mexico or Canada to get my I-94 renewed?

In the above case, will USCIS still insist in their decision for the H-1B transfer, to get a new H-1B visa stamp and if so, why? I need to know "why?", because, H-1B visa stamp is not tied with any specific employer and hence with annotation M(for multiple entries), I researched across several sources and got to know that I can use my existing valid H-1B visa stamp to re-enter US from Mexico or Canada as above to renew my I-94 as per the end date on I797-B.

So, have any of you recently(in and around Corona days of 2020 or may be in 2019/2018) gone through such a process as above and have successfully re-entered US with "I797-B for new employer + valid visa stamp for previous employer + out of status for sometime + valid I-94 + valid passport for way more than 6 months" without "going for new H-1B visa stamp anywhere(home country/Mexico/Canada, etc)"?

If yes for the above, I have few more questions as under.
1) Can you tell me what are the recommended US-borders at which I can re-enter after travelling to them by flight?
2) Is travelling by flight to San Deigo/San Ysidro/Tijuana/Mexico border a good place to get the above I-94 renewal? If yes, after arriving at San Diego airport(one nearest to San Ysidro), can you tell me the suggested route to the CBP/border office where I-94 renewal is done?
3) Or will just visiting the CBP office any international airport(San Francisco, San Jose, or any other international airports across US) be enough to get my I-94 renewed?
4) If I decide to travel over flight to Canada and re-enter US the very same day within few hours(say 2-3 hours or even less) of landing in Canada never leaving the Canada airport, do I still need to apply for a Canadian visa before this flight?

Thanks

 

[gopalakrishnach]

can I just re-enter US from Mexico or Canada to get my I-94 renewed? ---- as per EO until end of this year no new H1B stamping and even if you get stamping you cannot enter.

 

[JoeF]

The borders to Mexico and Canada are closed for non-essential travel. So you can't leave the country and reenter.

Edited July 29, 2020 by JoeF

[AdviceSeeker45]

@gopalakrishnach : "can I just re-enter US from Mexico or Canada to get my I-94 renewed? ---- as per EO until end of this year no new H1B stamping and even if you get stamping you cannot enter."  - as I have clarified above, I already have a valid H-1B visa stamp from my previous employer and also my I-94 is valid, so I don't need to get a new visa stamp but just need renew I-94 in the above case, so any rules that have been passed for new visa stamping(like until Dec 2020 no new visa stamping, etc) are not applicable to me as I see. So, I wanted to check upon others who would have had the same end-to-end scenario in the recent past by sharing case here above and wanted to see from which US-border they re-entered from, etc.

Edited July 29, 2020 by AdviceSeeker45

[gopalakrishnach]

On 7/28/2020 at 9:59 PM, AdviceSeeker45 said:

@gopalakrishnach : "can I just re-enter US from Mexico or Canada to get my I-94 renewed? ---- as per EO until end of this year no new H1B stamping and even if you get stamping you cannot enter."  - as I have clarified above, I already have a valid H-1B visa stamp from my previous employer and also my I-94 is valid, so I don't need to get a new visa stamp but just need renew I-94 in the above case, so any rules that have been passed for new visa stamping(like until Dec 2020 no new visa stamping, etc) are not applicable to me as I see. So, I wanted to check upon others who would have had the same end-to-end scenario in the recent past by sharing case here above and wanted to see from which US-border they re-entered from, etc.

When borders open and travel is allowed and depending on your visa validity you can re-enter I feel.

On other note, now I wonder why you made your question so long and confusing. Why did you used a lot of if. If you have visa stamping just say I have visa stamping till so and so date. When I read your question I felt it was like permutations and combinations type of question like if this then  what.. if that what... if nothing else then if this than what...

"and if I have a valid H-1B visa stamp(annotated as M - for multiple entries) from my previous employer"