Visa Stamping from Canada/ Mexico

Sorry about the long post, but hopefully it is informative.

My wife, I and 2 kids went to Toronto, Canada to complete our landing formalities as a Canadian PR. We flew from California to New York on Aug 14 and from there drove to Toronto by road on Aug 16 after spending a day at Niagara falls. After completing the Canadian PR formalities, the Canadian border officer stapled our copies of the signed Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) to our passports. We spent the night of 16th at DoubleTree Hilton at Toronto downtown. Our US visa interview was the next day (Aug 17) morning at 8.15 AM.

Aug 17 interview experience:

I changed employers since my last stamp (my old employer had filed my I-140) and am on a E-C model. My wife and I are both working (my wife on H-4 EAD).

We got kinda late getting the kids ready, so we were able to join the line only at around 8.25 AM, but no one made a big deal about it. We also took our cell phones and one backpack thinking we could leave it at a locker close by, but there wasn't any close by. We forgot to do our homework on this aspect, but thankfully there was another person waiting outside whose wife was standing in the line along with us for her interview, so we asked and he offered to hold our belongings for us (Thanks to God and we are hugely indebted to the couple!). I had 3 folders overall for my H-1 interview and my wife had one folder for her. In a hurry to hand-off the backpack to the person above, I took only one folder (out of my 3) in hand when I went in the building (I didn't realize this until I was inside the building). Although the folder I had contained the most important stuff like I-797, employer letter, client letter, contract copy, etc.), my pay-stubs, W-2 and tax returns' information were stuck in the other folders I didn't bring in, so things were not off to a great start (especially since paystubs were an important and commonly asked document). Plus my kids were running all around making life difficult for my wife and I.

Before going into the building, we had to provide proof of passport, DS-160 and appointment confirmation pages and we were let in. Once inside, what followed was airport style security check and we were put in touch with a lady at the counter. She kind of got agitated that my wife and I did not appear together (my wife was chasing our kids around), but once my wife joined me, she looked at our details and put the passport and I-797 into a BLUE folder. There was also RED folders available, which I thought could be for petitions not in PIMS just yet (just an assumption from my end), so I kind of was relieved.

Once this process was complete, we were taken to another room where fingerprints and the interview was happening. Once done with the biometrics, we waited our turn for the interview, which came soon enough with a lady consular officer. The applicant ahead of me had an argumentative interview with the same officer I was waiting to interview (I think she applied for a visitor visa) and was denied, so I was like, 'Ok, here we go...'. Once our turn came, the officer asked all of our passports to which I replied the kids are US citizens and handed the passports for my wife and I. The passports I handed to her were our new passports which did not have any prior US stamps (they were on our old passports which I was having with me). Following is how the interview went.

Officer: Are you applying for an extension stamp or a fresh stamp?
I: I switched employers, so this would be a fresh stamp.

Officer: Did you have prior H-1 stamps?
I: Yes, twice before this.

Officer: Since when are you on H-1?
I: Since Jan 2013. From 2009 to 2013, I was on L-1 visa twice stamped.
Officer: Ok.

Officer (looking at kids): Are your kids on any sort of welfare/government assistance programs?
I (puzzled): Um, no.

Officer: How do you support them?
I (more puzzled): Both of us work and support them.

Officer: What is your highest level of education?
I: Replied

Officer (looking at my wife): What is your highest level of education?
My wife: Replied

Officer: Your visas are approved. You will get them in 3-5 business days.

We were happy and left the consulate at around 9.30 AM, thanked the couple who held our stuff and walked back to the hotel. Once at the hotel, I realized that the officer kept the original I-797 and was immediately worried. I emailed the consulate inquiring the same.

Soon after our interview Friday (8/17), we checked out of the hotel and went to our relatives' place in Toronto. Around afternoon the same day, I checked our DS-160 statuses and it said visas were "Issued" for my wife and I. I had opted for premium delivery to our relatives' apartment.

Around Monday (8/20) morning, I received an response to my email from the consulate that the original I-797 is usually mailed along with the passports. I was feeling relieved. The same day afternoon, received an email from Canada Post that they received documents from the consulate along with the tracking number and the expected date of delivery was the following day, (Tuesday, Aug 21).

I missed the mailman the next day (Aug 21), so he/she left a note in our mailbox to pick up the package at a nearby post office the day after (Wednesday, Aug 22) after 1 PM. (Backstory: Since this was an apartment and the package required to show ID proof and signature for delivery, the mailman wasn't able to gain entry through the apartment main door (only residents can). Knowing this, we left a note in our mailbox for the mailman to call our relative when he attempts to deliver, which he did. But our relative missed the call, so he left us a note to pick it up from a nearby post office the next day).

The next day (Wednesday, Aug 22), at around 12 PM I received an email that the item was the post office, so I went there and picked it up. We had our passports stamped till April 15, 2021 and the original I-797. I was relieved that this process went through smoothly. Interestingly, the US visas were notated with the words "Canadian Permanent Resident".

On Friday Aug 24, we started from Toronto to New York and entered US thru the peace bridge. We were asked a few questions at the port of entry, by an officer who looked irritated for some reason:

1) Where do I work?
2) Why are you entering thru New York?
3) How will you get to California?
4) Did you have anything to declare from Canada?

After replying to all of the above (the officer was kinda confrontational), we were asked to pull over and park our car for document related stuff. We were waiting inside the CBP building and when our turn came, another officer (nicer than the first) at the counter asked us a few more questions, and asked us to pay $12 for our I-94s and we were on our way into the US. On the 28th we took a flight from New York to California.

Note: My old expired stamp was H-1 and my wife's was L-2. I was aware that both my wife and I would qualify for Automatic Visa Revalidation (AVR) based on the language I read from the CBP website, even though my wife was now in a different visa status (H-4). I had another lawyer confirm this as well. But my employer's attorney suggested that only I would qualify for AVR (not my wife), since my wife's current status is different than her old expired stamp. Furthermore, she even said my wife's visa application could be turned down since she was getting her first H-4 stamp from a consulate not in the home country. I was like "What the ...". I emailed CBP asking if my wife can enter thru AVR (to potentially avoid stamping for my wife), they responded, 'No, your wife needs a new visa stamp', so I went ahead and scheduled the stamping interview for my wife and I. I decided to take the chance for my wife, despite my employer's attorney suggesting she might not get stamped. The idea was if they refuse to stamp her, she was to go to India to get it, which thankfully did not happen.