Do you need to show your H1B visa (or citizenship docs in case you are a citizen) when returning from these cruises back to us mainland? Anybody with first hand experience? Asking because I have an renewed H1B approval which would need to be stamped on an US consulate abroad if I leave US technically from an immigration stand point. So, I was wondering if taking these cruises are considered leaving us or not from an immigration standpoint?
Yes, taking a cruise is technically leaving the US. You will need a valid visa stamp to reenter when you come back. Even after visiting US Virgin Islands, which is a US territory, I had to show all visa docs. Within the US, I think you're only safe to visit mainland, Hawaii, and Alaska without having to worry about visa stuff. The only thing I'm not sure about is how they treat loop cruises that don't have any ports of call except the origin.
+1 I went to a carribean cruise last year and at the Port of entry had to show my visa
Btw I have heard of people getting h1b stamp while in the Caribbean. In case you will be getting off (no pun intended) on the islands.
How do you do that on the cruise schedule? Isn’t cruises landing on a island only a day or half? Or are you saying there is some instantaneous stamping somewhere?
I only know from Internet forums. Sounds tricky on a tight cruise schedule. Research further and see if you can even find a matching appointment. Also keep in mind the increased extra info requests people are getting for many h1b renewals. Could derail the best laid plans.
You definitely need the US visa while re entering
You're definitely leaving the US.