H1B, H4 Visa

Hi All,

Just wanted to share a positive experience with my VISA stamping in Chennai. I had to travel to india on Aug 18th 2019 on an emergency. So when I travelled, I didn't even have a stamping scheduled. I had an approved I797 valid till 2022. I had heard that the stamping dates were more than 40 days out. This would have been a problem as I did not have so many leaves. But luckily dates opened up and I got the VISA interview scheduled for Sep 10th and 11th. The Biometric/10 printing on 10th Sep went very smooth, no isues. The Interview on the 11th was also pretty smooth.Some of the questions asked were. Firstly he asked for passport.
1) Why are you going to the US.
2) Who do you work for.
3) Who is end client.
4) What is your role.
5) Can you tell me what your responsibilities are? - I gave brief answer.
6) Can you be more specific?
7) How long have you been in the US.
8) What is your salary.
9) Do you live in xxxx?

VO started typing a lot of things. Then said your VISA is approved. You should get your passport back in a few days. Returned my Old passport along with a booklet of your rights when you work in US and a blue paper that said your VISA is approved.

This happened on 11th Sept. 12th Sept I checked status and it said there is no status for the passport number you have entered. 13th Sept, same status that there is no status. But on 13th evening I got a text msg saying your passport is ready for pickup and I went and collected my passport with the stamped VISA.
Everything was very smooth and nice experience. So dont be worried or tensed when you go. Lots of good experiences as well.

Hi All,

I had an interview in Chennai consulate on 12th September 2019. I was little bit nervous during interview and I could not able to answer properly to the questions.My H1 status will start from Oct 1st. VO asked me that your opt and H1 overlapping. She didn't look at my i797 and gave me 221g blue slip and said that your application is refused for administrative processing, you don't have to submit anything, you don't have to come here again but you have to wait couple of days for administrative processing. I have all genuine documents but VO did not request any document and she took my passport. What would be the final result in my scenario? Would VO contact USCIS to revoke my H1b? I am worrying now.

Is there any one got situation like this?

Hi All,

I have some queries and i am stuck in the complex situation which i need inputs from you guys.

I have received a RFE (which is mandatory these days)
Now the question is my employer have filed petition for the client which and now seems the client is not ready for the renewal of the contract from my current organisation so i am unable to submit relevant documentation for same client for which my petition was filed.
So organisation have gone through different client and different region.

So i wanted to know whether its a hurdle in changing in petition wrt to client and different region.

Chances of getting rejection is still the same?

Regards,
XYZ

Hello All,

I have submitted my documents through drop box in New Delhi VAC and have been in AP since then - have not received any email or communication from anyone - never experienced such kind of wait ever this is for me first time and I really do not object what to do?

Timeline -

Sept 03 doc dropped
Sept 04 - case created
Sept 05 - AP till today this time.

I have been tracking passport status and it says still with US embassy and in email tracking option it was delivered to post till sept 10 early morning but it changed to “There is no status update available for the passport number submitted.”

Not sure of what this type of status means? I have a return flight shortly coming in and I am really stressed out and nervous on it.

Kindly advise.

Thanks & Best Regards!

I wanted to post something positive since I spent a lot of time on this website freaking myself out with all the scary experiences. Mine is a F1 to H1B first time stamp

Scheduled VAC for 9 September and interview for 10 September.

VAC is a breeze. I went about half an hour early and they still let me in and I was out in 15 minutes even before the start of my scheduled appointment time.

Interview - I stayed a good 10 miles from the embassy at a relative's place. My appointment was at 9 and everyone told me to start at 7 because of an extremely unpredictable traffic situation. I reached the embassy at 7:45 and there was a queue that was a mile long. This is the main queue . You can join the appointment queue 15 minutes before your appointment.

I made the mistake of standing in the main queue, which is useless because you can anyway join directly in the appointment queue. This meant standing in the scorching chennai heat for about an hour. (bring hats, lots of water)

I joined the appointment queue by 8 45 and then I thought I would get into the embassy whereas they directed me to a really long queue on the other side of the gate which meant I stood there for at least 30 minutes after they technically check you in. Again, more heat and at this point you cannot carry a water bottle.

I entered the embassy around 9 30 and then was directed immediately to the visa interview and hardly spent 10 minutes inside the embassy.

The VO almost had all the information about me by that point. I only gave Yes/No or one word answers pretty much.

1) Petitioner name
2) Area of work?
3) Salary
4) Highest Qualification
5) Any dependants?

Visa was approved. I was super shocked and pleasantly surprised because reading experiences on this forum gave me so many nightmares.

Sep 10 - visa status admin processing
Sep 11 morning - visa status approved
Sep 11 afternoon - getting ready for pickup
Sep 11 3 pm - ready for pickup

I got my passport with stamp just before closing at VAC center at 3:55 PM. Here are some tips

1) I talked with many many people in the queue. While 221Gs have definitely increased, it is definitely not the norm. This forum is a very very small sample of the number of people who apply and successfully get the visa.

2) Just be prepared with all the questions from this https://www.immihelp.com/h1-visa-interview-sample-questions-answers/

and have these documents ready https://www.immihelp.com/h1-visa-stamping-documents/

3) Stay as close to the consulate as possible so that you can bypass uncertainty with traffic and just join the appointment time queue

4) drink lots of water. Wear cotton/ linen. I almost had a heat stroke with my jacket on. Wear a hat if possible and if they ask you to throw it away, throw it away before you enter the embassy.

5) Do not read through all the experiences here and freak yourself out. Remember they are just validating your profile and are actually nice people. As long you know your background is clear and your client information is okay, you should be fine

6) If you are changing from F1 and were on OPT, make sure you inform your university that yor H1B is approved even if you forgot after the approval (that was my mistake). I think universities proactively update some database which might have reduced my delay.

7) No document required 221Gs are common these days mainly as a backend processing at their side. DO NOT LOSE SLEEP OVER BAD EXPERIENCES. Just like Googling your medical symptoms, googling visa experiences is a bad idea because each case is unique and I feel like I wasted a lot of mental bandwidth worrying about the interview.

8) The person who I was chatting with, while I was in the queue, told me the visa officer asked him a lot of questions, but still was approved, after the interview.

Goodluck!

Had my H1B renewal visa interview in Toronto on Aug 23rd. My first H1B stamping was in India. I had received 221g back then as well. My job area falls under TAL (Technology Alert List).

VO asked questions pertaining to nature of the job, what visa I am here (Canada) on. Asked for my CV. After a couple of mins he said that my application needs additional processing like last time, but it may not take as long.

Interview date - August 23rd, 2019.
Received email on 9/11/2019 to submit passport to issue visa.

Took exactly the same amount of time as previously to receive clearance.

Need the latest availability at Hyderabad Consulate for H1B Dropbox appointment.

Here is my experience, today I attended my stamping interview in chennai consulate. For 9.30 am appointment, I was in consulate at 9.10 am along with family.

I was allowed in with my kids. Once I was in, they gave preference for biometric as well for interview as I was directly in queue.

Always go with family if possible so that you will get preference.

VO: which company you work for?

VO: Will you be working at client location?

VO: What is your client name?

VO: client location?

VO: Salary in US per annum?

VO: Current designation?

VO: Number of years in my company and in client ?

VO: Job duties

VO: To my wife, marriage date and where was my son born in US?

Done and golden words Visa approved and have safe journey.

Can you guys let me know link to track status?

Thanks everyone for sharing their experience which was helpful at end.

Overall it took just 15 mins from entrance to exit.

My wife went for H4 visa stamping (F1 to H4 visa stamping) on August 26th, 2019 in New Delhi Consulate, Vo asked for my H1b petition and said your visa is approved, you will get your passport in 2 weeks. Now its more than 2 weeks, When I am checking online on website it is saying administrative processing. Today I called US Dept of State at Washington, DC @ + 1 (202) 647-4000 or + 1 202 663 1225 and told them her passport number. They told me 221 G is issued on her application and no documents are required for her petition. Do you have any idea how much time it will take to get her passport back from the US embassy? Can somebody share their experience if a similar scenario happened to somebody?

Hello Anybody,

My wife had a visa interview on August 26th, 2019 in New Delhi, VO told visa is approved, you will get a passport in 2 weeks, now its more than 2 weeks. Did anybody get approval or had visa interview around that time in New Delhi consulate. Please update the thread.