H1B, H4 Visa

Following are the questions asked

1.Location
2.R & R at onsite?
3.client name?
4.Higher education
5.Is this fisrt time to US?

Had Successful stamping at the Chennai consulate on November 23rd.I was in the 7 30 am batch.I hightly recomd this time for any day as things are less chaotic and relaxed as well. was in around 7 am. After the forms and finger print , i went in and waited for my number and it took about 5 minutes for my number to come up.I was out of the consulate by 8 30am
Below are the question VO asked me

- what does ur company do?
- who is ur client and if there are any middle vendors involved?
- what does ur client do?
- what do you do for the client?
- Asked for the client letter and LCA
- whom do i report to at my client ( lil tricky, i said i don't report to any body at the client, but i report to my employer)
- then what is my client manager role?
- who gives my day-day actvities?
- what is my LCA salary?
- part time or full time with my employer?
- how many hours i work at the client (i said full 40 hrs)
- where is my client site?
- will i work at client site only? (i said Yes)
- Does client send me to any of their clients? (I said No, i think thiis was a tricky one as well)

Hi All,
I am in a big dilemma. i have booked my tickets and have taken H1B visa restamping interview date for Dec 5, 2011 at Delhi consulate.
I already have 2 previous stamps. last expired Feb 14, 2011. I am in a EVC model with Employer in Illinois and Client in New Jersey. I am in NJ too.i have just completed my 5 years and have I-140 approved.

What are the chances of my visa getting approved or are there almost 100% chances that i will be rejected based on my EVC case and amout of rejections going on these days.

Please advise me as i have very less time left to either start packing for the trip or cancel the tickets and interview.

PS - i got my last visa stamped in jan 2009 in EVC model too.

Thanks in advance.

After Delhi consulate issuing a 221(g) and final submission of documents by me , I am issued the Visa .

My H1b Visa renewal is approved in Tijuana, MX. I am on EVC Model. Interview was about 10 min.

Questions asked by VO Officer

VO: Good Morning

me: Good Afternoon Officer (it was 12:00 PM). how are you doing today?

VO: Doing good. So you came for Visa Renewal?

me: Yes, i came for H1b Visa Revalidation

VO: what is your status before H1?

me: i was on F1. I did my master is so and so college

VO: in which field?

me: in Electrical and Computer Engineering

VO: You work for whom?

me: i work for YYYY company

VO: the other Indian guy sitting with you is also from your employer?

me: no, he works for different company

VO: What you do for them?

me: told him about my job duties

VO: where is your employer located?

me: My employer is located in ABC

VO: Where do you work?

me: I work at client's place in NYC

VO: Who is the client?

me: My Client is XYZ.

VO: So you live in NYC?

me: No, i live in 123

VO: So your employer is in ABC, your client is in NYC and you live in 123?

me: yes, initially i used to stay at my employer location and later i moved to 123

VO: When did you start working for this client?

me: I joined in YYYY ,2011

VO: How long this project will be?

me: This project will be for another 3 years. I have client letter which describes my job duties and duration of the project.

VO: that is greate.

VO: Do you have other documents like project details or pay stubs etc?

me: yes, i handed over paystubs.

VO; So what is your salary?

me: $ YYYY per month

VO: Do you have tax returns?
me: Yes, you want W2's or tax returns?

VO: Tax returns

me: Sure. handed over last 2 years tax returns

VO: So your tax consultant is in different state than all of your other states?

me: yes, My freind recomended this tax consulatant to me and i am continuing with him for last 3 years

VO: Do you see him very often?>

me: No, But i will call him when ever i need any information

Then Visa Officer went inside with all these documents and came back after 5 min.

VO: So you did your masters right?

me: yes

VO: Where are your parents located?

me: In India

VO: where in India?

me: In Hyderabad, which is South part of India

VO: Why did you come to Tijuana all the way from NYC?

me: explained him the reason.

VO: Mexico processing time is faster right? faster than other countries in the world?

me: no, it is not about processing time. I explained him the reason again.

Then VO said " Your Visa is approved" and asked me to collect it next day.

That's it folks........... though it was long interview, finally he aproved my Visa. There were 3 TN visa employees who were approved and 1 fulltime H1b (Indian guy) who got his visa approved too. Suggestion is to carry all supporting documents.

Hi,

first of all thanks for immihelp for guiding.

I have attended H1B interview @HYD consulate and its approved..

I am in BEP categeory and have separate line for it on documents submission..then scrurity check..

finger print collection after that got token number and waiting for my turn..

My interview as follows..

VO:GM
me:GM, h r u?
VO:doing good gentleman..h r u?
me:fine ,thanks
VO:can i have ur documents?
me:given BEP letter,HDFC receipt and passport
VO:who is your client
me:xxxx
VO:whats ur highest level of education?
me:answered
VO:from which univesity?
me:answered
VO:is there any vedor in between ur company and client?
me:i said NO
VO:who do you report to and does he belongs to your company or client manager?
me:ans

then golden words..VISA issued and will get in week time

I got my h1b approved on 17th at Chennai Consulate but still i see the Passport status as processing in Chennai Consulate
1) What you are doing for your company
2) Who is the client
3) Location that you will be working
4) Highest degree
5) What you will be paid there

Hello Friends,

I just want to share my terrible visa interview experience at Chennai consulate on Nov/21, I would recommend people with EVC model to take some cue from my experience and prepare well.

I am in EVC model for last 4 years in US, wife in H4 and Kid is US citizen. I work for same company for 4 years that has a good track history with USCIS, my employment
Is also clean and i mean like no bench, W2 matches the offer letter salary. I also have EB2 - I40 approved and was hoping my PD would be current in next 3 or 4 visa
Bulletins.

I got only 2 weeks’ vacation (as you know loss of pay) and went
 to Chennai consulate and here it goes,

VO: Hi, How are you
ME :Hello! I am good how are you doing?
VO: Good! Can you pass on the documents?
ME: Yeah sure, (gave him the file)
VO: Can you give me your I-129, LCA and letter to USCIS during H1 extension filing
ME: (gave him all 3 documents)
VO: Do you have middle vendor?
ME: Yes, we do
VO: What is the name of the middle vendor?
ME: (spelled the middle vendor name and guess VO was searching for their name in LCA as well)
VO: I could not find the middle vendor details in LCA or the letter to the USCIS.
ME: Oh ok, Sir but i do have work order copy as well contract document between my employer and middle vendor. Can I share that with you?
VO: No Thank you! (Leaning forward to me with aggressive tone) Sir, you are working in a wrong model, you should work either in house project or at client site and so
Having a middle vendor is against USCIS petition.
ME: (I was really shocked by his tone) Sir, my employer, middle vendor and my client are in same city and located in 12 miles radius and this project is coordinated by
    all of them (I had a gut feeling that he want to reject my visa and cancel my petition and at that point of time my only thought was to convince him at least to issue
me 221(g), so I looked his eyes sharply and told him authoratively)
VO: oh ok. Whom do you report to? (Hopefully he calmed down a bit)
ME: I report to Mr.X who is the project manager with my Employer.
VO: How often you report to him?
ME: Daily status calls, weekly meetings and monthly status reports
VO: Do you report to anyone with mid vendor?
ME: No Sir, but i do update them with weekly and monthly status reports
VO: When are you planning to go back?
ME: I have my tickets booked 2 weeks from now.
VO: oh ok (and he now took the 221(g) form)
ME: (i turned to my wife next to me shook my head in disbelief and of course the VO officer saw us doing that)
VO: sir, i need you to get an updated LCA and also USCIS letter to petition describing about middle vendor details and you don't need to comeback but drop in VFS drop box.
ME: Yes sir, i will talk to my employer about this and get a new one. How long this process takes?
VO: once you drop in VFS drop box it should be processed in couple of week’s time. Do you have any questions?
ME: No sir thank you
VO: (he smiled and greeted and said something to my kid as we leave)

We walked out with dropped shoulders and that was the longest walk for me and I never thought this would happen to me, I read immihelp forums for a while but could not
find any one talking about both client and middle vendor details in LCA, if i have known that i would have obtained before the Visa interview. I talked to my employer
And lawyer and he said he will check the options and get back to me.

Anyone with same kind of experience? if so, can you please answer the below questions.

1. Is it possible to add middle vendor name in LCA ? will USCIS accept it ?how long it takes ?
2. How long it takes for processing once i drop the documents in VFS dropbox ? What are the chances i will get a visa ?
3. If i don't go back and report to client in 2 weeks, they will fire me and start finding replacement. not sure how to let them know about this issue?
4. Any other suggestions and advice would be helpful to me.

Guys, reason for me to post my experience is not to share my grievances but I thought my experience should be useful to people working in EVC model. If any one of you
Working in EVC model please check your LCA document. I planned very well for the visa interview with all documents, but I did not plan for this situation. I have a
condo there with 3 cars parked in and no one to help or assist me there until i go back. Now, i will have to pay my home mortgage, car loans and other bills from here
and definitely i did not plan for this..... Guys please plan accordingly before you visit India for Visa stamping.

PS: One thing i want to add about Visa officer is he was a nice guy, i noticed him helping the other guys before me, waiting patiently for them while they search for their documents and he was approving all new H1's and EC model with no issues. I don't blame him for this mess, he just did what he was supposed to do.

Good luck to all!!!!

Hi Guys,

I am living in USA since last 6 years on H1B with my wife and two kids on H4.

I have got my I-140 approved.

As our visa was expired, we had to go for visa stamping as we were goingto India for a vacation.

We went for Visa Interview at Delhi in June 2011.

The Visa Officer asked all the questions related to my employment and work experience which I answered promptly.

He also checked the LCA document.

After this brief conversation the Visa Officer told me that everything looks fine except my Passport. He said that my passport is damaged. My passport cover was littlie up at one end which had nothing to do with any of the matter printed in the passport. The Visa Officer in an attempt to show me literally pulled the cover and tried to damage my passport.

The Visa Officer then gave me 221(g) Yellow Form and asked me to submit my New (renewed) passport. He also hold the visa for my family and told me that I need to submit the passport of my all family members in the dropbox whenever I get my New Passport.

So, the Visa Officer simply tried to hold me back in India for couple of months as the Passport renewal may take that kind of time.

I got my passport renewed in 8 days by paying Rs.15000 (which includes bribe to Passport Office) to the travel agent.

After that I submitted all our passports with Form 221(g) at Delhi Consulate.

After 10 days of submitting Passport, we received our Passports back (with the visa stamped) in it.

So, the important thing to keep in mind is - Some Visa Officers are simply looking for the ways to hold you back in India as much as possible. So, be prepared and make sure you carry all the required documents including your Passport (in great condition).

Thanks!

Hello,

I wanted to add my experience that I had at the Chennai consulate.. I got a lot of help in planning from this forum and I wish to thank everyone who spent their time and effor tin adding their experiences. My visa Interview was on November 17th at 11:45 am at the Chennai consulate. I am on EVC Model and needed to get re-stamping since my old visa had expired and I came to India for personal reasons.

I went in at 11:00 am and showed them my interview documents and they let me in. I dont think they are very strict about your interview timings.

I went through the regular process and had my documents checked and fingerprints scanned.

And then I went to the waiting room and waited for my number to be called out for interview. While I was waiting I noticed that they were approving most of the cases which had their documents right and have legitimate travel reasons. Only one case was being rejected since there was some problem with their degree.. but most of the cases I saw was being approved and so that gave me a lot of confidence.

My number was called out and I went to the window.

O: Good morning!. How are you ?
Me : Good morning. How are you ?
O: I see you are travelling to <US State where I was travelling> , correct ?
Me : that is correct.
O : Is <cilent Name> your employer ?
Me : Yes, that is correct.
O: What is your salary ?
Me : <Replied>
O : What do you do at the clients place ?
Me : <Replied>
O: Typed something for a minute and said.. I am approving yoru visa.. you should get it in 3-5 days.
Me: Thank you.

I had all the required documents, but he didnt ask for any of them. I am currently waiting for my passport to arrive.

I think with careful planning, you can sucessfully get a visa. There will a lot of nervousness and unnecessary fear about the visa approval when you are preparing for the visa interview, but trust me, be clear and confident and you will get your visa.