H1B, H4 Visa

I’ve been lurking here for some time, so I decided to share my own experience.

I had a relatively straightforward case. Graduated in 2016, worked for one company (Amazon) on OPT until September 2017, switched to H-1B status in 2017, traveled to internationally for the first time in December 2018. I got appointments in Mumbai.

Biometrics appointment (on 12/16) was quick. They accommodated me almost an hour before my appointment time.

Consulate appointment (on 12/17) was a 2+ hour deal, not including the time I waited because I got there early, with probably an hour of waiting beyond the appointment time before being let into the main building. People were being let in in batches, and the main building had maybe a 20-30 minute standing wait time in a queue for the counters.

There was one small caveat with my application. In early 2018, Amazon reconsolidated corporate entities and renamed the company that employs me slightly. They supplied a couple of supporting documents to bring to the visa interview in case there was an issue with the mismatch between my petition filed in 2017 and my DS-160 that I filled out in 2018.

The guy at the counter was very pleasant to speak with. He didn't ask me too many questions. The following come to mind now:

- Asked me if I like San Diego (where I studied) or Seattle (where I live) better. :)
- "What do you do at Amazon?"
- Verified my timeline from graduation to OPT to H-1B, kinda offhandedly.
- Asked me if I know my rights and whether I have seen the pamphlet that covers that.

I went over prepared with a huge stack of documents, but was only asked for current passport (which is almost empty!), I-797, DS-160 confirmation page. He didn’t ask for my second most recent passport or the visa fee receipt. He said my case was straightforward, kept the passport, and returned my I-797, saying they’ll notify me via SMS when the visa is issued. No slips or anything else.

I only checked the passport tracker initially, which said that the passport is still with the consulate. I found out about the CEAC tracker on the second day of waiting and saw that my application was in administrative processing (dun dun!). I didn't bring up the Amazon name change supporting documents during the appointment, and it never came up. I regretted this because I thought that was the reason for admin processing.

On 12/17, the CEAC tracker had these dates IIRC:

- 12/14: Case created (before my appointments; weird)
- 12/16: Last updated (before my consular appts.; likely because US timezone)

After a couple more days of waiting, the last updated date moved to 12/20, with the case still in administrative processing.

On 12/21, it switched to “Issued”. Passport was delivered to my Mumbai address in maybe 2 days (incl. weekend). I returned to the US yesterday (12/27). Seattle border lady only asked for my passport, no I-797 or anything else. It was super smooth.