H1B, H4 Visa

Hi frends.

Firstly, my apologies. I attended the interview on august 4 . I shud have posted my exp. On saturdary itself. But I was too busy with my work. Anyways, I’lll brief u guys my case. I tried for H1 in last year’s quota, but unfortunately , a consultancy cheated me (not to mention, a desi guy). By the time, I realized this, the cap has already been reached, so bcos of him, I LOST ONE WHOLE YEAR IN MY LIFE, which I totally regret, so please don’t trust this guy. Coming to my interview, I attended the interview in Mumbai consulate last Friday.

Just to make sure, my post is descriptive and clear to everybody , I divided it into
My interview was at 11.00 AM. I reached the VFS office (opted for the lounge facility, though its not mandatory). They made us wait in the lounge until11.00 AM. Nothing to worry, vfs guys know when to send us to the consulate. At 11.00 AM, these guys drop u in front of the consulate in a bus. Once u reach the consulate, they will CLEARLY explain , as to what the procedure is (I mean, what u must do after entering the consulate building, most of u guys must be knowing this, but I will explain this for the sake of new H1B folks).

Step 1: ENTERING THE CONSULATE BUILDING:

Folks who’ve already been ANY US consulate before must be well acquainted with this process, so you guys can skip this section. Ok…firstly, u enter the main building. Before u enter, one guy makes sure u have an appointment letter ,passport and HSFC receipt with you. Once that is done, he will ask u to stand in the line. NOW, u enter the consulate building. The security guy scans and makes sure u don’t carry any sharp objects, mobile phones, and other so called NOT-ALLOWED stuff into the consulate.and u will be given a wooden token (this is really weird…I couldn’t understand the reason behind this. Make sure u retain it and don’t loose it, as u have to return it after ur interview).


Step 2: ENTERING THE MAIN BUILDING:

Once u r through, then u enter the main building. Where u will b asked to stand in another LOOOONG line, where it took me about 2 hrs. Then a lady gives u the stuff which u shud have mailed to the US consulate through one of the VFS Application Centers in your area of jurisdiction.

NOTE: THIS IS APPLICABLE TO ONLY THOSE PEOPLE WHO APPLY AT THE MUMBAI CONSULATE. (I mean, mailing the application packet before-hand).

She arranges all those documents viz.I797, appointment letter, issuance fee DD, hdfc receipt and others along with your passport and asks you to stand in the fingerprinting queue

Step 3: FINGERPRINTING:

This is another long line. Here, at the counter, your finger prints are taken (left index finger first and then, the right index finger). Also, you hand over those documents (refer step 2) to the guy at the counter (mostly American) . and you will be given a pink token with a number on it. This is the number which would be called . so please pay attention.

Step 4: VISA INTERVIEW (The scary part):

My number was called. And I opened the door and entered the cabin. This was how my interview went. Before that, a little bit about myself.

Education: Double MS from UK ( one in ECE and the other in IT)
Experience: 1 Yr in UK and 9 months in India
Visa Stampings: UK, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and other
countries I don’t remember

Interview:

Me : A very good afternoon.
VO: hi, how u doin?

Me : fine and u?
VO: good

Me : having a pretty hectic day. Huh?
VO: hmm…not really

Me : got used to it?
VO: a smile

Me : so y u goin to US?
VO: to work for xxx company.(meanwhile she started looking at my visas)

VO: have u been to UK?
Me : yes

VO: What did u do there?
Me: told her

VO: Show me your UK certificates
Me: showed her

Me: have u been to London before?
VO: little bit

VO: wher r u gonna work?
Me: I dint hear it properly. Asked her to repeat. As xxx in xxx

Me: do u like football? (I’m a die-hard fan of british football0
VO: no, I don’t watch it (meanwhile, VO was checking something in her PC)

VO: how did u come to know about this job?
Me: told her about the interview process

VO: have u been to US before?
Me: No. In fact, I’m the first person in my family to go to US

VO: you look a bit nervous. (I was indeed)
Me: (obviously, I couldn’t lie). Yes, a little bit. I cant wait to know the outcome.
(this may not b the right answer, but worked for me)

VO: I’m issuing you the visa, have a nice journey
Me: have a nice day and left


That’s it guys. Just be confident and be honest. PLEASE DO NOT PRODUCE ANY FAKE CERTIFICATES. This is my suggestion. Be honest and it pays.

Documents I carried:

1. I-797
2. I-129
3. LCA
4. appointment letter
5. letter addressing US consulate for request of H1B stamp
6. project description
7. letter explaining my role and responsibilities
8. W2 of all employees
9. tax papers of my company
10. 17 photographs
11. company brochures
12. H classification supplement (comes along with petition)

Hope this was elaborative and useful to everybody, any questions, feel free to ask me. And good luck to all H1 aspirants. Last but not the least, I thank this site and the site moderators and all the people who’ve been posting their experiences.please continue to post you experience, good or bad, atleast others can benefit from it.GOD BLESS!!!