H1B, H4 Visa

Pre-Requisite:
• To appear for H1 visa interview, the candidate should require Canada visitor visa.
• It’s a 2-3 weeks process to obtain Canada visitor visa from the date of submitting the application to recive the visa stamped in passport.
• Step by Step guide to apply Canada vistor visa is available in the below path



Steps to Fill DS-160 and Schedule interview:
DS-160: Online Application:

• Link to online application: https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/

Tip: For East Coast, Toronto (~3 hours drive from North PA) is the nearest US embassy. If appointment date is not available then next choice can be Ottawa(~7 hours drive from North PA). For West Coast, Vancouver is the nearest US embassy.
Decide the embassy before start filling the DS160. Tentative wait time for appointment is available in the below website (This information will just help to decide on the Embassy).

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wait-times.html

Schedule Visa Appointment:

• Click on 'Apply' in the below website https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/niv
• Select “I am a Non Canadian Citizen residing in the U.S. and want to apply for a visa.” and click on Continue
• Click on “I agree to the statements above, completed the DS-160 and ready to schedule as Non Canadian Citizen applicant”
• Sign Up by providing the required information and click on “Create Account”
• Select the passport delivery location (Tip: This can be changed at any time. Choose the location which is nearest to the place of stay in Canada)
• Once the account is created, the website will show details only about the first available date in all Canadian US Embassies. Once payment is made (190\$ on Feb 2018, which can be made using visa credit card), the user will have access to the calendar where he/she can look out for all the available dates.
• Pay the amount and look out for the available dates. Select the desired date and schedule the appointment.
Tip: If the desired appointment date was not available, keep checking for every 1 hour, there will be cancellation/reschedule happening and dates might open up.
Even after scheduling a date, User will have option to change the interview date(Later/Earlier) until 2 days before the interview date.
Tip: Use Airbnb instead of Hotels for stay as it will save few bucks. If close friends or relatives live in the near by area, then that would be a better option as a minimum of 3-5 days stay would require for a normal process.

Things to do on Interview date:

• Reach the embassy 1 hour before. Embassy located in 225 Simcoe street, Toronto.
• If backpack and mobile needs to be stored, walk few block towards Dundas street, there will be a convenyance store (Just before Tim hortons). They will store the backpack and mobile for 8 CAD \$. (Tim Hortons address: 438 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5G 2K8)
Tip: I had my appointment at 8.15 EST. But stood in security line around 7.45 AM. They allowed me in and I finished by interview by 8.05 EST. Not sure if they will allow everytime, as the instruction say to appear just 15 mins before interivew time.
Security wont even allow plastic bags, so be prepared to carry all documents in hand. File will be allowed.

Things to do after interview:

• If Visa is approved then the status of visa can be tracked from the below path

https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx

Note:
o First the status change to “Adminstrative processing”
o Then the status changes to “Issued”
• Once the passport is dispatched to courier(Probably the very next day of interview date), an email will be sent to the registered email id with the tracking number.
• Then the status can be checked in Canada post directly with the tracking number or through the website https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/niv
• Once the status in Canada post changes to “Ready for pick up”, visit the Canada post office and pick up the passport by showing the US driver license as identity proof. (This mostly happens on third working day from the interview date.Canada post will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays)
Tip: Schedule interiview on Monday if possible, so that passport can be collected on Wednesday or Thursday.
• Travel back to US with the stamped passport 

Note: All the above mentioned timelines are for a scenario when Visa is approved without query. If 221g is issued, then there might be a dealy to receive the passport from 2-3 weeks even months.

Good Luck !!!