Visa Stamping from Canada/ Mexico

All,

I would like to share my visa experience at Vancouver. This is my 5th H1-B visa stamping and the 3rd stamping from Vancouver consulate. Overall it went well but the impedance, stress upto the interview day is not quantifiable ...I am sure all of us who go for stamping may go through a similar stress but this site is the genie for all questions and I cant thank enough for the valuable tips and inputs from all those who shared their experiences and to the moderators who host/manage this very helpful site. My case is a bit unique ( not unusual) and didnt see any posts here which follow similar profile and so I added the details in the header for better visibility.

Going into the details:
Interview schedule: 7:30AM.

Check Point 1 :
Security Validates DS160, photo, I797, passport. After the initial checks you will be let into the building where there is another scanning by security. Please ensure you do not carry any sort electronics, smart watches etc. Please make sure you have very recent photo within the last six months. I have seen many who needed a new picture. There is a photo booth inside the building and you can get a picture there but try to avoid such hassles.

Check Point 2 :

Lady officer - Can I have your DS160 and photo please.
Me : Gave her the documents.
Lady Officer : Scanned the photo , wrote some notation on the passport sticker and asked me to goto the finger printing.
Lady officer Finger Printing Counter : Greetings!
Me : Greetings and Finger printing done.
Lady officer : Please follow the door and the security will take you to the interview floor.

Security Officer took us to the 20th floor. There were around 10-12 people before me. The officer was young in early 30s and looked sharp. He was not asking for any documents from anyone. Interview was maximum of 2-3 min for most of the visa seekers. It was a nail-biting experience even though this is my 5th visa stamping.

There was one guy who got 221g but from him too the officer didnt seem to ask any documents.

Finally my turn came:

Officer : GM, I797 and passport please.
Me : greetings and handed over the documents.
Officer : Who do you work for?
ME : I work for YYYY
Officer : What does your company do?
Me : They are a software service provides with extensive expertise in ERP solutions.
Officer : What is your company address?
Me : answered
Officer : How many employees are there?
Me: Answered
Officer: Do all of the employees work from this location?
Me : Yes. ( I should have been more generic and should have said some of us work at client locations)
Officer : Makes a sigh…as in deep breathe
Here comes the interesting part:
Officer : Do you work remotely or at your employer site?
Me: I work remotely.
Officer : Do you have an end client or is your employer your end client?
Me: No, I have an end client and gave the name
Officer : How many hours do you work from home?
Me: Gave answer
Officer : Do you work at the client location at all?
ME : as this moment I asked the officer to allow me to elaborate my work nature and explained in detail.
Officer : Did USCIS approve your petition based on this setup?
Me: Yes and my client gave a letter explaining it in detail to USCIS and I have copy for your review as well. He didn’t ask for the letter though..
Officer : What is your salary?
Me : answered
Officer: good
Officer : Did you do Masters?
Me : Yes.
Officer : Took the rights booklet at which point I was relieved that I will hear the good words.
Officer : I am approving your visa and please wait for the confirmation email to pick your passport.

Though the entire experience sounds lengthy, I would say it took me 3-4min max and the questions were quick. He did not ask for a single document. I was out by 8:30 AM.

One more surprise piece I would like to mention is that DOS ( Not uscis or dhs) did a query on my profile few months ago even before I applied for visa appointment. My client was kind enough to respond to the query and informed me as well. The visa officer seemed to have a copy of those responses while he was cross checking and asking me questions. I have googled and asked many friends, colleagues and none of them had this peculiar situation though it was for good in the end. I have not come across any one single person who had a privacy query (basically client verification) even before a visa applicant took an appointment.

Tip : Please jot down all the various questions from this site. Prepare in detail for each one of them. Do mirror talk , self mocks and mocks with friends/family atleast two weeks ahead of the interview. It will help you a lot when your mind is literally struggling to find the right words when you are finally being interviewed.

Lastly : The waiting game started and I was anxious to see my status change to ‘ Issued’ from Administrative Processing which is the status you see immediately after a visa approved. The verbiage on the status too can cause a bit of concern because it is the same text displayed when you get a 221g as well.
Feb 6th : Status changed to Issued at around 12pm noon.
Feb 6th 5pm: received an email with the tracking number
Feb7th: Pickup ready at Richmond Main PO email at around 10:30am. Picked it by 11:30AM and headed back to Seattle by car.

I took a flight directly from Vancouver in the past and must say that is a way better option than driving through to Seattle. Not sure if the systems at the port of entry by road are old school but it took at lot of time to get in and out of the process. I spend almost an 1 hr in traffic line after which the officer does the initial checks and sends you for further review into a building, and then atleast another 60-90 min in queue inside the building before an officer can finally look at your case. It took 5min after that for the officer to review my visa in the system and then staple a new I-94. A fee of $6 will have to be paid for the new I-94. Officer just asked for my home address and that is it.

Please feel free to email me should you have any questions.

I hope this is my last H1-B stamping… 😊

Good luck all!!