Interview Waiver Program

[VijayUS]

Hi Experts,

Need help on determining eligibility for interview waiver program for H1B stamping. I have asked ustraveldocs but haven't received a clear response so reaching out to you.

Me (H1B) and my wife (H4) are in USA for 9 years now. My H1B has extended beyond 6 years due to my I-140 approval. I am planning to visit India and while we both are there we want to get our visa stamped as I just switched jobs 2 months back and have new I-797 from a new petitioner /employer.

Both of us went to india last year and got our visa stamped in person (October 2014). That visa is still valid but is from my previous employer. I am clear that I need a new visa stamp as I am now with different employer but I am confused whether I need to go in person or not? Now when I go and schedule an appointment on us travel docs website, it asks me some questions. based on my answer it tells me that I am eligible for Interview waiver program. I am surprised as my petitioner has changed and i thought with change in petitioner / employer, they should call me for interview again. Right? But none of the question explicitly mentions anything about new petitioner.

Can someone please guide me as to whether I am eligible for the program or not. I want to do the right thing and not get stuck because i chose the waiver program incorrectly.

Vijay

[shervin143]

I am clear that I need a new visa stamp as I am now with different employer but I am confused whether I need to go in person or not?
>>> That is not true. You can use the existing visa stamped in the passport to return back even if it has the previous employer's name. You just need to carry a valid H1B visa and your latest H1B approval notice form the current employer.

Now when I go and schedule an appointment on us travel docs website, it asks me some questions. based on my answer it tells me that I am eligible for Interview waiver program. I am surprised as my petitioner has changed and i thought with change in petitioner / employer, they should call me for interview again. Right? But none of the question explicitly mentions anything about new petitioner.
>>> That is not the case anymore.

Can someone please guide me as to whether I am eligible for the program or not. I want to do the right thing and not get stuck because i chose the waiver program incorrectly.
>>> First of all you don't need to go for stamping again. But that is up to you. If you want a new visa matching your new petition expiry date, then you can apply for the visa. From what you have mentioned, you are eligible for IWP. Change is employer still makes you qualify for IWP. Check the below link.

https://www.immihelp.com/us-visa-interview-waiver-visa-renewal/

[VijayUS]

I am clear that I need a new visa stamp as I am now with different employer but I am confused whether I need to go in person or not?
>>> That is not true. You can use the existing visa stamped in the passport to return back even if it has the previous employer's name. You just need to carry a valid H1B visa and your latest H1B approval notice form the current employer.

Now when I go and schedule an appointment on us travel docs website, it asks me some questions. based on my answer it tells me that I am eligible for Interview waiver program. I am surprised as my petitioner has changed and i thought with change in petitioner / employer, they should call me for interview again. Right? But none of the question explicitly mentions anything about new petitioner.
>>> That is not the case anymore.

Can someone please guide me as to whether I am eligible for the program or not. I want to do the right thing and not get stuck because i chose the waiver program incorrectly.
>>> First of all you don't need to go for stamping again. But that is up to you. If you want a new visa matching your new petition expiry date, then you can apply for the visa. From what you have mentioned, you are eligible for IWP. Change is employer still makes you qualify for IWP. Check the below link.
https://www.immihelp.com/us-visa-int...-visa-renewal/

PERFECT!!! Thanks for a super quick response. Really appreciate it

[VijayUS]

Administrative Processing

Experts,

I finally decided to go for Visa stamping. It was a dropbox case as stated below in the original post. I submitted my documents on 09-NOV-2015 in Delhi. The lady at the window told me that my visa is still valid so "why are you applying for another one?" I told her that my employer has changed and she said "Ok. Yes you need a fresh stamping".

I checked the status for me and my wife visa status today. It says the case was created on 10-NOV-2015 and it is now in "Administrative Processing" and may take several weeks to process. The last update date is 16-NOV-2015.

What does Administrative Processing mean? Is it just a step in the processing for all applicants or is a special status which does not apply to all. I have a flight back this Sunday. With this status I may have to push it out :-(

Please let me know your thoughts.

Vijay

[VijayUS]

Experts,

I finally decided to go for Visa stamping. It was a dropbox case as stated below in the original post. I submitted my documents on 09-NOV-2015 in Delhi. The lady at the window told me that my visa is still valid so "why are you applying for another one?" I told her that my employer has changed and she said "Ok. Yes you need a fresh stamping".

I checked the status for me and my wife visa status today. It says the case was created on 10-NOV-2015 and it is now in "Administrative Processing" and may take several weeks to process. The last update date is 16-NOV-2015.

What does Administrative Processing mean? Is it just a step in the processing for all applicants or is a special status which does not apply to all. I have a flight back this Sunday. With this status I may have to push it out :-(

Please let me know your thoughts.

Vijay

My visa was issued 15 minutes ago. I now know the answer to my question. Thanks for your help

Vijay

[jnk]

Please post your experience and answer to your question so it will be useful for others.

[VijayUS]

My process

Please post your experience and answer to your question so it will be useful for others.

Sure!! Let me summarize everything here for the benefits of others.

Situation
I am on H1B which is in its 8th year based on I-140 approval. My wife is on H4. I had a valid visa from my previous employer till 2017. I changed employers last month in USA and visited India last week. Although technically I could have gone back without fresh stamping as my visa was eligible with my previous employer but I still went for new stamping so that my I-797 and my stamped visa are consistent. I found out through Shervin here that I am eligible for interview waiver program even though my employer has changed and this turned out to be accurate advise.

Action

I submitted my documents in Delhi on 09-NOV-2015 and was told that in 3-4 business days I will get the response. I checked online on 17-NOV-2015 and saw that my status is "Administrative Processing". I mistook this status for "On Hold" as the language below the status said "This may take several weeks". I posted on this forum yesterday to get the clarification on what does this status mean and whether this is unusual status.

Result

My visa was Issued yesterday evening and I came to know that the status of Administrative Processing is a usual status and doesn't necessarily mean issuance of 221g. I still haven't got the passport. When I receive the passport. I will come back and post the final result


Hope the above helps.