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Beware of PIMS delay!
Dear Readers,
I am writing to advise you of a new effed up system that the Department of State (DOS) has implemented through the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC). Please read this message before you even schedule an interview with the US consulate in India. If you are just interested in the conclusion and do not wish to read the entire story, please scroll to the bottom of this page.
Note: The experience shared herein took place in Chennai, India, and may not relate to other US consular posts in other countries or regions.
I came to India recently to get my H1-B stamped (extension), and I was really excited about it as I was intending to spend some quality time with my family after I got my visa work done.
I attended my visa interview in Chennai on December 24, 2009, when the Visa Officer at the window told me that my visa has been approved and that I can expect my passport to be delivered in 3-4 working days. My passport arrived at my residence in Hyderabad after a week. Alas, without any visa stamping in it! There was a blue sheet that came with my passport and it said "Case revoked by petitioner."
I was shocked, because my employer would never do anything like that without informing me. I immediately called my employer to find out what was happening. My immigration attorney told me that this was an error and that they'd fix it soon.
It turns out this new effed up system that the DOS has implemented has not "updated" the status of my petition, and so the system was erroneously showing "revoked." My sincere attorney in NY did not leave any stone unturned to get this fixed. He called the KCC, spoke to an officer there, faxed them several docs to show that my petition was, in deed, approved and there was no problem with it. The DA officer said that they will fix it in 2 days, and if the Chennai Office still did not see "a change" in the status, then they may contact the KCC directly to enquire about the status of my petition.
Now how D-effing-moronic can the KCC officer be to ask the consulate to contact him, when the Chennai consulate itself is so overloaded that it doesn't have time to even scratch their bees!!
Two weeks passed, and my PIMS status was still not updated.
Eventually, my attorney ended up filing a NEW petition to amend my previous petition's status in the effing PIMS database. The petition was approved within 2 days and my attorney Fedexed the docs to me. I finally scheduled ANOTHER visa interview in Hyderabad on February 4, 2010, where the Visa Officer told me "Oh! looks like your PIMS entry is now fixed! Your passport should arrive in the next 3-4 working days." I felt like shoving my shoe in her xass, and telling her how inefficient and incompetitent her system was.
All in all, please beware of this effall system which may delay your journey up to MONTHS. It delayed my journey for exactly a month!
The new PIMS system is more like a stress test than anything else. The effing DOS wants to see if your employer will go that extra mile to keep paying you an extra month when you are away from work, and if they are willing to shell out a few grand more to keep you in the company. This way they can filter out all H1-Bs that cannot withstand this test, and just let the crem dela cream enter the US.
Yours truly,
A Displeased Non-Immigrant
I am writing to advise you of a new effed up system that the Department of State (DOS) has implemented through the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC). Please read this message before you even schedule an interview with the US consulate in India. If you are just interested in the conclusion and do not wish to read the entire story, please scroll to the bottom of this page.
Note: The experience shared herein took place in Chennai, India, and may not relate to other US consular posts in other countries or regions.
I came to India recently to get my H1-B stamped (extension), and I was really excited about it as I was intending to spend some quality time with my family after I got my visa work done.
I attended my visa interview in Chennai on December 24, 2009, when the Visa Officer at the window told me that my visa has been approved and that I can expect my passport to be delivered in 3-4 working days. My passport arrived at my residence in Hyderabad after a week. Alas, without any visa stamping in it! There was a blue sheet that came with my passport and it said "Case revoked by petitioner."
I was shocked, because my employer would never do anything like that without informing me. I immediately called my employer to find out what was happening. My immigration attorney told me that this was an error and that they'd fix it soon.
It turns out this new effed up system that the DOS has implemented has not "updated" the status of my petition, and so the system was erroneously showing "revoked." My sincere attorney in NY did not leave any stone unturned to get this fixed. He called the KCC, spoke to an officer there, faxed them several docs to show that my petition was, in deed, approved and there was no problem with it. The DA officer said that they will fix it in 2 days, and if the Chennai Office still did not see "a change" in the status, then they may contact the KCC directly to enquire about the status of my petition.
Now how D-effing-moronic can the KCC officer be to ask the consulate to contact him, when the Chennai consulate itself is so overloaded that it doesn't have time to even scratch their bees!!
Two weeks passed, and my PIMS status was still not updated.
Eventually, my attorney ended up filing a NEW petition to amend my previous petition's status in the effing PIMS database. The petition was approved within 2 days and my attorney Fedexed the docs to me. I finally scheduled ANOTHER visa interview in Hyderabad on February 4, 2010, where the Visa Officer told me "Oh! looks like your PIMS entry is now fixed! Your passport should arrive in the next 3-4 working days." I felt like shoving my shoe in her xass, and telling her how inefficient and incompetitent her system was.
All in all, please beware of this effall system which may delay your journey up to MONTHS. It delayed my journey for exactly a month!
The new PIMS system is more like a stress test than anything else. The effing DOS wants to see if your employer will go that extra mile to keep paying you an extra month when you are away from work, and if they are willing to shell out a few grand more to keep you in the company. This way they can filter out all H1-Bs that cannot withstand this test, and just let the crem dela cream enter the US.
Yours truly,
A Displeased Non-Immigrant
