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Hello people,
I had my first time F1-H1 interview in Montreal on Aug 24. This was my first H1 Visa interview but my second H1 petition. i am a dentist and my wife already has her H4 stamped. visa officer didnt ask much and kept my passport and I797 saying they need to do some extra processing, either i'll get an email from courier to pick up the passport or from the consulate to provide more documents. Interview was on friday and today is tuesday and i haven't heard from them yet. Anyone has any idea whats going on and if they needed more info, how soon can they get back to me?
Any feedback will be appreciated.
Thank you,
*** for people interested in detail interview info, here is how it went.
The interview process was something like this...
1. security check
2. went up to 19 floor. lady out of the elevator checked my status in canada
3. in line for PIMS verification. took about 15 mins in line and 5 mins at window. She asked me to get new photographs from downstairs. (tip: keep C$10 with you as the machine only takes canadian 10 dollar bill. I had to go outside to get the USD exchanged and no exchange was open at 845 am. had to wait till 9am and came back at 915. I was not the only who went through that. so plan accordingly). The lady was very nice, asked where i studied and what did i do. since my wife had already had her H4 stamped before me, her name popped up in the system and the officer got confused a little bit saying there is another person with same petition number and last name. it took her 5 mins to realize it was my wife and then she commented 'O generally its the other way round. H1 is stamped first and then H4 dependent but in your case ur wife got it first'... she was smiling all this time though. very nice lady.
4. brought pics back to the lady who scanned it and gave me my passport, i797 and interview confirmation and sent me for fingerprinting at another window. took about 5 mins. the guys asked where i was from to confirm identity
5. wait about an hour for the visa interview.
Visa interview was short and she didn't ask much. saw my F1 visa, asked where i studied and what i studied. Asked if this was my first time H1 visa. When i entered canada. all this while she was working on the computer. last thing she asked was how long are u in montreal and i said as soon as i get my passport back. she didn't ask anything else after this for 5 mins and kept working on computer. and then she said we need to keep your passport for additional processing. I said i have all the documents with me and she said they'll let me know if they need them. I also asked how long it will take as i have to get back to work asap and she said 'i know about that and thats why i tried looking in the system to see if i can get around needing extra processing but it didn't let me. so you will either get an email from us needing more documents or from the courier to come pick up your passport.' she was very polite.
and then i said thanks and left.
I had every single document that could be needed including employer related docs but no one asked me for any document. all they ever saw was my passport, i797 and interview confirmation page and passport pics. Thats it.
Hope this helps anyone planning to go to montreal for interview.
GOod luck
Ahmad
I had my first time F1-H1 interview in Montreal on Aug 24. This was my first H1 Visa interview but my second H1 petition. i am a dentist and my wife already has her H4 stamped. visa officer didnt ask much and kept my passport and I797 saying they need to do some extra processing, either i'll get an email from courier to pick up the passport or from the consulate to provide more documents. Interview was on friday and today is tuesday and i haven't heard from them yet. Anyone has any idea whats going on and if they needed more info, how soon can they get back to me?
Any feedback will be appreciated.
Thank you,
*** for people interested in detail interview info, here is how it went.
The interview process was something like this...
1. security check
2. went up to 19 floor. lady out of the elevator checked my status in canada
3. in line for PIMS verification. took about 15 mins in line and 5 mins at window. She asked me to get new photographs from downstairs. (tip: keep C$10 with you as the machine only takes canadian 10 dollar bill. I had to go outside to get the USD exchanged and no exchange was open at 845 am. had to wait till 9am and came back at 915. I was not the only who went through that. so plan accordingly). The lady was very nice, asked where i studied and what did i do. since my wife had already had her H4 stamped before me, her name popped up in the system and the officer got confused a little bit saying there is another person with same petition number and last name. it took her 5 mins to realize it was my wife and then she commented 'O generally its the other way round. H1 is stamped first and then H4 dependent but in your case ur wife got it first'... she was smiling all this time though. very nice lady.
4. brought pics back to the lady who scanned it and gave me my passport, i797 and interview confirmation and sent me for fingerprinting at another window. took about 5 mins. the guys asked where i was from to confirm identity
5. wait about an hour for the visa interview.
Visa interview was short and she didn't ask much. saw my F1 visa, asked where i studied and what i studied. Asked if this was my first time H1 visa. When i entered canada. all this while she was working on the computer. last thing she asked was how long are u in montreal and i said as soon as i get my passport back. she didn't ask anything else after this for 5 mins and kept working on computer. and then she said we need to keep your passport for additional processing. I said i have all the documents with me and she said they'll let me know if they need them. I also asked how long it will take as i have to get back to work asap and she said 'i know about that and thats why i tried looking in the system to see if i can get around needing extra processing but it didn't let me. so you will either get an email from us needing more documents or from the courier to come pick up your passport.' she was very polite.
and then i said thanks and left.
I had every single document that could be needed including employer related docs but no one asked me for any document. all they ever saw was my passport, i797 and interview confirmation page and passport pics. Thats it.
Hope this helps anyone planning to go to montreal for interview.
GOod luck
Ahmad
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