H1B, H4 Visa

if you have legally changed your name due to marriage or for any other reason as compared to a previous stamping, make sure you have a valid US court issued name change order as part of your documentation when appearing for a fresh stamping.

Hi all, So I had been visiting this forum since last couple of months after my h1b 2019 got approved which is my first h1b. So after filling DS160 for me and my family, I scheduled my interview in Karachi, Pakistan as I live in Karachi but the earliest appointment was of 6th May which was quite far so my company asked me to try Islamabad and I was able to reschedule my interview in Islamabad for 19th March at 8:00 AM.

I reached Islamabad on Saturday and visited Murree and Kashmir for 2 days. Next day i.e. Tuesday, I reached the diplomatic enclave which has almost every embassy of countries which have relations with Pakistan. So when you enter in the diplomatic enclave, you need to park your car in the designated parking area and from there you need to get a shuttle which costs 1000 Rs per applicant. They run almost after every 15 mins or so. So we (me, my wife and 2 kids) hopped on to it and it dropped us in-front of US Embassy. At passport and DS160 verification section I was told that I had to wait for 1 hour or more because I submitted DS160 for Karachi hence the data needs to be requested and it could take upto more than 1 hour to be retrieved. So after waiting for 1.5 hours, my name was called and I was asked to show my I797 copy which I did, after that finger printing of me and my wife was done. Kids under 14 are exempted from fingerprinting.

After that I got in to the interview line which was a bit long. After waiting for 30 mins my number came, we all reached to the window where the VO asked me the following questions :

VO : Good morning
Me : Good morning to you too, how r u doing?
VO : Good, so are these your kids?
Me : Yes sir,
VO : What do you work as ?
Me : I work as a senior software engineer and my designation is ....
VO : Show me your family registration document
Me : Shown
VO : Ever been to Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan?
Me : No
VO : So you were in US for 10 weeks, For what purpose you visited?
Me : Told that it was about to kick start a new project
Me : So how did you reach out to the sponsoring company.
Me : I am already working for their Pakistan office.
VO : Ever traveled outside Pakistan as a family?
Me : No.
VO : I am going to issue you a visa but first you need to pay this extra amount for each one of you please visit counter xxx and come back
Me : Sure

So I paid around 128(32 $ per applicant) USD through credit card. Its a new fee since Jan 2019 if your H1b or L1A gets approved and went back to the same window with paid receipts, luckily I did not have to go through the queue again.

VO : After taking my receipts he entered something into the system and asked me about my height.
Me : Told
VO : Ok I am issuing you your visas and you should receive your passports after 2 weeks from the pickup location you selected. Have a good day
US : Thanks a lot sir, have a good day

So this was my experience in Islamabad, Pakistan. Hopefully it will help Pakistanis going for h1b stamping. BTW, I just checked and passports are ready to be picked up in Karachi.

Thanks immihelp, this forum was a gr8 help.

I received the 221g Blue(Returned passports) with requesting for petitioner tax documents on Mar 19th. I did send back the documents on the same day and no update on that.

any guess on how long this would take further?

Hi,
Background:
I was on L1 B visa in US which was expired on 8th July 2018 but I had valid I-94 until December 2020 also my L1 B extension filed on 3rd July 2018
My wife’s L2 Visa & I-94 expired on 8 July 2018 but she was staying in US based on L2 extension (I-539) filed on 3 July 2018
H1 B Stamping Experience:
My H1 B approved in January 2019, I came to India in March, and we (my spouse & me) went together for visa interview on 11 March 2019.
VO officer are asking question mainly our stay in US post visa expiry for that I provided my I-94 but at that time my wife’s L2 extension filed copy was not handy with me. VO asked question about my Job title, work location, salary, client letter etc. and after some time VO kept our passports and told, your passport will be ready in a week time. I received email for my passport collection on 13 March 2019 but no update on my spouse’s passport until now. I checked online my wife’s visa status on “ceac.state.gov” and it is showing “Administrative Processing”.
No 221g was given to me even not received any email to provide further documentation.
I emailed and called ustraveldocs support and got response it is with US Embassy if no 221g for or email for additional document received to you then processing time is 7 to 10 working days.
• 11th March 2019: Visa Interview in New Delhi, after visa interview both H1 and H4 administrative processing. (Day 1)
• 12th March 2019 : H1 B issued and H4 administrative processing (Day 2)
• 13th March 2019 : Received email to collect passport for H1 and H4 still showing Administrative processing (Day 3)
• 14th March 2019: H4 Administrative processing. (Day 4)
• 15th March 2019: H4 Administrative processing. (Day 5)
• 16th March 2019 : <Saturday>
• 17th March 2019 : <Sunday>
• 18th March 2019: H4 Administrative processing. (Day 6)
• 19th March 2019: H4 Administrative processing. (Day 7)
• 20th March 2019: H4 Administrative processing. (Day 8)
• 21st March 2019: <Holi – Public Holiday in New Delhi US Embassy>
• 22nd March 2019: ……..Waiting

OFC Date: 19th March
Visa Interview: 20th March
Location: New Delhi
Visa Status at the end of Interview: Approved

I attended Visa interview with my Wife and Son. VO asked following questions after greeting to each other.

VO: Pass me your passports.
ME: Sure (Passed over)
VO: Pass me your I797
ME: Sure (Passed over)
VO: Are you going to XX in US?
ME: Me and my wife both said YES.
VO: Who is your client?
ME: XX
VO: Show me your CL? (Yes he used the acronym)
ME: Given him Client letter and SOW.
VO: What type of work your client involved in?
ME: Explained
VO: So what will you do there?
ME: Explained
VO: Do you have any middle Vendor?
ME: I said NO, but actually there is a middle vendor.
VO: After looking at my client letter and sow he explained me in brief and told so there is a middle vendor.
ME: I said Yes Sir.
VO: Then he checked my previous experiences (I was working for 6 years for a Company located on New York on a remote position) so he asked : What did you do for YYYY Company, its in New York.
ME: I explained that I was working from my Home in India and it was a remote location job.
VO: What is your highest qualification?
ME: XX
VO: Is this a full time program?
ME: I told yes its a full time 4 year degree program.
VO: What is your salary going to be?
ME: XX
VO: Do you know your rights in the US?
ME: I said Yes.

Then he turned to my Wife and asked.

VO: Do you have only one kid?
ME: She said Yes.
VO: When did you get married? (He asked this question when he was typing something on Computer)
ME: I replied I have been married since XX, YYYY .

Then after 5-6 seconds he told "Your Visa is approved. You will get your passport in 7 Days".

21st was the Holiday due to Holi. Today status is showing as "Your passport is still with the US Embassy/Consulate". Hoping to get the stamped Passports soon.

Thanks to all the folks who shared their valuable experiences on this forum.

Visa Interview: 12 Feb 2019
Location: Hyderabad
Visa status: Approved

On 15th Feb Visa status changed to Administrative Processing and no update since then, i have tried emailing the [email protected] but there only generic response from the counsulate. This is 6th week. No 221G, no email, no documents requested.

Please advise if anyone faced this kind of situation and what is maximum time they take to issue visa.

Attended Visa Interview on March 5th 2019 and VO asked below questions after greeting each other.

VO Location : Hyderbad

Q:Who is your employer?
A: YYYY Inc
Q:Are you working for any client?
A: Yes, YYYY
Q: On which visa you are before?
A: F1
Q: So is this yout first time for H1?
A: yes
Typed something in computer and wrote something on a paper.Continued asking questions(Almost thought visa got approved)
Q: How did you find this oppurtunity?
A: Dice.com
Q: who interviewed you at your employer?
A:ZZZ,ZZZ
Q:Who are they in the company?
A: ZZZ
Q:Who interviewd at your client?
A: ZZZ,ZZZ
Went inside and brought a paper asked someone to take a copy of My I797 and returned my passport with white slip .Pleaase track the case and you will be notifed when there is any update

It been 16 days and no update yet or email from Consulate asking for documents?.Any body under the same boat?

I had given interview on Feb 12, 2019.

Interview went well but at the end VO handed over me 221G Yellowslip ( Passport is kept by officer ), where it was mentioned to submit extra documents through email.

I had submitted the documents after a week.

After several days gone on 18th March 2019, Embassy has returned my passport with 221G Green slip, saying additional administrative processing is required and embassy will contact you through email again.(No documents asked now)

Has anyone gone through such situation ?

Will visa get approved in this case as i had already submitted required documents.

Thank you for sharing your visa interview experiences. Here is mine

Finger Printing: 10th Mar, 2019 (Time: 13:45)
Interview: 13th Mar, 2019 (10:30)
Passport Pick-up: 17th Mar, 2019

Interview:
VO: What are you going to do for YYYY Company?
Me: Work as YYYY (told as per LCA)

VO: Which place are you going to work?
Me: YYYY

VO: YYYY in YYYY state?
Me: Yes

VO: Are you going to work in client location?
Me: No, will be working in house.

VO: What is your highest qualification?
Me: YYYY

VO: Do you know your rights?
Me: Yes

H4

VO: Do you know your rights madam?
Sp: Yes

VO: How long have you been married for?
Sp: XX years

VO: How old is your kid?
Sp: XX years

VO: What is name of your kid?
Sp: YYYY

VO: Your visa is approved!

Hello,

I got email from Hyd counsulate to appear for 2nd interview after submitting my passport, end client letter and LCA in 1st interview.

Please let me know if any one faced the same scenario. Any suggestions or inputs will be help full.