H1B, H4 Visa

Hi,

I had my H1b interview at the Hyderabad consulate.

I was in the US on my F1 OPT. Worked for an employer till April3rd who filed for my H1b which was filed with Change Of Status.. Changed companies on STEM OPT extension and started working on with the new company from July 5th. My H1b with the previous employer got approved on Sep 23rd.

HR team mentioned I will be out of status on Oct 1st as I will be on H1b with previous employer and left the country on October 1st. A new cap exempt H1b was filed for the new company and got it approved on October 23rd from the new company. Scheduled interview on November 2nd at Hyderabad consulate.

Interview Date : Nov 2nd 8:30 am
Location: Hyderabad

Officer: Hey
Me : Hello

Officer : Why is the application filed on October 7th.
Me: I mentioned about approval from previous employer and then the application which was filed with the help of the old approval.

Officer: Can I see the old approval.
Me: Showed old companies i797 approval.

Officer: Did you work for the employer.
Me: Not on H1, I worked on F1 as a student with the previous employer.

Officer: When did you start employment with new employer.
Me: July 5th

Officer: Did you overstay F1.
No: My case was within the allowed unemployment days in F1.

Officer: (Looks at system). I am not able to get your record.

Officer: What is the name of the company?
Me : Answered

Officer: What is the number of employees?
Me : Answered

Officer: Where do you stay in the US.
Me: Answered.

Officer: Did you get the white pamphlet?
Me: Yes

Officer: Can I have your H1b application?
Me: I had original i797, so I asked if I will receive it back.

Officer: I can take a copy. (They asked me to wait and then took the copy of the H1b packet.) He took the passport.

Me: How much time does these cases take.
Officer: These get resolved quickly.

Me: Could you give a general estimate.
Office: Its usually 1-2 days on top of the wait time for the consulate.

Me: Thank you and left without passport.

Case status: Administrative Processing

Case created: 1st Nov 2017
Case updated: 02 Nov 2017

The status of the case is still the same and its 10th Nov.

I have no idea of time lines or if it is approved. I contact usatraveldocs and they said contact if no update in 10 days.

Does anyone have suggestions or similar experience? Is it possible to be have the application rejected as I had the employer change on F1.

I am tying to make visa payment for my wife and kid. I have my account created with cgifederal site. Only my wife and kid are travelling to India and going for stamping. But when I try to make payment it is asking for 3 persons including me. Since I am the account holder it is considering me also and asking to pay for three people.

I tried to create a seperate account for my wife. But when i try to schedule the appointment system says personal details matches with another account and hence can not proceed. Can some one please tell me how to make the payment only for my wife and kid.

Thanks in advance.

I heard that there are lot of administrative delays.Is it true?

Hi,

Has anyone with H4 EAD went for Visa interview in CHENNAI CONSULATE? Are there any issues with issuing visa for H4 EAD holders?

I am a full time employee on H1 & My wife is working as Contractor on H4 EAD and we are planning our travel to India in December. We have our visa appointment booked for first week of December. My wife and I are going together for the interview.

I heard now a days some of the cases are sent to Administrative processing and it takes weeks to months to get the visa. My wife has an active job here and has to come back to US by first week of January. She is little worried if H4 Visa for EAD holders could be a problem.

What additional documents she need to carry other than the normal required documents for the visa interview?

I just Posted it in another forum .. copy pasting it here
============================================

Went to get my H1 Extension stamping in Matamoros Nov 6th/7th 2017.. My old stamp expired long back in 2010 so little nervous about going to stamping. After reading so much on this forum and couple of others, decided to go to Matamoros.

I have used services of Mr Salvador (Google for his name and Matamoros visa stamping key words) for paying fee, accommodation at Best Western hotel and travel (pickup from Brownsville, TX, hotel to ASC/Finger printing place and to Consulate for interview/picking up passport). I have nothing but great experience and everything went well.. he is pretty knowledgeable about place/process etc. He has website/whatsapp group with relevant information..

On Day-1: Arrived in Brownsville, TX and parked car at duty free shop. Salvador met us with in 15-20 min and picked us in his car and we went to cross the border. If you don't have valid US VISA stamp at the time of border crossing or if you don't have MEXICAN visa then we need to get temporary Mexican permit that allows us to stay 7 days in mexico. Since I don't have either of these, Salvador took me to Mexican immigration counter at boarder. There is one page form to fill with passport/names/address information. We need to hand over current passport and any old passport that has expired US visa along with form to them and $30 USD. They will issue permit and stamp the passport with "entry stamp/date"

On Day 2 - For finger printing - all the needed was, DS-160, Appointment Letter, I-797 approval notice and Passport. Initial check-in receptionist guy verified these and then sent through security check then directly to a counter. The lady at the counter scanned DS_160 and verified all details matched between application/passport/797. Then finger printed and took a passport photo. After that she generated a barcode stamp and affixed it to passport. This contains visa interview date/name/place etc. This is very important as consulate people scans this at least 4 different occasions!! Entire process took about 15 min and we are back out of the office. Salvador dropped us at the office and waiting for us outside. BTW, no electronics/bags are allowed inside this office or to consulate office. Just files/folders/documents..

On Day-3 Morning - For VISA interview .. all of us has 8AM appointment and I think that's the only timeslot everyone of us gets .. we reached there by 7:40AM .. some local people are already in line ..
• they started calling at about 7:50AM and asked us to stay in formal line.
• Initial guy just needed passport and he scanned barcode on the label printed by ASC office and affixed on back of passport.
• Then at the entrance door another guy scanned the same again and verified details.. he needed to see the DS-160 as well.
• After that they let 2 people at a time inside the building for security check. Need to remove belts etc .. standard airport style check. They asked us to open file folder and make sure no objects other than documents.
• Then they ask us to sit and wait for our turn of interview. Again at this step before getting seated another guy will scan the same barcode and verify details mark on a paper that we came for H1 interview and hands over the passport along with that paper.
• Next is waiting for interview.. Here is how interview went for me after initial greetings

VO: Asked me to hand over I-797/passports

VO: What do you do for <my employer name> by looking at I-797 and how long I have been working with him

I: Told my title and apparently in a very low voice ..

VO: asked me to repeat as he couldn't hear properly

I: Told the title again and explained my duties in couple of sentences.

VO: Asked if I have employment letter

I: Answered yes and about to take it out from my file .. he said not needed.

VO: Asked my highest qualification

I: MS in CS from XYZ University

VO: Then looked at his computer and my old passport and asked so do you have extension with this employer as I am seeing your old visa long back

I: Told him yes and told I have 3-4 extensions all with same employer

VO: So you have all the period covered?

I: Answered affirmatively.

VO: Then he asked me if my employer has started GC process

I: Told him yes and mentioned I have I-140 approved .. i was about to grab I-140 approval notice but he is not interested in though

VO: Then he checked his computer for 30-40 seconds and took out yellow slip wrote batch number and told all right ..you can come back around 3PM with photo ID and hopefully we will have your passport ready for pickup.

I: Thanked him and exited the building and Salvador is waiting to pick us up..

Day 3 Afternoon - We checked out from hotel around 2:30PM and reached consulate around 2:50PM .. they asked for ID and the yellow slip that VO gave and sent us through security check two people at a time .. again we have to remove belts etc and standard airport screening follows.. after that one guy took yellow slip/id and picked passport from pile and handed it over .. then after cross-checking stamp/details we needed to sign pickup confirmation there. After that we exited the building

Right after that Salvador dropped us at the border in Mexico .. we need to walk about 1/4th of mile to reach the bridge and CBP immigration offices. Prior to that I needed to visit MEXICO immigration office to return permit and get exit stamp in my passport from them .. then crossed the road and entered US Immigration/CBP office.
• Here we need to go through security line where they ask us to show visa and standard custom questions etc .. They didn't do airport style security screen but equipment is there in case!!
• Asked why I visited and then seeing stamp he himself asked "so you came to get H1 renewed" I said yes and told him I need to get I-94
• Then he took out an orange slip and wrote I-94/H1B/1 bag etc information and asked me to hand it over to the officer in next room
• This is the room where we spent next 4 hours and as everyone mentioned worst part of whole process.. we cant use phones so all we have to do is sit there miserably and chat In low voice among ourselves.
• 1 or 2 Officers there seem to be handling all passports/I-94 issue process and they seem to be picking passports one at a time and probably randomly!!
• Immigration officer finally picked my passport around 7:50 PM and I entered that room around 4:10PM so imagine the scenario .. I suggest you guys to get some paper books/newspapers to pass time
• Here is list of questions asked by Immigration officer:

What do I do for XYZ company

What does my XYZ company do

Asked if I have employer letter

Where do I work currently - told her I work at client site in ABC city

Asked me to show W2 and paystub - showed most recent ones she looked at them very closely and matched with employer details etc from letter and visa stamp

She asked where am I going now and asked to show ID as proof of address - told her place and gave my DL

She then noticed my passport getting expired before the visa and explained its my responsibility to get it renewed and mentioned that I will be out of status if I don't have passport did not get renewed before expiry

Then she took $6 USD and issued I-94 & stamped the orange slip that initial security guy gave
• Then I have to go back to the first security line and show the guy passport/I-94/orange slip .. he verified and let me out of the building and to the streets of land of opportunity :)

  

  

-----------------------Here are some more observations from others experiences ------------

VO who interviewed me seem to be very experienced and couple of guys he interviewed were also asked similar 4-5 questions before approving

There are couple of VOs who were more detailed and asking a lot more questions and documents it seems .. like degree certificates, client letters, work address, salary information, old I797s from extensions, I-140 copy etc ..

All in all everyone got (7 of us) H1s approved that day and almost all finished with in 45-50 min

  

Immigration officer at CBP asked more questions and documents than VO for most of us!!

Hello All

Today I ad a H1b visa interview at Hyderabad consulate. Interview went smooth answered all the question that VO asked.
Here are the questions that i was asked.

VO: Good morning.
ME: Good morning officer.

VO: Is YYYY is your employer.
ME: Yes.

VO: How employers in your company.
ME: Answered

VO: Where did you do your master and masters in which field.
ME: Answered

VO: Who is your client and what do they do.
ME: Explained.

VO: Do you have your client letter.
ME: Yes.

VO: Can I see it.
ME: Sure, Passed It.

VO: Where you ever been in out of status during your in US?
ME: No

VO: Where u ever been in cap gap during your stay in US?
ME: No

VO: Nice (and gave a smile)

VO: Did you pay your employer for your H1b filing or any thing related to H1b.
ME: No

After this conversation he returned my I797 and kept my passport with him and he was like " I cant approve your visa at this moment we need 1-2 days max for administrative processing please expect a mail to the Email that you gave us. "

ME: Officer do you need any documents from me.
VO: Nope your good to go.

ME: Have a nice day officer
VO: You to and smiled.

He dint give me any 221g or any other forms.

Please let me know if some one had the same experience or have some info on such situations.

Thanks.

Hi all,

I will soon be going to India for my H1B renewal. Last year I had applied to a school for MBA (when there was a reorg happening at workplace) and an I-20 was generated for me. I had not applied for COS- only an I-20 was generated But I was able to keep my job and decided to continue to work and not attend school. Will this cause any issue during the interview? Also, has anyone been in this situation and what would be the best way to explain if I get asked the following questions?
1) Why did you decide to quit your job and go to school?
2) What changed that you decided to continue working and not attend school?

Your response and suggestions are highly appreciated

Thanks!

Hi all,

Thanks for posting your experiences here. Thought I will post mine too, would like to hear from folks with similar experiences.

I'm a FTE working in the US for 3 years and was eligible for dropbox for my first H1 extension. I've previously studied at a US university and did the whole F1 - H1 transition 3 years back.

Submitted my docs on 27th Oct but was issued a blue slip on Nov 3 saying that I need to come back for an in-person interview
Attended interview at Mumbai consulate on Nov 6th. I was asked -
Who do you work for?
What is the highest level of qualification?
Did you study in the US?
Was there any gap between OPT and H1 start? - No

After this, the VO said that "something in the system needs to be cleared up", which can take 5-10 days of additional processing. I was given another blue slip with no other documents asked and the VO kept my passport.

Anyone with similar experiences and timelines? This seems like a Sevis issue based on the last question I was asked. Why would it hit during an extension and not during my first stamping, I have no idea.

Thanks.

Hello,

  I am on H1b visa since 2014 and had visa stamping in india in 2015. My h1 and i-94 were expired on 09/12/2017 and my employer has applied for extension on 09/05/2017 and got the receipt notice from USCIS. I am eligible to apply for H4 EAD. At this point of time,

1. Can I transfer my H1 to another employer?
2. Do I get valid i-94 with my new employer H1b if I transfer to a new employer?
3. Can I go Canada and get my H4 stamping done there?

PLease clarify. I am really worried about my situation. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in Advance.

Hello,

I am planning to get my stamping done this year.
I am a fulltime direct hire in my organization with about 300-400 employees (not a consultancy) but I am the first H1B applicant. Can this cause any delays in the process?

Thanks