H1B, H4 Visa

Hi Guys,

does anyone know how long the passport kept with VFS after it's ready to pick. I heard it's kep 14 days and then sent back to US consulate. Can you confirm this?

Hello all,

Thanks to this community for all the help from people sharing experiences and supporting each other when illiterate on visa/immigration related details.

I attended my visa interview at the Frankfurt US consulate, Germany very recently (March 27th) and was successful in getting the H1b visa stamped. There were not many experiences available to refer to in the recent and particularly about taking an interview from another country than the home country.

A quick background of me is that I am currently working in the US on the H1b on my 8th year with an approved I-140 (from my previous company) and was travelling to Germany for work with a recently expired Visa and an approved I-797 though.

I had my visa appointment booked for 7.30am and after my experience, would highly recommend that timing if available. The main reason being the parking availability as you are asked to park on the streets close to the consulate entrance and that place seems to be a tough one to find a parking. The early morning appointment was perfect to find a few spots close enough to the entrance.

I was the first applicant for the non-immigrant visa line (they have 2 lines – non-immigrant visa and immigrant visa). When the boots opened, I was the first to be called and then proceeded to the entrance where they had the security screening and was directed to a second building. Entering the second building, was asked to go over to a counter to get my finger prints and verifying the DS-160. With that out of the way, was asked to go ahead and stand to be called by the counters where the Visa Officers (VO) were just getting settled down.

Being the first, was quickly called over by the first VO.

ME: Good morning!
VO: Hello, May I see the passport and application.
ME: Absolutely! Here is my passport and the DS form.

VO: (after a min) so, you are applying for the H1b Visa, right? Renewal?
ME: Yes ma’am. My Visa just expired last month and would like to renew the same.

VO: (Typing something) so, you studied in the US. Where did you go to school?
ME: Yes ma’am. I did my masters in the US. I went to xxx.

VO: What did you study?
ME: I did my masters in xxx.

VO: Good. Alright, your visa is approved and you should get it in mail, in a weeks’ time.
ME: Thank you very much. May I ask for a request?

VO: Sure, Go ahead.
ME: Being on a business trip to Germany, I am currently residing in a hotel close the Frankfurt airport. I would like to see if there would be an option to pick up the passport instead of having it mailed.

VO: When are you flying back?
ME: I don’t leave until the end of the week, Saturday.

VO: Then, you should be fine.
ME: MY problem is definitely not the timing ma’am. The place and hotel that I am currently put up in, is located in a region of several hotels and checking with the hotel staff, there was a little hesitation presented by those folks mentioning about past experiences of missed and mixed deliveries among these hotels and being a passport, I would prefer not taking that risk.

VO: Alight, give me your phone number and I will have you called once the passport is ready. You may come here and pick it up at the entrance counter.
ME: Thanks much. That would help a lot. xxx-xxx-xxxx is my phone number.

I was surprised by how pleasant the VO was and walked out of the building out back to the entrance. Received a call from the consulate in a days’ time to pick-up my passport the following day in the morning.

Good luck to all readers here!

Hi All,

My fiancée is filling out her H4 form and we have a question - what should we mention for the question
 
"Has anyone ever filed an immigrant petition on your behalf with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services?"

I have a approved I140 with petition #. Should we answer "yes" and explain that the Principal Applicant has approved 140 or should the answer be No? We are getting married later this summer and she is going for the interview with-in a week after our weeding.

Many thanks for your inputs!

Hi,

Can someone articulate each digit when the VO asked about annual salary?
Ex: if the salary is 67,890 - should we say this completely as "Sixty Seven Thousand eight hundred and ninty"?

Thank you so much team. I am following this site for last 1 month as I had my visa interview last week.
This website really helped me how to prepare for my meeting.
Below is my experience.
31-Mar-2017: Fingerprints
My Schedule @1PM.
I went around 12.30PM.
They allowed me around 12:45PM. It is Straight forward process. Please take Passport, Interview Confirmation, DS160 Confirmation. I was in the queue for 5-10 mins. I went to one of the window. asked me to read one of the statement next to window. Given Left hand, RIght hand and Both thumb fingerprints. He took picture which will be used in our Visa.
03-Apr-2017: Visa Interview
My Schedule@11AM
This is my 4th H1B Extension and this is the first time i went to Hyd Consulate. I was nervous as we are hearing different news about Govt and their policies on H1B Visa.
To be frank, Visa Process is straight forward and simple. Visa Officer is looking cool and she asked me basic questions.
Me: I said Good Morning and she responded me with nice smile.
VO: asked about my Petitioner.
Me: Responed.
VO: Are you direct employee to your petitioner.
Me: Responded
VO: Highest Degree
Me: Responded
VO: Annual Salary
Me: YYYY USD
VO: Which State you live in
Me: Responded
VO:She asked whether i receive Pamphlet and I said Yes.
VO: She looked in her system around 15-20 seconds and she said your visa is issued.

To be frank: I was nervous until my interview is done. But Overall experience is very good and I didnt see any negative atmosphere at consulate. Please be confident and go with positive attitude.

Once again thank you so much.

I have plans to get my H1b stamped in Mumbai. I have a degree in Biotechnology and work for a Cancer hospital. What is the general scenario for lifescience related H1B stamping? Any experiences, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

I took hard decision to visit India in Mid Feb when the issue was going to immigrants. I had drop box and even i heard drop box service is stopped but the company confirmed still it's ON. I don't have any issue and even I got verbal communication from my company for 2 weeks delay in drop box stamping, they got the same verbal confirmation from Kolkata OFC. But i got an email to collect my passport in 1 day. I submitted on 02/22 and got email on 02/24. On the POE also, basic questions what you do, how long u are in the USA, did you file your GC etc. So it was a smooth experience.

Just wanted to share my experience as this forum helped me brace for my interview.

My case was not a first-time H1B stamp, rather a change of status.
I had my interview on March 28th and it went smoothly and I received the passport within 3 days of the interview.

Questions at the consulate:
1. Petitioner (they didn't recognize the name as I work for a fairly new startup, but I mentioned we were a subsidiary of a much better known company)
2. Location - of company and my job (they are the same in my case)
3. Salary

The officer was pleasant and said my case was approved.

Port of entry (LA) questions:

1. Why are you travelling so far from India to the USA? (this was before I said I was employed in the USA)
2. Petitioner (checked on his system)
3. Location (checked on his system)
4. Husband's details
5. General comments (my husband and I live and work in different states and he wondered how we manage)

That was it, and he said welcome. If I have to analyze, the port of entry questions seemed a bit skeptical in tone (relatively speaking) but overall I can't complain - they were both reasonable and pleasant experiences.

Best wishes.

Hi Guys,

I'm working on h1b which is valid until feb 2018. this is my first h1b (petition) approved for 19 months. And i did not go to India for stamping as this was COS. Before H1b i worked on L2 + EAD approx. 2 yrs.

Now my questions are for H1b transfer under regular processing (as PP is stopped for 6 months):
1. Can i start working for employer B once receipt notice is generated?
2. How much time does it take for petition to be approved for employer B?
3. What happens if employer A revokes the petition before new petition is approved for employer B?
4. What if petition is rejected for employer B (and employer A had already revoked the petition). Will I be considered out of status?

Or it is advisable to wait for PP to be back and then change the employer?

I never over stayed or worked beyond any date/time approved in my EAD and now under H1B.

Please advise. Thanks!!

Had the biometrics on Apr 4 & Visa interview on Apr 5 (8 AM)

Biometrics - Straight-forward as always

Visa Interview

Questions asked to me,

1. Who is your petitioner ?
Ans: XYZ

2. Who is your client ?
Ans: Direct employee

3. What do you do there ?
Ans: App development

4. What kind of applications ?
Answered

Questions to my spouse,

1. How long you guys are married ?
2. Where did your husband do his bachelors ?
3. How did you guys meet ?.

Last question was "Did you receive this pamplet ?" for which I said "No". So he gave me a copy and said "Read this whenever you find some time. Your Visas are approved".

For couples attending the interview, I would ask the spouses (H4) to be more prepared as the questions may be little more trickier than expected.

Otherwise, its a breeze.