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H1b regular transfer
I am currently working in IT consulting MNC and got offer from direct client full time,
anyone has recent experience on H1B regular transfer, what is the suggestion here ? i am thinking to go forward with regular process since it is just a transfer..
Traveled to India for stamping in March first week and being eligible for drop box, decided to go for it.
Document Drop to Consulate: Mar 06
Visa Issued and ready for Pick-up: Mar 10.
Documents Submitted: Passport, DS-160 confirmation Page, Drop-Box confirmation page, Petition (I-797) photo copy.
No hurdle for me, no query, it went smooth.
Please do not reach too early they will only let you enter 15 minutes before your scheduled time, you have to stand outside the gate in the road prior to that.
You need to carry Passport, DS 160 confirmation page and appointment letter. No other documents are required for biometrics.
Once you enter inside you have wait in queue for your turn, they will ask your date of birth, check passport and DS 160 confirmation page and appointment letter. They will click your photograph and take fingerprint and put a sticker on back of your password and a seal on your DS160.
Day 2: Visa Interview March 17
Please reach atleast 15 minutes prior, do not carry mobile phones or smart watches, they will not allow them inside and there are no lockers. Keep mobile phones at hotel/lodging, if someone is with you and they can keep it.
Please wait quietly for your turn and be confident.
Carry all required documents in originals and also copies
Please ensure your wear formals for the interview
Me: Good Morning with a smile
VM : No reply
Questions for me:
1 Pass me your passport
Passed
2. What is your highest qualification
Answered
3. Which location you are going to work?
Answered- Should be as per mentioned in your petition
4. What is your designation?
Answered- Should be as per mentioned in your petition
5. What will be your salary in USD per annum?
Answered- Should be as per mentioned in your petition
6. Who is your client?
Answered- Should be as per mentioned in your petition
She said your visa is issued and kept my passport.
I said Thank you and came out.
I got my an email and message on March 22 that my passport is returned and is ready for pickup.
I am attending H1 interview this month,
My employer is asking me to use old client letter from the same client which is used to file my H1 as I am still working with the same client.
Details about client letter, issued on March 2016, clearly stated I was hired to make my hands on their application for a period and my actual project work will start from November 2016.
Suggestions required for using this client letter, you help will be appreciated.
Many thanks to the forum , the experience of many has helped us a lot in preparing , and here is my experience.
I applied for fresh h1 and h4 for my wife and kid.
Appointment for Biometrics was on 2nd April and the visa interview was on 3rd April at hyderabad.
Biometrics :
Appoinment was given at around 4:45 PM, we reached the place by 3:45 PM. There was a notice stating that the queue inside the building is for only 4 PM appointees.
I enquired the security gaurd about how we will be intimated, he requested us to stand nearby on the footpath and he will inform when required. Thanksfully there are trees and we stood under shade.
After few minutes security gaurd requested 4:30 PM appointees to come inside, most of the people seemed to be parents who have come for visiting visas.
We stood for some more time, by 4:10 PM we were asked to get in , there were not many people in our group.
As we entered inside the building , we saw a small queue, it seemed to be the backside of the building and i have seen people on 4:30 PM slot also standing in the queue. The security were allowing only few folks at a time. A girl came and checked for the passport and DS160 confirmation form, asked all others to keep them outside.
Once they rechecked the passport with DS160 confirmation, we were asked to get inside the door, on the left there is an enclosure to security check females, on the right/ straight there was a security gaurd with his metal detector checking males. No electornic equipments are allowed inside....the place seemed a bit cluttered... in the small room there are security checks and on the table after the queue the team would check your passport and attach stickers on the back... the stickers would have the bar code, you name , visa appointment date and time at the US consulate. (double check these before you move forward) ensure your name is DS160 is same as in the passport , they are verifying letter by letter and any discripancy means you need to fill in another DS160 form.
Once the stickers were attached at the back of the 3 passports, we went in to the next room, there is a lady standing on the left beside the token generator, she gives tokens based on the number of applicants. she gave three tokens even after saying that i have a kid (well , i have not got my kid for biometrics i got his documents and the picture). we stood in the queue and were looking at the screen where the token numbers and the windows numbers are displayed. I took my kids documents along with me and my wife went seperately so that we can quickly complete the process.
As soon as i entered the window , the lady asked me to give the passport and the confirmation document, i mentioned abt my kid and gave both the passport and DS160 forms. she took my biometrics (4 fingers left then 4 fingures right and the 2 thumbs ), she took my picture using the camara and than took the picture of my kids photo by sticking it to the glass window....i collected all my documents ...remember the DS160 confirmation pages will be stamped with date , the same needs to be taken for the appointment at the consulate.
she also mentioned that you need not take your kid for visa interview and only the necessary documents are sufficient.
The whole process took not more than 40 minutes, we entered in at 4:10 and came out by 4:50 PM. The only documents you need to take for biometrics are (Appointment conf , DS160 conf, Passport and if you have kid make to take his picture along )
Visa Interview -
We got 9:30 AM slot, reached the place by 8:50 AM , we were directly allowed inside there was a little queue but it was moving quite fast. I got my kid along for the interview.
There was a guy outside who scanned the bar codes at the back of the passport (these bar codes were attached during the biometrics) and asked us to move forward, the security gaurd inside checked the passport and allowed us through the gate.
As it was early in the morning there were not many people , we were able to go straight to the security check area , where we were asked to put the documents, wallet, belt, any thing that is of metal in the container and asked us to stand in the queue, there were few people and the queue moved quite fast, inside the room containers were scanned through as we see in the airports. All those who work here are indians and quite friendly. They would not allow any food items, they however allowed milk and water for my kid , well they asked us to taste it infront of them :) ....they took the chocolate away, so no food items allowed..they mentioned abt a canteen inside where you can buy things ....we then went outside the room and took our belongings (there is a nice arrangement , a big table placed all over and the path to wards the waiting area is filled with chairs on either side..)...we then went to waiting area where we were asked to sit for few minutes, we were then asked to move to counter 7 where out biometrics were verified, they have only verified the 4 fingers of the right hand....once done through biometrics verification , we were asked to sit in the waiting area...plan to sit in the middle row...interestingly they are asking people in the middle row to move forward (there are three rows each with many chairs ) we went to the left most row as it was completly empty and under the fan....after the pople in the middle row went out, we were then asked to move to middle row ... this process is quite wierd.... after few minuets the lady asked pople who have moved from the left row to middle row to stand ...i have seen some people stood even though they have come late and joined the middle row...no process as such... we were asked to move forward and made to stand in the queue, the lady gave us a token indicating the window number, we got number 8, she also gave us "know your rights" booklet, an elderly couple having interview when we went to the counter, there was another elderly couple waiting in the line , we joined them, the lady in the counter seemed between 25 to 28 ...she was asking few questions and listning carefully... as they were speaking in telugu , the interpretor was helping her to understand ,she took their passports and they left the counter, same is the case for the couple standing infront of us, she than took the headphones from the interpretor ....:) she would only need the headphone when you are speaking directly ....she requested me to come forward , as soon as i came in she asked are you from YYYY company (well when you stand in the line at the counter, a lady comes and collects your passports and scans the bar code , which would update the system and our records appear sequentially) well i was thinking inside ...no greetings straight to business :) ....well this is how the interview went...
VO : are you from YYYY company Me : answered VO : Since how long were you working for this compoany Me : answered VO : who is your client Me : answered VO : Can you give me your i797 first page only Me : i gave the same and mentioned abt an amendment that is being filed VO : is it approved ? Me : I said its only the receipt notice, she seemed not interested VO : Where will you work/ wats the client location Me : answered VO : whats your highest education qualification Me : answered VO : What is you salary in US Me : answered VO : wats the reason for amendment ? Me : answered VO : she checked the system for few minutes and then shifted to my wife (when they shift to dependents it means the interivew is almost over) VO : How long have you been married Wife : answered VO : pointing to my son , she asked ...Is he the only son Wife : answered VO : Have you gone through the "know your rights" booklet Me : Not Yet, i have got it just now VO : you are good to go , i will process your visas
We thanked her and made a move outside.
The process took not more than 45 minutes , we went in at around 9 AM and came out by 9:45 AM.
I would like to share my Dropbox visa experience so that it would be helpful for others. First time I used this dropbox option. No appointment needed. Just walk in.
You can find the Dropbox eligibility criteria in ustraveldocs.
I'm a H1b Petition holder from company A and My Visa was stamped in Hyderabad and Valid till Aug 2017.
I travelled to USA on the above Visa and in year 2016, I changed my employer to B and my latest petition is valid for Dec 2018.
In March 2017,I travelled to India,i thought it will be better to have Visa stamp with my new employer B.
My New company is a Product Development company.
March 13th 2017 – Landed in Hyderabad early Morning,Submitted Passport,I-797 Copy,1 Photograph the same day.(They are not taking any other docs like letter from employer,w2)
March 14th 2017 – Status in CEAC - Case Created.
March 16th 2017 - Status in CEAC - Issued for My Kids and Administrative Processing for my self and my wife.
We have collected my Kids passport.
March 26th 2017 - Status in CEAC - Admin Processing. I have followed up with customer care and I have sent a mail to support team
March 26th 2017 - I got a call from Consulate and asking me and my wife to come to consulate for the Finger Prints. Due to System issue, earlier finger prints are having some issue.
March 27th 2017 - Given the Finger Prints at Consulate.
March 31st 2017 - Status in CEAC - Issued.
April 2 2017 - Collected the Passport.
I and my wife together attended the stamping at the Hyderabad Consulate on 21st March 2017. The interview questions were pretty basic, no documents were asked initially except the passport and at the VO said she was not able to link my information online. I've told her that my approval came in December, and why would there not be updated information online about my status. She said that they were trying to move everything online and it is a slow going process. She asked if she could have a copy of my i797A which I handed over and she said I should be expecting the VISA in 1 to 2 business days. My case has been under "Administrative Processing" ever since.
Case Creation Date: 21st March
Case Last Updated: 30th March
Today, 3rd of April, the CGIFederal website shows "Document Delivery Information:" where it previously was "Your Passport is still with the Embassy/Consulate"
There are no other changes. DS160 tracking stlill says administrative processing, and passport tracking options says the Passport is still with the embassy.
Does this "Document Delivery Information: " update mean something? Or is it just an automated update.
Recently it was announced that the H1b premium processing will be stopped for temporary period (From April 2017 for 6 months (approx)). I saw this new while I was between job switch and my new employer had just filled the application (early March). I was nervous whether my application would be processed under PP. The PP application was accepted by USCIS and they processed the application before 14 days.
If any applications were filled before April and PP application was accepted by USCIS then the chances of the application being processed under PP is high.
I had used the services of Mr Salvador and what he has clearly mentioned in the site about the day to day program is how it played out.
RE: Interview with the consulate. The focus has been on who you work for and where. Please be prepared with the tax documents and also answer upto to the question.
RE: Salvador I had a very comfortable stay at his hotel as I was able to work without any wi-fi issues even over the VPN. The rooms are clean and well kept. He was always there right on time to take me around for my appointments and take me back to the hotel. Generous enough to take me for lunches outside to other places depending on his schedule. Salvador is warm and nice person and thank him for making my trip smooth. I highly recommend his services and he is also available over whatsApp too to answer any of your questions.
H1/H4 EAD interview Attended March 21st @ Hyderabad.
Hi All,
I attended the interview @ Hyderabad consulate on March 21st morning 11 AM interview. I dont see too many people and they allowed us by 10 AM est and we are out by 10:15 am EST.
This is my 4th time for H1B interview and felt very simple process/questions this time.
VO: Good morning
Me: GM.
VO: Who is is petitioner ?
me: ZZZ
VO: Are you fulltime ?
me: Yes
VO : Annual salary ?
me: YYYY XX
VO: What is your company do ?
me : ZZZ
To my wife :
VO: Are you working ?
Wife : Yes
VO: How many years of marriage ?
Wife : xx
VO: Do you have children ?
Wife : Yes
VO: How many ?
Wife : X
VO: Have a safe travels back.
My passport was ready by March13rd 11 AM IST.
As long as valid documentation i dont see any risk for traveling to India. I was literally scared but decided to face risk and now i feel i did right thing.
Thank you all whoever supported/shared experiences which really made me feel comfortable.
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