H1B, H4 Visa

My visa extension was approved and I found there was mismatch and I have re-submitted for correction on 24th Nov 2015 but after that my passport status is showing as below "
Your visa case is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing. This processing can take several weeks. Please follow any instructions provided by the Consular Officer at the time of your interview. If further information is needed, you will be contacted. If your visa application is approved, it will be processed and mailed/available within two business days."

This status is showing from last three days and same status is updating everyday.

Could you please let me know any one came across sam situation and

Hi,
My H1b filed with old passport and planning to got to interview on next week. during interiview i need to give both passports to VO? If yes, after visa approval he will return my old passport ?

Visa type: H1B
Location: Hyderabad

OFC date >> Dec 9, 2015

Procedure:
1. waited in the line till my time slot was called
2. went inside, the OFC staff (Indians) verify your time slot, visa type, name, passport details etc..
3. security check
4. they assign a token to you
5. Sit in the waiting lobby till, your token # is called.
6. hand over your passport and confirmation page to the person in the counter (indian)
7. They ask what is the purpose of your visit...
8. they take your finger print, photo and make you read the disclaimer... stating all the information you provided is true ..

That's it.... OFC is done...

Day 2: DEC 10 , Actual interview day

1. again wait in the line and join the line only if it fits your time slot... for example if your time of interview is 9am... do not stand in the 8 or 8:30am line... don't act smart!!!... if you act smart and join a early time line...you will spend the whole time in the line...and when your time slot is checked in the next line .. you will be sent back out of the line... leading to more waiting and frustration.. :P

2. again security check... no mobiles, flash drives, liquid items ...etc...
3. after going through a couple of waiting lines, you will be given token card ...you need to visit the window/counter as given on the token #
4. when waiting in line ... its better not to involve in chit chat etc... focus on your interview

THis is how my interview went >>>>

Me: Good morning Officer.
Visa officer (VO): Good morning.

I gave both my old and new passports and clearly mentioned which one is old and which one is new..

on the old visa(student visa)... they put a stamp : "Cancelled with no perjury"

VO: who is your petitioner
me: ZZZ

VO: How long you have been with your company
me: ZZZ

VO: were you ever on your OPT
me: ZZZ

VO: where is your company located??
me: ZZZ

VO: who is your end client
me: YYYY
(clients or customers are the same...some companies go with the name customers instead of clients... and there could be more than one customer your position might be dealing with)

VO: what is your designation in your company?
me: ZZZ

VO: What is your salary?
me: ZZZ

VO: What is your highest qualification?
me: YYYY

VO: From which university?
me: ZZZ

VO: Thank you .. your visa is approved
me: Thank you ...

Step out... give the token card back to the staff outside

Other trivial information for those going to HYD consulate::

1. There are no restrooms / toilets anywhere near by... so prepare yourself... you don't want to be feeling frustrated holding your pee for hours...

I wish there was a feedback form somewhere where this thing could be mentioned... it sounds silly but espeacially for diabetic and other patients, kids, ladies etc... it is a bare minimum necessity...

2. Parking for 2 and 4 wheelers is available... in FCFS basis
3. Stand in the line only if it is related to your interview time slot

Thanks and good luck...

DO post your experiences for others to benefit !!

Hi

I attended interview on oct-30 at hyderabad consulate. VO issued white slip at said that will contact you for further details.

From which email id i am going to get the mail.
please share the information.

Hi friends,

For DS-160 spouse H4 Visa interview, do we need to fill Current and Previous Experience or just fill as house wife only, please confirm asap....

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share my experience related to change of status from H4 to F1 and back to H4...
I came on valid H4 visa stamped for 3 years, but after some time I decided to continue my studies and changed my visa to F1. I applied for F1 while I was in USA and therefore did not got F1 visa stamp on my passport. While on F1 I got my EAD, but due to some urgent reason had to return to India. I was a bit worried about my current visa status as my F1 visa was expired...
But when I returned back to USA I did not had any trouble getting in as my old H4 was valid. And I was back to H4 without applying for new H4 nor required any F1 stamping. Ypeee..

I hope it helps.... :)

Hi

Thanks all for sharing your experiences :)

I have been waiting for sharing mine

First i would like to tell you .. VO was very cool ... he was speaking hindi to one candidate as he was not able to answer properly ... He was an IT guy for B1 visa but not bale to answer properly ..surprise .. so VO asked him on hindi and everybody was astounded .. that i was in queue and wish that same VO will take my interview .. and It was my turn.. I was assigned to the same VO queue and i thanked god .

Ahead of me was H4 visa candidate .. VO was speaking in Tamil ..that was awesome to see VO knowing that many languages . VO greeted her by nodding his head .. "AAPKA VISA HON GAYA DHANYAWAD"

Then its my turn

I will directly come to point .. how, what and why of H1b Interview

Interview was like a flash of light ..hardly lasts for 30 secs

VO : Passport Please
VO: Who is your employer
ME : Answered
VO: Wats your designation
ME : TEAM LEAD
VO: Salary
ME : Answered
VO : Are you excited
ME : Sorry office can you repeat
VO: Are you excited
ME : Yes very much !
VO: Your visa is approved , You will get in 3 days

Finally ! golden words .. no document asked .

TIPS:- Dress formal , Take a chill pill if your case is legitimate , Preparation is the key of success , Mug all the expected questions and scenarios .

For me it was cake walk but you never what will come what we expect .

here are few questions i found that may help .

All the best

Q: Good morning. How are you doing today?
A: Good morning. I am fine, and how about you?
Q: What is the purpose of your trip?
A: Employment in the US.
Q: When was your passport issued?
A: On
Q: Is this your first passport?
A: Yes.
Q: Have you ever been to the U.S.?
A: Yes on tourism
Q: Have you ever been here (to the consulate) before?
A: Yes for B1/B2 Visa.
Q: Are you planning to return to India?
A: Yes
Q: Do you have any plans to come back to India?

A: Yes! This is a just a temporary assignment for about 1 years, I will be coming back to India once the project is done.

Q: Why would you want to come back?
A: I am the only son of my elderly parents and I would need to take care of them and also would need to look after our properties.
Q: What will you do after coming back to India? Q: What will be your plans after coming back to India?
A: I will continue working with pvt ltd my employer in the software field while taking care of my parents and properties.

Q: How will you survive your first month in the States before your first paycheck?
A: My employer is taking care of the accommodation and food for the first month and also have my own emergency fund.

Q: How long have you been married?
A: NO
Q: On what purpose are you going to the States?
A: For Employment.
Q: Why do you want to work in USA?
A: For global exposure, more challenging roles , growth and a better salary.
What made you to choose to work in USA?
A: for Global exposure as it will tremendously helps me to broaden my skills and enhances my ability to work across cultures. So I believe this opportunity will definitely helps to advance my career.
Q: What do you know about this place?
A: I heard Monroe weather is very much similar to Indian weather. So that definitely helps me to get adjusted to it pretty quickly.

Q: Do you have family in USA?
A: NO
Q: Have you ever applied for any (immigrant/nonimmigrant)
visa for any other country?
A: NO
Q: Have you ever traveled outside of India?
A: Yes I visited UK, Taiwan france US for tourism
Education / Qualifications
Q: What are your qualifications?
A: Bachelors of Engineering in
Q: Are you currently studying?
A: NO
Q: What is the highest degree that you have?
A: Bachelors of Engineering in
Q: Can I see your degree certificates?
A: Yes, definitely. (Show them your certificates)
Q: In which year and from which university did you get this degree?
A:
Q: How many total years of IT experience do you have?
A: 7 years 5 months.
Current Employer / Prior Experience
Q: Which company do you currently work for?
A:
Q: For how long have you been working for ABC?
A: 5 years 8 months
Were you ever on ‘Bench’?

No.
Did you see any suspicious activity in your company?

No.
Who assigns work to you?

My Employer. Assign me project and work

Q: What are your current job responsibilities?
A:

Q: What will be your job responsibilities?

Q: What is your role?
A: I will be working as Test Lead
Q: Can you briefly describe about the project you are assigned? Q: Can you explain your project in brief?

Q: Describe about your client
A:
Q: What is your current salary?
A:
Q: Can I see the pay stubs from your current employer?
A: Sure! (Pass your pay stubs)
Q: How long have you been working with the current client?
A: 9 Months
Q: Do you work at a different location other than your Employer’s location?
Yes, I will be working at Client Place.
Q: ABC is an excellent company. Why are you leaving it?
A: For better growth and direct international exposure.
Q: How long is your project at the client in USA?
A: Around 1 year
Q: When are you planning to travel to USA?
A: 15th December
Q: Can I see the experience letters?
A: Yes, definitely. (Show them your letters)
Q: How long have you been in the IT field?
A: 7 years 5 months.
Sponsor Company / H1B Employer
Q: What is the name of the company you are going work for in USA?
A:
Q: Have you verified whether YYYY is a legitimate company in USA? How do you know?
A:
Q: Briefly describe your sponsoring employer company.
A:
Q Petitiones address in US
A :
Q: How many employees work at your future employer?
A:
Q: What is the annual turnover of your US employer?
A: don't know.
Q: Do you know the name of the President of your sponsoring employer?
A:
Q: Can I see the job offer letter?
A: Yes, definitely. (Show them the letter)
Q: Why do you want to join such a small company? Your current company is so big.
A: For a more challenging role, better salary, and international exposure.
Q: What is your salary going to be in US?
A:
Q: Can I see your LCA (Labor Condition Application from the sponsoring employer) and your latest
salary slip (pay stub) from your current employer?
A: Sure. (Show them)
Q: What is your designation going to be at the US company?
A: Test lead
Q: At what location will you work in USA?
A:
Q At what address you will be satying at US
A:
Q: Do you know the average living cost in <City, State>?
A: Answer appropriately, something like $30,000/year or whatever the realistic figure may be.
Q: Did you pay for you H1B petition related expenses? Q: Did you bear the H1 expenses?
A: No! My employer took care of all the H1 expenses

Q: Are you going to work onsite at a client's location?
A: Yes. (Be prepared to show the client letter)

Q: What kind of work are you going to be doing?
A: Explain your duties briefly.

Why you going so late after petition approval?
As the requirement was freeze for some month from the client and now the position is open again.
for you today? / Who is your petitioner?

• Where is your employer located?

• Who is your CEO?

• Address of employer

• What is your qualification for this job?

• What is your employer business? / What's your employer? / What does your employer do? / What is your company about?

• What do you do for your company? / What are your duties/roles and responsibilities? / What is your title and what do u do for your employer? / What is your designation? / What is your job? / What is your role in your company?

• Can you please elaborate the duties?

• How much duration u r working with your employer? / How long you been working with your employer? / When did you join your employer?

• What is your annual salary? / How much do you get paid? / How much is your income? / What is your pay?

• Do you discuss pay and wages with your employer? Yes, I do discuss, but as of now, am very happy with what he is paying.

• Why is your salary fluctuating? Why there is deduction on paystubs? / Why so much change in salary?

• Show me ur bank statements

• Why is your pay less in last year W2?

• Show me your W2 worked for your employer.

• Show me your pay stubs

• Where do you work at?

• How do you like xxxxx place?

• Do you have any issues/problems with your employer?

• How do you get your work assignments?

• Does your employer know about your projects?

• Whom do you report to? What you will report to your employer?

• How do you report to your employer? - Weekly status call, biweekly status report, stand-up calls when necessary

• Who will allocate the work? YYYY person from my company and YYYY manager from client will co-ordinate and YYYY person from my company will allocate the work.

• Is there any gap (sitting idle) during change of the clients? / Are you on bench? / Does your company ever bench you?

• I can see that your employer does not pay on time? No I get pay on time. (Please be more confident this time. Say it’s always on time)

• Does your employer maintain employer-employee relationship? How?

• How many employees does your employer have, and any one work in same location with you?

• How your employer and Vendor are related?

• Are you satisfied with all the companies you work or worked for?

• Are you happy with your employer?

From what time who have been working with your current client?

• How long with client and employer? / Same time with employer and Client?

• Do you have an end client? Do you have client letter?

• Who is your End client?

• What do they do?

• How long you been working with your end client? / How many months you worked for this client? / How much duration you are working with Client?

• Do you travel to client place? / Do you travel every week to client location?

• What is your position with the client?

• Where is your client located?

• How far Client is from your place?

• Do you work at a client site?

• Any other employees working from your company at client?

• What do you work at Client? / What is your work at client location?

Explain same as in client letter

• Do you have supervisor/manager at YYYY client and what is his name?

• How long is the project with your client

VENDOR Questions:

• Do you have vendor? / Do you have any layers?

• What does your vendor do?

• Do you have any one between your client and employer

• How come your Vendor found your client?

Before me there are 2 F1 guys, One got approved and other got rejected. VO was in frustrating mood as the F1 student was unable to answer to some basic questions.

ME:Good Morning Sir
VO: No Response

VO: What is ur company?
ME: YYYY Technologies

VO: What is your salary?
ME: YYYY / annum

VO: What is your designation?
ME: YYYY

VO: What is your company address?.
ME: told

He just kept my passport in the basket..
I missed GOLDEN WORDS..

OFC:
OFC was scheduled at 1:00 PM december 7th, but reached there before 11:00 AM.
There was a long queue outside and they allowed me into the queue only before 15 minutes of appointment (they didn't allow mobile and handbag inside, so i kept the belongings outside private locker which they charged 200 rupees only for 10 minutes).

Went to the counter exactly scheduled time and done giving the finger prints in just 2 minutes and came outside (at the time of giving finger prints he has asked me what is my purpose of travel to US)

H1B Interview:

appointment time is 9:AM on December 8th, but reached around 7:45 AM. Again there was long queue outside. They allowed me into the queue at 8:AM, after passing several queues i reached finger prints checking counter at 9:AM. I was asked to be wait for some time as they were checking my passport and verifying my details and finger prints (all the people were just moved to the next counter for visa interviews, but they didn't send me for verifying the details again. I got bit tensed. In several minutes they came back and called me for checking my finger prints again. This time they were satisfied and i moved to the much awaited VO counter.

ME: Good morning officer,
VO: Good morning, your passport and I-797 please
ME: Given my passport and I-797
VO: By looking at my I-797, so are you working with ABC?
ME: I am currently working with YYYY XX. I got a new job opportunity for working with ABC
VO: How long you will stay there?
ME: Answered
VO: Your salary?
ME: Answered
VO; What you will do there
ME:Answered.
VO: Are you married?
ME: Yes
VO: Why they didn't come with you, are they not travelling with you?
ME:Answered.
VO: he typed something in his computer for few minutes and said your visa is approved and you can get it in 3 days.
ME: Thank you sir..

Checked my visa status today i.e december 10th 8:PM but it is still under administrative processing.
How many days it will take to issue my passport? can any one reply, i need to travel in next week.

Hello All,

I had visa interview on November 30th at Chennai. Visa Officer said my visa is approved and took my passport. But till now my Passport status is "Passport is still with embassy".
Did any one received their passport whose interview is on or after November 30th ? I have return flight on December 13th. Please suggest me how to proceed further.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.