H1B, H4 Visa

Today i went for H1b stamping with my wife at Kuala lumpur malaysia .VO given yellow slip. marked “No need to take interview again” at one side and written “Wait for us to contact ” on other side.

Interview procedure at embassy

1)Security Check
2) First call :Submit Ds160, passports and photos
3) Second Call :Bio metric signature
4)Third call :Submit Study certificates,All previous employment certificates
5)Fourth Call: Interview

Following was the conversation.

Me:Good morning officer.
VO: Very Good morning

VO:Can i have your marriage certificate ?
Me: given the same

VO to my wife :you can go and sit in waiting room

VO:Where are you working now ?
Me: Answered

VO:Howlong have you been in malaysia ?
Me :Answered

VO:What’s your highest qualification ?
Me: Answered

VO: He returned all my study certificates and previous employment certificates and asked who is your petitioner?
Me: YYYY XX

VO:Tell me something about u r employer ?
Me:I explained in simple

VO:How do you know about this company ?
Me:Throught my friend

VO:do you think it’s good company ?
Me: Yes it’s good company .my friend has been working from last 5 years

VO:He read the out the comments which was posted by someone in glass door reviews website and asked me how would you say this is an good company ?(Comments :Worst place to work,Never ever think to work with this kind of company .people don’t know anything about recruitment process.fire the employees without giving notice.don’t pay salaries on time)
Me:I told my friend has been working with them from last 5 years their conduct has been good

VO:what do you do for them ?
Me:Senior programmer analyst

VO:Where you will work ?
Me:I will work at Employer’s location

VO:How can you work there as they don’t have any space ?This people will hire the candidates and send them to client places.. so for which client you will be working ?
Me: I told him that i will be working at my employers location(my petition was filed for in house project)

VO:Where your friend work ? client side or employers location ?
Me: I told him at client

VO:is your friend taken interview for you ?
Me: No

VO:How many people taken interview for you?
Me: 2

VO:How much you paid for petition fees ?
Me: I have not paid anything

VO:We need to do some admin processing for your case and he handed over me the yellow slip.

He kept my I797 with him.

Please suggest me friends …….

Hi,
I've been on H-1 for past 8 years and working for the same Employer. I've been with the same client for past 4 and half years. I'm working on EVC model. I have all the required letters from vendor, client and employer. Client manager is ready to reply/take phone calls from Embassy/Consulate if need arises.

I had successful stamping with the same employer/vendor/client in 2011. Do you expect any issues with my application in normal circumstances?

I have scheduled appointment on next week , Now I have found small mistake in my DS160 form which is in my passport place of birth showing as my village name but I have filled place of birth in DS160 form is City Name . How to edit DS160 form and what about my scheduled appointment , do I need to cancel and reschedule it or can I use the old slot.

Quick help is much appreciated..

Thanks,
Nani

Hi,

I have attended the visa interview on 30th Sept in Chennai and my visa got approved.
I have collected the passport from OFC office today.

I will be planning to go to US In Jan-2015.

I want to apply for H4 visa for my wife now.
Could you please let me know the procedure for H4 dependent visa for my wife.

What are all the documents are required for H4 visa?

I'm working with my currently employer only, I didn't resign the job yet.

Could you please help me.

thanks

Hello All,

I have booked H1B and H4 appointment on November 10th. I have completed my MS in USA and currently working as FTE for a well know brand of chocolate company in US. I have been working here for the past 3 years and 10 months. I am working in the same company from CPT to OPT to H1B. I have no criminal history nor a single traffic ticket in the past 6 years of my life in USA.

I read through the comments in this forum and most of them are positive but few people got 221g and i could not understand their full background as the details are not provided. I feel most of the 221gs are coming from consultancy company.

I have all the documents 1797, 1129, LCA, pay stubs, bank statement, w2s, i20s, eductational certificate, letter from employer, etc. etc.

As a FTE working with a well know brand (Godiva Chocolatier) and has MS from US. Could you please advise whether do i need to worried about 221g?. I am getting married and then going for visa interview. I do not want the agony of 221g after my marriage. Please advise and thanks for everyone who responds to the post.

Hi,

I am having H1b visa stamped on my passport. But current employer told me that they don't have projects and asked me todo the transfer. I got a new employer and they asked me to go for visa interview again in India. If I go for visa interview again

1. Whether VO will ask why i have not travelled through old employer?
2. If I get visa whether they will cancel my old visa ?
3. If I get 221g then is there any effect with the existing visa ?

Please help me as i am planning to schedule the interview this month

Regards,
Kumar

Our visa appointment is at 9:00 AM.
I reached consulate at 8:40 AM and I could see two long queues , one for 9:00 AM interview and other form 9:30AM
I stood in 9:00 queue and after 20 minutes , it started moving.

Don't reach too early. Reaching 10 -15 mins early is more than enough.

One guy who was sitting in the queue , 100 feet before the main front of entrance, checked our passport numbers and sent us in to the main entrance.

Mobile phones, Pen drives and other electronic devices are not allowed. Back packs, Ladies hand bags are not allowed .
Carry only document holders (not necessarily transparent ones, I could see many persons carrying non transparent file holders. As long its meant for carrying documents, you can bring them in) to carry all your supporting documents.

There is a locker facility available near the queue, ~100 feet from the main entrance, where you can keep your mobiles/pen drives and other electronic devices. The size of the locker shop is very small, its like 1 cubic meter - cart shop. But they provide electronic bills for your belongings. They just tie your belongings in a cloth bag and keep it inside. I enquired the consulate securities if the locker facility and the locker shop staffs are reliable. They confirmed that its reliable.

Security check - the main entrance .

Display your appointment letter, Passport and DS160 confirmation page (same printout which were stamped at OFC , the previous day). Do not remove the bar-code sticker from the passport that was pasted at OFC. The securities look for OFC seal.

I see an applicant brought another DS160 confirmation page ( another printout of DS160 with out OFC seal) to consulate. He was discussing about this to consulate securities the next day) and another guy does not have print out , he was sent to get the printout of appoitnment letter.

Its all similar to airport check - manual check and metal detector check and scanner to scan your document holders. Place your wallet, file holders and other belonging like ID card. I brought only my ID card and did not bring my electronic access/swipe card thinking it would not be allowed. NO electronic watches.

Inside the consulate , they check your passport and DS160 and appointment letter and asked us to stand in a finger prints verification counter.
Then they verify your finger prints and let you inside another hall.

They did not check my I-797 and other documents and I was not sure of the order of documents that I need to give to the interviewer.

VFS guys randomly called applicants and said go to this counter sir, you to that counter sir . No token issued for visa interview counters. I was not sure if the queue was for Visa interview or for documents check. All other applicants felt the same and was asking each other if this is the VISA interview counter and order of documents to present. Later we identified that its the Visa interview queue. I took my passport , DS160 and I-797 . Rest of the documents in my documents holder.

PLEASE CARRY YOUR PASSPORT SIZE PHOTOGRAPHS

I could see that for some applicants, Photo was not captured correctly or not uploaded correctly at OFC. So they asked photographs of the applicants. We did not bring our photographs. One applicant did not bring his photograph. Attender said "Sir your photo was not uploaded properly. So please give us your passport photo." He said he doesn't have . They asked him to go out and get the photographs and come back. Fortunately, I did not face this problem .

Visa officers are friendly and they ensure that you get what they ask you. They repeat the words if you dont get the meaning correctly. we waited for our turn and it was 9:40 AM. Just stay relaxed and listen carefully.

VO called us and greeted us with smile

VO : Good morning
We : good morning Sir

VO : Can I have your passports?
We : Sure. Handed over the passports.

VO : Which employer you work for ?
I : YYYY [ Please answer your US employer name - Petitioner . My employer in India and US have different names]

VO : Who is your client ?
I : YYYYY . [He didn get this clearly. so he repeated the client name. I replies, Yes , its YYYY ]

VO : Whats the client location
I : AAAAA, a suburb of BBBB

VO : Where are you gonna live there ?
I : I misunderstood this question and thought he asked me where I was gonna settle there ? I replied, "No I am just going to work there in BBBB".

VO : Yes, I understand that, but Where will you live?
I : I understood that he was asking me where I would be staying .
I : I replied , somewhere near AAAA, around BBBB.

VO : AAAA is not in BBBB, Its a different place.
I : I said oh OK, some where near AAAA. [I know its a suburb of BBBB. But I didn't say anything]

VO : Do you know whats famous over there ?
[He wants to know if we some basic information about the place, we are gonna visit/stay]
I : There are good corn fields over there and it's a cold place.

VO : Yes, There are good corn fields. There are very good and big apple farms all over AAAA.
We : smiling at him and listening all

VO : Do you drink ?
I : I smiled and replied him looking at wife "This is my wife . So I don't drink :-)"

VO : Smiled . You get some quality beers over there as there are apple farms and its a nice place .
We : smiled . Thanks for the information

He didn't ask any questions to my wife.
Then the golden words " I am approving your Visas, Please read this pamphlet that describes your US rights"
We thanked him and said "Have a good day Sir"

After hearing my employer name, I could see that VO was convinced. So I was sure that we would get my visa.

Some Visa interview questions while I was waiting for my turn

H4 interview

1. What happened in August 2012? Applicant didn't answer. VO replied "You got married Maam"
2. Can I see your marriage certificate ?
3. Why do you want this Visa ?

B1 interview
1. Purpose of visit ? Training and KT and meetings
2. who all are gonna attend this meeting. I need their designations?.
3. How much experienced are you ?
4. With only this much of experience, you are going to have a meeting with senior leaders?

H1B
1. I see you have been to US already and why its not mentioned here ?
He replied its on different category. VO is convinced.

Our OFC appointment is at 2:00PM 09/29/2014 .

Mandatory documents
1. Passport
2. DS160 confirmation
3. OFC appointment letter
4. No need of approved petition. Its mentioned in DS160 confirmation page that approved petition is needed. I enquired securities and verification officers. They said its not needed.

I reached the consulate at 1:40PM and stood in 2:00PM line , outside the facility. There was another parallel line for 2:30PM appointment. Ask the security or other applicants and stand in the respective line. Fortunately, Chennai climate was cloudy and the queue was right under the trees. so did not sweat a lot.

Don't reach too early. Reaching 10 -15 mins early is more than enough. Some applicants reached at 1:45PM for their 1:30PM appointment and they were sent in directly.

At 2:00PM , security let us into the campus. Near the main entrance, they will check you appointment letter, DS160 confirmation page and passport. They verify each and every information from DS160 confirmation match with the information from your passport. so, please ensure the details match.

Then , They seal the DS160 confirmation page with "VISA OFC ". Please carry the same DS160 confirmation page that has VISA OFC seal to the consulate.

I see an applicant brought another DS160 confirmation page ( another printout of DS160 with out seal) to consulate. He was discussing about this to consulate securities the next day) and another guy didnt bring appointment letter, he was sent to get the printout of appointment letter.

Mobile Phones are allowed in OFC. Just turn them off inside the facility. No back packs and electronic devices are allowed. I saw securities allowing ladies hand bag at Chennai OFC. Neither ladies hand bags nor mobile phones are allowed at consulate.

Inside the facility, They validate your details and paste a bar-code sticker on your passport and give you a token number and will be directed to another room. Please wait for your turn. Don't remove the sticker. your token number will be displayed in the monitor and attenders will guide you to the counter if you missed your turn.

At the counter, They will ask you to read something which tells that you filled everything right and legal action can be taken against you if they were found incorrect. They normally ask your passport number, purpose of visit and type of visa etc.

Then finger prints and photo. you will be asked to read the display at the exit . It describes how to collect your passport after consulate interview.

It hardly takes 10 - 15 mins. Don't park your bike/car beside/around the facility. I see towing vehicle circling the facility. If you bring your vehicle, I would advise to bring your friend/someone and reach OFC on time and leave in 10 mins. Don't take chances here.

I will upload my H1B experience in the next post.

Hi, does anyone know if I can accompany my spouse for the VISA interview? I have already got my H1B VISA stamped in september 2014 and would like accompany here for her interview in January 2015. Do i need to take two separate appointments? or fill two separate DS-160? thanks in advance

I have post my comments in this blog 2 times but did not get any reply.

Actually , I have given my h1b interview on 23 Sep 2014 in kolkata and VO said my visa is approved and I will get my passport in 3-5 days. but I did not get my passport yet.

and my status is showing Admin process. Please suggest me if anyone have any idea regarding this. I have called in Customer care and they are saying that it is in process.

I am very upset . Please suggest me if any one have gone through same.

Thanks in advance.