H1B, H4 Visa

Today, I went for the OFC appointment for myself and my kids : H4 Visa. I was very pleasantly surprised by the experience. I went exactly 15 minutes before the appointment time and I was able to enter the gate immediately. The checking and frisking was very quick as well. And most surprising thing: They allowed mobiles in switched off mode and a small wallet. They were only checking for any electronic storage devices which is not allowed.

I was able to finish my appointment within 45 minutes from time of entry to exit.

Visa interview date: Thursday, April 3, 2014

I work directly for the employee and not into consulting.

Went to the finger printing a day before. It is a straight forward process and took about 15 minutes.
They do not allow mobile phones into the facility.

They checked the appointment confirmation letter, passport etc and took picture, fingter prints.

Consulate Experience:

My appointment was at 9:30 am and they let me into the facility at 9 am

They do not allow cell phones into the facility.

I took all the necessary documentation (I-797, I-129 Petition, employment letter, pay stubs for the past 6

months, W2s and tax returns for all the years, Masters Degree, transcripts etc)

After the security check and waiting period, I was given a token number and guided towards the counters.

The monitors show the token number and the counter it is being served at.

I went to the counter and waited for my turn.

The Visa Officer is a young lady. when it is my turn, here is how the interview went.

Me: Good Morning!
VO: Hi
VO: Give me your passport
Me: (Passed the passport)
VO: show me the I-797
Me: Passed the I-797
VO: (Read the name of my company)
VO: what do you do there?
Me: I briefly explained my job role and responsibilities (30-45 seconds)
VO: Okay. what is your salary?
Me: told her the salary
VO: Education? Bachelors?
Me: Told her that I have a Masters Degree, and mentioned my degree and the University graduated from.
VO: (Kept working on the system for a few seconds)
VO: Place your fingers on the machine.
VO: Your visa is approved. Bye, bye
Me: Thank you. Have a good day.

The whole interview process took around 2 minutes.

I saw a few other H1 B folks in front of me and all of them got their stamping done successfully.

I got an email after a day informing that my passport is ready to pick up, which i did after a couple of days. Please note that proper identification is required for passport pickup.

If you have all the documents in place, and prepare well, and ready to answer anything and show supporting

documentation, the visa stamping process is very smooth at HYD.

Best of luck to everybody.

Dears,

Came to US last week and will join in job next week. Can my wife attend H4 interview with one payslip i.e. after month?.

Thanks

Hi,

Currently I am on H1-B visa in a University (academic H-1B visa). While my green card (EB1A) was in process, my wife used her Advance Parole to get back to the USA. However, my green card application didn't get approved. As a result of this my wife's H4B visa becomes invalid (because of automatic cancellation of I-485 application). Do we have any options to get her H-4B visa active? Do we need to fill any forms to submit USCIS? OR does she need to go to 3rd country (or home country) to get stamping done?

Please help us on this behalf. Thanks in advance for your kind help.
Babu

Hi friends,

My employer recently applied H1 for me to Department of labor (DOL).
At what stage I should apply H4 for my wife?
Do I need to go through to DOL for H4 , or I just apply for visa once I get H1 approved?

Thanks

KB

Hi Guys,

Thank you Immihelp for all their help and support to the community. I have been following this forum for past month and decided to go to stamping in Hyderbad as part of my vacation plan.

April 13th:
OFC finger printing. Simple and straight forward process. Just reached 15 mins before and finshed the task in 20 mins.

April 14th: Visa Interview:
8:00 AM appointment. Reached 1 hr before. Allowed us inside after 30 mins in queue.
No sealed envelopes. Open those sealed envelopes(if any) before you go inside.
Just follow all the instructions given in the appointment email about the restricted items.

VO Questions:
Passport: Gave
Name of Client: answered
Salary:answered
No.of employees: answered
Role: answered

That's it. Then the golden words "Your Visa was approved"!

After 2 days, collected the passport.

By god's grace, Interview was easy. Prepare well (I prepared for about 1 week). Have all the documentation (I carried around 6 kgs of documents). As everyone suggests, be confident. Good luck!

Hope my experience helps!

Thank you!

Hello,

Thanks for all sharing the experience. I would like to share mine.

My case is eligible for Dropbox.

Day 1: Went to OFC office to submit documents for myself and my wife(Passport, Petition Approval copies, DS160 Confirmation, Dropbox Confirmation, Previous visa copies, They have returned back other documents)
Day2: Visa application status shows "Admin Processing"
Day3: Visa application status shows "Issued" and passport status shows ready for pickup.
Day 4: Picked up the passport in person from OFC office.(You need to bring Acknowledged dropbox confirmation letter, original govt issued ID proof and copy of it)

Overall looks smooth and stainless. All the very best.

Thank you !

My Visa status used to be F2 (F1 Dependent) Visa. Applied for H1B in 2013FY, got approval notice in Jan 2014. Unfortunately, Date Of Birth printed incorrectly hence applied for an amendment in the same month. Now, got an RFE (Request For Evidence) asking for a client letter which was also the same RFE answered for H1B.
Here are my questions:
What is my current Visa Status?
Will my Visa Status be on H1B till the result of amendment?
Do I need to change my Visa status to dependent prior to the decision on amendment?

Thanks in Advance.

I have been working with this employer since past once year and they took all my documents to file H1B petition in this season’s cap. They even confirmed on 2nd April 2014 that all my documents have been sent out to the USCIS. The season’s cap quota filled up on 7th April 2014 and that’s when they called me to inform that my petition has not been filed and therefore not been sent to USCIS. They explained that their attorney made a last minute mistake and overlooked a few documents. Basically, I had a previous H1B through a non-profit employer and at the very last minute before sending out the documents they said that the attorney thought that my H1B can simply be transferred. I had a good chance of being picked up under lottery as my application was going to be filed in advanced degree exemption quota.

I realize that there was a big communication gap in between this company’s HR, Immigration and the Attorneys. I have been on the top of my application since January 2014 and communicating back and forth with the HR and the Immigration. I have requested the HR and Immigration several times to arrange a telephonic conversation between myself, Attorney and the Immigration team in last few weeks, yet they were persistent that all my documents were complete and that the attorney doesn’t require any additional documentation. A lot of times the HR was rude on phone and over IM if I would check the status and ask them for any updates related to my case. The HR/Immigration even informed me that my documents have been sent to the USCIS.

If this company’s Immigration department would have arranged a telephonic conversation with the Attorney as per my request or checked the status in between 1st and 4th April as per my suggestion, I would not have faced this consequence. I was asked by the HR not to contact the Immigration or anybody and that everything has been taken care of and my petition is filed in master’s premium quota in this season’s cap on 2nd April 2014. I believe, it was this company’s responsibility to follow-up with the attorneys and get me or any candidate status updates if anything else was required. I cannot absorb that the attorneys did not realize this until the very last day. I clearly mentioned to the immigration, HR and the attorneys that a new H1B needs to be filed as my previous H1B is non-transferrable.

I was the one who was checking continuously if my LCA was applied and that my petition will be filed in the advanced degree exemption quota. The company was filing my H1B petition under regular cap until I clearly indicated them that my application has to be filed under master’s quota as I have a US master’s degree. I was told long before that my LCA is applied and certified when the Immigration/Attorney didn’t even apply my LCA until 25th March. When the LCA got certified on 31th march, that’s when he said that I was right and this LCA is mine only. The HR and Immigration team insisted on that I shouldn’t contact them any further for updates and trust them and their attorneys since they have been in this business for over twenty years. Wednesday, 04/02 was the last time I got a response from the HR and the Immigration team. They clearly indicated that my petition has been filed and sent out to the USCIS.

I have spent roughly $80,000 on my graduate school in the last 1.5 year. My current F1 status is expiring in September 2014 and I have no valid work authorization after this time. The only way, I can continue living in US is going for a PhD degree. This will cost me a lot of money.

I have declined two major opportunities that came my way in January to accept this offer but this company totally ruined my career. I have been waiting on for past two years to get an H1B and was really hoping that this year I can get my H1B and the company could file my Greencard. I am not only looking at this huge educational expense but also damage due to company’s negligence, opportunity costs, immigration carelessness and employment and labor.

It is a billion dollar company and their immigration and human resources realize that it’s their mistake but no appropriate measures have been taken yet to salvage the situation. I am planning to file a lawsuit against the company if they don’t come up with a reasonable damage control and settlement amount. I have all the written emails and conversations where they have mentioned clearly that they have sent out all the documents to the USCIS. I have every proof to proof myself right in this situation.

Please help me!! I am going through a great emotional distress.

Hi all,

I had visa interview(Hyd)H1 for me and H4(wife &kid)on Feb 18th.after asked so many questions about client,VO returned my passport and all docs back,not given any slip.i really donno wats happing that time :(

That day so many people got 221G.As of my experience only few people are getting issued,those people are only adding their experiences in this website.i goggled regarding my case in plenty of websites,at last mailed to support team.mailing support team is gud thing as of my knowledge.

After a week time i mailed to support team regarding my case,they replied as u r case reason as "Hold case/221 G & Refusals/214B",then i realized that my visa was not rejected :)

2nd week(March 6th) i got a call& mail from embassy as "please provide u r client contact details,contact person,ph no".i sent a mail with all details attached with client letter.

After 15days i got a mail as "please submit u r passports at the VAC or VFS office for further processing of your case".After 2 days i submitted our passports along with mail printout(proof)

Timelines:

Checked passport tracking (PT) & visa tracking (VT).
for passport : http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-niv-passporttrack.asp
for visa status : https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=WwjqOlbeRYzCYubaSQI+RA==

1st april - dropped documents : status: "Your passport is being delivered to post" (means they are sending it to consulate)
2nd april - status: "Your passport is still with the post" (means still with consulate) , VT - Administrative processing
7th april - status: "Your passport is still with the post" (means still with consulate) , VT - changed case creation date(7h april)Administrative processing
8th april - status: "Your passport is still with the post" (means still with consulate) , VT - ISSUED
9th april - ready for pickup

Got a email from US traveldocs as u r passport is ready,please come and collect.
collected it on same day.Visa stamped for 3 years.from the date of interview it took 51days :(

I hope this helps for you
Thanks alot and all the best for you .. :)