H1B, H4 Visa

I am basically from Chennai, but can I attend the H1B interview from Hyderabad or Mumbai.
What are the pros and cons if I can attend.

Thanks for all the support from this forum

I went for H1B stamping at chennai consulate

OFC

My appointment time was at 11:00AM
I have reached one hour before but had to wait till 10:45AM as they will allow 15 minutes before only

This is pretty straightforward
Please make sure to carry below documents

DS-160 confirmation page
Appointment confirmation
Original passport

It is not recommended to carry any type of electronic devices
After security checks they will paste DS-160 confirmation number on passport and token will be given
Go to respective counter after token number gets displayed on the panel
Four fingers of left and right hand and thumb prints will be taken along with photograph

Visa interview at consulate

I left hotel room at 7:45 AM and my interview is scheduled at 9:00AM
There is lot of crowd on that day and had to stand nearly one and half hour in the queue

After security checks , document verification is done inside and token will be given after that
Go to respective counter when token number gets displayed on the panel

Interview details

VO:Good morning , how are you?
VO:Which company are you working for in India?
VO:How long are you working for this company in India?
VO:Which comapny will you be working in US?
VO:Where you will be working in US?
VO:How long are you planning to work in US?

After answering all the above questions , VO did not ask any questions for nearly 10 minutes and he was checking in the computer and typing in between

Finally golden words came and he said " I am approving your visa "

This was a huge sigh of relief for me at the end

My suggestion is to be confident and answer to the questions promptly
Also please take all the required documents and supporting documents even though he did not ask me anything

My understanding is that they are taking more time for H1B approval and they are checking profile thoroughly
Approval should not be a problem if you have proper documents

Thanks to all who have given valuable inputs for Interview and I wish you all the best for those who are yet to attend

Hello!

Is there any specific date before which h1b visa has to be stamped?

Thanks in advance!

I have 9 years of IT experience. Had travelled to US earlier on a L1.

OFC:
The VFS guys outside OFC centre check for descrepancies between name in passport against name in DS160 including spaces. If differences found, they ask you go get the DS160 edited (yes it can be, using Retrieve option -> create new application. Its going to be a new DS160 with new applicaiton ID. But it should be fine).

My passport has my full name under 'Given Name' and blank in 'Surname'. Following the same, in DS160, I filled 'Given Name' into 'First Name', and mentioned Last Name as 'LNU'. I was asked to change 'Given Name' as 'Last Name', and First Name as 'FNU' !!. This was strange, and no such instruction appeared during DS160 filling.

By the way, the autowallas outside OFC are ready to take you to nearby (1KM) cyber cafe for Rs120 (return trip), and the cyberwallah knows the job. He does required modification within 5 mins and charges 150 bucks. :(

So, in case you face such a situaiton, be ready with information required to open DS160 (Last Name, 5 Letters of surname and Security question)
 
CONSULATE:
Me: Hello Officer, Good Morning
VO: Good Morning. Can I have your passport?
(Handed over old and new passport. VO said old he does not need the old one)

VO: Who is the employer?
Me: (answered)

VO: What is your designation?
Me: (answered)

VO: Are you currently working for this employer, or is this a new job ?
Me: Its a new job

VO: Where are you working at present?
Me: (answered)

VO: What is the salary your employer is offering?
Me: (answered).
VO: Ok. Thats pretty good.

VO: How did you come to know about the job?
Me: Its an employee referral. One of my friend working for the same employer.

(After this VO spent good amount of time looking for something on his system. I guess he was checking for more details about the employer to confirm genuinity).

VO: Do you work for a client, or you work at your employer location?
Me: I work at my employer location. Its an In-House project.

VO: Tell me about your project?
Me: (answered).

VO: Do you have the project document?
Me: I dont have it with me, but its there in the petition. Its an employer document. So I dont have it.

VO: I need further documents like 797 approval etc. They will call you in another counter which gives time sometime to arrange the documents.
Me: I have the documents right here.

VO: (spent sometime on his system again. He was deliberating to issue a 221(g)). What is the total number of employees working under the employer?
Me: Fourteen

He took out a blue sheet, but was still looking at his system checking more details. Though the conversation was going well, I was hoping he does not probe more with difficult questions.

VO: How long your friend is working for this employer ZZZ?
Me: I guess its almost two years

VO: (He asked more specifically about my job)
Me: Answered

VO: (asked if I do this project for the small number of employees my employer had)
Me: No. The project is for the client. There will be multiple client assignments at various times, and I work on these as assignments.

VO had taken out a blue sheet but hadnt started writing on it yet. He said I work for a very small company. He needs additional documents like tax return etc which he will fill in the 221(g) blue sheet and I have to drop them at the VFS or OFC dropboxes. I'm not required to come to consulate again.
Me: Do you need the employer documents that I already have with me, now ?

VO: No. The petitioner is a very small company. I need to see the tax returns, proposals etc. This is to protect you. You are leaving your job here right? (I said Yes). I need these documents to see if the employer has projects to assign you, and can pay you as promised.
Me: I understand.
Me: How and where to drop the documents ?

VO: I guess there is a drop box in Bangalore. I dont need the original documents. They can be a copy, and the employer can send the confidential documents directly to us.
Me: OK. Once documents are sent, will the case come directly to you, or someone else?

VO: It comes to me. Last time I was on vacation. If I'm not here, other's can verify the documents. I leave my comments.
Me: Ok thats good.

He returned the blue sheet with a check mark on documents are required from my employer. He returned the passport.

VO was nice. He was listening to me whenever I spoke and reciprocated. I think it was a close miss. If I had the project document, I would have heard the golden words. But I hope, it will get approved as it only the matter of submitting the documents.

The blue sheet 221(g) has a check mark 'Application requires additional administrative processing' which is not checked. So I hope my employer can satisfy the request with the required additional documents.

Update on Feb:
It turned out that my petitioner did not have the project contract, but only a proposal. The contract was a very important document. I did not have much hope and submitted rest of the documents along with project proposal. After few days, my status was changed from 'Administrator Processing' to 'Issued' :).

It was a relief indeed.

Missed the golden words though.

Hello,

Needles to say this has been an immense helpful forum and its my time to share my experience.

I won't mention about OFC appointment as it is very straightforward and lots of posts in the past have already covered perfectly.

Regarding H1 visas experience I would request all the future candidates to please share your high level background so that it helps the potential candidates to evaluate their situation.

I have 10+ years exp in IT and am currently in a MNC. I have been to US in the past on L1. This was my first H1 through a small consulting firm for an internal product development.

Following is my interaction with VO.

Me: Good morning.
VO: Good morning. Can I have your passport and I797?
Me: Gave the same to VO.
VO: You are currently working with MNC.
Me: Yes
VO: Your new employer is ZZZ
Me: Yes
VO: What do you know about this new company?
Me: Answered accordingly.
VO: What are you going to do for this new company?
Me: answered about the product that the new company plans to build and how will I contribute towards it.
VO: Are you married?
Me: Yes
VO: Any kids?
Me: Answered accordingly.
VO: in case if the new company does not have this planned product project you know where to complaint.
Me: Yes
VO kept my passport and said thanks.
Me: Thanks.

For one min I was like is it done and what's the outcome as VO never mentioned anything but then I realized its done as he kept my passport.

After few hrs I got a mail that my passport is ready for pick up and finally it was all done.

My suggestion is be confident, be calm and answer correctly thoughtfully without second thoughts. I observed most of then were getting visas without any issue.

Good luck to all.

Thanks.

Hi,

I attended h1b visa on 21st in hyderabad. The visa officer (lady) is very rude.She was shouting literally. I gave all the documents except for the client letter. She asked me to wait in the lobby for some time as she has to verify my details.Finally she gave me 221(g) white slip in which she ticked against "Need to do additional administration processing before a final decision can be made" . At the end she returned my passport and told me that they need to do additional administrative processing and they will let me know if they need anything.She scanned my documents and returned them to me.What does it mean ? .Is it a case of rejection? .Please help me if you have any idea. Can i reappear for visa interview with the same petition?

http://www.immihelp.com is of great help for any visa related stuff and thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences.
Here goes my experience for Mumbai consulate.

OFC Appointment

It was on 20th Feb 3:30 PM. For me I had to carry a photograph additionally for my 9 months daughter. Make sure photo is recently taken. They asked one person to get latest photograph and come back as he mentioned the photograph is 6 months older.
You need to carry (or at least keep handy) only DS-160 Confirmation Form and all the passports along with appointment confirmation letter for each applicant. It took around half an hour for finger printing.

Visa Interview.

It was on 21st Feb 10:30 AM. Reached there around 10:00 with my wife and daughter. There was a queue but they allowed us to enter directly because of child :). After finger print verification they directly called for the interview in 5-10 minutes as there were few people only in our queue.

ME & Wife: Good Morning Officer. How are you?
VO: Good Morning, I am good, how are you?
ME: Good. Thank you.
VO: Tell me something about your YYYY company, what is it into?
ME: Answered in 2 lines.
VO: How much salary you will be getting in US?
ME: Answered
VO: Have you done masters degree or bachelor degree?
ME: Bachelor degree in ZZZ.
VO: Have you traveled to US before?
ME: NO
VO: But you have B1 Visa, why didn't you travel that time?
ME: The meeting was cancelled.
VO: Did you get the B1 Visa for the same company?
ME: Yes
VO: So how long you have been in this company?
ME: Answered X Years Y Months
VO: Did you get this (pointing to white pamphlet) booklet?
ME: Yes
VO: Please make sure you read it.
ME: Sure
VO: Your Visa is approved and your passports will ready to pickup in 3 business days.
ME & Wife: Thank you officer. Have a nice day.
VO: Thank you sir. Thank you mam.

Notes:
If you are planning to book a hotel nearby BKC Mumbai to stay overnight, please spend some time reading hotel reviews (Especially with poor, terrible ratings) online and make sure you are getting what you expect. Most of the hotels in this area are not good for the money.

Be cool and confident and everything will follow.

Thanks,
Rahul

I went to H1B visa interview in Hyderabad and they issued 221g. In the 221g they have not checked/ticked anything, but int the Others section they wrote like "Need to know specific project he is going to work on". For any one happened like this. How much time it will take the process if we submit all the documents in Hyderabad consulate.please let me know.

i have do with my Visa interview on 20th feb ,VO said that your visa is issued and he has taken my passport , but in the status it is showing that your visa case is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing, so please suggest me in this regards...

Hi,

I am recently married and my husband works in US with H1B visa. I have now applied for my H4 and have my H4 interview scheduled in the coming week. Parallely, my employer has also agreed to process a H1 for me. I am planning to travel to US as a dependent after I get my H4 stamped. So, would having a H4 visa in hand affect my H1 visa in any way?