H1B, H4 Visa

Hi..I have been reading this forum for more than a month now as I am preparing for my H1B visa interview and I feel it is great forum ask my doubt. My question is : Should the designation at offshore office(my employer who is sending me on the onsite deputation) and the designation for which I will be traveling at the client place be the same? Similarly should the role with the offshore employer be the same at the client place? This question is with regard to H1B visa.
Will there be any issues if we are doing a different role at the offshore office and traveling for a different role at the client place? Please confirm. Thank you.

I am working in Bangalore but hometown Hyderabad.. so which consulate i have to go?

Thanks in Advance.

Big thank you for every body for sharing their experaince..this helped me a ton in boosting my confidence ...thank you so much guys......apprecaite immi help....

Today on oct 25th my appointment was scheduled at 10.00 , already it was pouring heavily...rushed to the sitting area in the consulate where the people are asked to wait untill our slot time is reached...at 9.50 i was asked to go in ...after security checks etc etc.....

Finally my token had displayed on the screen and i reached the respested consulate officer.....Following question was asked :

VO : Was bit serious and was looking into the screen
Me: Good Morning Sir

VO : Good Morning
VO: Can I have your passport and I797....

Me : Sure sir, and gave the documents to him

VO: Who is your client
Me : Answered

Vo : Give your finger prints...
Me: given

VO: Kept my passport and said "Good to go..byee"

Overall it was a nice experaince .....thanks

Hi,

Can someone let me know the current waiting time for us visa appointment in chennai consulate.

Thnx a lot

Finally the wait is over, it is raining heavy and my spine is shivering, entered into the dragon cave at 7:55AM, completed initial security checks, they even want to remove the belt , so please wear tight pants ;). Waiting in the lobby and staring the screen to display my number. My number blinked and went to the line. here the Visa questions.

VO: Good Morning, how are you?
Me: I am good Sir, How are you?
VO: Great Thanks.
VO: Please provide your Passport and I797.
Me:Passed passport and I797 (didn't looked into the I797 just left in the tray)
VO: So you work form Employer xxx
Me: Yes, Sir
VO: What they do?
ME: Explained
VO:So you are Computer Programmer?
ME: Yes
VO:Your Pay:
ME: YYYY X$
VO:To which client you are going to Work
ME: Explained about Client
VO:Do you have Client Letter
Me:Yes, Provided
VO:Entering something in system for 1 min and asked me to place left hand 4 fingers on scanner.

And finally golden words your visa approved. Hurray!!!! Thank God.

Suggestions: Try to go for morning slots, anyways be confident and keep all the documents mainly if you are going on EVC mode make sure that you have client letters and all PO's for good results.

Good Luck, Stay Cool as much as possible.

Thanks immihelp and all for sharing their experiences.

I went with my wife and 3yr old kid

22/10 Ofc as described by so many of our members the process is simple and will be done within 30 mnts. With kids it's very fast as priority will be given.

23/10 Visa interview. Here too with kids every thing moves fast. We have appointment at 8 but we were let in by 7:30 group. In the counter where my token is displayed all applicants are with kids till my turn. Mine was 4th of the day to the Visa officer.

Here are the questions.

Vo: GM
Me: GM

Vo:Pass Ports Please
Me: Given

Vo:Why are u going to US ?
Me:Employment, Mean while she asked my i797
 
Then the questions Followed
Your Current Employer in India ?
Your present Role ?
How long ur employed with current employer in india ?
What does your employer in US do ?

Explain about the project which you are going to do ?
I explained the project which i am going to do

Do you have any project description or contract between your client and Employer ?
I had only contract between employer and client, Purchase order from my client and offer letter and i gave those to VO.
I don't have a client letter. She gone through the documents and said ok you have only these.

Will you be working at client place or at employer ?
At client place

Your salary in US $ ?

Which place you are going in US ?
 
What is your highest Educational qualification?

Then she gave a pause and placed the white(rights in us) pomp let on my 1797.
Then asked my wife the following ?
How long u r married ?
What's your highest qualification

Then turned towards us and asked us to read the rights document and said all the 3 visas are approved.

We said thanks and returned.We are out of the consulate by 8:45

My experience is that read all the documents given by your employer and don't worry about the documents u don't have. Prepare well with all possible questions. Get prepared about yourself what your doing presently and what you will be doing once you go to US. Be clear about the project/work you are going to do in US and be confident with your answers and maintain the eye contact while answering to questions. All the best. Once again thanks to all for sharing their experiences.

Hello Guys ,

My case status says Request for Evidence Response Review ..it 's been a month and there are no signs of Approval .Can any one tell me when can i get my approval ?I applied in Vermont.

First and foremost, a big thanks to all those who have contributed here. Nothing can be more helpful than real experience sharing. Keep the good work going.

@ OFC - Reaching 20 minutes prior to your appointment is the maximum buffer time to be kept. Things go at such fast pace that, once you are going in you keep moving all the time till you are outside.

@ Consulate - In fact, I was very lucky to get the most pleasant looking VO out of the rest. He was approving even L1B's without much irritating questions of any sort. I could see a lady doing a few rejections after asking too many questions and may be shattering the confidence. So my advise would be, just be confident in what you say and well prepared. In that case there would be NIL % rejection probability. Okay, now my experience.

VO : Hi ( While I was still remaining at my waiting position in the queue)
Me: Good Morning

VO: Very good morning. Your passports please.
Me: Sure sir. (Gave mine and spouse passports)

VO: Okay, why do you want to go to the US
Me: To work for my employer <ZZZ>

VO: Are you going to work at <ZZZ> company location
Me: No sir, I'm going to work at my client location and my client is <YYY>.

VO: What are you going to do there ?
Me: Just said one of my responsibility(first point in my petition).

By then, he said okay and wait for a minute and put the passports somewhere inside. And handed over the white pamphlet to me. Looking at us, he told 'Have a nice day'. My wife reciprocated the same.(May be i was perplexed that the interview was all over). Said a thank you in a little hurry and paved way for the next person in queue.

Just our passports were asked for and no other documents asked. No questions to my wife at all. In between sometime i was getting ready to pass my I797 doc, which he never asked.

Hastily went for getting the passports couriered.

Good luck for all and keep sharing your experiences to help those who are searching here hungrily.

Thanks

hi everyone,

I was also waiting to write something for this forum, which has helped me preparing.

I will come straight to main content.

Below were the questions asked to me.

Q1. Are you here for work visa?
Ans. Yes, H1B.

Q2. Where are you going?
Ans. US city and state name.

Q3. Who is your client.
Ans. There is no client, I will be working for ZZZ. (my employer).

Q4. What does ur employer do?
Ans. We make YYYY systems for YYYY industry.

Q5. Ok, so its customer oriented?
Ans. Yes.

Q6. How many employees ur employer have in India?
Ans. ZZZ

Q7. What is ur designation in India.
Ans. Senior Software Engineer.

Q8. What is ur role in US?
Ans. (Should as per ur petition description) I will be working as computer system Analyst. I will be analyzing existing computer systems, design new applications and perform techincal enhancements. This would also include unit, regression and integeration testing.

Q9. How much is ur salary is US?
Ans YYYY XX dollars p.a.

Q10. Since how long u r with ur employer.
Ans. 3 years.

Now, asked my wife to come forward.
Q1. When you got married.
Q2. Was it arranged or love marriage.
Q3. What is the dob of your son.

Then VO asked to punch for fingerprints and asked if you have read white pamphlet. Then said ur visa approved.

I paid fees for passport delivery. should get in next 3-4 days.

thanks all and to this forum. Good luck to everyone.

Dave.

Although the OFC appointment is fairly straightforward, I figured it would make sense to add few tips for those who are appearing for the interview.

Documents required
----------------------------
1. Passport
2. Appointment Confirmation
3. DS 160 (original AND modified, in case you have amended the original)

Tips
------
1. If you need to play safe in terms of time, 15-20 min ahead of appointed time is more than enough.
2. When you enter, couple of guys sitting outside will check your appointment confirmation document and then you'll have to walk way around the building to enter.
3. Backpacks, laptop bags and other appendages are not advised, though umbrellas (during monsoon) and cellphones (switched off, of course) are allowed.

Consulate Interview
---------------------------
One useful tip: if you are carrying specific, sealed, confidential documents marked "For Consulate Use Only", be prepared to unseal them after being searched for inside. Preferably, request your employer to send these documents in a way that unsealing them doesn't consume additional time, though this won't necessarily hurt your chances of getting your visa approved.

The actual interview is where luck can make a telling difference. When I joined my assigned line, there were 2 individual applicants and a family standing ahead of me. The first individual's application was marked by the VO for "Administrative Processing" (RFE) while the second individual's application was rejected outright. I was a little apprehensive when this happened. Fortunately, there was an adorable 5-year-old boy in the family immediately ahead who was asked for his name by the VO. The kid nodded his head, leading to significant brightening of the VO's mood. Seizing my chance, when I approached the VO, I greeted him as cheerfully as I could and this is how my interview transpired:

VO: Is this a new job or an existing role?
ME: New job

VO: I'm not sure about <employer>. Can you tell me what they are into?
ME: Responded, by adding <client>

VO (immediately catching on): So who is <client>?
ME: End Client for <employer>

VO: What does <client> do?
ME: Responded

VO: So what is your role in this project?
ME: Responded using excessive technical jargon

VO: See, I am not a very technical person. Please explain as you would to a kid.
ME: Tried again using simpler words. (make sure you dumb down your exposition as much as possible; no jargon, no acronyms, no fancy IT-lingo!)

VO (smiling): That wasn't of much help either.
ME: Let me try one more time.

VO: No, that's alright. Give me couple of minutes here and I'll need to ask you something else.

Types on the computer for 5 minutes.

VO: Do you have any document detailing your relationship with <client>?
ME: Sure, sir. Here it is (showed the client letter and employer's letter to USCIS)

More typing on the computer

VO: How much will you be getting paid working for employer?
ME: $ YYYY X per annum (make sure you quote the figure in your LCA and any letter from your employer to USCIS)

VO: Have you worked anywhere else before working for <employer>?
ME: Yes sir, for ABC

VO: How long were you with ABC?
ME: Responded

At this point, VO checked his monitor for few things and after a while, returned my I-797, I-129, LCA and letters and kept my passport. He then gave me the employee rights booklet and said the magic words: "Here is your booklet. That's it. You are all set!"

I thanked him and left. So, bottom line is this: you can prepare all you want, but it would be unwise to blame yourself if your application is declined, since Lady Luck can be such a decisive factor on occasions. Prepare to succeed, but also be prepared to know your way in the lines and make the best use of any small mercies that come your way.

Good luck to all applicants!