H1B, H4 Visa

Hello All,

Appointment scheduled at 10:00AM and we were allowed in to Q by 9:30AM only ( dont waste time by going early)
as we have 9th months old baby , supporting staff given us priority to issue to token
security check tips:
1.only one milk bottle allowed ( either of the parents must taste before going inside)
2.No drinking water allowed and rest checks are as usual
after waiting 25 mins ,our token number called up for counter 11
VO: Asked to come forward
Me: Good Morning officier,How r u doing
VO: good ,how about u
VO: passport please
Me: handoverd the passports
VO: who is your employer
Me; Answered
VO: client
Me; Answered
VO: which city you are going
Me; Answered
VO:whats the salary
Me: Answered
VO:How long hav u been married (to my wie)
My Wife: Answered
VO: how old she is ( about baby)
My wife replied
VO: asked My wife to place left hand finger prints
VO: asemd me to place right hand for finger prints
VO: i am issuing your VISA,, hav a nice day
Me: thanks officer
Except passport, Officer didnt asked for any doc

i started searching visa status https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx? and found My Visa,My wife's has been issued But my kid's status showing as "Administrative processing"

whats wrong here?

Hello All,
  First of all very thanks to the forum for giving latest information on Visa interviews.
Let me share my today H1B visa interview experience .

Pre steps before going to interview:
1) fill you DS160 form in the below link and submit will give the confirmation with Bar code.
https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/
2) take the print of this confirmation and keep one copy.
3) Schedule your interview in the below link by register your user id.
 http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/index.html?firstTime=No
4) It will provide the interview appointment letter and take the print of that letter . You will get today dates one is for Visa application Center to verify your Passport,DS160 and take the photo graph and finger prints.
5) Next day will be the visa interview .

VISA interview Questions:
VO [Lady from US] : Good Morning
Me : Very Good Morning
VO: Can i have your Passport Please
Me : Yaa sure..
VO: which purpose you are going to US ?
Me : to work for AAA
VO: Where is the company located?
Me: its in BBB
VO: What is your role in the company?
Me: Programer Analyst
VO: What kind of work you are going to do?
Me : Developing the product called YYY
VO: What is that product name/does?
Me: The product is that CCC tool and will do bla bla bla
VO: do you have any client for this?
Me: No iam going to work at my Employer place.
VO: who will pay the salary?
Me: My Employer
VO: do you have your project description?
Me: Yes I have and passed 3 pages document
VO: she has checked in the system for 5 min and after that she saw the project pages back to me
      What is the your current compnay?
Me: My current company is ZZZ
VO: how long you are working in ZZZ?
Me: x Years.
VO: What is the size of the US Employer?
Me: Y members
VO: are you going to US first time?
Me: Yes
VO: What is the salary in US?
Me: JJJJ $$$$$
VO: you are working in such a Big company ZZZ from past x years, why you want to go to a small company in US?
Me: As i have entire Y years exp in prodcut development , iam looking for a new project for developing new product from Scratch.So, i liked this product concept and their plan to do implement for next x years plan and of course it will useful for my career growth also
VO: Okay. how did you applied for this job?
Me: one of my friend referred and applied on internet and got short listed and attended the interview and selected.
VO:What is your education ?
Me: masters in Computer science
VO: she shows one white pamphlet ans asked do you know this before?
Me: No.
VO: you must read this before going to US.
Me: Okay
VO: congrats and iam approving your VISA
Me: Thank you and have a great day.

They didn't asked me any single document and only asked me the project description. And after come out i was paid 300 rupees for courier service for passport.
 
All the Best.
Regards,
Raghav A

Appointment at 8 AM.
As a localite, I drove my car with Wifey and Kid. Parked my car in Gemini Parsn complex. Its a paid parking. Since its early in the morning, I got the space easily. From parking its 5min walk to consulate.

Got in to the q by 7.30am. Around 8, they allowed inside. Security check twice and finger scan to verify, if we are the correct person. 8.45 we are allowed to go inside the main building where final interviews are taken.

We have waited for an hour. Around 9.45, our number is called.
The VO is polite nice and around 45yrs old. A lady was called before us, applying for F1 and she got it. That was here second appearence it seems.

VO asked us to come forward.
Me: Good morning sir.
VO: Good morning. Can u show the passports?
I passed the passports for all three of us.
VO: Where are you working?
Me: answered (I was wearing my company id)
VO: How long you are with the company?
Me: Answered
VO:Whats your salary in India?
Me: Answered
VO: Whats your salary in US?
Me: Answered
VO: How long you have been married (to my wifey)
Wife: Answered
VO: Whats your education qualification?
Wife: Answered
VO: Have you applied for visa before (to me)
Me: No
VO: Whats your sons age? (to my wife)
My son answered for that :-)
VO: Do you have any brother or sisters?
My son said he has a cousin.
VO: (laughing) do you want to take him to US as well?
My son said Yes.
VO: (still laughing) noooo...you cant take him there.
And finally the golden words came. "I issue your visa. You will get the passports in 5 working days ".

Questions are asked to my wife and kid more than me. It has completed in 5 mins as his system had some snag.
Except passports, not a single documents have been asked.

All the best for the people waiting for your interview.

  

Thanks to everyone who posted their experience which helped a lot.

My OFC is on 05-Aug,

Nothing to worry here , ALL i carried here is

1) Passports( 2nos mine and my wife's)
2)Appointment confirmation (that shows the time of your OFC appointment).
3) DS 160 confirmation.

This is a very simple process , we see only Indians here(locals).So, all we need to do is follow there instructions to give our fingerprints and they will take our photo.

and you are back outside in 10 -15 mins.

and on D- Day (06-Aug-2013)
our appointment is @ 10am, we reached there by @8:45, there are around 100 -150 people waiting far away from the entrance.
(Suggestion: please be there only max by 30 mins early, waiting here will not only irritate us but your legs will start paining later because there are other lines inside to stand :) )

they allowed to join the actual line @ entrance only by 9:35

3 checks here

1)Scans you ds-160 bar code using a portable device.
2)Stamps some confirmation on your ds-160 confirmation.
3) Takes your passport and sticks a token number to it.

Next is Manual security check .

You will be allowed into the consulate if you don't carry any kind og big bags or mobile or electronic devices.

Moving inside, again security will check your folders and files(please be carefully watching them , they may miss you documents or mix them with others)

Manual check again here.

Now you will move on into a large hall where there will be people waiting looking at the screens.

please watch the screen for your number,they might not take much time your number will be called very soon.

Here , we have Indians who will verify our documents and scan our passport.
  
Once done , you need join another line where an American will scan your passport and will take your finger prints(there will be an Indian to help here).

then again wait time, looking at the screens for your token number, (watch carefully for your number and if you see it on the screen , please ask the co-coordinators there and they will allow you to go in, no need to wait until they allow everybody)

Token numbers will be called randomly there is no sequence followed here,

from here they will send you to another building,(Same here wait and watch the screen). please be attentive at time they may call out your token number(before it appears on the screen, it happened to me).

we need to join the queue, where max of two other would be waiting, once after the VO is free , he will call you showing you to move forward,(please be behind the line until and unless he/she calls you, don't go near him even if he is sitting idle).

Finally , he called me .

Me: Good Morning(with low voice)
VO: ( He did not here that for sure, so no response)

VO: Your passport please.
Me; Passed.

he checks his monitor for few mins.

VO:who's your client?
ME: YYYY X(Single word answer).

VO talks with someone showing his screen.( who took a chair and sat there)

VO: whats your inidan Salary?
Me; YYYY X approx.

VO again talks with someone showing his screen.

he asked me the same question again
VO: whats your inidan Salary?
Me; YYYY X approx.

VO:what's your salary in US?
Me: YYYY X approx.

VO again talks with someone showing his screen.

VO(to my wife): where did you get married.
she answered.
VO: oh only XX months..,

VO; what's you highest Qualification?
She answered.

VO again talks with someone showing his screen.

and after few mins, i saw him packing both of our passports with a rubber band and placed them in a tub.(here I'm sure he approved my Visa).

then he said the golden words "YOUR VISA HAVE BEEN APPROVED"

gave me a pamphlet to read reading the rights of employment.

wished me to have a pleasant stay,
i thanked him and left the counter,

Found the courier counter at the corner, paid them 600 bucks for delivery and back exit.

Dress neat and don't get feared or tensed, they are there to issue visa for us.

11:00 AM, FRIDAY , CHENNAI CONSULATE

Started from home at 8:30 in bike. (My home is very far from consulate. So will be too tired in a government bus and too costly in a call taxi/auto)
Reached a BROWSING center opposite PALMGROVE by 10:00. Took Necessary print outs (forgot my bank account statements) . FYI - This center opens up at 7:30 AM daily

Went to spencer plaza to park my bike there. Got an auto from there and reahed Consulate at 10:45

Waited for 10 minutes outside and then they let me in (There will be a long queue. So ask people what time there appointments are and if somebody has an appointment later than you, go and stand in front

of them)

Went through security checks

The put a seal on all open envelopes I had. (Better don't have any envelopes with you. Its just a waste of time. Moreover if you have closed envelopes, you have to go outside, open it and go through

securrity checks again). So no envelopes guys

My VO rejected two people infront of me

First guy was a PM from one of the big IT firms . 11 yrs work ex. Going there to set up and run project for long term. I think he was there for L1. But VO rejected him saying that he has applied for long category

of visas. The person argued vehemently about how crucial he is required to be at onsite but the VO didn't budge

Second person, standing just before me was a lady. Not being judgemental or condescending here. She was not looking impressive. Guess she was not educated that much. Did not speak english and was

afraid of the interviewer. Literally she was shaking. To my astonishment, the VO who was a caucasian spoke fluent hindi. Interview over in 2 mins. although i knew hindi i couldn't understand what was going

on as it was very fast and she got rejected.

VO called me and I went forwadrd with a stomach full of butterflies.

VO: Give me passport and petition papers

VO: What are you going to do in US
ME: Comp Software Engineer

after 3 minutes of looking at the monitor, my passport and petition papers

VO: What is your highest level of education
ME: MBA from YYYY institution (TOP 10 in india)

after 5 minutes. He told me he was looking for information on my company, but the system jammed up. I was getting more nervous because of the waitt

VO: Who is your client
ME: ZZZ

after another excruciating three minutes where VO was reading the monitor, he said what I wanted to hear

VO: Your visa is approved. Go through the pamphlet (Literally threw the pamphlet towards me and threw the passport inside one of those bins he had)
ME: Thank you sir, Have a good day

This VO was very rude and did not even say hi. VOs in the adjacent counters were very cordial and was approving a lot of . Important thing is to ignore this . This is not a factor. If your request is genuine and

you have all necessary documents and provide truthful confident answers you got nothing to worry about.

Other pointers
1) Dress well
2) Be confident and absolutely believe in yourr answer and tell your answer in a clear voice. Any hesitation can be misconstrued as lying or prevaricating the facts
3) Waiting in long queues makes you tired and irritable. So use the drinking water and rest room available if you need it
4) Even though people before you get rejected, you go meet the VO confidently and greet him.
5) Read through the petition papers twice or thrice the day before the interview
6) Double check your documents the day before, else you would have to run around on interview day

Information for students (not my interview but from another interview I was looking at when I was waiting in queue)

I happen to overhear what was happening on the next counter where a student was going through interview. Not sure what was the visa type. But the VO there was very insistent on knowing the rreason as

to how was the student able to clear so many of arrears in the last semester. Also the overall percentage was like 71. VO asked, how can you get that inspite of being such a poor student with lots of arrears.

Why was the student not able to clear the arrears immediately and had to wait till last semester to clear all.

Hello All,

I would like to know the what are the information and documents that the VO would have access to, before we provide them anything. I would also like to know if IT returns document is required.

Your replies are appreciated.

Hi all,

First of all i would like to thanks everyone who posted there experience .. It really helps me a lot .

This was my first Visa Interview , so i was bit nervous. My Appointment was schedule on 30 and 31st july 2013.

OFC Date --> 30 July 2013:

Nothing to worry . Thay have only chk DS-160, Appointment Letter and Passport . Its all about biometric (Finger prints , Sticking barcode on ur passport etc). I have came ouside with 15 min .

Consular Interview date : 31st July 2013

Most important day .. :) My appointment is at 9:00 am , however i reached at Consule around 7:45 am .

They lined me up in queue at around 8:00 am (so suggest go well in adance , if no rush they will allow to go early ).

Reached inside ,they scanned my assets in scanner machine then asked me to sit in well mannered siting area. Then they have asked me for H1 B (I 797 ) and the passport. waited for approx 15-20 min there (but must say there process is very fast ).

Then went inside they given me token nbr and assign to go for verifying finger prints . This hardly take 10 min .
Then i sit on a chair and waiting for my number to come .. After 15 min my Tocken nbr is displyed with window nbr .

Interview with Visa Officer :

VO: Good Morning
Me: Very Good Morning

VO: Can i have ur Passport and I-797 ?
Me: Passed

VO: For which compnay u r working ?
Me : Answered

VO: Who is ur Client ?
Me: Answered

VO: What u will do for ur client ? (Roles and responsibilities)
Me : Answered.

VO: What is ur highest degree ?
Me: Answered

VO: Can u show me the equivalent degree (qualification certificate )given by ur company?
Me: Passed

VO: From how many years u r with ur Company ?
Me: 3 years

VO: Prior to that what u were doing ?
Me: Answered

VO: What will be ur US salary p.a ?
Me: Answered

VO: Are u married ?
Me: Answred accordingly

VO: Are u engeged ?
Me : Answered accordingly

VO : have u gone through rules/rights templet ? (this will provide at consule while checking doc.)
Me: i have just got this , havn't gone through .

VO : Then she did some thing on her PC and then the GOLDEN WORDS came :

"YOUR VISA IS APPROVED ".Have a nic day

It went only for 2 min :)

Few things while going through interview:
1. Be calm and confident (u only knw what ur doing , just present in proper mannner) . Dont get influence by others interview/question.
2. u can ask again if u are not able to get question in one go .
3. Keep smile on ur face .
4. Wear formal clothes preferabaly.

Finally i got the chance to write my experience on this website . ALL the BEST to all those guys who are waiting for there stamping . :)

Thanks,
Abhijeet Patil

Applied for H1B first time.

Interview with Visa officer

Me: Good morning
VO: Good morning

VO: Can I have your passport
Me: Passed

VO: Will you be working at client site
Me: yes

VO: Do u have I797 with you?
Me: Passed

VO: How long are you working in this company?
Me: Answered.

VO: What is your designation
Me: Answered

VO: How long you are married
Me: Answered

VO: Can I see your marriage certificate?
Me: Passed

VO: You are also working for the company XYZ?
Wife: yes.

VO: How long
Wife: Answered

VO: Your visa has been approved and you will receive your passports in 7 days...

Good Luck !!!

Hi,
I am currently very worried and streesed. I went for H1B interview via BEP program on 24th July to New Delhi Embassy. After the usual questions, as mentioned in this blog, the Visa Officer approved my H1B. She said I will receive the passport in 3-5 Business Days. On 29th July, I received my passport with B1 Visa stamped on it. I was SHOCKED. My travel was planned on 3rd August, and here I receive B1 visa stamped. My Manager was SHOCKED to see this.
The Visa department of my company asked me toprovide them the orignal I-797B approval form and 2 photos, and they will send back the passport to Embassy for Visa correction. later, they sent the passport to embassy/VFS for Visa correction on 31st july.

I was extremely worried and want toknow how much time embassy takesto correcxt such type of errros. How can the embassy do such type of blunder? Has any of you experienced or heard about such issue before? Any advice or help will be useful.

Hello All,

I need to attend the interview in Chennai for my H1B visa and need some help and guideline as my documents are not ver clear. My employer had submitted for my Visa procession in April 2013 and I have now received I-797 form and need to schedule an interview in Chennai US Visa office. The problem is my employer submitted the documents in urgent and ask me to prepare the work experience documents of my previous employer by myself and also informed to change my resume and roles and responsibility in the document of the current company. Now I have employment documents of previous employer and the current employer. However there is some difference in the roles and responcibility provided my current employer. I want to know the following.

1. Will the Visa Officer have the access to the documents that was submitted my employer in USA while igniting the Visa processing.
2. Will they verify my work experience with my employer.
3. Should I take the work experience documents that was submitted by my employer in USA [which was prepared by me] or should I take the correct employment documents that I have just received from he employers now.
4. I couldn't get document from one of the previous employer as I was terminated. Will the be a problem.
5. I also had a gap in work, I was not employed for 3 years as I was doing business. Would this be an issue?

I would appreciate if you guys respond to my question and help with some guidance about this.

Thanks