H1B, H4 Visa

Hi All,

I am on Work Permit in Canada and not a resident or a citizen living in Vancouver, BC..
I completed my DS160 and was wondering if I can choose the "citizen or permanent resident option" that would qualify me for the H1B visa Interview Waiver Program.

The US travel website mentions

"This new authorization applies to temporary workers applying for H-1, H-3, H-4, L, O, P, and Q visas who meet certain conditions, including that they are applying for a visa in their country of nationality or residence. Under this authority, consular officers have discretion to waive the visa interview requirement for individual petition-based H-1, H-3, H-4, L, O, P, and Q applicants who were previously issued any type of visa, and who have never been refused a visa unless such refusal was overcome or waived, and who have no apparent ineligibility or potential ineligibility"

When I try to schedule a waiver Dropbox, it doesn't take any option for Work Permit rather it requires you to be a citizen or on a Canadian PR. Isn't this contradictory to what the US website mentions?

I called the Vancouver consulate Non Immigrant Visa help desk and they did not agree to the.fact that Work Permit holders can apply for waiver program. They kept asking me if I satisfy all criteria, which I do not because I am not a citizen or on PR.

But, I see few posts here that says people on WP were able to get a waiver. How is this possible?

If I select "citizen or permanent resident" option and provide my Work Permit and any proof of legal residency, as mentioned in travel.gov website, and submit my documents for Dropbox, will my Visa be rejected? Or do they refuse to process it? (I believe refusal to process and rejection of visa are two different things).

What do you advice me to do in this scenario? I got my H1B pick in Nov 2021 and when I tried to create a dummy account to check for In person interview availability, it says the earliest in Nov 3 2022, which is ridiculously long.

What other options do I have? Go back to India and try Dropbox there?

Thanks in advance
Melvin

Myself: Work permit holder in Canada, No PR, Indian Citizen, Married to H1B holder. My spouse lives in US.

Timelines:
Got an appointment with the Toronto consulate. As the slots are not available, I suggest booking in different cities/provinces (whichever is convenient for you) and later reschedule. I Rescheduled it 4 times ;) (Calgary July slot, Halifax May slot, Toronto May slot, Toronto April slot) Keep checking at odd times.

Interview day 14th April 2022:
Toronto consulate has a convenience store at 200m where they provide lockers so you can keep your luggage (bags, mobiles, etc.)

When you enter they ask for documents, and have the ds160 confirmation page and passport ready.
Security check,
Counter 1. ds 160 + passport
Counter 2. Pre-check where they ask for the ds160 page, photo and legal status in Canada (Work permit in my case)
                  since mine was H4, they asked for my spouse's i797 copy.
Counter 3. Fingerprints
Counter 4. Interview (have your document folder ready, in case they ask for any extra documents)

My interview questions:
Took my ds160 page, passport, spouse's i797.
Do I have a previous US visa? (cz he looked at my passport and I had a previous B1/B2)
What's my status in Canada? (I'm on work permit)
Does your spouse live in the US? (yes)
Do I have a marriage certificate? (yes I had mine with me, showed it)

Visa approved. Will get the passport in 1 week (I'll update the timelines for the same)

Document list :
Legal status in Canada,
Spouse's i797
ds160 confirmation page
photo with proper dimensions
marriage certificate
2 photos

Additional OPTIONAL, good to have document:

Spouse document:
2 years W2,
2 months pay stub
job offer letter
Passport and visa stamp copy
Marriage + any photos together (I took 12-15 pics)

Hello All,

I have my visa interview in Ottawa, Canada for H1b on May 25,2022. I have received my canada COPR too and will be doing soft landing on May 21. My questions are,

1) When i land in canada do i mention about H1b stamping along with soft landing when asked by officer? because i read somewhere people who did soft landing and were palnning to return back did not receive their PR cards. Is it true? What did you all do then?
2) Can someone share their H1B interview experiences in Canada this year?
3) During H1B interview is it going to be a problem that i have Canada PR too now?

Hello,

I am traveling to India on expired H1B visa my H1B visa expired on 09/05/2021.
My H1B application got approved and I have my new I797 with me that has extended my H1B visa to 07/24/2024.

I was able to secure a visa dropbox date for me on May 2nd of 2022.

However I am now seeing some post where they mention that Custom and Border protection officer put CWOP on old visa and because of which people have to get a consular appointment again and they can't submit for dropbox.

So my first question is this true?

Second question what all documents should I need for my dropbox? and is there anything that I should be prepared for.
I have these below mentioned documents
1. LCA
2. I129
3. I797
4. Photograph
5. My old/new passport
6. Employment letter
7. Paystubs
8. W2

Hi,

My i-797 expired in June 2017. Can I apply for extension now? 2 years gone in pandemic. Any help on this please?

Hi All,

I have booked for H1B and H4 (for dependents) visa appointment in Toronto Canada. The earliest I got is for Feb,2023.
- Did any one submit expedite request for H1B and what is provided as reason for expedite? Please help
- How many times I can reschedule my appointment (in different consular offices in Canada)? Is it unlimited?
- Any tips on checking for cancellations? What time has high probability of getting cancellation slots like weekends, or weekdays and what time of a day? etc

Please help.

I am looking to get my first H1B visa stamping done from Canada. I am an Indian citizen working in US on my H1B, got an automatic change of status from F1 to H1B and have never left US since then.

My visa to US has not been refused in the past. I have received an interview waiver for H1B stamping in Canada. I also have received my COPR and I plan to land in Canada to claim my PR status and submit my docs for H1B stamping the same day. Can you share your insights and experiences in this scenario? Any issues that I might face ?

Hi

Can someone help me on this query please ?

I had valid H1B from 1 st Oct 2021 to 30 Sep 2024 but since I need to quit job on December end 2021 my sponsor submitted withdrawal and my spouse company applied H4 for me so now my H1B is deactivated and my H4 is in process .

Now I want to join back for work so I contacted my same sponsor .

Can someone tell me what’s the process now to move from H4 which is under process to H1B ?

Thanks

I have paid a fee for myself (Primary applicant) along with three dependents with my profile. Due to limited appointment availability from the consulate, I have booked appointments only for myself and got visa stamping. When I try to book appointments later for the remaining three dependents, the portal is asking to pay for myself(Primary applicant) again.

I want to book appointments only for family members . How to book appointment only for family members from my profile without including me (Deepan Chakravarthy)

Portal has the option to remove dependent applicants only. I can't find the option to remove the primary applicant.

Please HELP! I am F1 CPT. I got my H1 approved 2021 November. But It was with I797B but COS Denied. My attorney filed MTR for COS and it has been 2 months but still did not any reply. Now I got a full time offer with other company and they are willing to do H1 transfer. Can I move to them for H1 transfer even MTR is pending with my current employer?