H1B, H4 Visa

Hi,
I have dropped all the documents WITH THE PASSPORT at VFS on 6th November, 2007. When tracked my passport, its showing the status as below.

Your passport has not been handed over to VFS. Kindly contact our regional call centres for further queries.

Eventhough I dropped my Passport, its showing the above message. Seniors, can you please let me know what it means? When they will update?

If any one dropped documents alongwith passport and got visa stamped, can you please let me know how many days it took for you?

Thanks for your time.

Hi all,

I have gone for the h1 interview on October 11th and was given form 221g. I was asked to drop the docs except passport at VFS Office in Banjara Hills. But the office is shifted to Begumpet. I have dropped all the docs on Nov 9th. Can anyone let me know how long it will take for getting visa

I got h1 recently and tell me the procedure for applying H4 for my wife. iam have't gone to US yet.

Hi,

Just I have a question on H4. I'm working in US I came through H1 and my wife is going for H4 Visa this month. Is it Mandatory to carry Orignal I-797 or Xerox is ok?

I did't send my I-797 form to her. Pls let me know on this.

Thanks

I had a succesful Interview at Chennai Consulate on 05/11/2007 and Yesterday i recieved my passport Stamped.
 
I will brief my Experience and hope this helps others also.
 
We ( Me, Wife and my one year old Son) reached chennai on sunday (04/11/2007) around 3.00 PM. I Had already booked a room at DreamZ park Hotel, which is around 400 meters from the consulate. The hotel is not a great one, but decent enough for a days stay. ( We can Book the Hotel by calling 04424313994, A/c Standard Room 1200 ). The hotel have a restaurant also on top Floor. The consulate is Near the anna flyover in anna salai. Evening we went for a walk to see the place. The security personnal near the building suggested Us to come an hour early before the interview. We came back to hotel, ordered food, watched some TV and slept. There are very few eatiries around the consulate.
 
Morning we took an auto to the consulate and reached the consulate by 9.10. There was a queue of around 20 people standing outside the consulate. Since we had the baby with us the security officers asked us to stand in front. They will check the appointment letter and passport at the enterance, So keep them in hand. The door opened and we were let in. Immeditely on entering the consulate there is a security check with metal detectors and they will ask us to open all the packets. No electronic items are allowed inside. So dont carry mobile phones or pen drives.
 
After the security check we were asked to stand in a queue which was the smallest one there. If we have a kid with us we will get the best treatment in Consulate. There were only 2 members in queue and all of them were for H4 and had kids with them. In this counter we have to give the D156, D157, i179, 129 and the Passports. This is VFS counter and they will verify all the documents and arrange them in order. If we have any queries or corrections required we can tell them. All the documents will be placed in a blue folder and will be returned to us. Dont forget to write your name in mother tounge and sign the D156 before you handover.
 
Then we have to go to another building nearby, where our finger Print is taken and the interview is conducted. There were more than 50 people in queue waiting to enter the building. We were asked to enter the building through another door. A security personnal came and took us directly to finger printing counter. There we have to show our Left and Right Index fingers. Make sure that Its clean and dont have a cut there. There were a lot of people waiting in queue for Finger printing and interview. Immedietly After the Finger printing the security person took us to a counter where interview was taking place. It was all sudden and before i could mentally prepare i was infront of the Officer. In the next counter another guy was explaining his project and the Officer was shooting questions. One important thing is, never hurry on your answer, dont tell anything which we can't substantiate and Most important BE CONFIDENT. The guy infront of me got his Visa approved and that redused my nervousness. My son was making Noice and we are infront of officer.
 
ME: Good Morning Sir, How are you.
 
Officer: AM fine Thanks, How Are You.
 
Me: I Am doing good. Thanks.
 
Officer: Please give me Your Degree Certificates. ( I read in some forum that if they ask your Degree cerificates First, you are almost through. This made me More confident.)
 
I took the certificates from the File and passed it on to him. Along with My MCA cerificates i passed my GNIIT and MCSD cerificates to him. He went through all the certificaes carefully and asked me to pass my sons birth certificate. I took it from the folder and passed it on to him.
VERY VERY Important thing is to have a folder properly arranged and Indexed so that you dont need to fumble infront of the Office. More over It gives an impression also.
 
He took the Birth certificate and verified it with the passport.
 
He took another 1-2 minutes checking in the system.
 
And there came the golden Words: Your Visa is approved. You will get the passport through courier in 3 days time.
 
I thanked Him and left the cubicle.
 
Nothing Else asked and we Got the Visa.
 
All process was over in 15-20 Minutes. Its a great advantage if there is baby also coming for the interview.
 
Hope this helps all the people going for interview.

Dear friends, the questions put forward by Ash are important...but at the same time if your company is not fulfilling its duties properly, please report to USCIS about it when you are in US.

Also I believe that with H1B visa in your hand, you can change your employer if you happen to find a better one.

Guys dont just enjoy the approval of H1B filed through a consultant.. remeber dollar rate is depreciating and cost of living is high in US. you need to pay 30% taxes of your annual or monthly salary other than that before arriving in USA ensure you clear out this points with your company. I am not trying to dissuade anyone myself being an H1B holder but just as a fellow Indian I would like you to be aware of these points and please get them written or confirmed on email from your employeer

1. Will I be paid for initial days of training ?
2. Could you please indicate approximate period of training that a new joinee usually goes through.
3. Will I be paid when I would be on bench i.e no project allocated - in resource pool which is ongoing / post completion of my training
4. During my stay at guest house will the rent be deducted accordingly from my base salary?.
5. Post completion of my training what can I expect, should I be placed at a client location what are the relocation policies, is it possible to indicate the location where consultants are usually posted, please could you be kind to tell me the cost of living
6. What is the salary payment procedure?.
7. Do I need to open bank account or that is something company take cares of.
8. On reaching there would I be asked to sign any type of bond / agreement
9. Can you please tell me how much forex I need to carry along with me while flying from India to US , will I be reimbursed for the same?
10. About the medical / life insurance policies (medical insurance card), what are the rules & policies, what would it ideally cover?
11. Once I reach US I need to get SSN, what do I need to be aware about this.
12. Also about ITIN number.
13. Do I need to get International driving license permit before leaving India, for identification purposes in USA.
14.How many days a week I would be required to work, please could you give me some idea
15.What are the other benefits I can enjoy during my employment.
16.Would I be required to surrender my original passport/ marksheets / transcripts
17.Is there any other comprehensive HR employment policy I should be aware of
18.Please help me understand Tax policies of USA

if all of the answers are positive rest is upto you...enjoy and have fun at your stay in USA

Hi all,

I require some info reg the status change in my visa.
I applied for H1 visa before getting it approved i traveled to US on H4 visa.Now to attend my sister marriage i am in India.I got my H1 visa aprooved.Now should I attend the visa interview nor can i go back to US on H4 and apply there for status change.please do suggest me ASAP,has i have to travel back in the end of nov.

thanks
Amrutha

Hi All,

I would first of all thank God and then Immihelp for the wonderful archives of experience which was good enough to get me my Visa on 5th November 2007 TO give a backgroud I am a Commerce Background ( B.com) and a MBA in Finance and six years of Consulting experience in biggest companies of the world.

The day was a tough one had my appointment at 9.30 and reached there at 8.00 ( trust me if you have an appointment at 9.30 pls reach there at 9 its more than enough), after waiting for long time VFS took the Yellow receipt and asked us to join another line in the next building.

So finally i was in at 10 and there was another big line for the finger prints post which we join the Visa line. The day was bad as most of the H1b aspirants were given 221G and one aspirant was declined a Visa.

It was finally my turn and went to the officer :

Me : Good Morning Office. How are you doing today ?
VO : Good Morning. I doing good thanks.
( He took my folder with Ds156, 157, passport, lca, 797 and 129).

Vo: What is your highest degree ?

Me: I told Masters in Finance

VO : What is your Bachelors ?

Me : Bachelors of Commerce.

VO : So you have a Finance Backgroud and how dd you get into Computer Programming ?

Me : Well I have worked for companies like **** which are the Biggest IT company in the world.

VO : How long ?
ME : Explained

VO : Your Role in US ?
Me : Taking client requirement and configuring them on SAP which is an ERP.

VO : ok I am issuing you the Visa and you will get it by a week.

Not a single document asked. So here is my two cents for all aspirants. Pls be confident and if your petitioner is genuine ( MIne is a Nasdaq listed) and if your work exp is relevant and in big corporates you should pull it.Be confident and have faith in God. Bye Guys please do mail me at [email protected] if you want any inputs.

Regards

hello,

can some one let me know how to track the passpost once I used VFS for dropping the 221g docs. please let me know the ways of tracking.

Thanks In Advance