Immigrant Visa

My wife is the principal applicant and we are srilankans living in the UK.

We had a successful CP on the wednesday and we got back our passports today.


We recieve 2nd NL about 3 weeks before the visa interview.Then we got an appointment for medical test with Nuffield healthe care screening on the 1st of this month.The medical test was ok and took about 3 hours.

We did not have the vaccicenation records but it was not a problem and we had to take two jabs for Tetenus and MMR.It cost us around 500 £ (350 £ for test + 160 £ for 2 jabs).

Our interview was on the 7th and the medical test results were sent to the US embassy directly. We got the Xrays by courier mail in two days , but these were not required for the visa interview.

We prepared all the documents in the order described in the 2NL.Also we had a set of photo copies for each original. We also had our bank statements for 12 months(both savings and currnet accounts), employement contracts to show we are working, service certificates from privious employees.

In addition we had our pay slips and an email sent by the embassy saying that we dont want police certificates from srilanka(these were not required).

Abouth the financial situation, we had about 8000 $ in savings and a property back in srilanka which was valued around 20K $.Also we had a simple letter from an uncle living in the us saying that he will support us in our initial period.

But no affidavit of support.
We had the deeds and valuation reports.

We went in to embassy well in advance and had to wait long time.The whole process took about 4 hours.It was a busy day with both immigrant and non-immigrant applicants in the queue. first we were called to an interview booth and our documents (both original and copies) were collected.

Then we were told to pay the visa fee and fill a form for passport return by a courier service.Then we wait about 2 hours and called in to another interview booth. The officer there was realy friendly and he had all our documents.The originals were returned to us after the inspection.

Then he asked my wife to correct a mistake made by us in the DS230 form. We had checked that my wife has no high school diplaoma or degree and the officer was kind enough to show us that by comparing my wife's education certificates.

Then he joked about my blood pressure which was little high on the medical test report(no wonder after all these months waiting). Then we took the oath and gave the finger prints.After that he explained about the visa and social security number.Then he said "welcome to the America", which was great to hear.

After that he asked us whether we have any question , which we say no and told us to pay for the courier service (10.50 £ for 2 passports).

Today after 2 days i got the passports back with visa and two sealed packets which we have to produce with xrays when entering the US.
so thats about it, i am really greatful to this forum for all the valuable information.

My advise is to prepare all the documents (translations and photo copies) in order so that the visa officers dont get confused. And if anyone have questions please feel free to post in this forum, i will try to answer them best to my knowledge.

Also i am planning to write a detailed descripton about settling down in US (which i could not find anywhere) when i get there.
So good luck to everyone.
kumar

WWICS is a scam and they ripped me off. People continually come and go there and nobody knows who you are AFTER you pay the entire $3000 upfront. Customer service is non-existent and they treat you like dirt after they get their money. I finally hired an Immigration Attorney - WHICH IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO ANYWAY BECAUSE THEY ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. Once I hired a Canadian Immigration Attorney did I finally got the assistance I needed. The clauses in WWICS contracts obligate them to do NOTHING for you but TAKE YOUR MONEY...plain and simple! THEY ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO NO ONE AND THEY DO NOT CARE! DO NOT USE THEM OR ELSE YOU WILL BE SORRY!

I am going to go for a CP in Delhi. Can anyone give me any tips as to what to expect since I have never been to the Delhi Consulate
Thank you

I would like to know if any of you had a bad experience with WWICS?

Please do not deal with WWICS,canada. Their fees is very high but their service stinks. I had one of the worst experiences of my life with them. Trust me you dont want to have anything to do with them. I was anxious about applying for a greencard and was looking for well established company who have done the greencard process so many times that it had become a routine process for them. They messed it up so many times that INS returned my papers many times. When I asked them apply for my advance parole they delayed and dragged their leg on it and sent it to wrong center that I could not go to India for my own wedding.

Can someone please tell me the Green Card Interview (family based F4 category) at the Montreal Consulate. My interview is in the first week of December 2004.
Thanks.

Went to India 10 days before the interview.

Had an apointment at Lister labs, 1 week before the interview. (Fix up the appoinments beforehand coz they are busy). Didn't have the medical form but got it from the lab and filled out. After the tests, they asked us to come and collect it in the evening. I went at 5pm and there was a huge crowd. The guy calls names and gives the sealed report. Don't open it. The next day (had an appointment) went to the Doc. She looked into the report, did the medical and gave the signed report.

Got the photos at the Konica lab at Nungambakkam. They know the specs.

My interview was at 10:00am. Went there at 9:45am. Don't go earlier coz you need to stand outside. Bypassed all the crowd (that was waiting coz their interview was at a later time) and went in. An Indian officer calls you and looks into the docs mentioned in the site, sorts it and arranges it for the American officer. He asked me if I had a I-184 for my family even though mine was an E3. I didn't have that and told him the same. He said "Thats not a problem. Its ok". After waiting for sometime, the American officer called us. Before he called us he goes through the documents thoroughly. He just asked me where I lived in the US, worked and that was it. He took our finger prints and asked us to wait. I think they do a background check. After 20 min, he called us, told that everyhting was OK and that we would get the stamped passports through courier in 2-3 days. We got it the next day though.

The experience was good. Everybody was courteous. Also, I noticed that for a couple of people before me who missed some docs, the officer just told them to get the docs and come back or mail the docs directly. So, CP is good if your docs are good and you don't fall into the grey areas mentioned in this site.

The site has been very useful. Thanks a lot folks...

Hi folks,
I'd like to thank this website for all the
detailed information posted here. It was extremely
useful.

Here are the details of my experience in mumbai...
--------------------------------
I reached india before i got the interview letter.
The letter is required for both the medical tests
and to enter the consulate for the final
interview. I picked up a duplicate from the
consulate itself. The information booth outside
the consulate issues the duplicate letter. its open from 9:00 am through 11:00 am. its best to go
around 10:30, else there's a huge line.


Medical tests at Lilavati :
---------------------------
The medical test was a breeze. There is a section
called VISA-something where the medical test
are carried out specifically for the GC.

The medical co-ordinator was a lady called Sylvia.
She was very polite and efficient. I reached there
around 8:30 am. You need your passport, interview
letter and 2 photo's.

By 10 am, the preliminary checkup,x-ray and other
tests were completed. There were about 20 other
people with me. we were asked to return in an hour
for the doctor to complete the remaining tests. the doctor showed up at around 11:00 am. she was
really polite and professional.

A cursory medical checkup followed by the
vaccinations and i was through in about 10
minutes. The reports were ready by 3:00 pm the
same day.

Interview at the consulate :
----------------------------
My interview was scheduled at 9:15 am. They do not
allow anybody into the consulate before the
scheduled time. Everybody (immigrant and
non-immigrant applicants) stand in the same line
outside. every 15 minutes or so a batch of people
are allowed inside. I finally got in at around
9:40 am. the guards outside are relatively rude.
but not as bad as what i was expecting. basically
the system is very haphazard.

Once inside the consulate everybody stands in a
"sorting queue" where depending on their case they
are asked to sit in front of certain booths.
Immigrant cases are handled at booths 9 through
12. There are no tokens/numbers for immigrant
cases, they simply call out your name. The PA
system is quite bad, you have to carefully listen
to whats going on. within about 15 minutes i was
called. First an indian goes through your papers.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the indian
guy was extremely polite and friendly. He simply
asked for the following documents one by one.
he did not even go through them.

1) DS-230 II
2) birth certificate
3) police certificate which i got from SFO.
4) notarized job offer
5) passport + photos
6) medical report from lilavati

thats it, no questions nothing. he asked me
to wait for the american officer. after about
another 20 minutes the american officer
called me to his booth (no 12). This interview
was also short and to the point. i raised my hand
and swore that all the info i was providing was
genuine.the american asked me my name, what
company i worked for. my salary. thats it.
i signed the document, the visa was issued.
I did not have to furnish any document.

note: i did not have to pay anything at the
consulate. i had taken a draft for the visa fee,
but i was not asked to pay for it. i'm not sure
why.

No tokens were given to me, i was simply asked
to report back at around 3:30 to pick up the
passport. i showed up at 3:00 and as usual there
was a line. all the immigrant folks were standing
in line to pick up their passports and packets.
At around 4:00, they started distributing the
passports/packets. You simply go to the
information counter (same place where i picked
up the duplicate interview letter) and tell them
your name, they gave you the passport and packet.
Its a little dangerous since they do not
double check the identity of the person
picking up the packet.


Overall i was impressed with the entire procedure
at mumbai and would recommend it to everybody who
qualifies.

best of luck.
RK

I would like to hear of any experience at the Delhi Consulate with AC_I140 or Consular processing.

Thanks

My 485 has been plodding along very slowly at Nebraska and I wish to consider switching to Consular Processing at Mumbai. If anyone has switched half ways, please advise on timelines and experiences - thanks in advance.