Visa Stamping from Canada/ Mexico

I have been living in Canada on a work permit for the last two years. Am I eligible to book an H-1B visa appointment in Canada as a non-TCN?

What is the current wait time TCN appointment in Canada for L1A visa

Appointment Date : 24th September 2024, 09:30 AM

Interview went smooth .. Visa Officer said Approved . Even the CEAC Website after the interview was updated to Approved. However by EOD it has got changed to "Administrative Processing". Wondering if anyone had similar experience

Appointment date: 13 Sep 2024, 10:20am (Friday) - Ottawa

I tried for an appointment in Toronto, as it is closer to me ( 4 hrs. drive from Detroit) but couldn't secure and hence decided to Drive to Ottawa.

Drove to Ottawa on 09/12 through bridge near Port huron in Michigan, and Canada POE ( on visitor visa) was easy. Stayed in an Airbnb close to Ottawa

13Sep'24: Reached US embassy on car ( parked near by, many paid parking lots available) by 9am. Appointment confirmation, DS 160 verification, photos check, security check, mobile phone secured at security all happened in 10 mins.

Next counter took finger prints, verified DS 160 info & I 797, and gave photo back as she said photo already in the system ,and asked to wait in line for consular interview.

Interviewer took passport, asked basic questions, original i-797, info of work, job duties, past experiences and was informed of approving visa and holding the passport. It was straight forward and i am out from embassy within 20 mins of entering.

DS 160 status changed to APPROVED immediately after interview (Friday)

09/16/24: DS 160 visa status changed to ISSUED on Monday AM around 11am

09/17/24: Around 1pm, received email from Embassy of shipping the passport through Canada post, with tracking no. Also, around 2pm received email from Canada post, of picking the passport from embassy

09/18/24 : Status updates has been shown in Canada post through tracking, and received email of Passport ready for pickup in Brampton ( My choice of premium pickup) around 10.05am. Collected the passport immediately. Post office asked for id proof ( US Drivers license ) and an additional proof ( Dte, consumers, Airbnb etc for verification) and handed over passport.

Total process took 4 business days.

Tips: I have travelled alone and stayed in Airbnb. Visited Parliament hill in Ottawa, worth a visit. There is a wait time of almost 6 months to secure an appointment either in Toronto/Ottawa/Calgary/Vancouver , but noticed we can reschedule if any one cancels , mostly during US evenings/late nights, but there is no/little possibility of finding them. Customer service said, we can max reschedule for 20 times, no time limit/ no no. of log in attempts per day for visa appointment portal.

If there is change in plans, you can change the passport pickup location until the passport is ready to be shipped, even after the interview. Worked for me. Use caution.

Hope this helps.

5th(!) H1 stamping & 4th in Canada as a TCN. Booked my appointment in July ‘24 for dates in Feb ‘25 when those were available in Toronto. A few weeks later I got an email saying more slots were available earlier and I was eligible to move up. Secured appointment for today 9/20 in Toronto.

Standard questions on what I do for employer. Status says approved within few hrs on CEAC tracking. Was told 1-2 weeks to pick up. Hoping it’s available much earlier.

Hello friends, what is the earliest available appointment dates you are seeing for H-1B visa interview in any consulates in Canada?

Appointment Date: Sep 6th
Appointment Time: 7:15 am

I had travelled by road in my car from Washington state to Vancouver on Sep 5th, had a stay in motel which is 30 mins away from the consulate. Drove to embassy on 6th morning by 6:45 am(not much traffic) . Parked in nearby parking lot for 8 hours (17$ early bird special, 5 mins to install their app and register my car and pay). Walked to embassy at 7:00 am with my bag full of files, my phone, wallet, watch, keys with airtag. At 7:15 everyone with just files were allowed inside and anyone with extra items, devices are brushed aside without any information. I understood that my bag was the reason and quickly went to my car and disposed of everything except for my I-797, DS-160, Passport, and Photo. Time time I was allowed in without any questions.

1st check point: they looked inside my file for any hidden devices.

2nd checkpoint: An agent was manually verifying the DS-160, Passport and Photo. (my DS-160 did not had any photo on it and it was created 6 months ago for an appointment at Hyd, IND.) Agent asked me if I have an updated DS-160 to which I answered no and she was ok with it.

3rd checkpoint: An agent was checking the appointment number on IPAD and allowing to move to the next checkpoint.

4th checkpoint: I was asked to place my belongings in a tray. I put my file and keys in a tray and that is when the agent spotted an air tag and escorted me to outside of the premises to put that tag away and comeback. I went to my car, put my tag in it and came back to 1st checkpoint in like 5 mins. The agent at 1st checkpoint allowed me to go back to 4th checkpoint directly. I put my belt, keys, file in a tray and moved through the scanner and collected my items back.

5th checkpoint: Here they verified the passport and attached a sticker with document delivery location.

6th checkpoint: A room with 2 windows and 3 desks. You are asked to approach a window or an officer will walk to you collect your documents and make you to wait in a seating area for verifying your documents. This is a slow line and so be ready for standing in a low ventilation area for some time. I have been asked to sit for 5 mins more because my DS-160 is targeted to different location than Vancouver . After verification is done the officer asked me to put my DS-160 in a file and just keep my passport and i-797 in hand for interview. Then we are pointed to an elevator that takes us to finger printing.

7th checkpoint: finger printing. We arrived as a group in elevator as the space to stand in queue for finger printing is small, so they were releasing us in batches. Prepare to stand here for another long time. In case you need to use restrooms they allow us to use it at 4th checkpoint and after 6th checkpoint. Only one window for finger printing. Agent takes the finger prints and assigns a interview window to sit at. I was assigned to 3 but there was no agent at that window for long time. I moved myself to window 6 where the slot was empty

8th checkpoint: final visa interview. Exchanged greetings with the visa officer. Answered the questions about my education in US. My current job, work, salary and the officer said he would take my passport and I-797 since I had no visa stamping done since 2017. I handed them both and left.

Exited the building, spent the rest of the day and weekend with family. Visited lot of places. Checked my CEAS visa status on Sunday where it was showing as Approved.

Sep 9th: At the end of the day my status changed to Issued.

Sep 10th: At 2:28 pm I received an email from embassy to collect my passport. Reached courier location at 4:00. provided the email with tracking number. Showed my driving license as proof and collected my passport and i-797.

Hope this experience helps someone.

I'm Ukrainian and due to the ongoing war, stamping my visa in my home country is not an option. Hence, I chose Canada. Had I known how long, stressful, and costly the process would be, I probably wouldn't have gone for it at all, and would have just stayed in the US without the right to re-enter. Below is my experience.

Appointment date: July 8
The consulate software was down that day, so after making me wait for several hours along with a few dozen other applicants, the consulate staff told us to go home. They did get a small number of people in, but not B or H visas. Three different consulate staff members told us: wait for an email from us to get you rescheduled. Wait and you will get an email. The email never came. It turned out, all I had to do was proactively submit a request to reschedule due to "no-show". Confusing, but it worked and I got a new appointment for... August 29. Luckily, my H1B stamp was unexpired then and I was able to return to the US and stay there until my second appointment.

New appointment: August 29 at 7:45 am
Visa approved: immediately. The officer verbally approved my visa and the status of my application changed to "Approved" by the time I got hold of my phone. I probably spent less than an hour in the consulate in total.

As of today (September 10), my visa is still "Approved" and not issued. I tried calling and emailing the consulate and got standard answers without any estimate of when I might expect my passport back. I've stayed in Canada for 14 calendar days now, and it's been 7 business days since my interview (with the Labor Day holiday in between). I cannot believe the process and looking for similar stories to ensure I'm not the only one in this boat.

H1B Stamping Experience in Ottawa ON

Interview date : Aug 22 2024 1030am (Thursday)

Arrived in US Embassy around 8:45am, they have locker to keep phone.

First counter checks all documents.
I carried all i797s (original)
Passport size photo.
Employment Verification letter

They asked only for passport, current i797 and photo.

After verifying they said to only handover passport to the interviewer.

Then you stand in Q for main interview.

Interviewer asked some basic questions regarding where I live and work etc.
Took my passport and current i797.

then he returned my i797 and said my visa was approved and they are going to hold on to the passport and it will be delivered to your chosen location in a week's time.

I had given my pick up location in Montreal.

Friday Aug 23 - Got email from us embassy that passport is being dispatched via Canada Post

Same day I received email from Canada Post that they received the item expected delivery by Monday Aug 26 EOD

It became ready to pickup on Aug 26 around noon.

I went and picked it up. Showed my US DL as proof of identification.

Hope it helps..

I would like to your recent experience with regards to h1b renewal or E3 renewal