7th Yr H1 Stamping in Chennai

N

nanba

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

My current H1 expires on Jul 19 2006 and I have already applied for 7th Yr extension. (My labor appln. is still pending) I am planning to go to India in Jul/Aug. That being the case, I have to get my visa stamped in the Chennai Consulate (as it is close by). I would like to know if there are any complications when you go for a 7th yr extension. Are there any possibilities for rejecting the visa?

Appreciate your response.
 
First is issue is your extension approval date and visa appointment date in Chennai consulate.


nanba said:
Hi,

My current H1 expires on Jul 19 2006 and I have already applied for 7th Yr extension. (My labor appln. is still pending) I am planning to go to India in Jul/Aug. That being the case, I have to get my visa stamped in the Chennai Consulate (as it is close by). I would like to know if there are any complications when you go for a 7th yr extension. Are there any possibilities for rejecting the visa?

Appreciate your response.
Click to expand...
 
Question about H1

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I do have one more question though. For the 7th yr stamping, do I need to go to my home country ONLY or I can go to Canada or Mexico to get it stamped?

Appreciate your help.

Thanks
Sanjay
 
You can go to Mexico or Canada as well. If you are going to Chennai, REMEMBER to take your W-4s and copies of TAX RETURNS for ALL your years in the US. The VFS website doesn't mention this, but if you don't take these, there is a high possibility of being issued a denial. (I myself was in Chennai last month and got stuck there for a week longer than I had planned after I was asked for W-4s - had to ask my company to fax these over)

One thing to keep in mind when you are planning such a trip is the huge wait times associated with getting an appt for H1 renewal - this is the longest in Chennai and was almost 4 months when I last checked. Keep in mind though that if you do go to Mexico or Canada and your visa gets delayed (for whatever reason) you could be stuck away from your home for a while.
 
Question about H1

Thanks svnlogin. That was very helpful. I have couple more questions and I hope you dont mind answering them.

When you said, you went for stamping...was it for the 7th yr extension? I am just worried that they dont deny the visa even after producing all the necessary documents. I myself have appeared twice for stamping at Chennai consulate earlier, but that happened when I was within 6yr limit. I never had any issues during that time, all my interviews went fine then.

2nd Question: My attorney is yet to apply for the 7th yr extension H1. But in the meantime, can I go to vfs website and book an appointment for Sept/Oct or should I have the renewed H1 for booking an appointment in VFS website?

Thanks
 
Actually I had gone for my 8th yr stamping. As you know, there is no guarantee of visa issual, but if you have all the documents, the chances of denial are minimized.

I believe you need the petition number (from the I-797 visa extension approval) because the VFS website asks you for that information when applying for an appointment....I could be wrong though - you can definitely try scheduling it and see what happens.
 
One of my friend went to Chennai for 8th yr extn and took all his W2's and Paychecks (since 8 yrs). Consulate officer did not ask any questions, just asked 2 recent paychecks before issuing visa-stamping.

Please update this thread once you have your stamping in July '06
 
Last edited by a moderator:
svnlogin said:
You can go to Mexico or Canada as well. If you are going to Chennai, REMEMBER to take your W-4s and copies of TAX RETURNS for ALL your years in the US. The VFS website doesn't mention this, but if you don't take these, there is a high possibility of being issued a denial. (I myself was in Chennai last month and got stuck there for a week longer than I had planned after I was asked for W-4s - had to ask my company to fax these over)

One thing to keep in mind when you are planning such a trip is the huge wait times associated with getting an appt for H1 renewal - this is the longest in Chennai and was almost 4 months when I last checked. Keep in mind though that if you do go to Mexico or Canada and your visa gets delayed (for whatever reason) you could be stuck away from your home for a while.
Click to expand...


Hi I have a question for you if you dont mind.

I have applied for my 8th year extension now ,, I am planning to plan a trip to India-Chennai, once i get my extension after the approval. In the mean time i just received my I140 approval also last week. Now the question i have is when you said "you got stuck there a week longer" how did you get a new appointment, In other workds i know that it takes about 4 months to get a appointment,, and if they ask for new papers or documents just like in your case do we have to get a new appointment (meaning another 4 months ) or how does that work ?

Rgds
 
Next appt

When the Consulate asks for additional information during the first appt, they usually provide you a blue "denial" notice - that will specify one of two options for providing the documents 1) Come back in to the consulate along with the "denial" notice (you don't need an appt for this) or 2) Drop off the documents at the "Drop Box" location of VDS (you don't need an appt for this either)

Be wary of the second options (i.e. Drop Box) since using that option sends you pretty much to the bottom of the list - you will be much better off if you go back to the consulate with the documents in hand!
 
svnlogin said:
Actually I had gone for my 8th yr stamping. As you know, there is no guarantee of visa issual, but if you have all the documents, the chances of denial are minimized.

I believe you need the petition number (from the I-797 visa extension approval) because the VFS website asks you for that information when applying for an appointment....I could be wrong though - you can definitely try scheduling it and see what happens.
Click to expand...
How did you answer the question Have you applied for a labor certification or green card in the application form when you applied for your 8th year H-1B with a consulate, Yes or No?
 
immiq said:
How did you answer the question Have you applied for a labor certification or green card in the application form when you applied for your 8th year H-1B with a consulate, Yes or No?
Click to expand...
I actually marked Yes, if I remember correctly
 
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