I just came back from Vancouver and was delayed there for 1 week!!! This is unaccepable but they said that it's the law and there is nothing that they can do about it. I'm posting here because they say that it should take only 1-3 business days but you can be delayed there for over a month.
There are new laws in place that can delay you regardless of location of H1B stamping. While I was there about a third of the people were delayed. These are the new laws.
If you do not have all 10 finger prints in the database, you will have to pay $85 and they will send them to Washington DC which takes a minimum of 4 weeks.
If you have a common last name, you will be delayed 2-3 weeks for them to make sure that you are the correct person.
In my case, they said it would take 1-3 weeks and didn't give me a reason. I fortunately got it done in 1 week. The immigration officer on my side was already in a bad mood and requested additional processing on so many people. The other guy was fast and even stamped som bs job descriptions.
However, the visa section ladies were very helpful and nice. I'm just glad that I was done in a week.
Most of us plan for 3 days worst case scenario. I saw so many people being told that they were stuck in Canada. These were phd's, bachelors and masters in tech, finance and accounting. I saw several from Microsoft, Intel and other tech companies. Eventhough you have all your docs in place this type of scenario is unexpected so if you go, have a backup plan in case you are one of the unlucky ones. There were no distinctions with countries. I saw some indians and chinese getting delayed but also saw others getting theirs approved.
You will be unable to re-enter the US with your valid I-94 because the one exception to it is 'if you have applied for a visa'. DO NOT LIE to the border guys and try to come back in because when they find out, you will be denied entrance for a long long time.
Make sure that you have a multiple entry visa because I had to have Canada extend my current visa since I had to stay longer.
Hope this information benefits someone. I'm in the hole about 1K just for 1 week because vancouver is very expensive. Hotels are about $80-$150/night. I can't believe the hasle that I had to go through. I had done my first H1B in vancouver and it went fine. This time, it was horrible. I shouldn't be subjected to that kind of delay and expense. If they want to do any background checks, they should have done it when I applied for the H1B and not when I'm just getting the stamp. I have a clear background and have no criminal records. I've never overstayed my visa or lied to them so I am still puzzled as to why I was delayed. Maybe I just fit their profile.
Good luck!!
There are new laws in place that can delay you regardless of location of H1B stamping. While I was there about a third of the people were delayed. These are the new laws.
If you do not have all 10 finger prints in the database, you will have to pay $85 and they will send them to Washington DC which takes a minimum of 4 weeks.
If you have a common last name, you will be delayed 2-3 weeks for them to make sure that you are the correct person.
In my case, they said it would take 1-3 weeks and didn't give me a reason. I fortunately got it done in 1 week. The immigration officer on my side was already in a bad mood and requested additional processing on so many people. The other guy was fast and even stamped som bs job descriptions.
However, the visa section ladies were very helpful and nice. I'm just glad that I was done in a week.
Most of us plan for 3 days worst case scenario. I saw so many people being told that they were stuck in Canada. These were phd's, bachelors and masters in tech, finance and accounting. I saw several from Microsoft, Intel and other tech companies. Eventhough you have all your docs in place this type of scenario is unexpected so if you go, have a backup plan in case you are one of the unlucky ones. There were no distinctions with countries. I saw some indians and chinese getting delayed but also saw others getting theirs approved.
You will be unable to re-enter the US with your valid I-94 because the one exception to it is 'if you have applied for a visa'. DO NOT LIE to the border guys and try to come back in because when they find out, you will be denied entrance for a long long time.
Make sure that you have a multiple entry visa because I had to have Canada extend my current visa since I had to stay longer.
Hope this information benefits someone. I'm in the hole about 1K just for 1 week because vancouver is very expensive. Hotels are about $80-$150/night. I can't believe the hasle that I had to go through. I had done my first H1B in vancouver and it went fine. This time, it was horrible. I shouldn't be subjected to that kind of delay and expense. If they want to do any background checks, they should have done it when I applied for the H1B and not when I'm just getting the stamp. I have a clear background and have no criminal records. I've never overstayed my visa or lied to them so I am still puzzled as to why I was delayed. Maybe I just fit their profile.
Good luck!!