Just pickep up passports for me and my wife from the embassy.
Some details:
I-140 approved in June 2001 and submitted packet 3 by end July, However because of some screwup with my lawyers did not get an interview date till December 12.
Anyway, my process was rather normal and has been described well by other poeople. What I will mention are some interesting facts and/or learings:
1. Despite receiving the packet 3, the delhi embassy will sit on its backside and will not take the initiative unless you call them up. This might be because of the anthrax scare or soem other reason but in hindsight
2. The visa process in the embassy has chaged a bit. Now even the non-immigrant visa (NIV) people are given an appointment. Hence there are no long lines in the morning outside. Because of this they combined the NIV and the IV lines outside the embassy.This is not really a problem since because of the reduced number of people you can get inside the embassy by 8:30 latest - even if you arrive at 8:00.
3. I saw some people paying by cash (in US$) rather than by bank draft. However you do want to keep exact change if you can. However this was rare and most people prefer paying by draft. Besides making drafts is not a problem.
4. School leaving/Class 10/Matriculation certificate was asked for despite my having birth certificates and affidavits. I found this odd but what the hell, gave it to them promptly. Keep copies of course.
5. They DID NOT ASK for the I-134 for my wife. I found this strange and despite the advice "give them only what they ask for" I asked them if they wanted it - however the lady clearly said no!
6. They also forgot to ask for the IRS9003 (the "yellow form"
. I cockily waved it to them across the window and they finally said "ok, give it to us". I was puzzled!
7. The process for receiving the visa in the evening was a little different from what i was expecting. Earlier posts mentioned that one needed to come outside the embassy, but we were all told to go inside the embassy waiting room again (the same place where we were in the morning). I panicked since in the 4 hour gap in the afernoon, I had gone home and left my back-up papers at home and also I had gone shopping in the afternoon and was carrying lots of bags with metallic things inside. So i had a moment of panic! Nevertheless- the security process in the afternnon was a little more relaxed than the morning. My advice - keep the same paperbackup with you in the evening trip as in the mornign - it might never be asked but some (although family based cases) were showing wedding photographs etc in the evening! ALso dont carry your shopping when you go back in the evening.
Some details:
I-140 approved in June 2001 and submitted packet 3 by end July, However because of some screwup with my lawyers did not get an interview date till December 12.
Anyway, my process was rather normal and has been described well by other poeople. What I will mention are some interesting facts and/or learings:
1. Despite receiving the packet 3, the delhi embassy will sit on its backside and will not take the initiative unless you call them up. This might be because of the anthrax scare or soem other reason but in hindsight
2. The visa process in the embassy has chaged a bit. Now even the non-immigrant visa (NIV) people are given an appointment. Hence there are no long lines in the morning outside. Because of this they combined the NIV and the IV lines outside the embassy.This is not really a problem since because of the reduced number of people you can get inside the embassy by 8:30 latest - even if you arrive at 8:00.
3. I saw some people paying by cash (in US$) rather than by bank draft. However you do want to keep exact change if you can. However this was rare and most people prefer paying by draft. Besides making drafts is not a problem.
4. School leaving/Class 10/Matriculation certificate was asked for despite my having birth certificates and affidavits. I found this odd but what the hell, gave it to them promptly. Keep copies of course.
5. They DID NOT ASK for the I-134 for my wife. I found this strange and despite the advice "give them only what they ask for" I asked them if they wanted it - however the lady clearly said no!
6. They also forgot to ask for the IRS9003 (the "yellow form"
. I cockily waved it to them across the window and they finally said "ok, give it to us". I was puzzled!7. The process for receiving the visa in the evening was a little different from what i was expecting. Earlier posts mentioned that one needed to come outside the embassy, but we were all told to go inside the embassy waiting room again (the same place where we were in the morning). I panicked since in the 4 hour gap in the afernoon, I had gone home and left my back-up papers at home and also I had gone shopping in the afternoon and was carrying lots of bags with metallic things inside. So i had a moment of panic! Nevertheless- the security process in the afternnon was a little more relaxed than the morning. My advice - keep the same paperbackup with you in the evening trip as in the mornign - it might never be asked but some (although family based cases) were showing wedding photographs etc in the evening! ALso dont carry your shopping when you go back in the evening.