localmadras
Registered Users (C)
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Experience at Chennai
Interview date - Nov 19th 2002
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Immigration Photos
- Date - Nov 14th 2002 11:00am
- immigration photos @ cameracity (Konica color labs) opp. to Chola Sheraton,chennai.
- Fees 100Rs for 8 photos
- waiting time=10mts, digital cameras being used, no negatives.
- my wife took photos with "bhindi" (in tamil it's called 'sticker pottu').
- No ear-rings on right-ear(only) when taking photos.
- 2 or more pictures taken using digi-camera, we chose the best for printing.
Lister Labarotary
- Date - Nov 15th 2002 7:30am
- Going towards Nungabakkam, cross Taj Cormondel hotel, 3rd left is Jagannathan Road.
There are two Lister-labs in that road
The 1st one is for general patients, you will come across this as soon as you enter Jagannathan Road.
If you see a guy issuing 'tokens' and asking you to wait, then you are in the wrong-lister labs.
we wasted 10mts at this place. All i had to do was to tell that guy the magic word 'immigration'
he directed us to the 2nd one, which is 4 blocks away on the same street.
The board will read , Lister Labs HeadQuarters. This lab services all "immigration" applicants.
- Fees - 600Rs
- One photo needed. We used the same 'immi-style' photos ( Good, no need to take any 'passport-style' for this purpose)
- for my wife, they accepted the 'foto with bhindi'
- Fill the medical-form that is available in the chennai-website (burden 1 minute)
- One more form need to be filled, given by that male-receptionist (burden 1 minute)
- They have glue for affixing the photos, if you need one.
- blood test for testing HIV etc, XRay for testing TB etc.
- For Xray purpose (Male - Be ready to remove shirts & Crew-neck tees). (Female - will be given a gown to wear)
- Big display board which says, "If spouse is pregnant, please inform them before entering X-Ray room".
- Collected our Report around 4:15pm the same day (Nov 15th 2002)
- Note: to collect report on the same day, show up for the lister-test between 7:30am 10:00am
- No need to schedule an appointment
Medical
- Date - Nov 15th 2002 4:50pm
- Doctor - Dr. Vijayalakshmi, Padma Nursing Home
- Going towards Pachiappa's college. Take a U-Turn on the First Signal, atleast 1/2 a mile from the chetput bridge.
After the U-Turn, you should see a 'hospital board' Dr. K something i don't remember the name.
take left-turn in to that adjacent lane immediately. Padma Nursing home is at the dead-end on that lane.
- Schedule an appointment (atleast 2 days before the interview)
- appt was @ 5.00pm , but Dr.V sees the applicants only in First-Come-First-Served basis (appt didn't do any good)
- Dr.V takes 15mts for each patient. There were 3 pair of applicants waiting before us.
- So, we were called in only by 6:30pm
- Fees - 4200 Rs for two person. We had all vacinnations done (MMR & Chickenpox vaccination)
- One photo needed. We used the same 'immi-style' photos.
- No need to fill any forms, She patiently fills all kinds of forms for you. All we need to do is SIGN those forms.
- She gave us a copy of all the vaccinations applied, also the X-Rays , receipts etc etc.
- Finally, she gave us two envelopes(open) with all the medical-forms (to be given during the interview to the Consular officer)
Visit Dr.V again
- Date - Nov 16th 2002 11:45pm
- I found a mistake in one of the forms, Dr.V forgot to fill the 'vaccination worksheet' for my wife.
- Went to the hospital again after informing her about this, she was sorry & filled in all the required information.
- Advice: Double check all those medical forms.
Appt & Interview
- Date - Nov 19th 2002 7:20am
- American Consulate entrance- Opp to Safire Theater
- 7:20am
- We were at the consulate early, the cops asked us to wait near the bus-stop.
- Meaning, you have to stayaway 100mts from the consulate-entrance
- Advice: Be there at consulate exactly 7:55am or 8:00am, don't come early. It's not fun.
- 8:00am
- Met RaviPK & Saradao. Also met my PG batchmate "bvpsr".
- As always, there was a big line, just tell one of the guards(supervising the queue) the magic word "immi..."
- Keep "appt letter & passport" handy probably in a Ziploc cover.
- 8:25am
- 8 counters overall, Counter 1 accepts fees only.
- Counter 7 & Counter 8 for immigrant visas only.
- The room can seat only 116 persons at a time (16 col x 7 rows chairs) + 4 chairs extra
- The reason i counted this coz, the room was so full that day, if you walk-up to the counter and come back, your seat is gone.
- Definetly, there were more than 150 people in that room.
- 8:35am
- All new-visitors the consulate were asked to stand in line for Counter 7, and re-visits for Counter 8.
- At Counter 8, Gave all the required-doc's and the originals seperately. Followed by my wife.
- He gave us back the DS230-1 & 2, and asked us to be seated.
- 9:00am
- Consular officer(american) gave some lecture & started scanning our DS230-1 & 2.
- He wanted us to change all the "N/A" to "NONE" in both DS-230 Part-1 & Part 2. (eventhough the form clearly says put N/A)
- He also wanted a fresh-signature on DS-230 part-1 dated current.
- I was carrying a copy of DS-230 part-1 which already had my signature. Wasn't sure if i need to re-sign this.
- After seeing RaviPK & Saradao sent back (coz they didn't sign the part-1 fresh), i was convinced.
- I signed DS-230 part-1 once again adjacent to my existing signature & dated it 19 Nov 2002. Same thing with my wife
- Also, i changed all "N/A" to "None". But i didn't cross-out anything, all i did is add "NONE" to all the columns which had "N/A".
- The consular-officer checked DS230 Part-1 & Part-2.
- Asked us to sign DS230-part-2, and to be seated.
- 12:30pm
- After a long long wait, we were called upon at Counter-7.
- He returned all originals. The docs he didn't return are
- OF-171
DS 230 - Part I & II
photo-copy Marriage Certificate.
Photo-copy Birth Certificate
Photo-copy affadivit of birth
Bank letter (Bank of america calls this immigration reference letter and charges $10 processing fee)
photo-copy pay-stubs
IRS tax transcripts 2001
photo-copy of Affidavit of support (kept in wife's folder)
notorized Employment-letter
Photos (for my wife he accepted Photos with "bhindi")
Medical reports
- He returned the original affidavit of support, and accepted the photo-copy which was in my wife's folder.
- All he asked was the COURIER FEE 250Rs per family + 50(per applicant) + 50(per applicant) = 350Rs
- I gave him the DD (but they also accept cash for Courier).
- By mistake if you have the DD only for 250Rs, all you need to do is pay the extra 100Rs to them. Simple.
- Again he asked us to be seated.
- 3:30pm
- We were called again at counter 8.
- He asked us to pay $65 at Counter 1.
- Note: write the casenumber & name (behind the DD)
- Also, told them we need two seperate PACKETS, myself & my wife are travelling in two-different dates.
- He replied that is how the CONSULATE sends the packet by default.
- we were done atlast, and were heading towards Saravana Bhavan.
Blue dart Courier
- Date Nov 20th 2002 - 11:30pm
- Courier arrived at my home address in madras.
- It had two packets and on top were "Alien immigrant sheet" stapled.
- Also it had a "Correction instruction sheet and information sheet about Social Security office"
- Everything was correct, except they interchanged my first-name & last-name.
- The correction-instruction sheet clearly tells that, Contact Consulate-office only if there are spelling mistakes, DOB change etc.
- I called them anyway to make sure that it is not a headache. They confirmed that it is not a big-deal.
Visit Consulate again
- Date Nov 21st 2002 - 8:00am
- I was not convinced with the answer, so i visited the Consulate one more time
- It was hard very-hard to get into the consulate this time,
- The security-guard didn't get convinced eventhough i said there is a mistake in the "Immigrant visa". Luckily he let me in.
- The gentleman inside the consulate (Counter 8) confirmed that it is not big deal.
- Advice: Don't book your return-tickets immediately after the interview. If there was a correction to be made it will atleast take 2 days, and you have to pay for the courier one more time.
Port of Entry
- Date Nov 25th 2002 - 3:00pm
- POE - Dallas
- Stood in the U.S Citizens line
- No need to Fill the I-94 form, if they supply it to you in the flight just get it no need to fill it.
- Fill the CUSTOMS form only.
- The immigration-officer inside the room took my signature & fingerprinted my right-fore finger only the old-way (not electronic)
- Asked me if there are any corrections & verified the address.
- I told them, my name was interchanged, and love to have that corrected. He nodded Yes.
- Thatz it, my passport was stamped I-551 , (H1-VISA stamp was never crossed-out...)
- Relief at last.
If there are any questions let me know. Will be glad to answer.
Thanks to each and everyone in this forum. what a journey from March to November. Happy ending atlast.
--LocalMadras
Experience at Chennai
Interview date - Nov 19th 2002
------------------------------------------------------------
Immigration Photos
- Date - Nov 14th 2002 11:00am
- immigration photos @ cameracity (Konica color labs) opp. to Chola Sheraton,chennai.
- Fees 100Rs for 8 photos
- waiting time=10mts, digital cameras being used, no negatives.
- my wife took photos with "bhindi" (in tamil it's called 'sticker pottu').
- No ear-rings on right-ear(only) when taking photos.
- 2 or more pictures taken using digi-camera, we chose the best for printing.
Lister Labarotary
- Date - Nov 15th 2002 7:30am
- Going towards Nungabakkam, cross Taj Cormondel hotel, 3rd left is Jagannathan Road.
There are two Lister-labs in that road
The 1st one is for general patients, you will come across this as soon as you enter Jagannathan Road.
If you see a guy issuing 'tokens' and asking you to wait, then you are in the wrong-lister labs.
we wasted 10mts at this place. All i had to do was to tell that guy the magic word 'immigration'
he directed us to the 2nd one, which is 4 blocks away on the same street.
The board will read , Lister Labs HeadQuarters. This lab services all "immigration" applicants.
- Fees - 600Rs
- One photo needed. We used the same 'immi-style' photos ( Good, no need to take any 'passport-style' for this purpose)
- for my wife, they accepted the 'foto with bhindi'
- Fill the medical-form that is available in the chennai-website (burden 1 minute)
- One more form need to be filled, given by that male-receptionist (burden 1 minute)
- They have glue for affixing the photos, if you need one.
- blood test for testing HIV etc, XRay for testing TB etc.
- For Xray purpose (Male - Be ready to remove shirts & Crew-neck tees). (Female - will be given a gown to wear)
- Big display board which says, "If spouse is pregnant, please inform them before entering X-Ray room".
- Collected our Report around 4:15pm the same day (Nov 15th 2002)
- Note: to collect report on the same day, show up for the lister-test between 7:30am 10:00am
- No need to schedule an appointment
Medical
- Date - Nov 15th 2002 4:50pm
- Doctor - Dr. Vijayalakshmi, Padma Nursing Home
- Going towards Pachiappa's college. Take a U-Turn on the First Signal, atleast 1/2 a mile from the chetput bridge.
After the U-Turn, you should see a 'hospital board' Dr. K something i don't remember the name.
take left-turn in to that adjacent lane immediately. Padma Nursing home is at the dead-end on that lane.
- Schedule an appointment (atleast 2 days before the interview)
- appt was @ 5.00pm , but Dr.V sees the applicants only in First-Come-First-Served basis (appt didn't do any good)
- Dr.V takes 15mts for each patient. There were 3 pair of applicants waiting before us.
- So, we were called in only by 6:30pm
- Fees - 4200 Rs for two person. We had all vacinnations done (MMR & Chickenpox vaccination)
- One photo needed. We used the same 'immi-style' photos.
- No need to fill any forms, She patiently fills all kinds of forms for you. All we need to do is SIGN those forms.
- She gave us a copy of all the vaccinations applied, also the X-Rays , receipts etc etc.
- Finally, she gave us two envelopes(open) with all the medical-forms (to be given during the interview to the Consular officer)
Visit Dr.V again
- Date - Nov 16th 2002 11:45pm
- I found a mistake in one of the forms, Dr.V forgot to fill the 'vaccination worksheet' for my wife.
- Went to the hospital again after informing her about this, she was sorry & filled in all the required information.
- Advice: Double check all those medical forms.
Appt & Interview
- Date - Nov 19th 2002 7:20am
- American Consulate entrance- Opp to Safire Theater
- 7:20am
- We were at the consulate early, the cops asked us to wait near the bus-stop.
- Meaning, you have to stayaway 100mts from the consulate-entrance
- Advice: Be there at consulate exactly 7:55am or 8:00am, don't come early. It's not fun.
- 8:00am
- Met RaviPK & Saradao. Also met my PG batchmate "bvpsr".
- As always, there was a big line, just tell one of the guards(supervising the queue) the magic word "immi..."
- Keep "appt letter & passport" handy probably in a Ziploc cover.
- 8:25am
- 8 counters overall, Counter 1 accepts fees only.
- Counter 7 & Counter 8 for immigrant visas only.
- The room can seat only 116 persons at a time (16 col x 7 rows chairs) + 4 chairs extra
- The reason i counted this coz, the room was so full that day, if you walk-up to the counter and come back, your seat is gone.
- Definetly, there were more than 150 people in that room.
- 8:35am
- All new-visitors the consulate were asked to stand in line for Counter 7, and re-visits for Counter 8.
- At Counter 8, Gave all the required-doc's and the originals seperately. Followed by my wife.
- He gave us back the DS230-1 & 2, and asked us to be seated.
- 9:00am
- Consular officer(american) gave some lecture & started scanning our DS230-1 & 2.
- He wanted us to change all the "N/A" to "NONE" in both DS-230 Part-1 & Part 2. (eventhough the form clearly says put N/A)
- He also wanted a fresh-signature on DS-230 part-1 dated current.
- I was carrying a copy of DS-230 part-1 which already had my signature. Wasn't sure if i need to re-sign this.
- After seeing RaviPK & Saradao sent back (coz they didn't sign the part-1 fresh), i was convinced.
- I signed DS-230 part-1 once again adjacent to my existing signature & dated it 19 Nov 2002. Same thing with my wife
- Also, i changed all "N/A" to "None". But i didn't cross-out anything, all i did is add "NONE" to all the columns which had "N/A".
- The consular-officer checked DS230 Part-1 & Part-2.
- Asked us to sign DS230-part-2, and to be seated.
- 12:30pm
- After a long long wait, we were called upon at Counter-7.
- He returned all originals. The docs he didn't return are
- OF-171
DS 230 - Part I & II
photo-copy Marriage Certificate.
Photo-copy Birth Certificate
Photo-copy affadivit of birth
Bank letter (Bank of america calls this immigration reference letter and charges $10 processing fee)
photo-copy pay-stubs
IRS tax transcripts 2001
photo-copy of Affidavit of support (kept in wife's folder)
notorized Employment-letter
Photos (for my wife he accepted Photos with "bhindi")
Medical reports
- He returned the original affidavit of support, and accepted the photo-copy which was in my wife's folder.
- All he asked was the COURIER FEE 250Rs per family + 50(per applicant) + 50(per applicant) = 350Rs
- I gave him the DD (but they also accept cash for Courier).
- By mistake if you have the DD only for 250Rs, all you need to do is pay the extra 100Rs to them. Simple.
- Again he asked us to be seated.
- 3:30pm
- We were called again at counter 8.
- He asked us to pay $65 at Counter 1.
- Note: write the casenumber & name (behind the DD)
- Also, told them we need two seperate PACKETS, myself & my wife are travelling in two-different dates.
- He replied that is how the CONSULATE sends the packet by default.
- we were done atlast, and were heading towards Saravana Bhavan.
Blue dart Courier
- Date Nov 20th 2002 - 11:30pm
- Courier arrived at my home address in madras.
- It had two packets and on top were "Alien immigrant sheet" stapled.
- Also it had a "Correction instruction sheet and information sheet about Social Security office"
- Everything was correct, except they interchanged my first-name & last-name.
- The correction-instruction sheet clearly tells that, Contact Consulate-office only if there are spelling mistakes, DOB change etc.
- I called them anyway to make sure that it is not a headache. They confirmed that it is not a big-deal.
Visit Consulate again
- Date Nov 21st 2002 - 8:00am
- I was not convinced with the answer, so i visited the Consulate one more time
- It was hard very-hard to get into the consulate this time,
- The security-guard didn't get convinced eventhough i said there is a mistake in the "Immigrant visa". Luckily he let me in.
- The gentleman inside the consulate (Counter 8) confirmed that it is not big deal.
- Advice: Don't book your return-tickets immediately after the interview. If there was a correction to be made it will atleast take 2 days, and you have to pay for the courier one more time.
Port of Entry
- Date Nov 25th 2002 - 3:00pm
- POE - Dallas
- Stood in the U.S Citizens line
- No need to Fill the I-94 form, if they supply it to you in the flight just get it no need to fill it.
- Fill the CUSTOMS form only.
- The immigration-officer inside the room took my signature & fingerprinted my right-fore finger only the old-way (not electronic)
- Asked me if there are any corrections & verified the address.
- I told them, my name was interchanged, and love to have that corrected. He nodded Yes.
- Thatz it, my passport was stamped I-551 , (H1-VISA stamp was never crossed-out...)
- Relief at last.
If there are any questions let me know. Will be glad to answer.
Thanks to each and everyone in this forum. what a journey from March to November
. Happy ending atlast. --LocalMadras
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