shockabsorber7
Registered Users (C)
Hi everyone,
I am posting this on here for anyone who may find this useful. I worried a lot about this before I left the US since I couldnt find any info at all on going to Dubai to stamp the visa. I'll give you some background about myself. I am an Indian who was brought up in the UAE and I came to the US to study. After getting an H1 approval notice (I-797) I was still very nervous about going to Dubai for my stamping for many reasons:
a) I hadnt left the US in 7 years
b) I wasnt sure if they would stamp my visa in Dubai based on just the fact that my parents lived there. FYI: I got my old F1 visa also stamped in UAE for my Bachelors. I stayed on in the US to complete my Masters after my F1 expired in 2002.
My experience at the consulate was as follows:
I had an appointment for 7:30am and I was there by 6:30am to find about 70 people waiting ahead of me! Most people were from Iran who were mainly applying for visitors visas since the US embassy in Iran was closed. We went through a security check, waited in a cabin briefly and then were led to another area where we they scanned our bags. After that we had to leave our bags at a counter and pass through another metal detector and then into an elevator. We were then asked to pass through yet ANOTHER metal detector and finally into a room where we had to wait in line and present our documents (LCA, I-129, I-797). The person at the counter looked through the documents and handed me a ticket number and asked me to wait. Depending on your case, they call you to the different counters. The person before me seemed like an Indian guy, also for an H1, who sounded like he was working in Dubai and got a job with a contractor in the US on an IT project. They grilled him for about 20 minutes and even brought their own Indian IT expert to question him!! After all that, they rejected his visa...I'm not sure what the reason was. When it was my turn I walked up to the counter and there was a young lady in her late 20's or early 30's.
Her: Hi
Me: Hi, How are you? (when I say that, for some reason her face changes from a stern look to a pleasant smile)
Her: Which company do you work for?
Me: XXX Inc.
Her: What do they do?
Me: They make such and such products
Her: What is your position there?
Me: I am a such and such
Her: You title on here says "blah blah", what does that mean?
Me: (I explain to her what it is)
Her: Which company do you work for currently?
Me: I work at XXX Inc. in the US
Her: Oh! so you're coming here from the US! Did you go to school there?
Me: Yes
Her: Where did you graduate from?
Me: Univ of XXX, it is in XXX
Her: hehe yeah I figured from the name!
Her: How much do you make?
Me: $XXX
Her: Ok...you're making a little less for having such an advanced degree.
Me: Yeah but XXX Inc. is a good company and I wanted to get my foot in the door and make some contacts so I should be able to move up pretty quickly.
Her: Yeah it is a good company so I dont think they will try to take advantage of you in any way.
Her: Have you ever been arrested?
Me: Nope ( I'm not sure why she asked me that)
Her: Ok, your passport will be ready for pick up tomorrow.
And that was it! She didnt even ask me for any other documents like paystubs, old I-20's, OPT cards, Tax forms...nothing! But I did have everything ready...just in case! I was out of the embassy by 9:30am but the interview lasted only about 5 minutes! I got the feeling that if you work for a reputed company, there is no reason to worry. They seem to be cracking down on people going to the US to work for small IT firms and end up on the bench. But in the end it all depends on the person interviewing you. I took the advice of many other people on these forums...to be confident and relaxed. Good luck to all of you!
I am posting this on here for anyone who may find this useful. I worried a lot about this before I left the US since I couldnt find any info at all on going to Dubai to stamp the visa. I'll give you some background about myself. I am an Indian who was brought up in the UAE and I came to the US to study. After getting an H1 approval notice (I-797) I was still very nervous about going to Dubai for my stamping for many reasons:
a) I hadnt left the US in 7 years
b) I wasnt sure if they would stamp my visa in Dubai based on just the fact that my parents lived there. FYI: I got my old F1 visa also stamped in UAE for my Bachelors. I stayed on in the US to complete my Masters after my F1 expired in 2002.
My experience at the consulate was as follows:
I had an appointment for 7:30am and I was there by 6:30am to find about 70 people waiting ahead of me! Most people were from Iran who were mainly applying for visitors visas since the US embassy in Iran was closed. We went through a security check, waited in a cabin briefly and then were led to another area where we they scanned our bags. After that we had to leave our bags at a counter and pass through another metal detector and then into an elevator. We were then asked to pass through yet ANOTHER metal detector and finally into a room where we had to wait in line and present our documents (LCA, I-129, I-797). The person at the counter looked through the documents and handed me a ticket number and asked me to wait. Depending on your case, they call you to the different counters. The person before me seemed like an Indian guy, also for an H1, who sounded like he was working in Dubai and got a job with a contractor in the US on an IT project. They grilled him for about 20 minutes and even brought their own Indian IT expert to question him!! After all that, they rejected his visa...I'm not sure what the reason was. When it was my turn I walked up to the counter and there was a young lady in her late 20's or early 30's.
Her: Hi
Me: Hi, How are you? (when I say that, for some reason her face changes from a stern look to a pleasant smile)
Her: Which company do you work for?
Me: XXX Inc.
Her: What do they do?
Me: They make such and such products
Her: What is your position there?
Me: I am a such and such
Her: You title on here says "blah blah", what does that mean?
Me: (I explain to her what it is)
Her: Which company do you work for currently?
Me: I work at XXX Inc. in the US
Her: Oh! so you're coming here from the US! Did you go to school there?
Me: Yes
Her: Where did you graduate from?
Me: Univ of XXX, it is in XXX
Her: hehe yeah I figured from the name!
Her: How much do you make?
Me: $XXX
Her: Ok...you're making a little less for having such an advanced degree.
Me: Yeah but XXX Inc. is a good company and I wanted to get my foot in the door and make some contacts so I should be able to move up pretty quickly.
Her: Yeah it is a good company so I dont think they will try to take advantage of you in any way.
Her: Have you ever been arrested?
Me: Nope ( I'm not sure why she asked me that)
Her: Ok, your passport will be ready for pick up tomorrow.
And that was it! She didnt even ask me for any other documents like paystubs, old I-20's, OPT cards, Tax forms...nothing! But I did have everything ready...just in case! I was out of the embassy by 9:30am but the interview lasted only about 5 minutes! I got the feeling that if you work for a reputed company, there is no reason to worry. They seem to be cracking down on people going to the US to work for small IT firms and end up on the bench. But in the end it all depends on the person interviewing you. I took the advice of many other people on these forums...to be confident and relaxed. Good luck to all of you!
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