H1 Visa Experience Chennai Consulate

Mine also stuck

Hi Hk
I have similar case as yours brother,where i am here for shorter time and used drop box method. Mine is visa extension. I had dropped on feb 9th and whenever i call Chennia consulate they say next week.Specifically they told this thursday or friday i should recieve itseems. It almost 4th week now.
I realized that i made small typo mistake in DD now i am concerned it might come back.

Meanwhile i am trying book a slot asap but looks like March month is FULL :(

Please let me know what are you(or brother) going to do?.Is he going back to consulate with photos.I recommond personal interview is best as i heard you get the visa in a week.


Jay
I am not a lawer,my information is based on what i read from online resources
 
the personal interview is best because it gives visa in a day, i got my interview on jan 23 2004 and i had my visa in my passport in my hands on jan 24th morning @ 11 am in hyderabad. i advise u all to sincerely attend personal interview with exact documentation it helps
 
Re: Mine also stuck

Originally posted by jay22
Hi Hk
I have similar case as yours brother,where i am here for shorter time and used drop box method. Mine is visa extension. I had dropped on feb 9th and whenever i call Chennia consulate they say next week.Specifically they told this thursday or friday i should recieve itseems. It almost 4th week now.
I realized that i made small typo mistake in DD now i am concerned it might come back.

Meanwhile i am trying book a slot asap but looks like March month is FULL :(

Please let me know what are you(or brother) going to do?.Is he going back to consulate with photos.I recommond personal interview is best as i heard you get the visa in a week.


Jay
I am not a lawer,my information is based on what i read from online resources

Jay

The thing with my brother's case is he came to know about his case status by calling the consulate.
But till today he hasn't got his courier with refusal/ return details.
So he's actually waiting for it to come.

In the meantime he has booked an appt for march 22nd. But Some friends say if it's returned, the consulate expects u to sent it again only by dropbox not interview.

Like u say is it possibel to goto the consulate with photos ? If so can u let me know what's the procedure for it ?

thanks
ha_hk
 
Hello folks, Iam new to this form . Whoever gets my email pls post your experience.

My wife is goign to India on a n emergency. We both are on 8th yr extn, and Our visas were expired on Nov 2002. So drop box is not allowed. Also, Since she is travelling with 2 kids one of 3 and the other of 1 mnth, can she take along with her for the interview.

Also, if anyone has the list of ALL documents, Pls let me know. I need to plan accordingly and prepare the paper work.

This is for an h4 VISa. Also, pls post ur experience for h1 visa too.

Thanks a millon.
 
Originally posted by H1Buser2002
Hello folks, Iam new to this form . Whoever gets my email pls post your experience.

My wife is goign to India on a n emergency. We both are on 8th yr extn, and Our visas were expired on Nov 2002. So drop box is not allowed. Also, Since she is travelling with 2 kids one of 3 and the other of 1 mnth, can she take along with her for the interview.

Also, if anyone has the list of ALL documents, Pls let me know. I need to plan accordingly and prepare the paper work.

This is for an h4 VISa. Also, pls post ur experience for h1 visa too.

Thanks a millon.

Goto US consulate chennai website for all the documents needed.

Don't take any chances. take all the required docs and suggested docs and even anyother docs if u feel it's needed.

ha_hk
 
H4 for Kids

Hello,

My sister & family have their interview scheduled for H-1/H-4 visas for the end of March at the Chennai consulate. Do the kids (ages 9 and 11) have to be physically present for the interview ? This is the time of final exams and they dont want the kids to flunk by missing an exam.

I would appreicate if someone could post their experiences on first time H-1/H-4 for family? What type of questions are asked for the family members ?

Thanks.
 
W2 question

I am leaving to chennai on friday and have an appointment on March 15th for 7th year H1 revalidation. I have a question regarding W2. DO we submit original W2 or photocopies are enough. If originals are required will they return it after interview or send it in mail along with passport.

Since I am leaving tomorrow a quick response will be helpful.

Thanks
Matador
 
matador,
chennai accept's copies. however certified copies might carry more weightage. Please post your experience once you are done with the interview.
 
H4 visa stamping interview at chennai consulate

Under "Petition Information", there is a field "Max No of Applicants", can any one tell whats that field, and what should we enter under that field?

Since I am applying for H4 visa alone should I enter 1?
 
Hi,

My wife and I need to get our H1 and H4 visas revalidated in Chennai, when we go to india in june.

Does anybody know if we can get an appointment together at the consulate, or do we have to get two separate appointments for two interviews?

Any info will be really appreciated!

Thanks!
 
u can get an appointment together by taking individual appointments together on the net, thats the best i can suggest, i have gone thru the processs personally and its pretty simple gettin app online
hope alll is welll
 
Thanks for the reply!
So what you mean is that we both get separate appointments online, but for the same time, and that will be considered on appointment?
I can do that...
One other question - is it generally considered safer to take the interview rather than doing the drop box?

glub
 
seee as i know there is never a together appointment for u and ur spouse, u have to take two appointments, which u cud go together. as far as the interview against the drop box is considered, i wud say interview is best as all processing is done in a day, and drop box cud put u back by 10-15 days or may be more.
go for the interview its short and simple. goood luck, be sure to take all the docs though, india rocks man and u sincerely dont have to worrry
 
Glub
Let me share my experience..hope it helps others to
I just came back from india, i did my stamping in india(chennai) Mine was H1B extension. I used drop box as qualify for this method.I dropped on feb 9th and i got the passport on March8(4 weeks!!never expected).I was told that it takes only 2 weeks. Fortunatly i extended my leaves for other reason .So i was ok. I had subbmited all the neccessary documents as per the TTS website. For the past four years i was not in bench so my w2 slarary was higer that LC salary. So i got the visa.
For my wife i couldn't get the H4 appointment immediatly as H4 category is low priority.so you should be block one month earlier(now days it difficult to get a slot,you have to wait for a months.So you have to plan it).
Take all the documents.If you search in this website you can get pretty good info about the checklist. Now days they are scruntizing H1,h4.(not to discourage you).
What Vshal says is true. Personal interview is better.if you dont have time go for the personal interview and its fast.
DO SOME RESEARCH!!thats my advice

Good Luck
Jay
I am not a lawery,so user your own judgement
 
Any one know what is the normal duration to process drop-box applications for h1. Their web site says 2 weeks in south region..?
 
NEED YOUR HELP/GUIDANCE PLEASE. KINDLY REPLY.

Mywork experience with my current employer (3rd employer) (non-profit organization) for around 20 months is a clean one. But I was on bench for several months before that with the previous employer (2nd employer). Because of this my W2 for previous year ('02) shows a less salary. But my W2 for '03 is clean.

I am planning to travel to India and appear for the H1B visa interview at Chennai Consulate.

Please any one out there help me out on this. I am very very scared on the problem with my W2 as mentioned above. How will this affect my H1B visa interview?

Will it be good enough for me to only present W2 for '03 and pay stubs for the last 6 months? How much of a disqualifying factor will be the fact that the past employer didn't pay me? Will it be considered as a mistake of the employer or the employee?

How much do they go through all the documents. The consulate site says that INTERVIEW will be the main factor to determing visa eligibility.

Also I don't know if I can even obtain any kind of experience letters from that employer. I already have a H1B stamped in my passport from my very first employer which expired in '01.

Some one please help me. What kind of risk do I face here? Can I get through the interview successfully? I am very very scared.

It would be great help if anyone with a recent interview experience can post it here. Also have anyone with problems similar to mine interviewed for H1B? POST YOUR EXPERIENCES PLEASE.

SCARED SOUL.
ANYONE WHO CAN HELP, I WILL BE EVER THANKFUL.
THANK YOU.
 
ur recent 2003 W 2 is what they ask for, rest though they will want to see ur tax return transcripts,. u dont have to worry about ur W 2 of 2002
2003 is enuf, i did the same too, i had a problem in 2001 and 2002
take it easy and chill out man, u will be thru
 
Successful H1 stamping in Ottawa

I am very relieved to say that my H1 B stamping went off last week with no issues.

Background :

I came to the US about 5 years ago, did my masters degree, started working using EAD then along with the downturn got laid off.
Hence I scrambled to get a H1 sponsor. My first period of 2 years is over , I went to get my second h1 stamped.

H1 stamping:

Went to the consulate early though my interview time was much later, I saw many grilling sessions.
When my name was called I was pleasantly surprised when it was at the 'Check In' counter rather than the 'Interviews' counter. There were no questions just was asked to pay the fee and to come back at 3:00pm.
This is technically my first H1B stamp in the passport, my previous passport has expired, she didnt even once ask anything about this or anything else.

All this aside there were some sad stories, there were a group of young men, looked like Muslims , they were interogated with ferocity I have never seen.
One chap was on the verge of crying his visa was rejected and he had everything across the border somewhere , the visa officer simply rejected and countered anything he had to say to buttress his position.
Otherwise they tend to defer and ask you to come back after a few days [ especially the Chinese folks ].

Advice:

The Canadian border should not be a problem though I doubly made safe and crossed into Canada from Port Huron rather then Detroit.
I quadruple checked my documents, I took apart from the usual docs, a resume, technical eval, photos of my company, transcripts, payslips for 2 years and my old H1b papers.
I filled the ds 156 ages ago , I presume they did a background check before hand and made their decision.

Ottawa should be a straightforward bet for H1b first timers or renewals. [Non US degree holders BEWARE dont go !!]
I had a fantastic time, bundled econo vacation, great places to see around Ottawa and Gatineau Quebec.

good luck folks ,
thanks to all the folks here for their profound knowledge and help.
 
Re:

Vshaal, thanks for your reply. It sounds encouraging. Can you post more information on your experience?

What do you mean by tax return transctipts?

Thanks for sharing your ideas.
 
deep2000, thanks for sharing your experience. Like you I also have two passports...with the old one expired. In that case is it necessary to present both of them or is it just OK to give the current one?

Also why do you think you were not interviewed? I am just curious to know on if there are any special circumstances under which someone becomes eligible for that kind of a luxury.

Thanks
 
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