H1 Visa Revalidation Experiences - Mumbai Consulate

[warko01]

Hi All,

I am planning to go to Mumbai in March 2005 for visa revalidation. Can some one please tell me what all the documents I need to send them before appointment date and what all the document I need to take with me for interview? Any help would be great for me.

Thanks lot.

Raj

Hi Raj,
https://visa-services.com/index.html

This link gives you everything you need for the revalidation process. Also a friendly tip - if you know your travel dates in March, keep a close eye on the available interview dates on the above site.

- warko01

 

[indian1212]

H1 Visa Revalidation in Mumbai

Hello everybody,
I do have question abt H1 revalidaiton in mumbai. I am planning to go there in Jan 05.
I came here on F1 (student visa) and then switched to H1 visa after compelting MS. My current employer has applied for my labor certification.
so if i go to india for H1 stamping, is there any chance that officer can reject visa based on the reason that you went on student visa (which means not to intend to settle in US) and now my employer has applied for green card so you want to settle there...
Pls advice.

Thanks

 

[alren]

Hi,
I also have similar situation.
I have one more question ? What are you going to fill in the form 156 ?

Has Anyone Ever Filed an Immigrant Visa Petition on Your Behalf?

i am afraid if we have applied greencard application here, is there any chance that they can deny h1 stamping ?

pls let me know

thx

rudresh,

If your 140 has been filed, then the answer should be yes.

No they cannot deny H1 stamping because you have applied for GC. H1 is a dual intent visa as opposed to F1/B2 ...

 

[alren]

Hello everybody,
I do have question abt H1 revalidaiton in mumbai. I am planning to go there in Jan 05.
I came here on F1 (student visa) and then switched to H1 visa after compelting MS. My current employer has applied for my labor certification.
so if i go to india for H1 stamping, is there any chance that officer can reject visa based on the reason that you went on student visa (which means not to intend to settle in US) and now my employer has applied for green card so you want to settle there...
Pls advice.

Thanks

indian1212,

Generally NO, they won't reject it on those grounds.

 

[mukhtarahmed]

Background check at Mumbai COnsulate...

Hi ,

I am wondering if there is anyone on this board who has been subjected to background check at the Mumbai consulate. I lived in US for the past 5 years on H1B .I landed here in october and my H1 revalidation was put thru background check. The officer said that my last name matched with some violent person on their terrorist list hence i need to be fingerprinted( at my expense ) and will have to wait for 2 weeks before coming again to get my visa stamped. I was told there is no issue with my petition and will get the stamping after two weeks. The interview got over and i was asked to get the DD for fingerprinting ($85in INR ). It was then that i was told by the indian staff that the BC may take 2 - 3 months. I will complete 3 months in the first week of Jan 2005, However there is no reply from the consulate. WHen i call them up the staff tells me to call up after 2 weeks , which is a standard reply. This has put me in a pitiful situation as i am left without work, wages and also paying for my bills in US.

I would appreciate if I can get any advice for this situation . I would like to get in touch with people in similar situation.

Mukhtar

 

[alren]

Mukhtar, background check is fairly common now a days. (Unless this is something different? Are the $85/- additional just for FP ?)

But most of them are resolved within a month.

 

[vik3001]

mukhtar,

i also got a 221g and was asked for fingerprinting. the officer told me it will take 4-6 weeks. i have a friend who was done in 6 weeks? how come yours is taking 3 months?

 

[mukhtarahmed]

Background check and Fingerprinting...

Thanks alren , vik3001 for your replies.

I was told by the officer that my lastname matched with some violent person. It is a very common lastname "Ahmed" . The other parameter is probably my place of birth ...
which is a middleeastern country where my parents were working. I have always been an indian citizen though since the country i was born in does not give its citizenship if you are born there.

My conversation with the consulate resulted in another piece of information today .I am told that by fingerprinting result has come however they are waiting for some ' cable clearance ' . Any idea as to what this could be?

Another friend of mine who was background checked in November for a DUI record got his report yesterday , well within the 8 weeks period. His was a new H1.

And yes $85 is only for fingerprinting.

Mukhtar

 

[vik3001]

re:

hi mukhtar,

i guess the fact that you were born in a middleeastern country dragged your process...otherwise you would be done in a normal timeframe. im sorry that you have to go through this...i guess they have to change the process so that it does not inconvenience innocent folks...

there were 2 other guys with me at the consulate and there are a few ppl everyday...so your not the only one facing this...

lets keep in touch...mail me xmljar att yahoo

 

[Mehul_Sangani]

My recent experience at the American Consulate (Mumbai) to revalidate my H-1B visa.

My appointment was at 8:30 I reached there at 8:00 wasn't very long queue, but if you go a little early that's better. They started to check-in all the people. First and foremost is security check, no cell-phones allowed or hand-bags. They provide you with wooden token save that you will need to return that after the interview is done.

After you enter there is personnel who will ask for following documents. Passport, I-797 (Notice of Action) & I-129 ... yes I-129 is required this is petition for filing for H-1B. He will put all those together and asked me to goto counter 1, also included with that is yellow card which is basically your token number. At counter 1, finger printing is done, the process itself takes no more than 3 min. After that you will be seated and wait until number is called and you will be interviewed.

Questions I was asked at the interview:
1 - What is the name of the company I work for and where is it located?
2 - What does the company do?
3 - When did I graduate, which university?
4 - When did I start working?

And that's it, no additional documents were asked to present other then what I had mailed them. I recd my passport thru BlueDart the next day.

Since I'm still in India, I dont have much of computer access, but will try to answer if you guys have any questions.

 

[chetwani]

Qs about H1 stamping in Mumbai

Hi Mehul_Sangani,

1) Did you mail your paystub/s also to them before you went for the interview?

2) Do you think one can do w/o pay stubs and any photos of the company premises where one works?

Thanks!
sanjay.

 

[Mehul_Sangani]

1) Did you mail your paystub/s also to them before you went for the interview?

I did not mail my paystubs, however I did carry along with me at the interview, even though it was never asked for.

2) Do you think one can do w/o pay stubs and any photos of the company premises where one works?

I would strongly recommend taking pay stubs, in lots of cases I have seen it been asked for. If at all possible take a picture of company premises, this is not really a must but you never know.

HTH

 

[chetwani]

Thank you Mehul_Sangani!

 

[gc_seeker2004]

H1 revalidation experience at mumbai consulate

all,

here is my recent revalidation experience at US consulate .

I went to VFS on 29th Jan, got appointment for interview on 13th Jan
on 13th Jan interview was simple , lady asked me very simple few questions
and then said your VISA is approved.
(BTW, I am working in US for last 4.5 years)

So i was waiting for my passport next day Fri 14th , unfortunately the passports did not come. so I waited till next day , on next day I got the passports back except my wife's

I got VISA stamped on my passport and my son's passport.

DOES anyone know of US consulate holding wife's passport for some reason ?
has anyone experienced such issue ? Now I am waiting for my wife's passport

I could not call consulate today (15th Sat) as consulate is closed on Sat Sun and Mon (some holiday) , I had tickets for 17th Jan so now I have to postpone the tickets.

please let me know if you know the reason why consulate would hold wife's passport?

Thanks all.

 

[Ravipark]

I 94 Question

Hello,
I do have question abt I94.
We are going for H1 revalidation to india in April. My current I94 got expired last year (which i got when i came from india last time).
But in my H1 renewal my I 94 is valid till end of this year.
so when i will go to india which I 94 should i give at airport ? Expire one or the one which in on H1 renewal paper ?

Pls let me know,

 

[warko01]

My revalidation experience at Mumbai Consulate

Hello,
As Mehul has said before, the procedure is same till you get to the Interview Windows. Then here is what happened with me -

1. The lady asked me - Has your company applied for your GC? I replied yes
2. Could you show your previous I-797? I replied yes (This was my second phase of the 6 years of visa)

Ok done and go.....Next morning by 10 am I had my passport delivered at home in Mumbai!

-warko01

 

[Ravipark]

Documents

Hi,
Once you enter into building in consulate and before you went to window, which are the documents they asked u to submit.
do we have to give questionarie form before we go to window or during the time of interview. what the other questions did she ask to u ?
Pls let me know, i am going for an interview next month. This is my 6 th year of H1 and very decent record.

Hello,
As Mehul has said before, the procedure is same till you get to the Interview Windows. Then here is what happened with me -

1. The lady asked me - Has your company applied for your GC? I replied yes
2. Could you show your previous I-797? I replied yes (This was my second phase of the 6 years of visa)

Ok done and go.....Next morning by 10 am I had my passport delivered at home in Mumbai!

-warko01

 

[pzgjxr]

Hi Raj,
https://visa-services.com/index.html

This link gives you everything you need for the revalidation process. Also a friendly tip - if you know your travel dates in March, keep a close eye on the available interview dates on the above site.

- warko01

I had posted a reply earlier today, but dunno what happened to it.

My dear warko01!
This link is helpful to only new visa applicants from within India. How can one be in the US and send DD in INR?

Or does it mean that one has to camp out in Mumbai at least 52 days before the interview (22 days currently + 30 days for receipt of documents in the consulate)? There is no (American) organization that gives 52 days vacation. One becomes entitled to 15 days after 5 years and 30 days after 35 years!

And the visa fees is supposed to include the Blue Dart charges. Why should we pay for courier from the US & also for Blue Dart?

Can you, or anybody please clarify?

PS. All my close relatives in India are 70+ years old, and their offspring are all here or elsewhere abroad. So no one can help me get a DD in India and forward the packet to Blue Dart!

 

[abzy2004]

Yes, unfortunately, you need to have more relatives or friends in India for this to work.. to way around it. You cannot even send Blue-dart from US, it has to be from India. So find a friend, make a friend.. you may try other consulate 'based' on urgency or go to Canada/Mexico which is not too bad either.

 

[will_get_there1]

Cancle H1 stamping appointment after sending documents

Hi All,

My situation is -
I have plans to go to India in March and have scheduled online appointment but not yet sent the documents to Mumbai Consulate through Blue Dart. My question is -

what happens if one need to cancel the H1 stamping appointment after sending the documents through Bluedart (I may need to cancel my India trip due to some reason).

Thanks for you help.