Behind the scenes of another success story (H1 & H4 stamping in Toronto)
Firstly, thanks to this forum for making me confident and organized
I started browsing through this forum in January.
Step 1: Booking appointment
Booked an appointment online at
http://amcits.com/ for April 3rd, a monday. There is no need to fill any information other than the passport no. at this point. You just need to pay $10 booking fee to reserve the appointment. The wait period in Toronto now is 10 weeks. I was shocked to find no open appointment when I looked on Sunday. But new slots open up as monday morning pushes the 10 weeks behind. They get sold like hot bajjis. The appointment can be cancelled at any time with just the loss of your $10. I printed out all the forms. But there is no need to because you get all of them mailed to you in a week or so.
Step 2: Filling forms, compiling documents, booking ticket
I managed to make my husband fill the DS 156 online 2 weeks before the appointment and printed them out (one each). Then the next weekend was for the DS 157 (for male applicants only). We already had our photos. There is sufficient time to take them in the immigration office which is empty all the time. (Other places to take are Walmart, Walgreens, AAA, etc.)
I organized our documents into two folders:
Handy folder with necessary documents:
Appointment letter
Passports (with landing papers if PR Canada)
DS-156 (printed with barcode and photo pasted and signed)
DS -157 (hand filled with attachment)
NO need of DS 158 for H1
I-797s ( I stapled the I-94 from this to our passports)
Receipts for visa fees.
Supplementary Goliath folder:
F1s (if any)
Employment letter, Employment verification letter, Paystubs, Bank statements.
LCA, H1 petitions (I-129s)
Education documents (transcripts, diplomas)
Marriage certificate, invitations, photos
Company badge, business card ( photos in office if any).
Studied the Toronto transit map, booked amtrak, packed and cleaned up the fridge, just in case
Our friend in Toronto paid our visa fees ($100+$100) in a Scotiabank (He had to print the receipts from Amcits.com and fill in our names for deposited by) which made it easier.
Step 3: At Embassy
A relative dropped us at the embassy. We did have some adventure getting lost and reaching 15 minutes late. My stomach too had its share of fun that morning. But thanks to our friends for letting me interfere with their peaceful morning routines and for mixing up the curd and fenugreek seed naatu medicine which really worked.
As we ran to the building ( the street was closed to traffic) against the chilly wind, a security guard saw our appointment letter and ushered us into the building without a comment on our tardiness. Then you pass your jacket and folder through ionizing radiation and you yourself stand on the yellow line and do some dance moves. You will be then free to go through a passage through the door and also free to feel lost. After looking at two clueless people standing at the tail of the fingerprint queue for sometime, a kind applicant said we should first go in through the next door to submit our documents. Then we entered the happening hall. On your right are the windows through which the Vishnus and Shivas can be seen. On Your left are rooms to rest and the studio. Infront of you are the actors of a reality show called 'Are you doomed or damned?'.
You are then in the queue for the Documents window (# 1) where you hand over everything from the handy dandy folder. She asked us questions to verify the DS-forms and jotted down somethings (L for landed immigrants and other codewords we couldn't decipher). Then go out to stand in the fingerprinting line. This is the easiest one. You will be called to put your imprints on a machine and feel very special (after all, how many people in the world have the opportunity to even have their photos taken?).
The longest wait is for the special much anticipated interview session. You might get a chance to sit and watch cartoon and pretend you are having fun. (You can also memorize your job description and related lingo this time.) Our appointment at 9:30 ended grandly at around 1pm. Thanks to the brand name of the company my husband is working with, there were only 3 questions: So, you are working in *****? Where did you go to school? Is she your wife? We will issue you a visa tommorrow. Bring this ticket. He gave us 2 tickets which said that this is no guarantee that you will be issued a visa and anybody can bring this ticket to collect your passports. We did not have to pay a reciprocal fee (I think due to our Canada PR) which worried us into wondering if we actually heard " we will issue you a visa". The next day we reached there at about 3:30 and received our passports with visas and I-797 at the window facing the street.
My brother-in-law drove us from Toronto through the border that night. The lady at the border kept asking for I-94 which was already in the passport. I finally understood she was asking for the half which says detach this half and keep for your personal records. Then she said arrogantly "this is supposed to be stapled to the passport". Never argue with people who rightfully think they can run your lives. I stapled it after I returned.
I know this has been a long read for those who read it. I thought it might be of help for lazy people like me to find most of the DIY instructions in one post. Of course it is easy to find anything you want by just searching the forum or the thread. This forum is pretty exhaustive and helped me completely. Thanks again!!!
