H1 Visa stamping experience- Canada

Successful H1 Stamping At Montreal Dec 12

First of All Thanks to the Forum.

Background

Pakistan
F1 to H1, First time H1 Stamping
Married , Wife F2 to H4, Already got ur Visa stamped last year from Pak.

working for the company for the last 2 years.

The Interview went really smooth.

Had 10:00 AM appointment (Dec 12 at Montreal) reached at the embassy at around 9:45 AM.
Small Line..went thru the security at the First floor.
After security they ask you to go to 19th Floor at window 13 to pay the fee.
Paid $100 Cash(Its strange that they only require 1 photograph but they ask you to bring two photos) the lady gave me a number and asked me to take a seat and wait for my number.
After like 35 min i was called at Window 16, Nice Lady in her middle 50`s
VO: Good Morning
Me: Good Morning, How r u
VO: I am good, can I have Your I-979 and supporting Document, please.
Me: I gave her the small lower portion of the I-797A form since my employer kept the upper portion, She was lil surprised as she was expecting the Full page, I told her that my HR kept the uppoer portion.Gave her the I-129 Petition.
VO:How long you been in the company
ME: 2 years
VO: Where is your Office:
ME: X city
VO: looking at the I-129 form for company info.. Was surprised to see that the company was established in 1914.
Me: I told her thats its a very old company with around 3000 employees.
VO: Where does your parents live
ME: Back home
VO: Did you do your Masters from US
ME: YEs from xxx University
VO: Do you have yor Employment Letter
ME: Gave her the letter.
VO: Wrote some notes on the D-156 and ask me to take a seat. And wait for my number

After like 25 min I was called again at Window 19, young lady

VO: Please scan your left index finger, then your right
VO: How long you been in US
Me: 6 years
VO: When did you last traveled to Pakistan. Is this yor first H1 stamping
ME: 4 years back, yes its my first visa stamping
VO: What is your salary
ME: XXX K
VO: What is your title
Me: XXX
VO: Do you live with your family
ME: Yes,Wife and 2 kids ( didn’t ask where they are or to show the Passport)
VO: When did you get married
ME: 4 years back
VO: Gave me the Token and asked me to collect my PP tomm after 3:00 PM.

Wentto the consulate and got my passport the next day. VERY smooth and hassle free.

Things that VO didn’t ask me . MY DEGREE, TRANSCRIPTS, PAY STUBS, TAX RETURN, PREVIOUS I-20, BANK STATEMENT.

MONTREAL IS AN OK PLACE….Cant compare with USA.

Mostly French speaking ppl
I stayed in Downtown , 10 min walk from the consulate.
 
mugsg said:
First of All Thanks to the Forum.

Background

Pakistan
F1 to H1, First time H1 Stamping
Married , Wife F2 to H4, Already got ur Visa stamped last year from Pak.

working for the company for the last 2 years.

The Interview went really smooth.

Had 10:00 AM appointment (Dec 12 at Montreal) reached at the embassy at around 9:45 AM.
Small Line..went thru the security at the First floor.
After security they ask you to go to 19th Floor at window 13 to pay the fee.
Paid $100 Cash(Its strange that they only require 1 photograph but they ask you to bring two photos) the lady gave me a number and asked me to take a seat and wait for my number.
After like 35 min i was called at Window 16, Nice Lady in her middle 50`s
VO: Good Morning
Me: Good Morning, How r u
VO: I am good, can I have Your I-979 and supporting Document, please.
Me: I gave her the small lower portion of the I-797A form since my employer kept the upper portion, She was lil surprised as she was expecting the Full page, I told her that my HR kept the uppoer portion.Gave her the I-129 Petition.
VO:How long you been in the company
ME: 2 years
VO: Where is your Office:
ME: X city
VO: looking at the I-129 form for company info.. Was surprised to see that the company was established in 1914.
Me: I told her thats its a very old company with around 3000 employees.
VO: Where does your parents live
ME: Back home
VO: Did you do your Masters from US
ME: YEs from xxx University
VO: Do you have yor Employment Letter
ME: Gave her the letter.
VO: Wrote some notes on the D-156 and ask me to take a seat. And wait for my number

After like 25 min I was called again at Window 19, young lady

VO: Please scan your left index finger, then your right
VO: How long you been in US
Me: 6 years
VO: When did you last traveled to Pakistan. Is this yor first H1 stamping
ME: 4 years back, yes its my first visa stamping
VO: What is your salary
ME: XXX K
VO: What is your title
Me: XXX
VO: Do you live with your family
ME: Yes,Wife and 2 kids ( didn’t ask where they are or to show the Passport)
VO: When did you get married
ME: 4 years back
VO: Gave me the Token and asked me to collect my PP tomm after 3:00 PM.

Wentto the consulate and got my passport the next day. VERY smooth and hassle free.

Things that VO didn’t ask me . MY DEGREE, TRANSCRIPTS, PAY STUBS, TAX RETURN, PREVIOUS I-20, BANK STATEMENT.

MONTREAL IS AN OK PLACE….Cant compare with USA.

Mostly French speaking ppl
I stayed in Downtown , 10 min walk from the consulate.
Click to expand...


Congratulations. :)
 
Missing Home Country

srisree23 said:
Thanks everyone for sharing your expericences!!!

We have very good experience from Ottawa. The officers are very nice and asking only few key questions. I have all the required paper work with me, including my own house papers, reference letter from my University, (I have been studying my master degree since March 2005, and so far completed more than half way). But the officer asked only DS-forms, latest H1B/H4 approvals and passports. The interview took only one minute or so. The lady officer was very nice and asked about my responsibilities, how long I been working for my company, Green card status (my I-140 has been approved, got the three year extn). She asked me what Countries we have visited, I told her that, we have been in US from last 7 years (my 8th year), one of the multinational company brought me on Business visa and after that I have changed my status to H1B, since than we never traveled anywhere outside the US except Canada. We have visited Toronto in August to complete the Canada PR landing process. She said right away that, using the 30 day AVR, right?, I said yes mam. She then asked me to pick up our passports tomorrow at 03:00pm. Thanks mam!!!

Here is what I did before taking my travel arrangements to Ottawa:

A month ago, I spoke to one of the officer from customer support (called 900 number that we have provided in the Interview letter) and explained about my situation, as I came on business visa in my passport and changed my visa status to H1B. The officer clearly told me that as I have never out of status, and if we have all the legal paper work, they will process the visa.

So if you have all the legal paper work, all W2, TAX, pay stubs bank papers you can go to Canada for visa stamping. You can also call the 900 customer support number and directly talk to the officers. They are very friendly. I wish our country officers be like these officers(based on past experience). This definitely boosts the country values and image.

Regards
Sree
Click to expand...

CONGRAGULATIONS,

CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE ME 900#.

I WANT SOME SUGGESTION IF POSSIBLE. MY H1 IS EXPIRING ON 8/25/2007. I AM GOING TO APPLY FOR 3 YRS EXTENSION(AS I-140 ALREADY APPROVED) MAYBE BY MAY 07. I HAD NEVER VISITED INDIA SINCE I CAME ON 8/25/01. I DON'T HAVE ANY US EDUCATION. I CAME ON H1 IN 2001 FOR COMPANY A. THEN IN 2002 I TRANSFERRED MY H1 IN COMPANY B. COMPANY A WAS CONSULTING COMPANY FOR PROGRAMMING. COMPANY B IS IN HOTEL MOTEL INDUSTRY, BUT MY POSITION IS STILL ANALYST, AS IT WAS IN COMPANY A. NOW COMPANY A DOSEN'T EXIST ANYMORE. I DN'T HAVE VISA STAMP ON MY NEW PASSPORT. THERE WAS ONE IN MY EXPIRED PASSPORT, BUT EXPIRED STAMP. NOW ME AND MY FAMILY WANT TO VISIT INDIA. WHAT ARE MY CHANCES TO GET STAMPING FROM CANADA? IF NOT CANADA THEN FROM INDIA? WE ARE AFRAID. NOT PLANNING NOW BUT AFTER I GET EXTENSION OF THREE YEARS. ANY IDEAS?

THANKS
CHHAYA.
 
If you have all the paper work....

Chhaya said:
CONGRAGULATIONS,

CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE ME 900#.

I WANT SOME SUGGESTION IF POSSIBLE. MY H1 IS EXPIRING ON 8/25/2007. I AM GOING TO APPLY FOR 3 YRS EXTENSION(AS I-140 ALREADY APPROVED) MAYBE BY MAY 07. I HAD NEVER VISITED INDIA SINCE I CAME ON 8/25/01. I DON'T HAVE ANY US EDUCATION. I CAME ON H1 IN 2001 FOR COMPANY A. THEN IN 2002 I TRANSFERRED MY H1 IN COMPANY B. COMPANY A WAS CONSULTING COMPANY FOR PROGRAMMING. COMPANY B IS IN HOTEL MOTEL INDUSTRY, BUT MY POSITION IS STILL ANALYST, AS IT WAS IN COMPANY A. NOW COMPANY A DOSEN'T EXIST ANYMORE. I DN'T HAVE VISA STAMP ON MY NEW PASSPORT. THERE WAS ONE IN MY EXPIRED PASSPORT, BUT EXPIRED STAMP. NOW ME AND MY FAMILY WANT TO VISIT INDIA. WHAT ARE MY CHANCES TO GET STAMPING FROM CANADA? IF NOT CANADA THEN FROM INDIA? WE ARE AFRAID. NOT PLANNING NOW BUT AFTER I GET EXTENSION OF THREE YEARS. ANY IDEAS?

THANKS
CHHAYA.
Click to expand...

Thanks!!!

If you have all the legal paper work, you can go for it. I think Canada is better because, we don't have to waste our short vacation period by spending few days for stamping purpose. Since you already had the H1B visa stamping, make sure you take your old passport with you, so that the officer can review the old visa stamping, be honest and you will get it.

Good luck!!!
 
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Appointment in Toronto

Hi:
Has anybody got an appointment in toronto in Jan/Feb? I am trying to get one for last three weeks but no luck.
Thanks
 
H1 stamping in canada

guys,

I live in minneapolis, mn, any suggestions where do i need to go for stamping, and am planning to india in feb last week, do i need to rush for appointment? please help
 
Documents require for H1 and H4 stamping

Hi everyone!!! I want to know the list of documents required for H1 and H4 stamping at Vancouver, also I would like to know if there is any specific format for employer letter? I know these Q' s have been asked a billion times, still I would like to know list one more time from people who have recetly got their VISA stamped from vancouver.
 
Paystub with no employer name on it

Hi,

I changed h1 from A to company B, and since then Company B is running payroll. i applied for h1b transfer and was approved at that time. when the company B sends me the paystub, it doesn't have the Employer name on it. i am planning to go for H1-B stamping soon. this is the case for F1-OPT-H1B. Is this a problem when i go for Visa stamping in canada?this id for new H1B visa stamping. did anybody experience this kind of issue. can anybody please help me.

Thanks in advance.
 
Vancouver H1B Stamping worries

Hi, I went to Vancouver, Consulate for H1B stamping, the officer said "We Need To Further Look Into Your Application and we will call you with the result".

The interview went fairly smoothly, only one problem I ran into was, I am incorporated here in Canada and I didn't carry the incorporation docs with me. The officer asked me for that, when I said I didn't have them but I will be happy to provide them if needed, he said it is ok but he said “I would preferred it”.

At the end he said the above statement "We Need to Further Look into Your Application and we will call you with the result"

I am getting worried, what do they mean by "need to further look into my application"? I provided all the essential docs (except Incorporation Doc). They didn't ask me to provide any extra docs. So I am kind of tensed. Any one experienced this before? Office didn't give me timeline about when they will call me, so that makes it more tensed.

Note: I am a landed immigrant in Canada.
 
The usual stuff that they are interested are that you are a genuine employee and your company does exist (not just made up). So, as long as all your information is true, there is nothing to worry about. If you have any science background, computer security background etc, they will put you thro security check (in which case he would have issued you 221 g).

He is probably making sure the company is real. So, don't worry about.

They will never deny H1 except when there is fraud involved.

bkarth said:
Hi, I went to Vancouver, Consulate for H1B stamping, the officer said "We Need To Further Look Into Your Application and we will call you with the result".

The interview went fairly smoothly, only one problem I ran into was, I am incorporated here in Canada and I didn't carry the incorporation docs with me. The officer asked me for that, when I said I didn't have them but I will be happy to provide them if needed, he said it is ok but he said “I would preferred it”.

At the end he said the above statement "We Need to Further Look into Your Application and we will call you with the result"

I am getting worried, what do they mean by "need to further look into my application"? I provided all the essential docs (except Incorporation Doc). They didn't ask me to provide any extra docs. So I am kind of tensed. Any one experienced this before? Office didn't give me timeline about when they will call me, so that makes it more tensed.

Note: I am a landed immigrant in Canada.
Click to expand...
 
Interview on Friday

Hi:
The only opening I got for interview in Toronto is on Frday Feb 2nd. Does anyone know if they would return the passport (If visa is granted) on Friday itself or I have to wait till Monday.

Thanks for help. I really did not find any incident of H1-B interview on Friday in Canada
 
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Calgary Consulate

I got my H1b stamping appointment in Calgary.

I heard few H1b's were rejected recently at calgary consulate ? Any experience you can share ?

Should I stay with Calgary or change the appointment to any other Consulate in canada ?
 
PR Landing in Canada with Expired H1

Hello,

I need to complete Canadian permanent residency landing formality before Feb'07. I'm working in US on valid H1-B for a public company, but my visa stamp expired in Oct'06. I'm in my 7th year of H1 and have an approved H1 extension valid till Oct'07. I have read before that if we have valid 797, we can enter canada and return back into US even without a valid H1-B stamp. I want to ask this forum if this is valid. If I go to Canada, do I need to get stamping done there before entering back to US? Can anyone please point me to related information? Thank you all.

bk77
 
Vancouver Stamping

Thanks a lot ela6.
I got a phone call yesterday from the consulate, they said "We need to verify your educational credentials, can you bring them any day (Monday - Friday) but if you come early we can finish things early" This was the phone message from them. I went to the consulate today, they took all my educational docs (including MCA, Bsc ODs and mark sheets, I guess they took a photo copies) and after 15min they gave everything back and said, since your degrees are from India we have to validate them we will call you again. Even though I had my educational evaluation documents with me they didn't care mush about it. Now another waiting game has started ... I am not sure how long this will take ... any idea about this?

ela6 said:
The usual stuff that they are interested are that you are a genuine employee and your company does exist (not just made up). So, as long as all your information is true, there is nothing to worry about. If you have any science background, computer security background etc, they will put you thro security check (in which case he would have issued you 221 g).

He is probably making sure the company is real. So, don't worry about.

They will never deny H1 except when there is fraud involved.
Click to expand...
 
H4 to H1 Visa Stamping

I am doctor from India and currrently doing my residency in USA for the past 6 months. I am going to Visa stamping H4 to H1. I am just wondering is it a good thing to do are there any doctors who went to Vancouver canada for stamping
 
bkarth said:
Thanks a lot ela6.
I got a phone call yesterday from the consulate, they said "We need to verify your educational credentials, can you bring them any day (Monday - Friday) but if you come early we can finish things early" This was the phone message from them. I went to the consulate today, they took all my educational docs (including MCA, Bsc ODs and mark sheets, I guess they took a photo copies) and after 15min they gave everything back and said, since your degrees are from India we have to validate them we will call you again. Even though I had my educational evaluation documents with me they didn't care mush about it. Now another waiting game has started ... I am not sure how long this will take ... any idea about this?
Click to expand...
mine was 8th year h1b extension, interviewed on 18th of dec at the vancouver consulate. was given a white paper stating that further processing is required. haven’t heard anything yet. am still waiting in vancouver.
 
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