H1B Visa stamp in Pakistan, Latest situation

my interview at islamabad.

hi brothers i want to tell you my story about interview at islamabad. my visa officer looked at my application and asked how long u been in usa . i replied almost 7 years. she asked when u got you h1-b i replied in 2001. she asked u ever been refused for visa to usa. i replied no, she said are u sure, i replied yes . then she said how u can live for seven years over there for h1-b. i replied i have all approvals for H1-b extensions. she goes ok (still confused) let me see all of your extensions approvals. i hand it to her . she looked at them and asked did any body applied for immigration for you, i said yes.she says now it make sense. ok it looks like you will get visa again. then she hand it to me a white ticket and said you have to go throug additional administrative processing. i asked how long it will take , she goes i dont know and i cant promise you either. i asked can i have my passport back she gave it to me and told me that i will delay 1 more week of my visa. i said thats fine.

now white paper she gave to me it has date of my interview and my passport number. and it says;
your non immigrant visa application has been approved.However, your application must undergo some additional administrative processing before your visa can be printed. The timing will vary on a case by case basis, but may take up to two months or longer. Therefore, please be advised that you should not purchase any air tickets that you can not change. Once processing of your visa application is complete, your passport will be sent to you via the american express courier service. Thank you for your patience.

they have same thing in urdu .

now i have question how i should check on that call them or email them which way is better to communicate with them.

can i call state department and check the status of my clearance. please advise

thanks in advance

zeeshan saeed

interview date 14 may 2008
 
my interview at islamabad.

hi brothers i want to tell you my story about interview at islamabad for H1-B stamping. my visa officer looked at my application and asked how long u been in usa . i replied almost 7 years. she asked when u got you h1-b i replied in 2001. she asked u ever been refused for visa to usa. i replied no, she said are u sure, i replied yes . then she said how u can live for seven years over there for h1-b. i replied i have all approvals for H1-b extensions. she goes ok (still confused) let me see all of your extensions approvals. i hand it to her . she looked at them and asked did any body applied for immigration for you, i said yes.she says now it make sense. ok it looks like you will get visa again. then she hand it to me a white ticket and said you have to go throug additional administrative processing. i asked how long it will take , she goes i dont know and i cant promise you either. i asked can i have my passport back she gave it to me and told me that i will delay 1 more week of my visa. i said thats fine.

now white paper she gave to me it has date of my interview and my passport number. and it says;
your non immigrant visa application has been approved.However, your application must undergo some additional administrative processing before your visa can be printed. The timing will vary on a case by case basis, but may take up to two months or longer. Therefore, please be advised that you should not purchase any air tickets that you can not change. Once processing of your visa application is complete, your passport will be sent to you via the american express courier service. Thank you for your patience.

they have same thing in urdu .

now i have question how i should check on that call them or email them which way is better to communicate with them.

can i call state department and check the status of my clearance. please advise

thanks in advance

zeeshan saeed

interview date 14 may 2008
 
My H1B case is also in administrative process since Marh 20, 2008, i sent him an email, on which they reply they cant tell me exact time line,

khurram
 
Brothers I know this thread is only for H1 cases from Islamabad. I have questions/ concerns about my wife's H4 from Islamabad. I hope any brother from board can help me resolve my concern.

Here is my scenario December 07 I was in Khi to attain my brother's wedding few days after I had my nikkah done a day before my coming back to US. I plan to have rukhsati in end of July08.
My 6th year H1 is expiring in Dec08 and my perm is approved in EB2. My attorney suggested me to only file I-40 (which was filed in May08) and hold I-485 until august to file it together with my wife.

My questions:


1- Tax 07 - I already submited my tax as head of household adding my mother as dependent.
Since nikkah happen last year. Do I have to add my spouse? and change filling status to married instead of head of household.
Will it be issue for my spouse if visa officer looks in tax return docs that I did not add her as my spouse and I file tax as head of household?

Should I send amendment to my tax or leave it as it is?

2- Did anyone applied for immigration for you (my wife): What should I put here should it be no. My I-140 is filed and my wife's name is in it but I-485 is not filed yet.

3- Pictures- Unfortunately my nikkah happen so fast and quite way that I do not have any pictures of the occasion.I know VO always ask for pics. Should the pic from mehndi, rukhsati, and valima be enough? how does the folks who did phone nikkah manage this situation?


Please help .
 
administrative processing

brothers i have another question. during my interview at ISB visa officer told me that administrative processing is done in washington DC. can i call and check on my status or can my employer call washington dc to check the status of my administrative processing. if it is possible then please let me know the phone number. i guess from washington DC the visa officer mean Department of State.

please advise thanks in advance
 
Hi Zeeshan
I am also looking this answer, if you know from ur resources then plzz share it with me also, i also looking the status of my administrative process.

regards
khurram
 
The answer is unfortunately no. Both you and your employer need to wait it out. I know it is easier said than done, but in the end, this is the price one has to pay for seeking a benefit. I hope your wait is short.

zeeshanbutt4 said:
can i call and check on my status or can my employer call washington dc to check the status of my administrative processing.
Click to expand...
 
zeeshanbutt4 said:
can i call and check on my status or can my employer call washington dc to check the status of my administrative processing. if it is possible then please let me know the phone number.
Click to expand...

I believe you will find the number in one of the threads around here as I remember reading other people's comments in similar situation. From what I can recall, calling them may not get you anywhere even if you receive confirmation from them or the FBI that your name has been cleared etc. The Embassy will take its sweet time regardless.


Stoned!
 
update about my interview for H1-B stamping

hi brothers i want to give you an update on my interview. Since i had asked for my passport at the time of interview because visa officer told me to wait for administrative processing.visa officer gave me my passport back.I also have AP with me and i was ready to use that in case i have to wait more than 3 months.

7 days later now I received a phone call from US embassy to submit my passport with in 3 bussiness days, which i did now i am waiting for my passport. The person who called me from US Embassy told me to submit my passport , did not told me that my visa is ready to print or any thing else.

now its been 3 days i am still waiting for my passport, now my questions is;
how long it will take to get my passport back.
secondly when they call to submit my passport does that mean that my visa is ready to print or its just a part of administrative processing.

i would really appriciate any response.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It's good news. You will get your visa printed. I received phone all from Emb. and sent my passport via AmEX and got it back in about 5 days or so. Don't worry, you should be all set.
zeeshanbutt4 said:
hi brothers i want to give you an update on my interview. Since i had asked for my passport at the time of interview because visa officer told me to wait for administrative processing.visa officer gave me my passport back.I also have AP with me and i was ready to use that in case i have to wait more than 3 months.

7 days later now I received a phone call from US embassy to submit my passport with in 3 bussiness days, which i did now i am waiting for my passport. The person who called me from US Embassy told me to submit my passport , did not told me that my visa is ready to print or any thing else.

now its been 3 days i am still waiting for my passport, now my questions is;
how long it will take to get my passport back.
secondly when they call to submit my passport does that mean that my visa is ready to print or its just a part of administrative processing.

i would really appriciate any response.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for your response

jefkorn said:
It's good news. You will get your visa printed. I received phone all from Emb. and sent my passport via AmEX and got it back in about 5 days or so. Don't worry, you should be all set.
Click to expand...


first of all thanks for your response. i will up date on this thread as soon as i get my passport back.

i have another question, i have to file for my wife for H4 now i already fill all the forms and just waiting for my passport, the day i get my passport back i will get her visa appointment for H4

can u please tell me what documents she should take with her at the time of interview.

thanks in advance
 
Why do you need to wait for your passport to get her appointment for H4. You can book an appointment for her as long as you have Copy of your H1 approval notice.
Photo album of pictures of you two together
Marriage certificate translated copy preferred
If you are going with her to the emb. (you won't be let in with her), you can give you original passport with H1 stamp in it. If not then a copy of the your passport(Bio and visa pages)
Make sure she knows the basics about your job nature, job title, name of the company, address of the company and address ins US where you will be staying.
If this is your first H1, then you don't have to worry about following documents because you won't have any of them as of yet:
Tax returns
Rental agreement to prove the address in US
Driver's Lic etc

H4 is usually not a problem but I do know a case where H4 applicant was grilled in the interview and in the end asked to submit tax returns from the employer, a photograph of the employer building.

H4 experience for my spouse was very smooth. Hardly five minutes of interview and only thing shown to the interviewer were the photo album. It varies from interviewer to interviewer. Good luck and don't sweat it. You will be fine.



zeeshanbutt4 said:
first of all thanks for your response. i will up date on this thread as soon as i get my passport back.

i have another question, i have to file for my wife for H4 now i already fill all the forms and just waiting for my passport, the day i get my passport back i will get her visa appointment for H4

can u please tell me what documents she should take with her at the time of interview.

thanks in advance
Click to expand...
 
jefkorn said:
H4 is usually not a problem but I do know a case where H4 applicant was grilled in the interview and in the end asked to submit tax returns from the employer, a photograph of the employer building.
Click to expand...

This is interesting. Surely the authorities must have detected something out of the norm here, but it makes me wonder. What would happen if this was an arranged marriage where the spouse has very little information and she can't speak English or is illiterate.


Stoned!
 
how to get translation of Nikah nama

thanks you guys for your responses.

Brothers i want to give you update on my H1-b Stamp. on May 14 i had interview and i got clearnace on May 16th (printed on visa) after 7 days i received phone call from embassy that my visa is ready to be printed and i should submit my passport. i send my passport very next day and i got my passport back in 4 days with visa stamp in it. So total days it took me to get my visa, were 11 days. now i am waiting for my wife's H4 her interview date is june 11.

i have one question now "jefkron" told me in his response that i should have translated copy of Nikah Nama. please let me know how i can get it translated. Is there any specific place in pakistan where i can get it translated. on the day of my interview on may 14 i asked my visa officer about documents i need for H4. Her answer was you need copy of your marriage certificate in URDU.

But i still want to have a translated copy of my nikah nama just in case, So please let me know how i can get it translated.

thanks in advance
 
Last edited by a moderator:
See here for how to get it translated and certified. Here's a link to Ministry of Foreign Affairs about attestation of documents including Nikkah Nama.
zeeshanbutt4 said:
thanks you guys for your responses.

Brothers i want to give you update on my H1-b Stamp. on May 14 i had interview and i got clearnace on May 16th (printed on visa) after 7 days i received phone call from embassy that my visa is ready to be printed and i should submit my passport. i send my passport very next day and i got my passport back in 4 days with visa stamp in it. So total days it took me to get my visa, were 11 days. now i am waiting for my wife's H4 her interview date is june 11.

i have one question now "jefkron" told me in his response that i should have translated copy of Nikah Nama. please let me know how i can get it translated. Is there any specific place in pakistan where i can get it translated. on the day of my interview on may 14 i asked my visa officer about documents i need for H4. Her answer was you need copy of your marriage certificate in URDU.

But i still want to have a translated copy of my nikah nama just in case, So please let me know how i can get it translated.

thanks in advance
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi zeeshanbutt4,
Congrates on your H1 visa stamp and hope your wife's visa interview will go smooth too. I have a question to you. Can you please tell me how long it takes to get H4 interview appointment from Islamabad.
I plan to have my Rukhsati on July 30th my Nikkah was done last December. Can you please advise how soon should I apply for her H4 at American express karachi so that she can get her appointment somewhere during the week of August 4th. I would like to be there when she goes for her interview. I will really appreciate if you can share your experience.

I don't know if there will be any problem with her H4 when my H1 stamp is expiring in December 08... will there be?
 
zeeshanbutt4 said:
thanks you guys for your responses.

Brothers i want to give you update on my H1-b Stamp. on May 14 i had interview and i got clearnace on May 16th (printed on visa) after 7 days i received phone call from embassy that my visa is ready to be printed and i should submit my passport. i send my passport very next day and i got my passport back in 4 days with visa stamp in it. So total days it took me to get my visa, were 11 days. now i am waiting for my wife's H4 her interview date is june 11.

i have one question now "jefkron" told me in his response that i should have translated copy of Nikah Nama. please let me know how i can get it translated. Is there any specific place in pakistan where i can get it translated. on the day of my interview on may 14 i asked my visa officer about documents i need for H4. Her answer was you need copy of your marriage certificate in URDU.

But i still want to have a translated copy of my nikah nama just in case, So please let me know how i can get it translated.

thanks in advance
Click to expand...

As far as i know they will surly ask about the translation. And just to safe my time i already informed this to my parents and in-laws and they arranged it at the time of wedding. In short we signed on two marriage certificates at the time of wedding one was in urdu and other was in english (so no need of translation latter).
 
Consular Service at Islamabad for H1B

If It is a new H1B, What documents the consular can ask beside H1b Approval and job offer letter? Any idea?
 
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