H1B Stamping in Halifax Canada (only for revalidation)
H1B Stamping in Halifax Canada (only for revalidation)
If this is your first H1 do not book your appointment. I had my H1 from my first company and I was going for the stamp for my third company.
-Appointment
I Scheduled the appointment on the website. While scheduling it the page for entering the I-797 information (notice date, receipt date, receipt number) did not show up. But a few days before the appointment I logged in again to my account with the passport number and reference number, this page showed up and I entered the information. It is important to fill out this information and DS 156 online.
I would suggest filling up a sample DS-156 offline and after reviewing it filling it up online. You should get 3 pages for the DS 156 and 2 of them have a barcode.
*Do not glue the 2x2 photograph on the form.
*Also do not leave any blank spaces (.... write NA)
At the airport
As soon as I got out of the immigration at Halifax, a few yards down the airport lounge I saw the Travelex foreign exchange and converted a few us dollars. there is a 7 $ fee for every transaction. If you have somebody with you, I would recommend both of you to do the transaction in one go. I recommend not taking a cab to the city. It costs 54 Canadan $. There is a shuttle service managed by AIRPORTER. Its 18 $ per person. Book your ticket in the airport terminal itself. Ask the driver to drop you at Delta Halifax (Hotel).
-Scotia Bank
Once you get down at Delta Halifax you will see the Scotia Bank Sign. Get into the building. The bank is in this building (Scotia Mall) right behind a fountain.
Deposit the money and get the deposit slips stamped. I converted another 50 US $ for a 2 $ fee ( Cheaper than the airport). The food court is next to the bank. I ate at TASTE OF INDIA, but I would recommend the Chicken kabob platter at the Lebanese joint. After lunch I walked all the way through the skywalk to the PURDY WHARFS TOWER 2, behind the Casino, to check out the consulate, so that I do not have to struggle the next day to find it. The security at the reception area called a cab for us to my Dartmouth motel.
-Stay
I booked a motel (air+hotel package on ORBITZ) in Darthmouth, Nova Scotia (Comfort Inn, 456 Windmill rd) $ 72 per night for a 2 bed room. Its 20 minutes away from the city. 14 $ by cab. You can also take the bus number 51 (2$ coins only) right across the motel to the place called Bridge (it literally takes you to the bridge which connects Dartmouth and Halifax city). Remember to take the transfer stub and change the bus. Most of the buses from the bridge go to the Scotia Mall in Halifax. We travelled by bus for most of the day. It was very cold. January and temperature were around -20 C. There is a Chinese restaurant and a Pizza/Sub place right across the Motel. Also the Bridge area has a few places like Wendy's.
-day of the interview
My appt was at 9:30 , I was there by 8. They took me in. Gave me a list of documents to be kept ready (I was missing the travel itenary, fortunately my friend who was travelling with me had an extra copy). The security guy checks the documents and gives you a stub for the passport. Keep this stub safely, you have to show it the next day to get back your passport. (Its cool even if you lose it.The security guy is very freindly. He remembers people. A few had lost it, but no issue)
questions
- how long you have been in US
- what degree (Masters or Bachelors)
- how long with this company
- why did you leave the first company
- why did you leave the second company
- when did you leave the company
She told me ( as with other applicants) that my information is not in the new system called PIMPS, so its possible that I could not get my passport the next day at 3 pm.
After the interview we went back to the scotia mall, had lebonese food, took a bus number 1 to the park lane mall ( you could also walk) and watched an awesome movie (Kite Runner)
Next Tense day
This was friday, my flight was at 6:15 pm. The US immigration closes at 5:30, so I had to be back to the airport at the most by 5:15 pm.
I was at the consulate at 2:50 pm. I security guy let us in. Has a small chat with us. Said only a few passports are ready. unfortunate none of them were ours. We waited till 3:15 pm but the passports werent ready. There were 7 of us , only 2 were H1B. He asked us to come back at 4:30 pm, if not by then he ased us to enjoy our weekend at Halifax !! We went back to the Scotia mall, ate some more, came back at 4:00, clock was ticking...all 7 of us were there by 4:30 pm. All were very tensed, they had booked their tickets like us. 4:45 nothing yet....4:56 I got my passport, 4:59 my friends got my passport. We ran down to the reception, the security called a cab,
All of us had got the Passports. The Taxi driver (Indian) drove like crazy to get us to the airport. It was rush hour and the Bridge is packed. The most amazing driving I have seen. We got to the airport at 5:30 pm, but they didnt let us check in as the Immigration was closed. I paid 200$ for 2 if us to rebook the next available flight next morning and stayed the whole night at the airport.
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Hope this information was useful. Too detail, but I was in the mood of writing after watching Kite Runner. Do watch it !
