I-140+I-824(Receipt) at Chennai Consulate

kanakab

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

We have sent Packet-3 with our I140 apporval and I824 receipt notice to Chennai consulate. They recieved it on 24th Dec 2001, but have not entered our record in the system.
Has anybody taken this route before. How long does it take for the consulate to generate the case number. Pls advice.
 
Good luck

Hello,

Chennai consulate does not accept AC I-140 cases. You have wait for I-824 approval and then send the papers to Channei. It is all over this site that Channei doen not accept AC 140. Only Delhi and Mumbai accepts AC cases. Good luck to you because I-824 is taking 5-6 months for approval.
 
But Chennai website says differently

May be just the receipt is ok with the Chennai Consulate. Please see the following article on their FAQ section.

This is totally confusing.

URL: http://madras.sphynx.com/wwwhfaq.php3?cat=4

Question: How do I request consular processing of a pending employment based case?

Answer:

On a case-by-case basis, the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai is accepting employment-based immigrant visa cases for processing when all the following conditions are met:

1. INS has already approved an E1 or E2 category immigrant visa petition and the applicant has an original I-797 form

2. the applicant is a resident of the Chennai consular district >the priority date of the case is current or could reasonably be expected to be current within 60 days (we will not warehouse non-current cases)

3. waiting for the INS to process the change-of-status application would cause the applicant hardship

4. the applicant has attorney-certified copies of all pages that made up the original immigrant visa petition

5. there does not appear to be any indication that the case is fraudulent

6. and our workload permits us to take the case

If you believe that your case meets these conditions, have your attorney send certified copies of your I-140 paperwork to the Immigrant Visa Unit, U.S.
Consulate General, 220 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 006 India with

1. the original I-797 Notice of Approval Form
2. complete forms OF-169 and OF-230, part 1
3. an e-mail address where we can contact the attorney with confirmation that we have accepted the case

DO NOT send any submissions to any officer or employee by name. Doing so mixes business with personal mail and results in lost paperwork when officers transfer.

We are accepting E3 cases that meet the above conditions on a more limited basis, where it is clear that the applicant is highly skilled. We would accord precedence to applicants who have already received H1-B visas in the same profession or for the same employer.

NOTE: This procedure only applies in change-of-status cases. If INS has approved an employment-based petition and you had asked from the beginning to apply for the visa in Chennai, then we must wait for the case to arrive from the National Visa Center.
 
But Chennai consulate website says differently

May be just the receipt is ok with the Chennai Consulate. Please see the following article on their FAQ Site.

This is totally confusing.

URL: http://madras.sphynx.com/wwwhfaq.php3?cat=4

Question: How do I request consular processing of a pending employment based case?

Answer:

On a case-by-case basis, the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai is accepting employment-based immigrant visa cases for processing when all the following conditions are met:

1. INS has already approved an E1 or E2 category immigrant visa petition and the applicant has an original I-797 form

2. the applicant is a resident of the Chennai consular district >the priority date of the case is current or could reasonably be expected to be current within 60 days (we will not warehouse non-current cases)

3. waiting for the INS to process the change-of-status application would cause the applicant hardship

4. the applicant has attorney-certified copies of all pages that made up the original immigrant visa petition

5. there does not appear to be any indication that the case is fraudulent

6. and our workload permits us to take the case

If you believe that your case meets these conditions, have your attorney send certified copies of your I-140 paperwork to the Immigrant Visa Unit, U.S.
Consulate General, 220 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 006 India with

1. the original I-797 Notice of Approval Form
2. complete forms OF-169 and OF-230, part 1
3. an e-mail address where we can contact the attorney with confirmation that we have accepted the case

DO NOT send any submissions to any officer or employee by name. Doing so mixes business with personal mail and results in lost paperwork when officers transfer.

We are accepting E3 cases that meet the above conditions on a more limited basis, where it is clear that the applicant is highly skilled. We would accord precedence to applicants who have already received H1-B visas in the same profession or for the same employer.

NOTE: This procedure only applies in change-of-status cases. If INS has approved an employment-based petition and you had asked from the beginning to apply for the visa in Chennai, then we must wait for the case to arrive from the National Visa Center.
 
Don\'t fall in those categories

Hi,
We don\'t fall into all of these. Would anyone know how long does it take after the I824 approval to get the interview call?
 
Hi Kanakab

It takes couple of months to get the interview, after mailing all the papers to the consulate. Also you cannot sent to any other consulate if your permanent address comes under Chennai consulate. However, if you can provide sufficient proof that your permanent address has changed and now you are under Mumbai or Delhi jurisdiction, you can apply there.
 
Not a hardship case

Hi Krishna,
Ours is not a hardship case. We cannot even prove it otherwise. We spoke to our lawyer, and she said all we can do is wait for our I824 to get approved and NVS to send us the packet 3. Only after that can we proceed. Let me know if you need any more details. Would be more than willing to help.

Kanaka
 
No Title

Thanks for ur reply. when exactly did u apply for i-824...which center u have applied ...is there any way to change the i-140 approval to cp now...my lawyer didn\'t even inform me they would be applying for aos at the time of I-140 ....i realized it later ...Is it possible to change it later.
 
I am in the same boad

Hi Kanaka, I am in the same boat as you are. My lawyers are about to send the approved I-140 & 824 receipt, along with other docs to chennai (I am from Hyderabad, Chennai jurisdiction). My question is - did they inform you that they are not accepting your case OR they are just keeping quite.

I was living in London before moving to US. And I know that London accepts AC-140. Can I, by any chance, go for AC-140 in London. Also my H1 was stamped in London. CP gurus, pls advise.
 
They kept quite

We had to call Chennai and NVS to find out that they do not accept such cases. Our lawyer was not aware of this. Or she pretended not to know!

She infact asked us to wait for a month before Chennai consulate would enter our case into the system. She thought they are just being lazy!!!!!

To select a consulate, you should have residence in the area of the consulate, thats when you can select that consulate for CP. And I am not sure if we could change the consulate, as our lawyer said, we cannot move to Delhi even though I have my passport issued from Delhi.
All I can say is we will have to wait even though some one else goofed up. These lawyers!!!!!!!!!
 
Folks... just to confirm some thoughts that have been posted as I tried some of these options

a) Chennai doesnot "normally" accept AC140 cases (I140 + 824 reciept etc). The only such requests they entertain (as mentioned on their website) is if you have already applied for AOS (I485) and there have been significant delays which is causing you proven hardship. A word of caution for anyone wanting to go this route though. INS considers your AOS petition canceled if you change to CP.

b) For all other cases, Chennai waits till they get the go ahead from NVC before they will enter you case (I824 apporval). Interview will be scheduled accordingly. However, before they conduct the interview, they have to get all the documentation related to your case from NVC as well (as some folks expecting interviews in Jan found out to their dismay).

c) The consulate which has jurisdiction over your case is determined either by your current residence (which is not applicable in most our cases as it is US) or the permanent address mentioned in your passport.

Just my 2c worth
 
No Title

a) for a person who has been in chennai from birth it should be a positive sign -------right ? ........passport address is from my birth..
even now parents living in the same address.............
b) what is this hardship? Do we really need a letter ? any body undergone this...........
c) I have indicated that i would be doing aos at the time of i-140 approval , so in case my case is denied what would happen?
 
for kanakab

Are you trying to do attorney certified cp under eb3 category...why u think u don\'t qualify for what they have listed in chennai website...except for hardship i feel i qualify because at the time of I-140 i have indicated aos . I just don\'t understand what the hardship really mean?

u have applied in December right...i assume they had christmas and other vacation time in january ...so possibly you have get approved right.............don\'t loose hope..............
 
dont send ACI-140 with I-824 receipt

I have already experienced this. Chennai does NOT accept AC-140 with I-824 receipt.
If you send it to them, you will not get an interview and also you will NOT get back your documents too.
 
ckvimal --------can you answer this

In case i send just the AC-140 application whether they would accept it with out I-824? Do you know of any in the discussion who have done ac-140 lately.
 
ckvimal

why i posted the question was for example newdelhi and bombay requires i-824 reciepts .........let us clarify among ourselves in the discussion thread.
 
clarification

I also had the same question as krishnap. Does Chennai accpet AC-140 application WITHOUT either the 824 receipt or the approval? I guess here is where the confusion is after reading their website. Website does not mention about 824 at all for ac-140 cases.
 
Chennai does not accept AC-140 for sure...

I had sent my AC- 140 along with my 824 receipt and got back all my documents saying they cannot accept my case \'coz of their HEAVY work load. And...i am very much a resident of Chennai and my birth place was also Chennai...
 
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