JULY 2003 CHENNAI CP EXPERIENCES

bvganesh (and may be others):
you mentioned that you had to remove spectacles for immistyle photos. is it required and is it acceptable? what if your passport and visa has photos with glasses? did u have any problem regarding that?

bvganesh, Raju & others:
how long does it take to get tax transcript. I mailed the form 3 or 4 weeks ago and i havent got it yet. I have ordered over phone again.
is it ok to get notarized employment letter now (my interview is on Sep 26) or should i wait for couple of weeks?

will there be any problem if the company is not financially doing well or has mostly indian employees?
Thanks
Cannon576
 
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Originally posted by cannon576
bvganesh (and may be others):
you mentioned that you had to remove spectacles for immistyle photos. is it required and is it acceptable? what if your passport and visa has photos with glasses? did u have any problem regarding that?

bvganesh, Raju & others:
how long does it take to get tax transcript. I mailed the form 3 or 4 weeks ago and i havent got it yet. I have ordered over phone again.
is it ok to get notarized employment letter now (my interview is on Sep 26) or should i wait for couple of weeks?

will there be any problem if the company is not financially doing well or has mostly indian employees?
Thanks
Cannon576
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I think you are required to remove your glasses for the Immigration style photographs. Even if it means a slight difference between the passport photo it shoud not matter.

I got my tax transcripts last December in about 10 days of ordering for them on phone. So you should also get them soon.

You can collect the employment letter now. Carry the latest paystubs just to show continuity of employment. The paystubs may not be asked for, though!

In my case they never asked for the financials of my company.

The composition of the employees should not matter. I was
asked how many of the total company employees were Indian.
I told him the fact which was around 12%. No other questions
were asked.

Raju
 
Originally posted by cannon576
bvganesh (and may be others):
you mentioned that you had to remove spectacles for immistyle photos. is it required and is it acceptable? what if your passport and visa has photos with glasses? did u have any problem regarding that?
Click to expand...
There was no problem. I had taken the immi style photographs with the glasses removed. My wife had to take off her bindi, earrings etc... there is no problem. The guys at the photocenter is a pro... so they pretty much know what to do. Just follow their instruction and you should be fine.



bvganesh, Raju & others:
how long does it take to get tax transcript. I mailed the form 3 or 4 weeks ago and i havent got it yet. I have ordered over phone again.
is it ok to get notarized employment letter now (my interview is on Sep 26) or should i wait for couple of weeks?
Click to expand...

I just walk into the local IRS office and got my transcripts. It took me less than 10 minutes. But if you call the 1-800 # and order your transcripts it takes about 4-6 weeks to get the transcripts via the postal mail.

As for the notarization, if you could get it just before a week, that would be great (that's what I did!!). But you could also get it anytime. The "LATEST" the empl. letter is, the better it is!



will there be any problem if the company is not financially doing well or has mostly indian employees?
Click to expand...

It shouldn't matter much. Of course if the company is/has filed bankruptcy in the recent past/future then you could expect few more questions. But in my opinion, that will not the 'ONLY' factor to turn your application down!

If I am you, I would carry 3 months bank statements (from all the bank accounts ) to to prove your financial security. This would establish that you would *NOT* be a social liability even if the company goes down the drain!


Thanks
Cannon576
Click to expand...


Hope this helps
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Originally posted by cannon576
bvganesh (and may be others):
you mentioned that you had to remove spectacles for immistyle photos. is it required and is it acceptable? what if your passport and visa has photos with glasses? did u have any problem regarding that?

bvganesh, Raju & others:
how long does it take to get tax transcript. I mailed the form 3 or 4 weeks ago and i havent got it yet. I have ordered over phone again.

is it ok to get notarized employment letter now (my interview is on Sep 26) or should i wait for couple of weeks?

will there be any problem if the company is not financially doing well or has mostly indian employees?
Thanks
Cannon576
Click to expand...

1. Please order it over the phone. It should get to you within a week. I used this number: 1-800-829-0922
2. You can get the notarized letter now itself. If the notary is also from your company you can request your HR manager to make it post dated to some date before you leave for India from US. Remember "Latest is Greatest :)"
3. The consular officer did not check (I did not have it also) the financials of my company. From the posts in this forum I think it should not be an issue. The only rule that I know about percentage of H1 employees is that for US cos. with more than 15% H1 employees there are different US regulations that those companies need to follow. I am not aware of the details about the regualtions.
 
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PCC

Hi,
Do I need Police Clearence Certificate from London if I stayed there for 2 1/2 years and then came here?
 
Thanks Raju, bvganesh & aronline.
Anybody can shed some light on the company being a H1-dependent company ( > a certain % H1 employees ) and what should I know about that? What kind of questions I can expect in this case and what I need to ask my employer regarding this matter?

What i found so far is:
>>
An H1 dependent employer is one that has 25 or fewer "full-time equivalent" (FTE) employees and more than 7 H1B workers, 26-50 FTEs and more than 12 H1Bs, or at least 51 FTEs and 15% or more H1Bs. (Note that the H1Bs are considered part of the FTE number)

Employers must now attest to the fact they are not displacing employees or independent contractors with H1Bs.

If the beneficiary holds a Masters degree in a relevant field (or foreign equivalent, not work experience) or will be paid $60,000 or more, then the H1B beneficiary qualifies as “exempt” from being considered an H1B employee for the definition of an H1B dependent employer.

>>

I have a master's degree so hopefully no problems wrt my docs
 
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Another quick question:
When the consular officer asks how many indians are there in your company, does he mean Indian H1B employees, Citizens of India or Indians (citizens or origin)?
 
When they ask how many indians.. it only means how many "Indian Passport Holders" (including those holding GC & those on H1-Bs) ....
 
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Locations

Did you guys ever have to live and work at a different location than that is specified in the H-1B(I129) ?. If so did you mention all those addresses in the Part-1 DS-230. In case of those already attended the interviews, did any officer asked you questions in tha regard(in the past working at a client site other than the company heade quarters etc.). H1B's are supposed to work only at the address specified in the H1 petition eventhough most of us have come to US as consultants and have been re-located from place to place by the company( No other choice for our side) .

I am sure some of you would have to face this situation.

Thank you guys.
 
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Re: Locations

Originally posted by imihelp
Did you guys ever have to live and work at a different location than that is specified in the H-1B(I129) ?.
Click to expand...


Yes. I have. My company is based at Kansas and I had worked (& lived) at Florida for over a year.

If so did you mention all those addresses in the Part-1 DS-230.
Click to expand...
Yes. I did mention all the places where I stayed for more than 6 months.
In case of those already attended the interviews, did any officer asked you questions in tha regard(in the past working at a client site other than the company heade quarters etc.).
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No. He didn't ask me any questions pertaining to that.
H1B's are supposed to work only at the address specified in the H1 petition eventhough most of us have come to US as consultants and have been re-located from place to place by the company( No other choice for our side) .
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I don't think so. You are not expected just to work only at the head quarters. All you are exected to have is LCA (Labour Condition Application) for the place you work. That's all. (for e.g. I had to apply for a new LCA when I moved to Florida)
I am sure some of you would have to face this situation.
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Yes. Almost everybody who works as a consultant had to go through that!
Thank you guys.
Click to expand...

If I am you I wouldn't be even bothered about it. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Ganesh.
 
Re: PCC

Originally posted by Krishn_cp
Hi,
Do I need Police Clearence Certificate from London if I stayed there for 2 1/2 years and then came here?
Click to expand...

Yes you would certainly. For that matter you'll have to get PCC from every country (except the country from which you hold your passport -- in your case INDIA -- and US) where you have stayed for more that 6 months.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Ganesh.
 
Originally posted by cannon576
Thanks Raju, bvganesh & aronline.
Anybody can shed some light on the company being a H1-dependent company ( > a certain % H1 employees ) and what should I know about that? What kind of questions I can expect in this case and what I need to ask my employer regarding this matter?

What i found so far is:
>>
An H1 dependent employer is one that has 25 or fewer "full-time equivalent" (FTE) employees and more than 7 H1B workers, 26-50 FTEs and more than 12 H1Bs, or at least 51 FTEs and 15% or more H1Bs. (Note that the H1Bs are considered part of the FTE number)

Employers must now attest to the fact they are not displacing employees or independent contractors with H1Bs.

If the beneficiary holds a Masters degree in a relevant field (or foreign equivalent, not work experience) or will be paid $60,000 or more, then the H1B beneficiary qualifies as “exempt” from being considered an H1B employee for the definition of an H1B dependent employer.

>>
Click to expand...


I have read about that somewhere. But not too sure. But as a rule of thumb, I had planned to follow the 10% H1-Bs. i.e. when the consular officer asks how many employees are there in the company I would have said "about 50 employees" and if the officer had asked how many H1-Bs are there I would have said "about 5 or 6 of them".

The officer didn't question me on that anyways.

Hope this helps.
I have a master's degree so hopefully no problems wrt my docs
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I noticed in another thread that the mumbai consulate people replied to an email stating that you need PCC from other countries if you stayed for more than a year. You can search for that and find out. I personally didnt talk to any consulate ppl about this; so i cant say this for sure. Just FYI
 
Originally posted by jchandra29
Consular Fees.

Mine is employement category E3 visa and we have already paid the $335 Visa Fees for me and my spouse.
The website is not clear on the fees information.

What other fees are applicable to my case?

Jay.
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I guess that's it (if you have paid $335 for each one of you i.e. $670 for you and your spose together).

Remember to take the bank receipt copy of the cashier's check, just in case if they ask you for any proof of fee payment.

If you have paid the fees here, all you would need is a DD for Rs. 400 (Rs. 300 for courier and Rs. 50 per person for passport insurance) payable to Blue Dart Couriers.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Ganesh.
 
Not sure about LCA

Dear Ganesh.

Thank you very much for such a detailed reply.
I am not sure of LCA and whether the company had LCA for the places where I have worked. I am unable to check on those as the company is no longer in existence. I had to live at 2 client locations about 4- 5 months each. I was planning to specify my duration of stay as about 1 month each at those places and specify the entire period at heade quarters. So that if the officer ask something then I can try to convince that those stays were temporary, and at the same time I was not concealing the places of stay.
I was a project Manager and had to attend to and visit multiple client locations at the same time even though I was located at my primary client (I guess You know about a consultants life, If they ask to walk on the head, one has very little choice but to do it). Also I did not know at that time about these LCA rules and was unable to check with the employer. It was only about an year and half and , I changed my employer.

Kindly provide your thoughts.


Originally posted by bvganesh


Yes. I have. My company is based at Kansas and I had worked (& lived) at Florida for over a year.


Yes. I did mention all the places where I stayed for more than 6 months.

No. He didn't ask me any questions pertaining to that.

I don't think so. You are not expected just to work only at the head quarters. All you are exected to have is LCA (Labour Condition Application) for the place you work. That's all. (for e.g. I had to apply for a new LCA when I moved to Florida)

Yes. Almost everybody who works as a consultant had to go through that!


If I am you I wouldn't be even bothered about it. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Ganesh.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Not sure about LCA

Originally posted by imihelp
Dear Ganesh.

Thank you very much for such a detailed reply.
I am not sure of LCA and whether the company had LCA for the places where I have worked. I am unable to check on those as the company is no longer in existence. I had to live at 2 client locations about 4- 5 months each. I was planning to specify my duration of stay as about 1 month each at those places and specify the entire period at heade quarters. So that if the officer ask something then I can try to convince that those stays were temporary, and at the same time I was not concealing the places of stay.
I was a project Manager and had to attend to and visit multiple client locations at the same time even though I was located at my primary client (I guess You know about a consultants life, If they ask to walk on the head, one has very little choice but to do it). Also I did not know at that time about these LCA rules and was unable to check with the employer. It was only about an year and half and , I changed my employer.

Kindly provide your thoughts.
Click to expand...

I know for sure that just being located away from your head quarters will *NOT* be an impediment for GC.

As for LCA, the company applies for it. During your H1-B application (which also includes LCA) the company would mention 3 places where the person is likely to work. (In my case, it was Kansas, NY & Massachusets) If you happend to work on a prolonged basis on a place different than this, the company has to apply for LCA for these places. (REMEMBER the 30 Indians arrested for not having LCA at San Antonio, TX couple of years back?)

The point I am trying to drive is that mentioning this would *NOT* disqualify or discredit your GC application in any way. I leave the choice of mentioning or not mentioning your place of residence in DS-230 Part I to you.

I can tell you that I had disclosed the locations that I have lived for more than 6 months (and haven't disclosed those under 6 months but just treated those as a part of either the previous or next residence place just to have a contiguous stay-periods on DS-230 Part I). Everything went on well at the Interview and I have also got my plastic card. So, I leave the rest to your judgement.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Ganesh.
 
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Re: Re: Not sure about LCA

Originally posted by bvganesh
I know for sure that just being located away from your head quarters will *NOT* be an impediment for GC.

As for LCA, the company applies for it. During your H1-B application (which also includes LCA) the company would mention 3 places where the person is likely to work. (In my case, it was Kansas, NY & Massachusets) If you happend to work on a prolonged basis on a place different than this, the company has to apply for LCA for these places. (REMEMBER the 30 Indians arrested for not having LCA at San Antonio, TX couple of years back?)

The point I am trying to drive is that mentioning this would *NOT* disqualify you in any extent. I leave the choice of mentioning or not mentioning your place of residence in DS-230 Part I to you.

I can tell you that I had disclosed the locations that I have lived for more than 6 months (and haven't disclosed those under 6 months but just treated those as a part of either the previous of next residence place just to have a contiguous stay-periods on DS-230 Part I). Everything went on well at the Interview and I have also got my plastic card. So, I leave the rest to your judgement.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Ganesh.
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Ganesh Thanks a lot.

Did you have LCA or copies of it at any time. Also under q.25 part1 ds230, we would have to specify

All the previous visits to the US OR Places of residence.

Did you specify those stays which were under 6 months ?.

(I know we dont have to specify it under Q.20 )

Appreciate it very much Ganesh.
 
PCC

NVC web site and packet 3 says you need PCC if you stayed more than 12 months in another country (other than US) then you need a PCC. Mumbai consulate web site is the only place where it lists 6 months. In another thread a guy asked them and they said 12 months. He has posted the correspondence on the board. Since the packet 3 says 12 months I don't think it is necessary to ring and ask them again.
 
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