Hello,
My wife and I landed in Chennai for our July 16th interview. Everything went smoothly - medical tests (4 days prior to interview, lister and Dr. Vijayalakshmi), photos (Konica labs opposite Chola Sheraton).
On the interview date, the security did not let my wife in because her name was not printed as a 'traveling applicant' in the yellow appointment letter. I was allowed in. I went in with the idea that the consulate had messed up and that I was going to get it sorted out so that my wife could be let in soon. I was told that there was a mistake and that they did not have any of my wife's application materials. I waited and waited till the Indian lady called my name for documents check. She showed me my folder and pointed out that they did not have any of my wife's papers. I stated that my application was first sent to the consulate in Jan 2001, that according to the old rules we were required to pay the fees (335+65$) only at the interview, that my interview process was initiated in May 2004 and my wife was added to my application. She just would not listen. I told her repeatedly that the lawyers had sent her a cover letter stating that my wife was to be added to my application. I also showed her photocopies of all the DS230 forms that were sent, that clearly showed my wife's application and that I was applying together with her. I could only evoke this statement from her after all my efforts - "I don't know where the mistake is. Even if we made a mistake, nothing can be done now. You have two options - get your IV stamped now and have your wife come back 2 months later OR both of you come back 2 months later." I opted for the latter as I did not want any more complications.
The gist is that -
1. The lawyers sent all our DS230 forms just as needed. They also sent the cover letter stating that my wife needed to be added.
2. The consulate somehow messed up and missed adding my wife to the application.
3. The consulate did not issue a visa number to my wife for July. Thus there was no way for them to correct their mistake. The only option was to issue my wife a visa number at the next allocation which will be in Aug.
4. My lawyers (damn them!) and myself overlooked the fact that the yellow appointment letter did not have both of our names.
5. My lawyers sent the consulate an email clearly stating that the consulate had erred and asked them for an appointment in the same month so that we would not have to come back to India.
6. The consulate was not able to budge due to their monthly visa number quotas. So, we will need to travel for the interview ONCE AGAIN in Sept.
7. We were able to reenter the US based on our stamped H1 visas. My wife had to get an H1 stamping appointment for late July before we could return to the US.
So, fellow CP'ers!
PLEASE ENSURE THAT THE YELLOW APPOINTMENT LETTER HAS ALL THE APPLICANTS' NAMES.
Cheers,
Sreek