Likely Delhi Interview (July, August 2004)

I tired calling up the Delhi Embassy’s IV section #s for about 2 hours last night – no luck as either the phone keeps on ringing or the line gets engaged. I’m dialing the following #s -- 91 (11) 2419-8062/8374, wondering if anyone else has been lucky to talk to the embassy officer @ their interview schedule?

Rjain
 
Rjain2 said:
Hi folks,

I’m expecting a July interview @ ND and was scooping out some airfares from the D.C. area – the best even in the peak season seems to be Air Canada via Toronto. My question is:

1) I suspect we need transit visa for Canada, can anyone confirm?

{Since you will be holding an Immigrant visa you may not need a transit
visa for Canadian airport. But get some confirmation on this}

2) On return with the GC papers is the POE considered to be Toronto?

{POE is the first US airport you land in}
3) If #2 is yes, then is there any technical issue one should be aware compared to POE being say JFK or Dulles airport?
4) Can the POE of the spouse be different then primary candidate if she is returning at a later date?

{Not necessary, but sometimes they do ask questions like where do
you live? Why are you arriving here? . As long as we have good
answers to this, it is OK}

Would appreciate responses from anyone who has experienced similar situations.

Thx,

Rjain
Click to expand...


{my responses}

Raju
 
Hi Raju,

Thanks for your responses; some follow up questions.

1) Toronto (and other Canadian) airports are interesting since for US flights, the US Immigration and US Customs is done @ the Canadian airport (I’d been to Toronto in Feb and experienced this recently and earlier at Montreal in 2001). I wasn’t sure whether they do the I-551 or whatever stamping one gets at the US POE there for Indian’s coming via Toronto after Delhi CP! I’m sure that they do it for Canadians’ getting CP done in Toronto.

2) The reason for traveling via Canada would be that the only flight available at reasonable rates during peak season was Air Canada – hopefully they’ll agree!

3) I’ll check with their Consulate about the transit visa requirements.

Thx,

Rjain.
 
hi rjain2,
any luck in contacting ND embassy so far!
i'll also send a mail or try calling them this week.hope this week brings many good news for this forum members.
good luck!
austin
 
while reading interview experiences by previous CP ers,i found that everybody was asked to collect visa in the evening.but what about courier service,is it not for IV's?
actually i feel collecting visa in evening by ourself is better as we can check typo's same time and report right there.any views!
 
Hi Austin,

Trying to call them has been a real wasted effort – I spent 2 hours once last week using the redial feature to death without success. I’ve also sent an email requesting the schedule without success.

They must get bombarded at the beginning of a month with candidates enquiring @ the interview dates and must not be very communicative till they finalize the schedule. I believe that this is done by the 10th so we may see some communication after that. I’m more apprehensive if one has an interview date towards the beginning of the month and has to scramble to get tickets during peak season…..

The courier-back policy seems to be for all IV applicants too, agree that physical pick-up is better but can’t do much about it.

Rjain.
 
austin316 said:
while reading interview experiences by previous CP ers,i found that everybody was asked to collect visa in the evening.but what about courier service,is it not for IV's?
actually i feel collecting visa in evening by ourself is better as we can check typo's same time and report right there.any views!
Click to expand...


Chennai has been sending the visa packets by courier service all along.

Mumbai was allowing the applicants to come back in the evening and collect
the packet.

I am not sure about New Delhi.

Either Mumbai or New Delhi have changed their policy and sending the
visa by courier service. Check on this.

Raju
 
drak said:
Looks like the service standards are falling at ND. No one picks up the phone and there is no promptness in responding the emails any more.

This could be a very recent development as the previous threads/posts mentioned good experiences.
Click to expand...
Maybe, since people are praising them, they are like ... Hmmm! Let's go back to normal. ;)
 
hi,
similar experience like that of drak.no response to email or phone.
may be they are too busy in finalising the list for july in this week.so just wait'n watch(hope).
austin.
 
Courier back

Rjain,
Do you know how long does it take for them to send the passport back after the interview via courier. I guess all of need to take this additional wait in consideration before planning the return trip to US.

Also, I sent the US embassy an email but no response. So it is consistent with others' experiences.
 
Hi SKB,

The courier service should be very fast – I believe it’s blue dart, which for Delhi addresses should be next day. If they are charging Rs.400 per applicant it should be the premium service. A business friend of mine told me that a decent size document package from Delhi to Bangalore by Blue Dart Express Service costs Rs.150 so there is some padding in the numbers but we should consider it part of the cost of getting the GC.

Rjain
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks

Thanks Austin and Rjain. So return ticket after 2 days after the interview date should be okay?

I guess you need to be in Delhi 2 days before the interview for Medical. right?

SKB
 
hi,
just got the same standard reply from ND consulate "we have received your ......will arrange your interview in forthcoming months..........".too disheartening.when do they actually start finalising dates.if they have already done it,does this mean my no.is out for july too?any replies would be welcome.
skb14,did you try to contact ND lately as your papes reached there in march end?
austin.
 
Hi SKB,

skb14 said:
Thanks Austin and Rjain. So return ticket after 2 days after the interview date should be okay?

I guess you need to be in Delhi 2 days before the interview for Medical. right?

SKB
Click to expand...

Unless you are extremely pressed for time, I would not recommend planning your trip to Delhi very short. The doctors apparently take up to 2 working days to give the reports. The embassy couriering should take up to 2 days after the interview. Thus you should plan a minimum of 4 working days – one for medical & photos and 2 more to collect the med reports and then the fateful day of the interview. This assumes you don’t have to go back to submit some missing item!

If you are planning to travel in India outside Delhi, then you could give the address of some friend or relative who can receive the passport and papers and you can collect from them after your “Bharat Darshan”. The other problem is that Delhi has a tendency to have bandhs @ the drop of a hat which disrupt various activities frequently, so best advice is to keep as much flexibility as you can to allow for these contingencies.

Cheers,

Rjain
 
No reply from NWD

Austin,
I sent an email to the embassy but no avail. I certainly hope to make July cut. Will keep you guys posted.

SKB
 
chennai interviews for july!

hi guys,
so chennai has already announced july interviews.think delhites still have to wait a little longer( as always).
read in chennai forum(by jalabalajings)that they post pkt 4 around 5th of month for USA people.does that mean they already finalise interview dates by that time or is it different for different consulates?
all the best!
austin.
 
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