Mumbai CP experience 3rd May 2004

amolnaik

Registered Users (C)
Medical Test: Breach Candy Hospital 22nd April

Interview: 3rd May
We took our car and parked it in the MCGM parking lot adjacent to the consulate. We reached around 7:45AM and already there was a long queue (about 30-40 people

ahead of us) outside. Ofcourse this included both Non-immigrant and Immigrant visa applicants. First they called out for 'Immigration pending' cases. They were let in first.

As everyone would be aware by now, cell phones, electronic gadgets, purses are not allowed inside the consulate. Though I was carrying my remote car keys which the

security guy said was not allowed. So I ran back to see if I could keep it with the watchman at the parking lot. He directed me to another guy who was specifically stationed

for that purpose - keeping car keys. Took Rs30 for this service!!! But I was relieved :)

Ladies are allowed inside separately as they do a security check. My wife got inside earlier as the ladies are less in number. By the time I joined her inside it was 9AM.

While we were waiting for the interview, we talked to others who had finished submitting their documents. One of them said that she wasn't asked for the Local police station

PCC. We felt good hearing that because that was the only document that we didn't have. We got a call to submit our papers at around 10:30AM at counter 10. There were 4

counters (10,11,12,14) servicing immigrant visa applicants, all of them manned by Indians. The lady asked me to submit my documents first. She specifically asked for DS

230 Part 1 which I said that I had submitted already. She got irritated and said that "we don't have it on your file and you are supposed to bring all the necessary documents

along with you for the interview". I said I have got a copy and submitted her that copy. She was satisfied with that, phew!!. She asked me to sign a document which mentions

that I would be employed with the company that has filed the petition for me and also my job would match the description. I didn't give it much importance but signed it.
Q: How long have you been working with this company?
A: Had worked in 1999 but since 2000 have been working with affiliate in India.
Q: If you haven't worked for this company, how can they petition for a GC for you?
A: Have worked before and had an H1 with the same company in 1999 for 1.5 years. Have been travelling on a business visa for the same company numerous times in the

past few years.
She wasn't very satisfied, not sure why!!
Q: What is your designation in the company?
A: xxx
Q. Have you stayed in the US for more than 6 months on a business visa?
A: No
Q: Any other country?
A: No
Later she asked me for the Local Police Station clearance which we didn't have. I tried telling her that since we will be travelling soon, do we still need it (this was based on

what the girl had told us a few minutes back)? The lady said since we had stayed in India all along, we needed that clearance. She wrote down in our file that we had NOT

submitted the local police station clearance certificate.
Documents for me:
1. DS 230 Part 1 (copy of the one that I had submitted when applying for AC140)
2. DS 230 Part 2 (hand-written)
3. Birth Certificate copy (she looked at the original and returned it)
4. Marriage Certificate original and copy
5. Notarized Offer Letter from US employer - original.
6. I-134 notarized (I had this notarized from the US so not sure if this is accepted without notarization).
7. RPO PCC - original

Documents for my wife:
1. DS 230 Part 1 (copy of the one that I had submitted when applying for AC140)
2. DS 230 Part 2 (hand-written)
3. Birth Certificate copy (she looked at the original and returned it)
4. Marriage Certificate copy
5. RPO PCC - original

She asked us to wait and they would call us again.

Consular interviews were taking place at counter 9. One by one people ahead of us went inside and we could see happy faces and some others with a letter in hand which

indicated they had been asked to submit something more (immigration pending). By the time, our name was called out, another lady had started the interviews at counter 10

probably because they had finished accepting documents from all applicants. This time it was an American lady who took our interview. She started with asking us to take

the oath and swearing that whatever we had written in the documents was correct and whatever we were going to answer was true.
Q: How long have you worked with this company?
A: Same as earlier
Q. Where is this company located?
A. xxxx
Lady: That's a great location!!
Q. (more of a statement) So they liked you so much that they want you to come and work there....
Smiles all around.
She said that since we didn't have the local police station clearance, our immigration visas will be kept pending till we submit the certificate. I can come alone anyday at

7:45AM to submit the certificate and collect the visas.

So now the wait begins for the PCC. But atleast we are relieved that once we submit the PCC, we will get the visas :)

Side notes:
1. No need to carry food. They have a refreshments stall inside the consulate so you can munch something while you are waiting for the interview or before submitting the

documents.
2. Some girls photos were rejected because they had worn earrings in the snap. They were asked to bring new snaps. There is a counter inside the consulate where you can take snaps in such a case.
3. Good place to eat near the consulate: Under the Over at Kemps Corner.
4. Documents which I carried but were not asked for:
a. Indian company employment letter
b. US bank account verification letters
c. US bank statements
d. 2000 W-2 and Returns copy
e. US and Indian company tax returns, financial statements, payroll information, brochures.
f. Indian tax returns, payslips.
g. Marriage snaps, invitation letter (probably because my wife had travelled on H4 as well as Business dependent visa).

My wife has been teasing me while I am writing all this, she doesn't realize how much this forum has helped us!! :)

All the best to Alren and others. Many thanks to kd1403, Raju, cpzinga,forms2002.
 
Congratulations

Congratulations Amol. I know you feel like you can fly with no more weight on your shoulder. I am eagerly waiting for my interview date so I can head to good ol' Mumbai and get the GC.

Thanks for the post. I have already printed it so I can use it for document collection for our interviews.

and yes, God bless this forum. Otherwise I would have never known about AC140

Srisubra
 
Hi Amolnaik,

Thanks for updating your CP experience – hopefully the local PCC will come soon to complete the formalities and remove the anziety!

Could you throw some light on the local PCC requirement and your situation? Have you always been employed by the Indian company or where you in the US for sometimes and then located to the Indian office.

Cheers,

Rjain.
 
Thanks Srisubra.

rjain2:

Local Police station clearance is required
For people who have stayed for a long time in India while their GC process has been in progress.
OR
For people who may have stayed in the US but could not get the PCC from the Indian consulate in US.

About my employment details, you can view the thread
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=123430

To know more about my PCC experience, you can view the thread
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=119355

Hope this helps.
 
Originally posted by amolnaik

We got a call to submit our papers at around 10:30AM at counter 10. There were 4 counters (10,11,12,14) servicing immigrant visa applicants, all of them manned by Indians.
...
Q: How long have you been working with this company?
A: Had worked in 1999 but since 2000 have been working with affiliate in India.
Q: If you haven't worked for this company, how can they petition for a GC for you?
A: Have worked before and had an H1 with the same company in 1999 for 1.5 years. Have been travelling on a business visa for the same company numerous times in the past few years.
She wasn't very satisfied, not sure why!!
...
All the best to Alren and others. Many thanks to kd1403, Raju, cpzinga,forms2002.

Amol,

Congrats for the closure and Thanks for your wishes.

Curiosly, why was the lady gathering docs. so pushy on the above? Do they normally ask Qs or just collect documents.
 
Amolnaik,

Congratulations ..and as Kd would say "Live life King Size" .. enjoy post GC life and also enjoy your Indian stay while you're there ..

I can't wait to go there and get over with this ..
 
amol:

I guess victor said on my behalf 'live life king size'. Happy for you that things went smooth. Hope you can get the local pcc soon enough and take care of the admin work pending of getting the approval. Take care and enjoy time in india while you can!
 
congrats

Hearty congrats amol some querries though.

were u and ur wife together throughout the process (u have mentioned that ur wife was called earlier)?
what was questions asked to ur wife?

as for PCC, as my interview date is expected to be in june/july, i am not pushing to get my PCC (I haven't received it yet although I have applied 1 month ago). But in case u want to get it fast, u will have to personally go and be push ur case ...the Crime branch is going to forward it to ur local police stations. than some police will come to ur place for ur verification. they also might need some affadavit. Also, u and ur wife may have to physically go to local police station. than after that the report will be sent back to crime branch. than crime branch will issue u the PCC. This is a lengthy process but can be short-circuted (.....how..better understood than said :p ).

also, i am also working with my indian-affiliate..and has never gone to US after I came back around 1.5 years back. Based on ur personal experience (u felt that the lady was not satisfied !!) , what's the best way to tackle this?

Congrats once again...god bless u,
 
forsms2002:

Thanks. My wife and me were together throughout the process, not sure why you thought otherwise. She was just let inside the consulate earlier than me because for the security check, they have a different queue for ladies (which ofcourse moves faster).

For the PCC, my case has already gone back to Crime Branch and we are following up to get it quickly. For more details on my PCC, check the thread
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=119355&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

My personal opinion about the lady not being satisfied: I think she (consulate) hasn't seen such cases very often where a person working for an Indian company for so long is being sponsored for a GC by a US company. In fact, I could see that the American lady (consular officer) who took the actual interview later was pretty much convinced of my case probably because she had time to look at my passport (indicating lot of travel) and the fact that after the first H1, I had always travelled on short durations on a Business visa, indicating I had never abused the business visa. My personal feeling is don't give too much importance to that observation I have written.

All the best!!! Will keep u posted on how my PCC goes....
 
Got the visa yesterday :) (a month after the interview date)

Submitted the PCC from police in the morning. I was given a blue chit with "IV" and my case # written and asked to return at 12:15. We thought we would get the visa then. They just took the blue chit from me at 12:15 and then asked us to return at 3:30pm to collect the visa. We did get the visa then.

Not sure why they asked us to come at 12:15 if they weren't going to give us the visa.
 
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