Succesful H1 & H4 Stamping in Ottawa

S

Satish71

Registered Users (C)
Folks,

Very relieved to receive the said stamps this morning for myself and wife. Typing this in Ottawa itself.
Ok, went to the embassy at 10.20 for the 10.30 interview. Security was tight. Asked me to open our baby's diaper bag and eat cookies from the box ! Once we were in, the first guy directed us to the window. At the window, asked for:

1) Passports
2) Employer's letter
3) Approvals (I797s)
4) Issuance fees
5) Reciprocity Fees

And that was it. Asked us to come back at 3pm to collect passports. I wasvery stressed about the whole thing but wentvery smoothly.

Ok, the background story is 2 weeks ago I had faxed them raising my concerns about "Horror-stories" re: visa rejection. I had asked them to tell me whether they would issue us Visas in Ottawa based upon my DS-156 etc. I had faxed them our DS156/7. Surprisingly 3 hours later he called me back and said hope this call is re-assuring and you should have no problems. I met the same guy at the embassy and reminded him about our conversation. He asked me why I was so stressed about it and I said I would have to go to London from Canada with my family if the Visa was refused for any reason. And that was it. I was surprised that there was no interview or any questions whatsoever. The whole affair lasted 5-7 minutes and I was out at 10.30 itself.

Hope this is re-assuring to anyone considering stamping in Ottawa. It really is a friendly consulate. Thanks to sali and everyone else for their suggestions/experience. This group really did provide plentyof info.

Also, there weren't too many people there. Relatively un-busy. A pretty cool experience overall.

Thanks.

-Mohan.
 
hi

Hi there

When you went to the consulate , they asked for the papers and u submitted all the papers , so when they asked you to come back @ 3.pm was it to just collect the passports with the stamp on it , you said that you were out of the consulate in 10 minutes
rite , they did not ask you other things like , w2s , tax returns ,
also did I belive they run you name against a FBI database
did they did that for you

Let me know

Thanks
BoldM
 
Hi,

Well, no, they just asked me for the employer's letter, DS156/7, I797s and the passports + money. This was all at the first window itself.

Yes, they asked me to come back at 3 pm to collect passports with Visas on it. I believe that the fact they asked me for the reciprocity fee for my wife's passport meant that they would issue the visas since they only ask for the reprocity fees if they approve your visas.

May be they did run my name against the FBI database in advance but I'm not aware of it.

I think the reason mine was kind of easy since it was second time stamping and not first time. That made life a little easier I believe.

Hope this helps.

-Mohan.
 
H1 & H4 Stamping in Toronto

Hello Satish,

Iam in the US presently & my stamped H1B is getting expired on Oct-13 - 2003.I plan to go get my new H1B stamped from Canada.
Has anyone from this forum done that ?Does anyone have any information about the procedure ?
Does it take long time ?Do we have to take appointment before we go there ??Can we take it from the US ??Where do we have to call or mail for appointment ?

I would appreciate some reply here

Thanks
Sandeep
 
Sandeep,
Yes, the procedure is pretty simple.. well, I would say that wouldn't I now that I have got the Visas.. anyhow, you have two alternatives. You can either get your H-1B revalidated in St.Louis in which case the website travel.state.gov/hlop.html contains all the relevant information, this process will take around 3 months. if you want to get it in Canada, you have to take an appointment at Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary etc. depending upon which ones closer. I would suggest Ottawa since I found the whole process in Ottawa very simple. You should have no problems in obtaining your Visa there since your's is 2nd time stamping (like mine). However please be prepared to go directly to your home country in case your Visa is rejected there. This is very unlikely though however we went prepared and had even looked for a travel agent in Ottawa.
The details for Ottawa-consulate could be found on http://www.amcits.com/ottawa.asp
All relevant details are there. You could also go to Toronto if you wish but we found Ottawa was a quiet little consulate.

Hope this helps.

-Mohan.
 
I-797

Satish71,

Congrats! Can you please let me know if you had to show the full page of I-797. I am asking this because the top portion of the page is with my employer. All that I have is the bottom portion (1-94 card). Thanks for your help.

Murmanmadi
 
Yes, I believe you have to request the whole I-797. I "borrowed" that from our HR dept. and thet "lent" it to me and I returned it to them afterwords. Usually the requirement is that you have to present the full I-797. At least thats what I've heard.

Hope this helps.

-Mohan.
 
Can anybody please give me the number I need to call to make an appointment......

My cousin is on H4 and has obtained H1 recently. She wants to to India in December and I am wondering whether it is possible to go to Canada and get her passport stmaped.

Please do let me know what would be the documents she need to carry to make this happen.

Thanks for any feed back.


- Jha
 
When we leave the U.S to enter Canada to get a first time H-1B stamping, do we need to surrender our I-94 to the immigration officials before boarding the flight to Canada? If yes, do we get a new I-94 when we enter the US with a fresh H-1B visa stamped on the passport?

Thanks
Vinay
 
Doubts in DS-156, DS-157 forms

Hi guys,
I soon need to to go to Mexico. I need little help from you all.
Q1) What should I need to fill in for the 18th question ("HAVE YOU MADE SPECIFIC TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS ??") on DS-157 form??

I am driving to Mexico.

Couple of questions on DS-156 form
Q2) What Can I fill for question 25 ("NAME
 
Doubts in DS-156, DS-157 forms

Accedentally I have pressed a button before I complete my query. So I am posting it completely again.

Hi guys,
I soon need to to go to Mexico. I am in Jackson, MS. I need little help from you all.
Q1) What should I need to fill in for the 18th question ("HAVE YOU MADE SPECIFIC TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS ??") on DS-157 form??

I am driving to Mexico.

Couple of questions on DS-156 form
Q2) What Can I fill for question 25 ("NAME AND TELEPHONE NUMBER OF PERSON IN U.S. WHO YOU WILL BE STAYING WITH OR VISITING FOR TOURISM OR BUSINESS.")

Q3)For question 26 "(HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND TO STAY?"- Can we write something like "UNTIL MY VISA PERMITS"

Q4) Question 27("WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR TRIP??") - Can we say something like "TO WORK AS my title FOR my employer"

Q5) Question 28 ("WHO WILL PAY FOR YOUR TRIP?) - Can we say as "SELF"

Q6) question 34 ("NAME AND RELATIONSHIP OF PERSONS TRAVELING WITH YOU?") - Can we say something like "NOBODY".

Q7) Last but not least "CAN WE LEAVE BLANK IN SOME FIELDS OR DO WE HAVE TO WRITE "NA" IF WE ARE NOT APPLICABLE FOR SOME QUESTIONS??"

Thanks for the reply
Srinu
 
Mohan,

Can you tell me how soon I can get the ottawa appointment.
I am looking for appointment for Dec12-13-14. Do you think I can get that ?

also, please share us what are the documents we should take ?
I am going with wife, so I guess marriage certificate, photo's etc may be required.

Thanks.
 
Hi! rdb-

Visit NVARS website & you will see the available dates. Take all docs which you think they may ask. Although Ottawa/Vancouver guys are very cool. Goodluck
 
Guys ,
Can some one post the total info atleast sketch like how Going to canada and safely return with passport stamped .. all the require documents and stuff like that ..

That will usefull for our fellow indians
 
Well, I took just about everything I had. Paystubs, previous passports, marriage cert, degree certs, employer's letter, all required forms (156, 157 etc). Basically the full works ! As a minimum, take along what they've requested in the appointment letter. Appointment could be made online on NVARS or by calling some phone # (also posted on nvars). Thats all. Its pretty simple. I also believe in general that the Ottawa consulate is a lot better than the one in Toronto. They ask you very confusing questions at Toronto (at least this is what I've gathered from a few posts here).

If you have all the required docs. and act confident, you should be ok.

-Mohan.
 
What about the I-94

What about my I-94? Do I surrender it at the time of leaving US and get a new one on the way back? or can I hold onto it?

Thanks in advance.

-g
 
fee details

Hi Satish,

Please can you provide this information ?.

1. I wanted to know what's the fee for the H1-b visa and how we have to pay the fee ?.

2. Is the same process for Toranto consulate ?.

Thanks,
 
I-797C

Hi,

If anyone can help, that would be great.

I have I-797C, which is a courtesy copy of approval sent to my employer. The original form which contains I-94 was sent to my attorney and it is misplaced somehow. Now, all i have is i-797C.

Can i go to Chennai (or any other consulate) to get my visa stamped (H1B) with the above courtesy copy?

PS: The courtesy copy says "this may not be used in ieu of official notification to demonstrate the filing or processing action taken on this case".

Thanks
 
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