Successful H1 stamping in Toronto, Canada

sr_srikanth

Registered Users (C)
First, thank you every one for all the help. I had a successful L1 to H1 stamping in toronto. My company helped me to hire an attorney there and hence some of the things were taken care of. However I wanted to share my experience so that it can help others.

Attorney got the appointment and took care of the bank feee etc. So no sweat there.

Took the original Masters Degree ( by the way I do not have a US degree and it is from a UK univeristy. I think this is not a major issue as long as it is not suspicious. I saw two people one with a Russian Degree and other with a polish degree too), transcripts, pay stubs and I797A and other DS 156 and 157 forms. Thats it.

Attorney screwed up on the application form about my date of entry to US and green card application. The first question was about that and I was stright forward and gave him the right dates and apologised for the mistake my attorney made ( I could have done a better job than my attorney). He asked me why I am leaving my current job. I told him I am still working for the same company and it is only a change from L1 to H1. Then he asked me why I am doing this. I told him my Labour certification has been filed and it is pending (famous NY DOL) for more than a year. In order to renew my visa I have to do this since L1 is not extendable. He was not sure of this and went to clarify with some one and came back and said I was right. He asked me to show some docs which will support my claim about the application to Labour dept and if I have it, he will give me the visa until 2006 if not it is only up to 2005 since I will max my six years period. I told him NY DOL does not send any receipts for the applications. However I had the copies of my application with the US certified mail showing that it was received by NY DOL. I had to come back to hotel to get them and submit again. My visa was approved until 2006, which means I got the 7th year extension already and collected my passport next day.

Overall a very positive experience. Only issue in toronto is the number of people and may be the wait time for the interview. Other than that the people were friendly and even though the officer took time and verified all my docs with extra care, he was very logical and not rude at all. I hope this feedback helps.

Thanks again
 
Hello

Just curious to know what was the method of payment ( I mean was it thru a Credit Card, cash or draft)

I am planning to go to Toronto in Dec.
Thanks
 
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