Visa Stamping in Chennai

S

Sumanitha

Registered Users (C)
I am planning to go to Chennai in September 2003. My visa stamping in the passport has expired in October 2001 and my passport expired in March 2003 and I have a renewed Passport till 2014. I have valid I-797 till October 2005, which has a renewed I-94 till Oct. 2005. My I-94 in the passport attached will be expiring in September end.

I have all the documents ready including the pay-stubs, current employer letter, DS-156, DS-157, dd, original certificates, copy of I-129, previous employer letters. I do have another file for backup documents like contact coworker address, my work place photographs, yahoo direction, resume, my company's annual report.

I have arranged for a personal interview at the Consulate on September 8th. I am planning to go to India on vacation for 3 weeks. What should I be prepared to. Should I take the risk and go to India. I do have only 3 weeks of vaction and I should be back on Sept. 29th. What are the risk factors I should anticipate?

If any one can help me on this I would sincerely appreciate.
 
Hi

First thing...... without stamping in passport going outof USA is
risk.

Unless its too important to travel in this sept... its advisable to get it stamped here in ST. LOUIS.

1. Take your latest paystubs (6months)
2. Take employment continuation letter...
3. Bank statements..
4. Make sure someone answers the phone or atleast company
name announcement in the answering machine here in USA
at your employer place.

5. All other documents u have already....


Be confident and attend the interview you will get it....

all the best
 
Thank You

Dear

Thank you for your reply. It is not necessary for me to go for vacation now. The reason I dont want to skip is if I dont go now then when will I go. I cannot go for St Louis stamping as my stamping in the passport has already been expired.

Any suggestions..
 
Go to St Louis

Actually, its easier to get visa stamped from St Louis. If you have been in legal status all throughout, have all the papers, it takes about 3 months to get visa stamped from St Louis.

Just my exp.
 
No option St.Louis stamping.

Sumanitha:
According to the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs

If your visa has expired, the Visa Office accepts applications for visa revalidation only if the visa is within one year of its expiration date.

In your case, your's visa expired in Oct 2001. But you have valid I-797 till October 2005. So you have only option for stamping in India i.e, Chennai consulate.

Don't worry. You can get stamping on your passport.
Be sure keep all the documents u have already. Just safe side take all yours W2 and tax filed copies.

Thanks,
_________________
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet newsgroups
 
Sincere advice to all:

Try to do the stamping of your visa's from St.Louis as much as possible, going to India for stamping is a huge risk, lots of people have paid big time for it, so do not even think about it.

However important the time is, whether Vacation, Marriage or any other ocassion, the risk factors these days are too much and the risk is not worth it. You do not want to be stranded in India when you have a well-settled life in the US.

If you have been employed all through your stay in the US, without any pay-cuts and no immigration law violations, then you should be ok.
 
Looks like if any of the following applies to you then you are likely to have problems in getting H1 or H4 visas at Chennai consulate:

1. Your employer "benched" you without pay. (This is illegal and can potentially put the employer in violation of H1 requirements AND the employee in violation of his/her status.)

2. Your salary was reduced below LCA salary and a new/amended LCA or H1 amendment was not filed to reflect the reduction. (Again this is in violation of H1 requirements.)

3. Your employer has had other violations or has a history of visa related investigations/frauds/complaints (Other cases like items 1 and 2)

US consulate in Chennai (and possible others in future) have started looking into these cases and are not condoning any violations, however minor. Chennai consulate has in the past allowed many fraudulent petitions to slip thru and are now waking up to the fact. Visa renewal applications present a good opportunity to re-investigate these cases.

PLEASE CHECK IF ANY OF THIS APPLIES TO YOU BEFORE YOU/YOUR SPOUSE GO TO CHENNAI FOR A H VISA STAMP.
 
Need clarification....

What is the min time period allowed on the bench?

like in my case, i have been working scince Aug 2000. I was on bench for 2 months in 2001 and 2 months in 2003. 2003 will not count bcoz it will not appear on W2 if i apply this year.

Will there be a problem if I apply H4 visa or H1 extenstion in Chennia?
 
Related to the H1 or H4 query problem (status)

Hi Guys,

My wife's visa was rejected and I got a query to prove my status becoz of difference between w2 against LCA .

Question:
If I applied for a new Visa thru the same company or thru some other company and get it stamped. Will it resolve the problem?

Becoz someone said If you are out of status you have to get your Visa stamped once again and that resolves the status problem. Is that right?

Please advice me. Thanks..............
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Originally posted by ahkhan
Need clarification....

What is the min time period allowed on the bench?

like in my case, i have been working scince Aug 2000. I was on bench for 2 months in 2001 and 2 months in 2003. 2003 will not count bcoz it will not appear on W2 if i apply this year.

Will there be a problem if I apply H4 visa or H1 extenstion in Chennia?
Click to expand...

It is not the period on bench that counts, it is the salary while you are on bench. H1 regulations require that H1 employees be paid even when they are benched. If you have pay stubs to prove that you were paid for every month you were employed (except leave of absence without pay) then you should be OK.
 
Thanks nkm-oct23...

I dont have pay stubbs for the first 2 months i.e 2001 and in 2003 I was on vacation for 2 months, so I did not recived any pay during my vacation. will it be a problem?
What should I do inorder to get through from this problem?
 
Missing 2001 paystub

is not a big problem....you can always say u were on vacation, but if it is over 3 months BCIS will definately smell something fishy...and nowadays they are very strict
 
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