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Where is sansin????
- Thread starter anushri
- Start date
My experience
Folks,
my Consular-Interview and POE experience went well, and now I am in the US on Immigrant Visa. I just returned to US yesterday.
I will post my experience in my subsequent email.
Just a few relevant points for the benefit of others:
DO NOT GO TO APOLLO GLENEAGLES CALCUTTA. I had a bad experience, and there was an elderly couple from Calcutta who had their family-based immigration interview on the same day as ours, whose medical test was messed up at Apollo Calcutta. They were sent back to get their test right. You can try going to Dr. Mr and Mrs Mehta in Calcutta (their name is second in the list of panel doctors in Calcutta).
Carry documents about medical fitness (if you had any surgery in the US), prescription about medications, medication bottles to prove your ongoing treatment. This may not be an issue at Mumbai hospitals, but was made a huge issue at Apollo Hospitals.
The Consulate took from us ONLY ONE PHOTO of the new frontal style. They did not ask for the 3/4 view photo. So that was money gone waste. People going for interview in September or later DO NOT NEED the 3/4 Photo anymore.
At the POE, I was asked for an extra photo of the new frontal style. So, carry an extra photo to give the immigration officer at the POE.
More details later.
Sanjay
Folks,
my Consular-Interview and POE experience went well, and now I am in the US on Immigrant Visa. I just returned to US yesterday.
I will post my experience in my subsequent email.
Just a few relevant points for the benefit of others:
DO NOT GO TO APOLLO GLENEAGLES CALCUTTA. I had a bad experience, and there was an elderly couple from Calcutta who had their family-based immigration interview on the same day as ours, whose medical test was messed up at Apollo Calcutta. They were sent back to get their test right. You can try going to Dr. Mr and Mrs Mehta in Calcutta (their name is second in the list of panel doctors in Calcutta).
Carry documents about medical fitness (if you had any surgery in the US), prescription about medications, medication bottles to prove your ongoing treatment. This may not be an issue at Mumbai hospitals, but was made a huge issue at Apollo Hospitals.
The Consulate took from us ONLY ONE PHOTO of the new frontal style. They did not ask for the 3/4 view photo. So that was money gone waste. People going for interview in September or later DO NOT NEED the 3/4 Photo anymore.
At the POE, I was asked for an extra photo of the new frontal style. So, carry an extra photo to give the immigration officer at the POE.
More details later.
Sanjay
Sansin,
Congrats! Great to hear from you! Looking forward to your detail posting. When you say you had a bad experience at Apollo - was it that they did not know what they had to do?? What was the problem with the elderly couple's medicals? I ask these questions because I was actually thinking of going to Apollo. I am thinking based on input from you .. if there is anything I keep in mind and go to Apollo .. would it work ..or is it that it is not at all advisable.. please advise.
Also, Sansin - where did you get your photo done? If calcutta, where in Cal?
Thanks
S
Congrats! Great to hear from you! Looking forward to your detail posting. When you say you had a bad experience at Apollo - was it that they did not know what they had to do?? What was the problem with the elderly couple's medicals? I ask these questions because I was actually thinking of going to Apollo. I am thinking based on input from you .. if there is anything I keep in mind and go to Apollo .. would it work ..or is it that it is not at all advisable.. please advise.
Also, Sansin - where did you get your photo done? If calcutta, where in Cal?
Thanks
S
sansin said:Folks,
my Consular-Interview and POE experience went well, and now I am in the US on Immigrant Visa. I just returned to US yesterday.
I will post my experience in my subsequent email.
Just a few relevant points for the benefit of others:
DO NOT GO TO APOLLO GLENEAGLES CALCUTTA. I had a bad experience, and there was an elderly couple from Calcutta who had their family-based immigration interview on the same day as ours, whose medical test was messed up at Apollo Calcutta. They were sent back to get their test right. You can try going to Dr. Mr and Mrs Mehta in Calcutta (their name is second in the list of panel doctors in Calcutta).
Carry documents about medical fitness (if you had any surgery in the US), prescription about medications, medication bottles to prove your ongoing treatment. This may not be an issue at Mumbai hospitals, but was made a huge issue at Apollo Hospitals.
The Consulate took from us ONLY ONE PHOTO of the new frontal style. They did not ask for the 3/4 view photo. So that was money gone waste. People going for interview in September or later DO NOT NEED the 3/4 Photo anymore.
At the POE, I was asked for an extra photo of the new frontal style. So, carry an extra photo to give the immigration officer at the POE.
More details later.
Sanjay
Last edited by a moderator:
My experience - More details
Sorry I was out of town. Here are more details:
Medicals at Apollo GlenEagles Calcutta:
Try to avoid this hospital. They do not know the process very well as they dont handle many candidates. In fact, I was their first employment-based candidate, and the number of Immigration cases they have handled, is in single digit. They do not know what vaccines are required. So, you have to determine what vaccines you need, and carry that list. You have to buy your own vaccines, and have it administered in the hospital. The doctor who saw me (Dr. Dhiman Sen) was an utter nut, and an eccentric character. He would frequently forget to enter vital info in the form. He would leave important fields blank. I had to prompt him all the way. One couple (family based case) was rejected the same day I went for the interview, because they went to Apollo Calcutta, where that doctor messed up their report. He forgot to document all vaccines they had taken. Since they did not want to take the same vaccines again (which they could have done in Mumbai, but they are old) so they had to go back to Calcutta to get the report corrected.
However if you do decide to take the risk and go to this hospital, do keep in mind to carry all reports/medications/prescriptions/fitness-certificate related to your current medical conditions. Otherwise, they would create a big fuss over minor medical conditions. My wife has hypothyroidism, and she is on medication. We said that to the doctor, but we did not carry any medical report. So the doctor wanted her to go through another round of blood test to check her thyroid condition - this has nothing to do with what the Consulate wants to see, which is whether there are any communicable diseases. BTW, the total cost per-head with vaccines was about Rs 2000. And we had to go on two days. Medical tests on first day, and reports delivered on second day.
Stay in Mumbai:
Hotel Royal Castle. We liked it very much. Very clean, good service, very polite people, and quite cheap given its location and proximity to the Consulate. We left our valuables (cash, traveler's checks) in the reception safety deposit for which they would give you a receipt. We left our documents locked up in the room. Security was my main concern about staying in this hotel. But I have nothing to complain about. We stayed for 2 nights in the Rs 1260 room.
Interview on August 30:
This was a cakewalk. Nothing compared to what we were preparing ourselves for. Went to Consulate at 7.30 in the morning. Stood in a common line with all other candidates (no segregation between IV and NIV candidates at the entrance). Were allowed to go in shortly after 8.00 am. They opened our transparent folders and flipped through our photo album at the security inspection. Few kids were wearing flashing shoes. Their parents were asked to leave those shoes outside. They dont allow any food or water bottles inside. You have to buy food/water inside.
At around 9.15 we were called at window 11 to submit docs. There was a very polite Indian Lady (short hair, wearing eyeglasses). She took only the documents mentioned in P4. Nothing else asked for. She was perplexed to see our Apollo Hospital Medical Report, as she was expecting report from one of the BBY hospitals. So she went in with the packet to confirm if that is acceptable. Everything was OK there. I carried separate folders for myself and my wife. All primary P4 docs for myself in my folder, and all primary docs for my wife in her folder. Within a folder, the docs were NOT in any specific order. We kept the docs in separate slots in the pocketed-folders. We had each pocket tagged for quick retrieval. The lady did NOT ask for docs in any specific order. Moreover, she asked for docs pairwise, that is, both for me and my wife. For example "give me both of your DS230 Part-I". This was a bit of a problem. Since our docs were in separate folders, we kept both folders open on the window sill, and had to switch between folders to retrieve docs. For almost all docs, we gave only the photocopy and she did not bother to ask for the original. However, she seemed to like the fact that we were so very organized, and could retrieve every piece of doc promptly. Other families were taking 20 minutes on an average for docs collection. We took probably about 10-12 minutes. When she asked me to read and sign the document which said that you swear to go back and work for the same employer, I thought I was required to read it out audibly, so that she could hear it. So I read it out aloud, at which she was amused. You dont have to read it out to her. Just go through it cursorily and sign it. She asked a couple of questions like how long I have worked for my present employer. No questions for my wife at this stage.
At around 10.10, we were summoned at window 9. There was a White Lady and an Indian Guy. They were in a huge-huge rush, so never bothered to acknowledge my greetings. First she asked us to raise our hands and take the oath. Then there were a few rapid-fire questions:
Q:"Where do you work?"
A: "I am a software engr at XXX"
Q:"What do you do there?"
A: I parroted a slightly rephrased version of ETA-750 job duties.
Q: "Before this job, what were you doing?"
A: "I was a .... at YYY, in USA"
To my wife:
Q: "How long have you been married?"
A:
Q: "Since when have you been in US"
A:
Like I said, she was in a huge huge hurry, so she shot her next Q halfway through our answer.
Then she said, "Our computer is down right now, we will call you shortly for th e finger-printing"
And we knew we were through !!!!!
But we were finding it hard to believe that it would be so simple, so we told ourselves it was not time for celebration yet. We went back to our seats and had some coffee. In about 15 minutes we were summoned again at the same window. We were asked to give fingerprints of both left and right index fingers. We were then asked to come back at 4 pm to collect our travel documents.
I then told the lady, that my wife would "follow to join me" couple of months later. She asked me if I told this at Window 11 during document collection. I said "NO". At this, the Am. Lady was clearly irritated and said "Great, what do I do know". She was short on patience. The Desi Guy then told her its simple, and guided her through the steps. She said it was OK and we could go. So the moral of the story is, if your wife is traveling separately, you have to say that during the Document Collection.
We were out of the consulate by 10.30 am.
Went back to the hotel to leave our documents, took a little rest, went out for a hearty lunch, and then went back to the Consulate at 3 pm. Windows opened at 4.00. We got our documents at around 4.15 pm. I reconfirmed whether my wife can follow to join. The indian lady (document collector) was there. She nodded affirmatively.
Of course, as everybody must be knowing by now, they place the Immigrant Visa directly in the passport. It looks quite like the H1b Visa. Prior to August, the visa used to be a sheet of paper attached to the brown immigration packet.
That was it!
I was back in the US on September 8th. My wife will return after 3 months.
At the POE (Detroit), I was first asked to go to the Visitor's counter. From there, I was sent to counter 37, "Special Processing Counter". There I was fingerprinted, and the temporary I-551 stamp valid for 1 year was placed in my passport.
Please let me know if you have any specific questions. PM me, or email me with specific questions at ahnis_s@yahoo.com.
Sorry I was out of town. Here are more details:
Medicals at Apollo GlenEagles Calcutta:
Try to avoid this hospital. They do not know the process very well as they dont handle many candidates. In fact, I was their first employment-based candidate, and the number of Immigration cases they have handled, is in single digit. They do not know what vaccines are required. So, you have to determine what vaccines you need, and carry that list. You have to buy your own vaccines, and have it administered in the hospital. The doctor who saw me (Dr. Dhiman Sen) was an utter nut, and an eccentric character. He would frequently forget to enter vital info in the form. He would leave important fields blank. I had to prompt him all the way. One couple (family based case) was rejected the same day I went for the interview, because they went to Apollo Calcutta, where that doctor messed up their report. He forgot to document all vaccines they had taken. Since they did not want to take the same vaccines again (which they could have done in Mumbai, but they are old) so they had to go back to Calcutta to get the report corrected.
However if you do decide to take the risk and go to this hospital, do keep in mind to carry all reports/medications/prescriptions/fitness-certificate related to your current medical conditions. Otherwise, they would create a big fuss over minor medical conditions. My wife has hypothyroidism, and she is on medication. We said that to the doctor, but we did not carry any medical report. So the doctor wanted her to go through another round of blood test to check her thyroid condition - this has nothing to do with what the Consulate wants to see, which is whether there are any communicable diseases. BTW, the total cost per-head with vaccines was about Rs 2000. And we had to go on two days. Medical tests on first day, and reports delivered on second day.
Stay in Mumbai:
Hotel Royal Castle. We liked it very much. Very clean, good service, very polite people, and quite cheap given its location and proximity to the Consulate. We left our valuables (cash, traveler's checks) in the reception safety deposit for which they would give you a receipt. We left our documents locked up in the room. Security was my main concern about staying in this hotel. But I have nothing to complain about. We stayed for 2 nights in the Rs 1260 room.
Interview on August 30:
This was a cakewalk. Nothing compared to what we were preparing ourselves for. Went to Consulate at 7.30 in the morning. Stood in a common line with all other candidates (no segregation between IV and NIV candidates at the entrance). Were allowed to go in shortly after 8.00 am. They opened our transparent folders and flipped through our photo album at the security inspection. Few kids were wearing flashing shoes. Their parents were asked to leave those shoes outside. They dont allow any food or water bottles inside. You have to buy food/water inside.
At around 9.15 we were called at window 11 to submit docs. There was a very polite Indian Lady (short hair, wearing eyeglasses). She took only the documents mentioned in P4. Nothing else asked for. She was perplexed to see our Apollo Hospital Medical Report, as she was expecting report from one of the BBY hospitals. So she went in with the packet to confirm if that is acceptable. Everything was OK there. I carried separate folders for myself and my wife. All primary P4 docs for myself in my folder, and all primary docs for my wife in her folder. Within a folder, the docs were NOT in any specific order. We kept the docs in separate slots in the pocketed-folders. We had each pocket tagged for quick retrieval. The lady did NOT ask for docs in any specific order. Moreover, she asked for docs pairwise, that is, both for me and my wife. For example "give me both of your DS230 Part-I". This was a bit of a problem. Since our docs were in separate folders, we kept both folders open on the window sill, and had to switch between folders to retrieve docs. For almost all docs, we gave only the photocopy and she did not bother to ask for the original. However, she seemed to like the fact that we were so very organized, and could retrieve every piece of doc promptly. Other families were taking 20 minutes on an average for docs collection. We took probably about 10-12 minutes. When she asked me to read and sign the document which said that you swear to go back and work for the same employer, I thought I was required to read it out audibly, so that she could hear it. So I read it out aloud, at which she was amused. You dont have to read it out to her. Just go through it cursorily and sign it. She asked a couple of questions like how long I have worked for my present employer. No questions for my wife at this stage.
At around 10.10, we were summoned at window 9. There was a White Lady and an Indian Guy. They were in a huge-huge rush, so never bothered to acknowledge my greetings. First she asked us to raise our hands and take the oath. Then there were a few rapid-fire questions:
Q:"Where do you work?"
A: "I am a software engr at XXX"
Q:"What do you do there?"
A: I parroted a slightly rephrased version of ETA-750 job duties.
Q: "Before this job, what were you doing?"
A: "I was a .... at YYY, in USA"
To my wife:
Q: "How long have you been married?"
A:
Q: "Since when have you been in US"
A:
Like I said, she was in a huge huge hurry, so she shot her next Q halfway through our answer.
Then she said, "Our computer is down right now, we will call you shortly for th e finger-printing"
And we knew we were through !!!!!
But we were finding it hard to believe that it would be so simple, so we told ourselves it was not time for celebration yet. We went back to our seats and had some coffee. In about 15 minutes we were summoned again at the same window. We were asked to give fingerprints of both left and right index fingers. We were then asked to come back at 4 pm to collect our travel documents.
I then told the lady, that my wife would "follow to join me" couple of months later. She asked me if I told this at Window 11 during document collection. I said "NO". At this, the Am. Lady was clearly irritated and said "Great, what do I do know". She was short on patience. The Desi Guy then told her its simple, and guided her through the steps. She said it was OK and we could go. So the moral of the story is, if your wife is traveling separately, you have to say that during the Document Collection.
We were out of the consulate by 10.30 am.
Went back to the hotel to leave our documents, took a little rest, went out for a hearty lunch, and then went back to the Consulate at 3 pm. Windows opened at 4.00. We got our documents at around 4.15 pm. I reconfirmed whether my wife can follow to join. The indian lady (document collector) was there. She nodded affirmatively.
Of course, as everybody must be knowing by now, they place the Immigrant Visa directly in the passport. It looks quite like the H1b Visa. Prior to August, the visa used to be a sheet of paper attached to the brown immigration packet.
That was it!
I was back in the US on September 8th. My wife will return after 3 months.
At the POE (Detroit), I was first asked to go to the Visitor's counter. From there, I was sent to counter 37, "Special Processing Counter". There I was fingerprinted, and the temporary I-551 stamp valid for 1 year was placed in my passport.
Please let me know if you have any specific questions. PM me, or email me with specific questions at ahnis_s@yahoo.com.
Last edited by a moderator:
Photo Studio in Calcutta
Sanjay 76,
I would let you know the details of the photo studio in Calcutta. Its on Camac Street. They did a good job. I had both frontal, and 3/4 facing photos taken there. There are two studios in the Camac Street area that do US-Visa/Immigration photos. One is "Bombay Photo Studio". The other is called, as far as I remember, "Asia Photo Lab". Bombay Photo does not have same day service. They have stopped doing the polaroid which the Consulate is rejecting. So we went to Asian Photo, where they do digital photos.
However, as I said, the consulate took only the frontal photo. They did not ask for the 3/4 facing photo. Generally, the 3/4 facing photos get rejected. So, you should be OK getting your photo taken at ANY studio that knows how to take 2" x 2" US-Visa photo.
Will let you know about the location of "Asia Photo".
Sanjay 76,
I would let you know the details of the photo studio in Calcutta. Its on Camac Street. They did a good job. I had both frontal, and 3/4 facing photos taken there. There are two studios in the Camac Street area that do US-Visa/Immigration photos. One is "Bombay Photo Studio". The other is called, as far as I remember, "Asia Photo Lab". Bombay Photo does not have same day service. They have stopped doing the polaroid which the Consulate is rejecting. So we went to Asian Photo, where they do digital photos.
However, as I said, the consulate took only the frontal photo. They did not ask for the 3/4 facing photo. Generally, the 3/4 facing photos get rejected. So, you should be OK getting your photo taken at ANY studio that knows how to take 2" x 2" US-Visa photo.
Will let you know about the location of "Asia Photo".
Sansin,
First of all CONGRATULATIONS!! Thanks a lot for posting your experience... it is very helpful. Please post the location details for the Asian Photo when you get a chance. I will try to get my tests done by some other place in Calcutta (if I choose or have to get it done in Calcutta). Just hoping to get an interview date for sometime in December.
One quick question:
Would the Mumbai Consulate give me an Interview date as soon as they ENTER my information after receiving my file from NVC if I call them or send an email?? or do I have to wait to see the dates on the website??
Based on your experience, please let me know.
Once again, thanks a lot!
S
First of all CONGRATULATIONS!! Thanks a lot for posting your experience... it is very helpful. Please post the location details for the Asian Photo when you get a chance. I will try to get my tests done by some other place in Calcutta (if I choose or have to get it done in Calcutta). Just hoping to get an interview date for sometime in December.
One quick question:
Would the Mumbai Consulate give me an Interview date as soon as they ENTER my information after receiving my file from NVC if I call them or send an email?? or do I have to wait to see the dates on the website??
Based on your experience, please let me know.
Once again, thanks a lot!
S
sansin said:Sanjay 76,
I would let you know the details of the photo studio in Calcutta. Its on Camac Street. They did a good job. I had both frontal, and 3/4 facing photos taken there. There are two studios in the Camac Street area that do US-Visa/Immigration photos. One is "Bombay Photo Studio". The other is called, as far as I remember, "Asia Photo Lab". Bombay Photo does not have same day service. They have stopped doing the polaroid which the Consulate is rejecting. So we went to Asian Photo, where they do digital photos.
However, as I said, the consulate took only the frontal photo. They did not ask for the 3/4 facing photo. Generally, the 3/4 facing photos get rejected. So, you should be OK getting your photo taken at ANY studio that knows how to take 2" x 2" US-Visa photo.
Will let you know about the location of "Asia Photo".