My VISA Experience @ Vancouver Canada

[mygcpcs1]

Day1: 10th Oct:

1. At Gate they ask for Passport, I797 and DS 160, Next the look and verify if you really have an appointment

2. Gate security screening (No sealed covers, No large bags), and then you are allowed to enter into the Office in that building

3. In 2nd level, they do Security check like in airports, you have to put all your belongings in a tray, that will go through a scanner.

4. Present your Passport, I797, DS 160 confirmation and a photo, they keep those docs and give you a queue number. And i believe this is where they verify everything from their side like ds 160 and including PIMS

5. Once you see your number on screen for counter 1, you will be asked for finger prints, and then they give your docs back, PP and 797 and the ds confirmation, if they count not find PIMS, then they will write it on ds confirmation page, like 'PIMS not available'

6. then you will have to wait for your number again for actual interview which is on 20th level of the building, security will escort you, you are not supposed to operate the elevator, if you want to use rest room you can, 20th level does not have any such facility

7. On 20th level, again wait for your number to be displayed with interview counter number

8. I Was called, and questions to me were

  a. How long you been working with your employer 'xyz'

  b. What do you do ?

  c. He was not satisfied with my answer, so drilled into my job work saying ... 'I under stand web application part, but where   do you do that ? (work location address)' what does that website do ? The address you just said, is that you client address ?

  d. asked for 1 year paystubs, 11 and 12 w2 filings and I-129, and Visa Officer spent 5 minutes verifying information on his screen and documents

  e. Finally said your VISA is approved, it may take 3 to 5 business days to see you case updates. Have a wonderful day

 

Day 2: Status check

I did not see any change on my status at ds 160 form (ceac.state.gov); It still says 'Administrative Processing'

 

Day 3: Status changed and moved back to where it was

Early in the morning status at 'ceac.state.gov' said 'Ready', and after couple hours it went back to 'Administrative Processing' again. Mean time couple of guys who attended interview after me got their status as Issued, and i was worried and tensed whole day.

 

Day 4: Status changed to Issued

Around 9:00 am Status changed to Issued;

 

Day 5: Loomis number

early morning around 1:00; i got email from Loomis with waybill number, around 9:00 at tracking shows that my package is ready to pick up; So took taxi picked my Passport, verified all info; back to motel book tickets and then went to airport;

 

At airport: for US flights vancouver has separate terminals, and customs are done in that terminal; CBP Officer stamped Admint stamp on my passport, but wrote until april, 2014 ( 6months); i did not see that, went terminal and then verified it. Then i ran back to Those officers and requested them to verify it again. One officer looked at it and asked me if i am leaving the USA with 6 months, i answered NO SIR; he said ok and stamped new one and wrote correct date.

 

Day 6: I 94 Twist

after entering into us i tried to see my I 94 online; it did not show up, i thought it might take a day to reflect online. But after one it did not show up; so i tried different options like instead of select 'H1B' i selected 'H1' but no use.

 

Finally i tried my first name as last name and my last name as first name, BINGO.. it showed up..

 

Any one know how update I 94 information ?

 

Anyway as my interview schedule was around thanks giving and 3rd Wednesday of month holiday for US Consulate, my case took longer time to process and issued.

 

 

Thanks to murthy forums and its generous member who share their information/knowledge...

[Harekrishna5]

congrats

[Harekrishna5]

congrats

[netflixmovies]

Day1: 10th Oct:

1. At Gate they ask for Passport, I797 and DS 160, Next the look and verify if you really have an appointment

2. Gate security screening (No sealed covers, No large bags), and then you are allowed to enter into the Office in that building

3. In 2nd level, they do Security check like in airports, you have to put all your belongings in a tray, that will go through a scanner.

4. Present your Passport, I797, DS 160 confirmation and a photo, they keep those docs and give you a queue number. And i believe this is where they verify everything from their side like ds 160 and including PIMS

5. Once you see your number on screen for counter 1, you will be asked for finger prints, and then they give your docs back, PP and 797 and the ds confirmation, if they count not find PIMS, then they will write it on ds confirmation page, like 'PIMS not available'

6. then you will have to wait for your number again for actual interview which is on 20th level of the building, security will escort you, you are not supposed to operate the elevator, if you want to use rest room you can, 20th level does not have any such facility

7. On 20th level, again wait for your number to be displayed with interview counter number

8. I Was called, and questions to me were

  a. How long you been working with your employer 'xyz'

  b. What do you do ?

  c. He was not satisfied with my answer, so drilled into my job work saying ... 'I under stand web application part, but where   do you do that ? (work location address)' what does that website do ? The address you just said, is that you client address ?

  d. asked for 1 year paystubs, 11 and 12 w2 filings and I-129, and Visa Officer spent 5 minutes verifying information on his screen and documents

  e. Finally said your VISA is approved, it may take 3 to 5 business days to see you case updates. Have a wonderful day

 

Day 2: Status check

I did not see any change on my status at ds 160 form (ceac.state.gov); It still says 'Administrative Processing'

 

Day 3: Status changed and moved back to where it was

Early in the morning status at 'ceac.state.gov' said 'Ready', and after couple hours it went back to 'Administrative Processing' again. Mean time couple of guys who attended interview after me got their status as Issued, and i was worried and tensed whole day.

 

Day 4: Status changed to Issued

Around 9:00 am Status changed to Issued;

 

Day 5: Loomis number

early morning around 1:00; i got email from Loomis with waybill number, around 9:00 at tracking shows that my package is ready to pick up; So took taxi picked my Passport, verified all info; back to motel book tickets and then went to airport;

 

At airport: for US flights vancouver has separate terminals, and customs are done in that terminal; CBP Officer stamped Admint stamp on my passport, but wrote until april, 2014 ( 6months); i did not see that, went terminal and then verified it. Then i ran back to Those officers and requested them to verify it again. One officer looked at it and asked me if i am leaving the USA with 6 months, i answered NO SIR; he said ok and stamped new one and wrote correct date.

 

Day 6: I 94 Twist

after entering into us i tried to see my I 94 online; it did not show up, i thought it might take a day to reflect online. But after one it did not show up; so i tried different options like instead of select 'H1B' i selected 'H1' but no use.

 

Finally i tried my first name as last name and my last name as first name, BINGO.. it showed up..

 

Any one know how update I 94 information ?

 

Anyway as my interview schedule was around thanks giving and 3rd Wednesday of month holiday for US Consulate, my case took longer time to process and issued.

 

 

Thanks to murthy forums and its generous member who share their information/knowledge...

did you see anyone in vancouver with 221g?

[mygcpcs1]

@netflixmovies: Yes, I know a guy got 221g; it was his OPT to H1B he had RFE on his h1b filing. His employer filed h1b under IT, but his studies (Bachelors and Masters) was non technical

[gopalakrishnach]

Congrats. Do we need to buy return ticket beforehand ? If not do we face any problems at customs in Canada ?

[kalyan797]

Thank you for writing your experience in detail, I am planning to get my stamping done in Vancouver, working under EVC model currently are they drilling people under this model? I am sure i can get all the required letters from vendor and client.

 

Also can you suggest some hotels near embassy in Vancouver.

Did you find anybody having to stay more than a week for passport even after getting successful stamping?

Last time for my stamping in Mexico i just took 6 months pay stubs are they asking for 1 year pay stubs in Vancouver?

[mygcpcs1]

@ultimatewarrior: I did not purchase return ticket. when i landed in Vancouver airport the officer asked me about return plans, I answered him saying usually visa takes 3 to 5 days but in very rare cases it might take months, thats why i did not purchase any return tickets. And officer said, dont worry i saw lot of people getting it with in 5 days, good luck, enjoy your trip.

[mygcpcs1]

@kalyan797: 1. If you have letters from all guys you should be fine. I did not see any one being drilled just because they are in EVC Model

2. we stayed in hotel called 'barclay' it is on robson street, 10 minutes walk to embassy: to be honest i did not like the hotel

3. I suggest you to pick appointment date around starting of the week, so that you can get the passport by end of the week, i did the mistake of taking appointment at holidays that is why it took 6 days, else it could have taken only 3 days

4. I my case, the visa officer particularly asked me about 1 year paystubs. I had the same question before attending the interview, so i prepared 1 set of 6 months paystubs and another set of remaining one year's 6 months paystubs

[gopalakrishnach]

Thanks mygcpcs1

[kalyan797]

@mygcpcs1 Thank you for all the answers.

 

just 1 more questions if you dont mind.

Have you come across any couples H1B & H4 with successful stamping in Vancouver ?

[mygcpcs1]

@kalyan797: Its ok.

 

No, i did not see any couple attending H1B and H4B visa interview. But there was one couple attended visitor visa interview.
 

email me if you have question, you can find my email on my profile or just use ************ on gmail

[gopalakrishnach]

Hi Kalyan,

 

My wife ( H4) and I ( H1B ) are going to Vancouver Canada for our visa interviews together on Jan 29 2014. We have our interview at 9:30 AM.

 

Are you going at same time. Please let me know. You can mail me. Please see my profile to know my email id

[Supriya1]

Hi Kalyan,

 

My wife ( H4) and I ( H1B ) are going to Vancouver Canada for our visa interviews together on Jan 29 2014. We have our interview at 9:30 AM.

 

Are you going at same time. Please let me know. You can mail me. Please see my profile to know my email id

 

Hi ultimate warrior,

 

Did you get your visa stamped? Could you please post your interview experience?

I (H1B - 8 th year, extended based on approved I-140) am planning to go with my wife (H4) for visa stamping in Vancouver consulate.

 

Thank You,

Priya