mrav85 0 Report post Posted October 12, 2015 Here is the story of my H1-B visa stamping in India this September during my vacation to India for my marriage (09/09). Thanks for everyone's support who provided their answers for my posts. (specially to Jairichi, rahul412, pontevecchio, Ramesh to name a few) This trip was filled with excitement and a lot of stress. Landed at Chennai on 2nd Sep night and had passport renewal on 3rd Sep as passport is expiting on Aug 2016. I decided to get a new passport, so that I get the visa upto my I797 PED. (Nov 2016, finishing up 6 years on H1). I heard, if I have the passport expiry date before I 797 PED, then they dont issue visa till the 797 PED and they issue visa only till the passport expiry date. Got this done by 7th Sep. Registered and got the marriage certificate on 10th Se, as we decided to go together for visa interview. *********************************************************************************************************** Couple of sites to check during this process. Site 1: CEAC - https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx Site 2: UStraveldocs - https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/applicanthome Site 3: Passport Tracking - http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-niv-passporttrack.asp *********************************************************************************************************** 14 Sep - At Chennai Nungambakkam VAC - fingerprinting was done for myself and my wife. 15 Sep - Interview was done by VO named Timothy. (Nice guy and very cool visa officer) Asked questions about employer, client, how long I have been working for the employer, annual salary, expecting any role change. He was going through the details I filled in DS-160 and asking these questions I guess. Then he asked us, when we got married and wished both of us. He was about to say, your visa is 'Issued' - but he asked the question, 'Have I been convicted or arrested for anything'? I answered yes and explained a little about the incident. He gave me a yellow printout where it said to wait for 5 mins until the VO calls back. He checked with his peer and issued me the 221G form with a case number (which asked me to appear at panel physician at Apollo Heart Care Hospitals, Greams Road, Chennai) Case Number Format: YYYYDDD XXX Y. In order to check the case status in CEAC NIV site - you have to use this format (YYYYDDD XXX 000Y) If the case number is (2015 250 190 1) then check the status in CEAC with (2015 250 190 0001) format. Called Apollo receptionalist and tried to get appointments the very same day. By luck, I got the appointment to meet the physical examination doctor around 12 noon and the psychiatrist by 2.30 PM. Registed at Apollo Hospitals and paid Rs 2200 at the reception and pais Rs 1800 for the psychiatrist at 4th floor. They gave a US Medical Vaccination form which they use it for the IV & NIV applications. This had around 7-8 pages which has to be filled by the physical examination doctor. After registering, they asked me to go to Fourth floor - to test height, weight, eyes examination and blood test. (15 mins) After this, they asked me to go to second floo, to get chest X ray. (30 mins) After this, went back to fourth floor to complete the physical examination. The doctor (Born Indian, US Citizen, moved to Chennai) was filling out the details present on the form. (Heart rate, BP, lungs functioning, abdomen, back pain, knees pain, swelling checks) (20-30 minutes). She was very patient and when she asked me to lie down on the bed, she told my wife - not to worry and everything is going to be fine and wish her all the best. :) She will fill the details about your complete health history and mark certain diagnosis normal or abnormal. And she writes in a space, which stated 'Psych report attached'. Had lunch and came for the psychiatrist appointment at 2.30 PM. This doctor asked me about the family structure, background, my schooling, engg, offshore and onsite details, about the incident. She was very sweet and nice lady. I told her the fines, Community classes, MADD and OP counselling report which I did over here. She asked for the report from the OP counselling and she gave it back to me. She said, she will write a good report. :) Left around 3.00 PM. I got the number from the receptionalist at the 4th floor, and I requested him to confirm whether the reports will be sent to US consulate asap, as Thursday 17th Sep was a holiday. He asked me to call on 16 Sep around 4.00 PM. ******************************************************************** This time, the status at UStraveldocs was - Your passport is with the consulate / embassy CEAC - Administrative Processing Passport Tracking - Your passport is with the consulate / embassy ******************************************************************** They use the word 'Passport' even for the medical report or any docs associated to your case. Because, I was confused as the VO gave me the passport on the interview date and when the statuses on these sites mentioned about the passport. 16 Sep - Called that guy around 4.00 PM and confirmed the report has been sent to embassy. He said that the report was sent by an officer to embassy at 2.45 PM. 24 Sep - State Holiday, so US consulate closed. 18 Sep - Called US embassy chennai to request for status. The lady told to wait for sometime as they are analysing the case. 23 Sep - No updates so far from last Wednesday on any of the three sites mentioned above. 24 Sep - State Holiday, so US consulate closed. 25 Sep - The status present in ustraveldocs site has got changed to 'your passport is ready for pickup' from the old status 'your passport is with the consulate / embassy' status. The CEAC site still shows the status as 'administrative processing' as of today. Got the email around 3.30 PM. 26 Sep - The status present in ustraveldocs site has got changed to 'your passport is being delivered to post' status. The CEAC site still shows the status as 'administrative processing' as of today. Spoke to a guy who had gone through this process in Jan 2015 and he explained this status means that I have to go to VAC and look out for a new 221G (he said, mostly it will ask to submit the passport) along with my copy of the medical report from the US embassy. 28 Sep - The status is changed to 'your passport is ready for pickup' in the ustraveldocs site. Once the passport is submitted at VAC - the status is changed to 'your passport is being delivered to post'. At VAC - went to the submission area - where the officer handed me the medical report along with one other 221G which asked to submit the passport. The medical report contained the details which the panel physician filled during the hospital checkup on 15th Sep along with the psychiatric report. The psychiatrist wrote a 2 page report about my behaviour, the details I told and her final conclusion. The officer gave a 221G document submission form (2 copies) where we have to fill our passport details along with what we are submitting. One copy will be sent to US consulate along with the latest 221G letter and passports. Other copy will be acknowledged by the officer and will be given it to the applicant. The officer said we will get the passport with visa issued within 2-3 business days. Waiting for the passport with visa now. 29 Sep - The status in the ustraveldocs site has got changed to 'your passport is with the consulate / embassy' status - meaning the passport is couriered to US consulate from the VAC. 30 Sep - No change in status from previous day. 02 Oct - National Holiday, so US consulate closed. 04 Oct - No change in status from previous day. 05 Oct - CEAC site status updated date got changed to 05-Oct-2015 after a long wait. Still the status shows administrative processing. The UStraveldocs site shows the status as the same as the previous one. I sent an email to passportstatus@ustraveldocs.com and got the response as 'Your passport is delivered to post'. 06 Oct - Called the US chennai embassy telephone landline number and spoke to the same lady - she explained me that, though I submitted the passport on 28th Sep at VAC; the consulate received it only on 01st October. 2nd October was a national holiday. I asked about the delay from VAC (Nungambakkam location) to the US Consulate (Mount Road) consular section and she told me that, they have some internal process that happens before the US consular section gets the passport. Monday 5th October was the first day they looked into the status and as I mentioned above, the status updated date got changed on 5th October. Also she said, I will be getting a status update within 2-4 business days. But I got it within one day. She was the one who asked me couple of times when I inquired about the status, after Sep 15th interview date when it went on administrative processing. She was little harsh since I called twice within a week I guess. One thing is, I was keep on checking the 3 sites every now and then on a daily basis to see an updated status. Around 1.30 PM, CEAC site status updated to 'Issued' and the status updated date got changed to 06-Oct-2015. Immediately I checked the status at UStraveldocs site which showed 'Passport has been received from the consular section; and is being currently processed for delivery. Same status like this in the Passport tracking site. Then I sent an email to 'passportstatus@ustraveldocs.com' address and got the response as 'Originating Scan' for myself and for my spouse. Around 3.30 PM, got an email from US travel docs to collect the passport. The status at the Ustraveldocs and in the passport tracking site was showing 'Your passport is Ready for pickup' for both of us. Unfortunately, the VAC closes at 5.00 PM and I could not travel from my place to get it the same day. 07 Oct - Came around 8.30 AM to pickup the passport, thinking they open at 8.00 AM and we can collect the passport; but they open at 10.00 AM for passport collection (open at 8.00 AM only for biometrics). Collected the passport and the status now at the UStraveldocs site and in the passport tracking site shows 'Your passport has been picked up' for both of us. 08 Oct - Came back to US. At the POE, asked to go inside for evaluation. He asked me whether my wife travel'ed with me. I said yes, and he asked me for the probation report which mentioned to travel outside USA for marriage. He asked me to have this record all the time when I enter USA. I asked, even getting a GC - Do I have to go through this process of Secondary check at POE. He said yed and he told that, I can't travel to Canada because of this. I asked once again, even getting GC - Can't I travel to Canada (as one of my friend travel'ed few weeks back) - He said 'No' and I have to get waiver from Canada to enter the country. With 3 holidays in between (17th Sep, 24th Sep and 2nd Oct) - I was thinking that the process went little fast for me. Hope this detailed process helps everyone who is going through a tough time from the time of the incident till you go for visa interview & get the visa issued on passport. This is the latest process consulate have been following for people with DUI / OWI / OWVI. Kindly contact me if anyone has any questions. I can explain it through call and provide guidance. Share this post Link to post
century 0 Report post Posted October 26, 2015 Congrats Mani_Ravi my case is my charge is a CIMT and is dismissed by prosecutor after pre trial diversion.. No plea of guilt.. No conviction for misdemeanor crime or immigration purpose.. I am not sure how my visa extension might go Share this post Link to post
reddy123 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2015 century, when is your visa interview and where ? Share this post Link to post
century 0 Report post Posted November 21, 2015 I amnot going for stamping now. How about yours? Share this post Link to post
TJKUMAR 0 Report post Posted January 8, 2016 Thank you Mani_Ravi for sharing your experience, it's really help lots of people like me. I also have PI & DUI both and case dismissed. i have following questions. 1. how you explain your case in DS-160 ? is it in details or just overview? 2. Is there any way we can get sealed doctor report from USCIS approved doctor from USA? are they gonna accept that sealed report from USA doctors ? https://my.uscis.gov/findadoctor "After the exam, the doctor will complete Form I-693 and seal the form in an envelope for you to submit to USCIS. Make sure you get a copy of the completed Form I-693 for your personal records before the doctor seals the envelope. USCIS will not accept the form if the envelope has been opened or altered." Any input from anyone would be appreciated. Share this post Link to post
mrav85 0 Report post Posted January 14, 2016 No, For DUI, the tests have to performed in your home country. You will get the report (which the doctor filled) from consulate when they request for your passport. The URL I provided earlier was for the I485 process (AOS). In DS160 - just write what is your charge and whether you have paid all your fines, classes and any other additional requirements issued by the court. Please send an email to my address that's on my profile. Share this post Link to post
lessonlearned 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2016 @mani_ravi after how many days of dui u went to india . I got a dui this month and have my wedding in June . not sure if i should postponed it ?? Share this post Link to post
HellBoy_ATL 0 Report post Posted February 27, 2018 On 10/12/2015 at 3:08 PM, mrav85 said: Here is the story of my H1-B visa stamping in India this September during my vacation to India for my marriage (09/09). Thanks for everyone's support who provided their answers for my posts. (specially to Jairichi, rahul412, pontevecchio, Ramesh to name a few) This trip was filled with excitement and a lot of stress. Landed at Chennai on 2nd Sep night and had passport renewal on 3rd Sep as passport is expiting on Aug 2016. I decided to get a new passport, so that I get the visa upto my I797 PED. (Nov 2016, finishing up 6 years on H1). I heard, if I have the passport expiry date before I 797 PED, then they dont issue visa till the 797 PED and they issue visa only till the passport expiry date. Got this done by 7th Sep. Registered and got the marriage certificate on 10th Se, as we decided to go together for visa interview. *********************************************************************************************************** Couple of sites to check during this process. Site 1: CEAC - https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx Site 2: UStraveldocs - https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/applicanthome Site 3: Passport Tracking - http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-niv-passporttrack.asp *********************************************************************************************************** 14 Sep - At Chennai Nungambakkam VAC - fingerprinting was done for myself and my wife. 15 Sep - Interview was done by VO named Timothy. (Nice guy and very cool visa officer) Asked questions about employer, client, how long I have been working for the employer, annual salary, expecting any role change. He was going through the details I filled in DS-160 and asking these questions I guess. Then he asked us, when we got married and wished both of us. He was about to say, your visa is 'Issued' - but he asked the question, 'Have I been convicted or arrested for anything'? I answered yes and explained a little about the incident. He gave me a yellow printout where it said to wait for 5 mins until the VO calls back. He checked with his peer and issued me the 221G form with a case number (which asked me to appear at panel physician at Apollo Heart Care Hospitals, Greams Road, Chennai) Case Number Format: YYYYDDD XXX Y. In order to check the case status in CEAC NIV site - you have to use this format (YYYYDDD XXX 000Y) If the case number is (2015 250 190 1) then check the status in CEAC with (2015 250 190 0001) format. Called Apollo receptionalist and tried to get appointments the very same day. By luck, I got the appointment to meet the physical examination doctor around 12 noon and the psychiatrist by 2.30 PM. Registed at Apollo Hospitals and paid Rs 2200 at the reception and pais Rs 1800 for the psychiatrist at 4th floor. They gave a US Medical Vaccination form which they use it for the IV & NIV applications. This had around 7-8 pages which has to be filled by the physical examination doctor. After registering, they asked me to go to Fourth floor - to test height, weight, eyes examination and blood test. (15 mins) After this, they asked me to go to second floo, to get chest X ray. (30 mins) After this, went back to fourth floor to complete the physical examination. The doctor (Born Indian, US Citizen, moved to Chennai) was filling out the details present on the form. (Heart rate, BP, lungs functioning, abdomen, back pain, knees pain, swelling checks) (20-30 minutes). She was very patient and when she asked me to lie down on the bed, she told my wife - not to worry and everything is going to be fine and wish her all the best. :) She will fill the details about your complete health history and mark certain diagnosis normal or abnormal. And she writes in a space, which stated 'Psych report attached'. Had lunch and came for the psychiatrist appointment at 2.30 PM. This doctor asked me about the family structure, background, my schooling, engg, offshore and onsite details, about the incident. She was very sweet and nice lady. I told her the fines, Community classes, MADD and OP counselling report which I did over here. She asked for the report from the OP counselling and she gave it back to me. She said, she will write a good report. :) Left around 3.00 PM. I got the number from the receptionalist at the 4th floor, and I requested him to confirm whether the reports will be sent to US consulate asap, as Thursday 17th Sep was a holiday. He asked me to call on 16 Sep around 4.00 PM. ******************************************************************** This time, the status at UStraveldocs was - Your passport is with the consulate / embassy CEAC - Administrative Processing Passport Tracking - Your passport is with the consulate / embassy ******************************************************************** They use the word 'Passport' even for the medical report or any docs associated to your case. Because, I was confused as the VO gave me the passport on the interview date and when the statuses on these sites mentioned about the passport. 16 Sep - Called that guy around 4.00 PM and confirmed the report has been sent to embassy. He said that the report was sent by an officer to embassy at 2.45 PM. 24 Sep - State Holiday, so US consulate closed. 18 Sep - Called US embassy chennai to request for status. The lady told to wait for sometime as they are analysing the case. 23 Sep - No updates so far from last Wednesday on any of the three sites mentioned above. 24 Sep - State Holiday, so US consulate closed. 25 Sep - The status present in ustraveldocs site has got changed to 'your passport is ready for pickup' from the old status 'your passport is with the consulate / embassy' status. The CEAC site still shows the status as 'administrative processing' as of today. Got the email around 3.30 PM. 26 Sep - The status present in ustraveldocs site has got changed to 'your passport is being delivered to post' status. The CEAC site still shows the status as 'administrative processing' as of today. Spoke to a guy who had gone through this process in Jan 2015 and he explained this status means that I have to go to VAC and look out for a new 221G (he said, mostly it will ask to submit the passport) along with my copy of the medical report from the US embassy. 28 Sep - The status is changed to 'your passport is ready for pickup' in the ustraveldocs site. Once the passport is submitted at VAC - the status is changed to 'your passport is being delivered to post'. At VAC - went to the submission area - where the officer handed me the medical report along with one other 221G which asked to submit the passport. The medical report contained the details which the panel physician filled during the hospital checkup on 15th Sep along with the psychiatric report. The psychiatrist wrote a 2 page report about my behaviour, the details I told and her final conclusion. The officer gave a 221G document submission form (2 copies) where we have to fill our passport details along with what we are submitting. One copy will be sent to US consulate along with the latest 221G letter and passports. Other copy will be acknowledged by the officer and will be given it to the applicant. The officer said we will get the passport with visa issued within 2-3 business days. Waiting for the passport with visa now. 29 Sep - The status in the ustraveldocs site has got changed to 'your passport is with the consulate / embassy' status - meaning the passport is couriered to US consulate from the VAC. 30 Sep - No change in status from previous day. 02 Oct - National Holiday, so US consulate closed. 04 Oct - No change in status from previous day. 05 Oct - CEAC site status updated date got changed to 05-Oct-2015 after a long wait. Still the status shows administrative processing. The UStraveldocs site shows the status as the same as the previous one. I sent an email to passportstatus@ustraveldocs.com and got the response as 'Your passport is delivered to post'. 06 Oct - Called the US chennai embassy telephone landline number and spoke to the same lady - she explained me that, though I submitted the passport on 28th Sep at VAC; the consulate received it only on 01st October. 2nd October was a national holiday. I asked about the delay from VAC (Nungambakkam location) to the US Consulate (Mount Road) consular section and she told me that, they have some internal process that happens before the US consular section gets the passport. Monday 5th October was the first day they looked into the status and as I mentioned above, the status updated date got changed on 5th October. Also she said, I will be getting a status update within 2-4 business days. But I got it within one day. She was the one who asked me couple of times when I inquired about the status, after Sep 15th interview date when it went on administrative processing. She was little harsh since I called twice within a week I guess. One thing is, I was keep on checking the 3 sites every now and then on a daily basis to see an updated status. Around 1.30 PM, CEAC site status updated to 'Issued' and the status updated date got changed to 06-Oct-2015. Immediately I checked the status at UStraveldocs site which showed 'Passport has been received from the consular section; and is being currently processed for delivery. Same status like this in the Passport tracking site. Then I sent an email to 'passportstatus@ustraveldocs.com' address and got the response as 'Originating Scan' for myself and for my spouse. Around 3.30 PM, got an email from US travel docs to collect the passport. The status at the Ustraveldocs and in the passport tracking site was showing 'Your passport is Ready for pickup' for both of us. Unfortunately, the VAC closes at 5.00 PM and I could not travel from my place to get it the same day. 07 Oct - Came around 8.30 AM to pickup the passport, thinking they open at 8.00 AM and we can collect the passport; but they open at 10.00 AM for passport collection (open at 8.00 AM only for biometrics). Collected the passport and the status now at the UStraveldocs site and in the passport tracking site shows 'Your passport has been picked up' for both of us. 08 Oct - Came back to US. At the POE, asked to go inside for evaluation. He asked me whether my wife travel'ed with me. I said yes, and he asked me for the probation report which mentioned to travel outside USA for marriage. He asked me to have this record all the time when I enter USA. I asked, even getting a GC - Do I have to go through this process of Secondary check at POE. He said yed and he told that, I can't travel to Canada because of this. I asked once again, even getting GC - Can't I travel to Canada (as one of my friend travel'ed few weeks back) - He said 'No' and I have to get waiver from Canada to enter the country. With 3 holidays in between (17th Sep, 24th Sep and 2nd Oct) - I was thinking that the process went little fast for me. Hope this detailed process helps everyone who is going through a tough time from the time of the incident till you go for visa interview & get the visa issued on passport. This is the latest process consulate have been following for people with DUI / OWI / OWVI. Kindly contact me if anyone has any questions. I can explain it through call and provide guidance. Hi, can you please let me know if I can call you? Had a few questions. Appreciate your help. Share this post Link to post
mrav85 0 Report post Posted July 12, 2018 On 2/27/2018 at 11:30 AM, HellBoy_ATL said: Hi, can you please let me know if I can call you? Had a few questions. Appreciate your help. Hi Sorry, was not logging in. you can email me at the address on the profile. Share this post Link to post
haku 0 Report post Posted October 17, 2018 Hi marv could you please drop me an email .I have some question about stamping . Share this post Link to post
MattDenver 0 Report post Posted November 13, 2018 Hi Team, I had received DUI in Jul 2013. I had appeared for L1B Visa interview at Chennai Consualte and had received 221 (g). I had gone through medical examination in 2015 and had received the Visa. I again appeared for L1 Individual Visa interview at Chennai Consulate on 31-Oct-2018 again received 221 (g) form and consulate officer requested Medical examination as well as Police Records. Interview Date: 31-Oct-2018 Completed Medical examination at Apollo Chennai: 31-Oct-2018 Apollo Confirmed that medical records were sent to Consulate on 02-Nov-18 It has been almost 2 weeks and still the Passport status shows as with Embassy and Consulate. While CEAC website still shows the status as Administrative Processing. I want to know if someone has any recent experience on Visa Stamping and processing time and when can I expect a update from Consulate. Share this post Link to post
Visa2019 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2019 Hello mrav, You mentioned about you contacting consulate. How did you called them. The numbers they have provided is not helping and do not even address issue of on hold cases Share this post Link to post
10451 Mill Run Circle, Suite 100
