F1 to H1B status Change - PIMS verification and Adminstrative processing on VISA

akmurthy

By akmurthy,
in H1B : Visa Stamp

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akmurthy Newbie

akmurthy

Posted
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Hi 

I attended for my first H1B visa stamping on Dec 6th. i am FT employee for XXX company

VO : ur highest degree?? Answered
VO : Speicalization in? Answered
VO: So ur working for XX ? Yes 
VO: Whats ur current salary ? Answered. 

VO : Ur status is shown as F1 here in our database? ME : But my H1b was approved from OCt 1st
VO : I know sir, but its something has to be changed in our Database. Do u have a copy of ur 797?  ME : NO sir ( he took a photocopy and handed over original 797  to me ) 
VO : It will take 5-7 business days for processing, and you will informed. ME: Thank you, Do i have to do anything from my end 
VO : No sir, we will inform you after processing.

Took a yellow sticky and wrote XXXX - PIMS and took the passport

What should i expect? There was no 221g or any slip given to me. Its been a week. VO neither said it was approved or not. 
All i understand is they have to change my status from F1 to H1B, so he couldnt say anything to me. 

will my Visa be approved? How long does it take? I have a return ticket in 10 days?

Thank you for the inputs in advance

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nmurthy Advanced Member

nmurthy

Posted
Posted

This is a PIMS issue. It is very common and don't worry. Please read below to understand what is PIMS and the process. 
Part 1 
1. Your company applies your H1-B and in the application packet they will keep a duplicate copy of application marked for KCC (Kentucky consular center) 
2. Once your application is approved, USCIS consular center (Texas or Vermont or Nebraska) will send that duplicate copy to KCC. 
3. KCC will then upload a copy of your petition and approval notice to PIMS (petitioner information management system) 
4. PIMS is the global database that links USCIS and DoS (department of state, which runs the consulates world wide). Consulates around the world has access to PIMS and they will approve your visa if and only if your petition shows up on PIMS as approved.
5. KCC may be getting many applications per day and so they are slow to upload your documents. I have no clue what their SLA is. 
Part 2
1. You are in the chennai consulate (or anywhere in the world) for stamping and your H1 approval was recent (say 2 weeks ago). 
2. Visa officer (VO) looks up in the PIMS and dont see an approval (for whatever visa category you are trying to get stamped). He will understand it is just a matter of missing PIMS update.
3. VO keeps the passport and lets you know that it may take a while to process your case and will put your case in admin processing 
4. Once your interview is over, VO will send an email to the Kentucky consular center. Dont know the format, but i am guessing VO is requesting the KCC to update the PIMS (whether the petition is approved or not) 
5. Standard SLA is 3 days for the KCC to update the PIMS system. KCC has access to another database where they can check the status of your petition. KCC will update your status in PIMS based on what they find in that addtional database. Your VO keeps checking the PIMS daily/email reply from KCC or both to see if there is an update and as soon as he finds an update (mostly approval), VO will issue/deny your visa 
6. In my case, this whole drama took 1 week (which is pretty average from what i read on the forums) 

Your interview happened on December 6, so you will probably receive it in another day or two. Also remember this is december and many folks could be on vacation (like you are). It may take an additional couple of days. Hang in there. 
Hope that helps, good luck

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akmurthy Newbie

akmurthy

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On 12/14/2017 at 6:49 AM, nmurthy said:

This is a PIMS issue. It is very common and don't worry. Please read below to understand what is PIMS and the process. 
Part 1 
1. Your company applies your H1-B and in the application packet they will keep a duplicate copy of application marked for KCC (Kentucky consular center) 
2. Once your application is approved, USCIS consular center (Texas or Vermont or Nebraska) will send that duplicate copy to KCC. 
3. KCC will then upload a copy of your petition and approval notice to PIMS (petitioner information management system) 
4. PIMS is the global database that links USCIS and DoS (department of state, which runs the consulates world wide). Consulates around the world has access to PIMS and they will approve your visa if and only if your petition shows up on PIMS as approved.
5. KCC may be getting many applications per day and so they are slow to upload your documents. I have no clue what their SLA is. 
Part 2
1. You are in the chennai consulate (or anywhere in the world) for stamping and your H1 approval was recent (say 2 weeks ago). 
2. Visa officer (VO) looks up in the PIMS and dont see an approval (for whatever visa category you are trying to get stamped). He will understand it is just a matter of missing PIMS update.
3. VO keeps the passport and lets you know that it may take a while to process your case and will put your case in admin processing 
4. Once your interview is over, VO will send an email to the Kentucky consular center. Dont know the format, but i am guessing VO is requesting the KCC to update the PIMS (whether the petition is approved or not) 
5. Standard SLA is 3 days for the KCC to update the PIMS system. KCC has access to another database where they can check the status of your petition. KCC will update your status in PIMS based on what they find in that addtional database. Your VO keeps checking the PIMS daily/email reply from KCC or both to see if there is an update and as soon as he finds an update (mostly approval), VO will issue/deny your visa 
6. In my case, this whole drama took 1 week (which is pretty average from what i read on the forums) 

Your interview happened on December 6, so you will probably receive it in another day or two. Also remember this is december and many folks could be on vacation (like you are). It may take an additional couple of days. Hang in there. 
Hope that helps, good luck

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. Case was updated twice in last 3 days, but still in Administrative processing
, the case is moving atleast  ;)

I will have to wait then, Its been 10 days and counting
 

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