H-4 visa stamping experience at Totonto

[Immigrant2010]

(I'm sharing my wife's H-4 visa stamping experience at the Toronto consulate. She does not have a Murthy Forum account and cannot post herself.)

My wife was earlier on H-1B but decided to take a break from work after our son was born. She got her H-4 visa based on my H-1B in September 2011. She has studied in the US on an F-1 visa and then worked for three years before switching to H-5.

We took an appointment at Toronto for November 14, 10 am. After filling in DS-160 and paying fees, etc., we kept looking on the CSC website for a date that would work for us. Toronto is often hard to get, but our perseverence paid off and we got the desired date. My wife and I drove to Toronto along with our son for the interview.

On the date of the interview, my wife went to the consulate alone while I baby sat. Her interview was very straight-forward. The VO only asked for a copy of our marriage certificate (we got married in the US), my H-1B and her previous H-1B approval notice (I797). She had taken along a large number of documents, e.g., bank statements and a few documents where her and my name appear together. However, the VO did not ask for any other supporting evidence and granted the visa.

My wife was given a slip that asked her to check for passport pick-up details on the CSC website at least 3 business days later. This was different from our prior experience in Ottawa where the passport pick-up is usually the next evening. We were a bit worried about it since we had planned to drive back Wednesday morning and it wasn't clear whether we would get her passport back in time. We began thinking about extending our stay in Toronto.

The day after the interview, i.e., Tuesday November 15, both of us kept checking the website every hour until 11 pm that night. However, there was no update. Finally, in the morning of Wednesday, when my wife checked her email again she saw notification from the consulate adivising her that her passport had been sent for pickup. It seems that the email and the update on the CSC website was posted early Wednesday morning.

Anyway, this was great news since we didn't have to change our plans and could return home. Brampton, the DHL pickup location, is out in the suburbs of Toronto and a good half hour drive from downtown. It would have been quite time consuming (and expensive) to get there without our own car. But we were able to pick the passport and get on our way soon.

[visaimmig]

Is your wife an FTE ? or contractor ?