Successful H1B & H4 stamping at Mumbai Consulate on Nov 25

[ateetshah]

Hi All,

Got H1B and H4 for my wife successfully stamped at Mumbai Consulate (new consulate at BKC) on Nov 25. I work for company which has 250,000+ employees and working in Finance/Accounting field (non IT/engineering) as full time employee. This was my 3rd H1B stamping and 7th year extension. I have I-140 approved so get 3 year extension from 2011 to 2014.

Had to submit documents 3 days in advance at VFS for Mumbai location. All photocopies. New Mumbai consulate at BKC is amazingly huge and very efficient. You can hear everything on every window as it is very open with around 40 windows straight up. New BKC US Consulate started operations only on 21st Nov, 2011, so the process is new to employees there as well. Now everything is based on barcode system. Make sure you carry your DS-160 printout with you while intervewing at every consulate. Questions asked are below.

VO - What location do you work

Answer - Told

VO - Is this your first time on H1B

Answer - This is for renewal of my H1B visa with XYZ employer.

VO - Can I get your I-797

Answer - Gave.Not sure why consulate people didn't attach with our passports.

VO - What is your highest education

Answer - MBA in Finance from XYZ University

VO - Do you work directly for your employer at your client (I guess they ask this question to everyone now)

Answer - Full Time Employee

VO to my Wife - Is this your first time on H4

Answer - No

VO for 2 mintues typing and looking something at his monitor and then said your visa is approved. At Mumbai they don't keep you original I-797 anymore. I guess it's due to PIMS Database implementation full scale. I also saw lot of people with EVC or EC model grilled with questions and asked documents. Some of them got 221g and some were approved.

I got SMS from VFS at 5.15pm on the same day to collect the passport from VFS at Tirupati Apartments. There was no way I could make to VFS in Mumbai with 15 minutes notice on Friday evening. Within next 20 minutes I got another SMS that your passport has been sent via Blue Dart. I received my passport via Blue Dart on Saturday evening at around 4.15pm.

I read this forum extensively, but again if your company is good, you shouldn't have any problems with stamping. Make sure you talk straight to VO and your body language is very very important. Many people don't post positive experiences, so please do if you have one. Good luck everyone.

[rajsayani]

thank you for sharing your experience. I am planning to go to India n I m working in EVC model. Can you share any questions/comments you may have heard when candidates were getting 221 g.

[tusharvk]

congrats. same day passport ready? even better.

I heard for eos they do not update in pims. How to verify if the pims is updated with your petition?

[Panachakkal]

Hey njdude,

Where can I find list of documents that need to be submitted to VFS? If it is not listed, can you please tell me what all docs did you submit?

Thanks,

Panachakkal

[ateetshah]

thank you for sharing your experience. I am planning to go to India n I m working in EVC model. Can you share any questions/comments you may have heard when candidates were getting 221 g.

Most people were asked for client letter, tax returns, LCA, I-129 among other documents.

[ateetshah]

Hey njdude,

Where can I find list of documents that need to be submitted to VFS? If it is not listed, can you please tell me what all docs did you submit?

Thanks,

Panachakkal

Photocopy of Applicant's First, Last, Observation pages of passport, Previous visa stamp photocopy, Copy of I-797 of principal applicant, DS-160 Barcode Confirmation, Interview Confirmation Letter copy. Make sure you carry all of your original documents as well. You can download document list once you setup appointment on VFS website.

[ateetshah]

congrats. same day passport ready? even better.

I heard for eos they do not update in pims. How to verify if the pims is updated with your petition?

Yes same day passport collection was great. Even better was Blue Dart delivering on Saturday at 4.15pm. I had to travel to India due to family emergency and was unable to secure appointments early enough at Mumbai consulate. There is no way to check PIMS at any consulate anymore. Again it's pure matter of chance you are taking with any stamping procedure at any consulate.

My appointment was on 25th of November which was Friday and I was leaving for US on 29th Nov which was Tuesday. I just had one business day time for my passport and got lucky. I was trying to get appointments starting from 9th November at Mumbai and was unable to do so until 18th Nov. I tried emergency appointment via VFS ermergency date request module at Mumbai consulate and was rejected. I guess during interview VO looked at my DS160 travel plans. Delhi Embassy dates open up at around 8.30am India Time and Mumbai Consulate dates get updated anywhere from 10.00am to 11.30am every day. You just have to be quick and get ready with all information as slots are booked very quickly. I kept on checking fo days until I got lucky.

If your company and job are genuine, then your chances are almost 99%. Leave 1% on pure badluck for Full Time Employees.