Successful stamping in Toronto, Canada

[h1bgamble]

Hey Guys,

This forum has been really helpful to me. So just thought I'll share my experience as well. My Visa Interview was on Monday Dec 5th at 10 AM. I stayed with a friend about 15 mins away from the consulate. Took a cab and got to the consulate at 9:35. They asked me to wait till they call for the 10 AM appt. It was drizzling. So a bunch of people were waiting in the entrance to a garage opp the consulate. They called us at 9:45. A guy checked the e-mail confirmation page for the appt, confirmation barcode and the passport. He then let us in. I went through a long corridor, after going through security check. Looks like the only things they don't allow inside are electronic items. I noticed a guy brought a big umbrella and they let him in with it. So if anyone's renting a car, make sure to get an old fashioned actual key and not a electronic key for the car. Otherwise, I dont think they'll let you take it.

Anyway, at the end of the long corridor they were again checking the I797 and the passport. They took the confirmation page here and put the passport and I797 in a folder. They then let me through another door. There were Windows marked 1 to 4 where they checked this folder again and gave me a token with a number on it. Then in 5 minutes, my number came up on the screen. There are windows 5 to 10 where they call for numbers. Mine came up in Window 9 and they took my fingerprints here. Then I was waiting for another 5 minutes when they called my number on Window 7. This was the actual Visa interview. The guy asked me the following questions:

Who do you work for?

Do you work directly for them or through a client? - I work directly for the company.

What work do you do?

Where do you work in the US?

Do you work directly for the company? - He asked this question twice

Show me your pay stubs.

Show me the docket that your lawyer filed for - this is the I129 set of files that your company's lawyer sends to USCIS to apply for the I797 - BTW... mine was a H1B renewal. First time I got my H1B stamped in Chennai, India.

What degree did you get in the US?

Where did you go to school?

He then said my Visa was approved and gave me a white slip that had instructions on how to collect the passport. I took a cab and was back home by 10:35. The whole process took less than an hour.

Now came the most worrying part for me. Trying to track my passport. I kept checking the consulate website and my e-mail the whole of Tuesday and Wednesday. Nothing came up. I had my flight booked for Thursday evening back to USA. I was getting really worried. Wednesday night I checked lots of posts on Murthy.com and noticed that sometimes the consulate doesn't update the website and DHL don't send you an e-mail. People had said to track with the reference # from the consulate website, on the DHL website. So did that Wednesday night.... still nothing.

Finally this morning, Thursday, I woke up at 7 and checked the DHL site with the reference # and there it was. The status details showed that the shipment record was received at Midnight on Wednesday and the package reached the DHL office at Brampton at 11:17 PM. I chose Markham as the DHL location. So the package arrived at the DHL office in Markham at 6:15 AM Thursday morning. Looks like the package first gets shipped to Brampton.

I'm writing this before going to the office to pick up the passport. I'll pick it up on my way to the Airport. Thank you all for your posts. They were really helpful. I hope my post is helpful to some people as well. Good Luck.

[sunnyaskin]

Congrats, I am planing for Toronto as well in Jan 2nd week(appointment date not booked yet).Hoping that I will find dates in Jan 2012.

Any idea how effective is the Visa Stamping rate for consultants on EVC and EVVC model in Toronto,Canada.

Thanks.

[pchandu]

CONGRATULATIONS....

I am also planning to go Torronto in the month of Jan. You said, u had a friend who helped you out in your stay. Would you mind in giving his contact number or email id for some accommodation couple of days.

[h1bgamble]

Congrats, I am planing for Toronto as well in Jan 2nd week(appointment date not booked yet).Hoping that I will find dates in Jan 2012.

Any idea how effective is the Visa Stamping rate for consultants on EVC and EVVC model in Toronto,Canada.

Thanks.

Sorry Bro... I don't know much about EVC or EVVC models. The couple other people I interacted with in Toronto were all directly employed as well. As far as I know, everyone who went that day, till I left, got their Visas. Cos everyone who came out before me were saying, they got the Visa. I dont know what categories they were though.

[h1b4jkl]

h1bgamble - how did you book your date of appointment for visa in toronto? i'm not having any luck in getting the date. it keeps showing no appointments available. pls help, trying to go there in January.

[h1b4jkl]

Congrats, I am planing for Toronto as well in Jan 2nd week(appointment date not booked yet).Hoping that I will find dates in Jan 2012.

Any idea how effective is the Visa Stamping rate for consultants on EVC and EVVC model in Toronto,Canada.

Thanks.

did you book your appointment for toronto yet? i'm not seeing any dates available. let me know if you see any dates. you can mail me at jkl1082 at hot mail com