First time H1B stamping (F1 to H1B)

[anaredla]

Hi,

I was under the impression that I have to go India if i need to get H1B stamping for the first time (Need to change from F1 to H1 visa).

a) Is it true that i could go to Canada to get my H1 Visa stamping?

b) Which Canadian consulates are potentially liberal in issuing Visa (provided I have proper documentation)?

I have valid H1 papers but don't have VISA stamping since May 2005.

Can anyone provide me web links for more information, please?

Thank you,

[doctor_Baali]

Canada always welcomes F1-H1 stamping if you have US masters degree, which is obvious in your case.

Vancouver and Ottawa are the consulates that I recommend.

[forumman]

@doctor_Baali: There is no term called "liberal" in Consulate dictionaries. It all depends on case to case basis.

@anaredla: Are you into EVC model or EC or Full time. The latter two have more chances of approval. EVC is dead.

[anaredla]

@forumman, I appreciate your input. I do agree that all interviews are different, and the word liberal is relative and here it was used in terms of higher percentage of Visa approval.

I belong to EVC (Employer-Vendor-Client); I guess my application has least percentage of Visa approval.

@doctor_Baali, thank you for your reply

[doctor_Baali]

Did I say liberal? I mentioned I recommend those consulates..all I'm trying to do is give best possible information but not scare the people like you by saying EVC model is dead. As long as EE relationship is established EVC model stands good chance.

To give more supporting details- In Calgary Canada, couple of Full-time folks were given admin processing with DS-157 checked and given 2 month time period, just because they have masters degree in Electronics. I haven't seen this trend in any other consulates in recent times.

[navr19]

Hi Everyone,

Need advice / suggestion please.

My Case:

First time stamping changing from F1 to H1

H1 started from Oct 2011 and valid thru Oct 2014

Working on EC model, have all the documentation

Planning to go for stamping Hyderabad or Canada in Jan ? Please let me know which one is better.

Thanks in advance.

[leo_maverick]

By looking through experiences from this forum, Canada seems to be better place. But be prepared for unexpected delays with admin processing in Canada.

[forumman]

@doctor_baali: Just because you haven't seen the trend in any other consulates does not mean that its not happening. Can you tell me where in the world are the statistics of approvals of H1b visa in any US Consulate in the world. There is none. So, you go by the information your "friends" give you but not the actual ground reality out there. If you like it or not, I say again "EVC is dead". How do you show EE relationship in EVC, huh ? May be I can pay you consultation fees, if you can prepare my documentation for H1 stamping.