H1b Stamping in Toronto- Need Help

[swatiaggarwal]

Hello Friends, I am on H1b since oct 1 2009. My previous stamping was done in India. In october 2013, i got my H1b 3 year extention and now I want to go to Toronto for my h1b visa stamping. I have few questions and hope you can help me out:

1. If i have to go to canada i have to apply for canadian visa as well, Will there be any problem because i do not have valid usa visa stamp in my passport?

2. If they give me canadian visa, is it okay to say at the border that i am going for H1b visa stamping?

3. What is the procedure to get appointment at USA embassy in canada. Is it different than having it done at usa embassy in India or i have to follow some other procedure as i have seen on some other websites

4. Do i need to send my approved H1b 797 to usa consulate before hand for PIMS verification?

5. How long it takes to get the visa and passport back from consulate in canada.

Thanks

Swati

[Guy_H1B]

1. If i have to go to canada i have to apply for canadian visa as well, Will there be any problem because i do not have valid usa visa stamp in my passport?

There will not be any problem. I'm also in the same situation and got my canada visa stamped with no issues. Just plan your canada trip and apply atleast 8 weeks before since it's taking anywhere between 4-6 weeks to get back the passport from canada consulate.

2. If they give me canadian visa, is it okay to say at the border that i am going for H1b visa stamping?

Sure. Just tell H1B visa stamping. I did the samething when I went for visa stamping to ottawa last time.

3. What is the procedure to get appointment at USA embassy in canada. Is it different than having it done at usa embassy in India or i have to follow some other procedure as i have seen on some other websites

Google - csc visa information service, it will be the first link

4. Do i need to send my approved H1b 797 to usa consulate before hand for PIMS verification?

I don't think so..PIMS is done automatically (Anyone, please correct me if I was wrong)

5. How long it takes to get the visa and passport back from consulate in canada.

I believe you mean US consulate in canada - depends on the outcome of your interview. If your visa is approved usually 2-3 days otherwise anywhere between 2 weeks to months.

[kumartc1]

Hi Guy_h1B

Your Answers to Swati's questions are valubale information to me. I have some questions to you

When you went stamping in Ottawa?(Recently?)

Do you have any Masters from US Universality

I am in a confused state whether to go Chennai or Canada. I had my First stamping from Chenai in 2007 and I am on EVC Model

Thanks

Uday

[swatiaggarwal]

Thanks a lot Guy_H1b for your response. I dropped the plan to go to Canada for H1B stamping. Basically i have to go to Mexico for one week for tourism , so i was thinking i have to get my stamping done to be able to re-enter USA but i searched on Murthy forum and found that i can visit mexico or canada for 30 days or less and can use Automatic Visa Re validation to re-enter USA. All i have to do is now to go to Mexican consulate and apply for non lucrative Visa for my trip.