Successful H1B Extension Stamping and H4 to F1 stamping in Ottawa, Canada June 3rd

jazzbha1234

By jazzbha1234,
in H1B : Visa Stamp

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jazzbha1234 Member

jazzbha1234

Posted
Posted

Hello there,

Just wanted to thank everyone on the forum for sharing their experience as it did help me a lot. So wanted to share my visa experience as well here. So here it goes:

I and my wife had a visa interview scheduled for June 3rd in Ottawa, Canada. I had to get my pp stamped for my H1-B extension as my first 3 yrs of H1 expired in Sep 2012 last year. I now got it stamped until 2015. My wife had to get her F1 stamped as she already her status transferred from H4 to F1.

We went to the consulate early itself at 7am in the morning. I had my appointment at 8:30 and my wife had it at 10 still they took us in together as we were 2nd in line and we gave the interview at the same window #3 to a old white guy. We were 2nd in line, we went thru initial security scan outside the consulate doors, then went inside went thru complete security scan, then another lady took my pp, confirmation barcode letter and I-797 and my wife's pp, confirmation barcode letter and i-20. She took that, wrote something, gave it back to us and told us to go to window #1. The lady there on #1 took these docs again, reviewed it and just gave us a token # and said to wait for fingerprinting. 5-10 mins later... our token was called, went thru 10-printing... then again waited... 5-10 mins later.. interview time came.. went to window #3. Below is the conversation with the VO:

1.) So you work XXX?

a. Yes sir. I work with XXX..

2.) How long have you been with them?

a. I joined XXX last year in July 2012 so it has been around a year…

3.) What do you do at XXX ?

a. I work as a ______________ and perform the duties of ________ applying my skills of ___________________________

4.) So you work on "in-house" projects?

a. (I repeated the same answer as 3.))

5.) Do you have a letter from the company stating your duties?

a. Yes, sure. Here is the same. (I gave the H1-B visa cover letter and the Employment Verification Letter to the VO. He went thru it very carefully each and every page. He then typed a lot of things in the computer before moving on… )

6.) (Then the VO returned the letter to me then went back to my passport and stamped “Cancelled” on my previous H1-B visa stamp and then he asked me…) You said that you have been with XXX for last 1 year but here you already have a stamp from XXX dated in 2009.

a. I worked with XXX previously as well in 2009-2010 timeframe. (then the VO again interrupted me in between and asked).. then you joined them back now? (I answered…) I worked with YYY in between and then joined XXX again last year.

7.) Do you know you have to get your visa stamped if you change your companies? ( I don't know why he said.. that.. I have traveled to india a couple of times by just having a valid visa stamp with the old firm and the new I-797 from the new firm...still i answered with confidence...)

a. I have my YYY company's I-797 as well for you to review and I never left the country without it.

8.) The VO then returned my I-797, typed something his system, and began asking questions turning towards my wife for her F1 stamping:

9.) So you go to the AAA University

a. Yes, I go to the AAA University in _____ campus, New York

10.) Which course are you enrolled in?

a. I am enrolled in Master’s in Biotechnology

11.) When did you start your course in AAA ?

a. I started my course in August 2012, last semester

12.) Do you have your transcripts with you?

a. Yes, I do. (Provided the same. Checked it lineantly. Gave it back and typed something in the system.)

After above, gave us a white sheet with instructions to track our passports, and said the platinum words “Both of your visas have been approved.” :)

Some general infor. about Ottawa:

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on coventry road and had a rental car. To keep rental car is cheaper than compared to taking a taxi and going back n forth to downtown, ottawa. Ottawa is a deserted place..nothing much to see... no night life..... food is costly... cab is costly... every restaurant asks for tips even if you don't want to give... ppl r helpful in general... . weather is nice.. ppl drive crazily... so be careful while driving... indian restaurants/food is/are costly.. (im from nyc)... try to stay near downtown ottawa itself.. there is a days inn close by... if somebody has forgotten to take recent photographs, not an issue... there's a chain photography studio right near the consulate... couple of blocks .. in Rideau center mall called as "Black's photography".. you can go there and they will immediately give you 2 pp size photographs for 25 CAD$.

Hope the above transcript helps everyone who goes for H1 stamping or for H4 to F1 converted stamping !!

Thanks !!

H1Visa639 Advanced Member

H1Visa639

Posted
Posted

Hi JAZZBHA1234,

Congratulations!

I need some info about applying F1 visa in Canada. My brother (he is on student visa in canada) got i20 from a good univ. As he lives in Toronto he wants to go to OTTAWWA consulate for F1 stamping.

1) Can you post the websites you used for booking a F1 visa appointment?

2) Does he need to fill out DS-160 forms just like we fill for our H1 stamping? if yes, can u post that link too.

3) Is ottawwa consulate a good choice for F1 Stamping?

4) what is the process to pay sevis fee?

Please respond ASAP.

Thanks in Advance

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