Successful Visa Stamping Experience @ Calgary

calgaryvisa365

By calgaryvisa365,
in H1B : Visa Stamp

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calgaryvisa365 Member

calgaryvisa365

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Hello Guys and girls, here's my visa stamping experience at Calgary. Hope you get some valuable insight into the process at Calgary.

 

After, 2 long years of wait, I am finally done with my Visa stamping at Calgary consulate on May 3rd 2014. I’m currently working as a FTE for a manufacturing firm in NJ.

 

This is my first H1B stamping. I completed my master’s in 2011 from a reputed university in Texas, worked on OPT for around 1 year and since then until now on H1B and my GC process is on track.

 

I flew from Philadelphia to Calgary. I just booked a one way ticket to Calgary since I was not sure of my return date. The Canadian Border security officer seems to be very familiar with Indian faces in the airport, the moment I reached her window, she asked me if I came here for H1B visa stamping, and immediately approved my entry into Canada.

 

The hotels in Canada in general seem to be very expensive. I stayed at Holiday Inn Calgary airport, and paid around 110$ per day. There are other hotels around downtown which may be cheaper, but I took into consideration the reviews on hotels.com which favored Holiday Inn prior to my booking. Even though it was expensive, it was one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in.

 

On the day of the interview, took my folder containing all my files, documents, and reached the consulate 1 hr. prior to my interview. Interview was at 10.00 AM. I stood in line for 30 mins. And only then realized that there was no provision/locker facility at the consulate to store our personally belongings. I then had to rush back to the hotel, just to drop my cell phone. (Please BEWARE of this, no electronics allowed, no excuses, local stores around the plaza do not hold your belongings) I came back 10 mins before the interview, and the line was too long. Don’t worry; even if you have your interview at 9 or 10 am and you are late, your interview is valid until 12 noon that day.

 

You will then have to go through the usual security process where they verify DS160, I-797(I did not carry my original and had only a copy, but had no issues) and passport and then take you to the 10th floor where you will have to undergo a second security screening.

           

After the second screening, you will be taken to a counter for finger printing, verification of documents and will be given a token number and asked to be seated. The lady gave me the "right to know" document and asked me to read the document later. She asked me if I previously had any visa’s and verified my F1 visa.  

 

My token number was called and the interview process startedJ. The VO was probably around late 20’s or early 30’s, but appeared very cool and friendly.

 

 

 

VO: Good morning

Me: Good morning and handed over the I-797, DS160 and my passport.
 

VO: Are you working with ABC Company (American consulting firm)?

Me: No sir, that was my previous employer, I am now a FTE at a manufacturing firm and have no vendors.
 

VO: So your employer is XYZ?

Me: Yes

 

VO: what you do at XYZ?

Me: I am an SAP functional Lead in the company responsible to design, develop lead a team and support various SAP projects within the company. (I wanted to add a lot more here, but he ended my response prematurely)

 

VO: So, did you do your master’s in electrical engineering from the US?

Me: Yes, from XXX university.

 

VO: Can you please place your fingers on the machine; I need to take your finger prints.
 

VO: Your Visa is approved. You should get your passport in 2-4 days.
 

Status on CEAC changed to “Issued” the same night at around 11 pm and collected my passport this morning from Loomis even though they have not sent me any email notification about my waybill number.

 

My interview in total lasted for around a minute and half. And the total process right from security check to the end of my interview was around 15-20 mins.

 

Be confident and answer up to the point. In my case, I was a bit worried about my educational background, but I had valid justification to provide if he had asked me any questions related to this. I had a 3 year diploma from NIIT in Software Engineering during my Bachelor’s, during my master’s had a minor in Computer science and also have been certified in various technologies including my current profession.

 

He never asked me for a single document related to my previous employment or current employment; but please be sure that you have all your documents properly organized as H1B stamping varies from case to case.

 

I was also worried about not having my original I-797 with me. Since there are no H1B’s in the company(10,000+ employees) other than me, the HR or the company lawyer were not familiar with the process and kept the original I-797 with them and I only followed the instructions on my appointment confirmation letter that stated (“A copy of I-797 is required”). I luckily had no issues anywhere including the port of entry at Calgary which went pretty smooth.

 

Thanks everyone for sharing their experience and it helped me a lot. You have any questions, feel free to post it here or pm me and I will try to respond to you promptly.

 

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calgaryvisa365 Member

calgaryvisa365

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May I know when did your latest I-797 approve?

 

I did not understand your question. Anyway if you wanted to know my i797 dates, my i-797 approval was around may 13th or 15th of 2012 while h1 started from oct. (May-Oct Cap-Gap), and the current job i-797 approval date is around november 13th 2012.

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sam765 Newbie

sam765

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Hi, i also had pretty much same experience and had a visa interview yesterday. The visa officer told me that my visa has been approved and i will get an email for passport pick up. In your post you said on ceac changed to "Issued", where exactly is is. Can you please post the UIRL so i can check mine too? I have not got any email yet. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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calgaryvisa365 Member

calgaryvisa365

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Hi, i also had pretty much same experience and had a visa interview yesterday. The visa officer told me that my visa has been approved and i will get an email for passport pick up. In your post you said on ceac changed to "Issued", where exactly is is. Can you please post the UIRL so i can check mine too? I have not got any email yet. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

 Non Immigrant Visa https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=o/iS8zDpeAKjMWCuebHqOw==

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