Home » US Visa Stamping Experiences » H4 and H1B Visa Stamping Experience with a Baby – Very Detailed – Chennai, India 2013

H4 and H1B Visa Stamping Experience with a Baby – Very Detailed – Chennai, India 2013

Our reader, Sambit has taken quite a bit of time to write a very detailed visa stamping experience. It is very detailed experience and you will truly enjoy reading the experience…Thanks to him for sharing his experience with us and Congrats to him and his family on getting visa. You can share yours here

 Background : OFC Appointment

First thing First. On Day 1(12th Sept) we went for the bio-metrics at OFC center. Nothing to worry there. All guys are Indians and are very professional. I had along with me my wife and my 11 month old kid for their H4 stamping as well. The time slot given to us was 3:00 PM. We reached the venu at around 2:40 PM and could see long queues on either side of the main entrance. Yes, they have made two separate lines so that You don’t get under an auto or vehicle.

Documents required for OFC Appointment USA Visa – Day 1 :
1) Appointment Letter. [This indicates timing]
2) DS 160 Confirmation Page
3) Passport. Only the new passport is needed but you should carry the old one as well in case they want to see.
4) You need 2 photos of your kid [if you have any kids with you]

Yours and that of grown up dependents’ photo will be taken inside the OFC which is in the first floor. For your kid they will take the photo which you have, scan it and return it back to you.

I have seen people in jeans, tees, formals etc. Nothing matters so far your face is clean and hair is in place.

Tip at OFC Center: In case you have kids and the ones who cannot walk as in my case instead of waiting and falling in line walk to the security. In my case they checked our time slot and allowed us to go in even though we were 20 minutes too early.

Evening & Night before Day 2: Loads of expectation. Fear of failure and all kind of stories read in the blogs about rejections left me depressed and anxious. I feel it’s always good to take a break from routine helps in a way to calm the nerves. We decided to go around and see Chennai. Visited a Shiva temple (Kapaleshwar at Mailapur area). The diversion and the break helped give away the negativity vibe. Went to a nice restaurant and at good veg food. Believe me food is cheap, much cheaper as compared to Bangalore thanks to less Sales and VAT tax in TN. We went early to sleep and my kid co-operated well as he was completely exhausted at the end of the day. While in bed and still introspecting I realized I am trying too hard and in the process stressing myself too much.

Things that crossed my mind which was generating stress.
1) Why your designation says Manager (Yes I work as a Manager Designation) yet you say it is a developers job?
2) You have travelled in B1 VISA twice and stayed for 89 days why? (Yes I had travelled to US twice in the past and people and immigration fools they keep telling that if the stay is for more than 4 weeks then it is a problem )
3) Why your petition filling client name is Appleton Papers Inc and Your I797(B) (Approved petition) says Appvion Inc?
[Yes my client changed its name in May 2013 after my petition got filed in April 2013].
4) Has your VISA been rejected earlier before?
[I had applied my L1 B last time in 2012 where it got denied by USCIS but in my DS 160 I had mentioned that it was never rejected as told by some immigration documentation guideline yet some Immigration PANDIT in my company claims that “Denial” is the same as “rejection” ]

I might be asked why is that I have falsified my information in DS 160 in that case.

If I fail to convince then I might get a 221G form then GOD knows what would happen.

I tried lot of things to ease my uneasiness but nothing seemed to work. Then I remembered the face of my Grand Father when had died and was being carried away, and I realized life is relieved when you are dead. Let me sleep tonight as a dead man and dead men don’t try to talk like VO, don’t make an effort to impress, and don’t try to speak with an accent. And then I saw my little one sleeping beside me soundly like a dead man without any impression of anxiety, anger but in harmony and with complete bliss. I told to my wife who was equally anxious and nervy as I was while she was making an effort to sleep (after all she had to remember and answer few questions on where she is going, what her husband does, what does she do, what type of marriage was it, what is the wedding date, child age, husbands likes and dislikes etc) that for some strange reason I have a feeling that visa officer is going to ask very few questions tomorrow and it would be a lady interviewing us. That’s what happened the next day.

The Decision –Day : USA H1B Visa Interview Day
I got up early at 5:30AM although the alarm was set to 4:30AM (Yeah I stopped the alarm and reset it to run at 5:30AM) and checked the check list of documents which I would carry. I was pretty sure only a handful of documents will be important and need to be kept separately in a transparent folder.
Documents required for H1B Visa Stamping

1. Appointment letter [The one you carried on Day 1]
2. DS 160 of all three [Same as Day 1]
3. Passport [if you have old passport as well keep it along with you in a separate folder]
4. Approved petition original I797
5. Company letter head which we call BEP letter.
6. Passport Photo

Off all the above items 1-4 are must.
None bothered to check on items 5-6 during the entire process.

Besides this I had all the originals of previous employment and education stacked in a different transparent folder.

Photo copies of previous relieving letters.
10 wedding photos.

Last two weeks’ salary sleep attested by my company HR.
Finished the rituals of brushing, taking shower and puja in an hour’s time. Then got involved in preparing my kid for the show. He was all very happy that morning wearing a blue pant and a US flagged tee shirt as if he is there already in US. Few mosquito bites in his cheek the previous night made him look like a bosomed cherry. We had little breakfast and left for the VISA office. Reached their by 8:00 AM again 30 minutes before.
Getting to the US Embassy, Outside and Inside Process before Interview
We tried the tested mechanism which we had applied at OFC center on Day 1. Instead of waiting in queue we walked to the security officer and showed the appointment letter. To my surprise they asked us to walk ahead. Those in waiting must be feeling angry or upset but then holding a 14 KG brat of mine in cowboy mood who cannot walk as he is only 11 months is a challenge in itself. By looking at the crowd he had a field day and every good looking thing was his instrument of amusement. He was in full song all the while making various noise, sound, scramming all the way.

By 8:20 AM we were inside the office after security check-in for the finger prints. Then there were further screening done based on DS 160 Confirmation page and passport.

Let me summarize the steps:

1. You get a token labeled on the Primary applicant passport
2. Security screening
3. Finger printing
4. DS 160, Passport verification

Then we were asked to go to the interview section which is a separate building inside. I remembered 2007 in a flash when it was more miss managed and how I stood in queue and heat and sweat before I could manage entry to interview block. Then I was in the same place for my B1 VISA stamping. It is more systematic today. There are people who call you where you can go and stand in the queue and your token is also displayed in big display boards. In 2007 you could choose which VO you don’t want to go by dragging your feet but today it is all auto generated. System allocates the tokens and mine was assigned to first counter in the inner section where I could see a young good looking VO on chair. My heart sunk as I had heard that ladies reject the most of VISAs. On the adjacent counter there was another mid aged VO must be in her 50’s. None the less I cannot change my VO now so I must answer the questions put in by her and leave rest to fate. The kid was a distraction here. I could see that my token would come up after 4 other applicants. Instead of standing in queue we decided to seat in waiting chairs and rejoice as it is not worth straining myself. My kid saw a TV screen with some cow boy chasing few bulls. The moments he saw the bulls and cows he went hysteric making all sort of funny sounds and grumbling gestures. Everyone for a few seconds got hooked to him and I could see few people laughing out looking at him. I believe it must have brought down few nerves. It certainly helped mine. There was this old man who was not speaking English and VO was making all efforts trying to under the purpose of travel. I could hear her speaking in Tamil. Could not make out whether that got approved or rejected but it continued for close to six minutes. I had a couple with their US born kid in queue before us. When they moved for the interview we went and stood in the queue. They guy was senior QA and had been to US earlier on H1B. He was wearing a tee shirt and was pretty relaxed. He had placed his document folder on the interview window and was talking in a very relaxed manner with his legs crossed. In the other counters also I could see similar postures. The VO who was in the adjacent section was probing hard on the applicant. It looked to me a non H1B. The candidate was smart and was speaking fluently but all could hear towards the end is “You need to go back to your HR team and re-apply as the category under which you have applied for VISA is not appropriate”. I did not see the passport being returned but it looked like a rejection case to me.
The guy facing the interview in my counter got his visa done and we could hear it loud and clear. My wife asked me to look at my son who was on full song and was in mothers lap. Then we walked in.

H1B Visa Interview with Visa Officer

I greeted saying Good Morning. I could see she was in good mood and was good looking to be candid. She greeted back and asked for the passports.
She tried scanning it and read the bar code which was taking longer to fetch the information. She exclaimed saying the systems are very slow today morning. I did not say anything and waited but when the waiting was more than 10 sec. and she was still looking at all of us I quipped “Have heard about Monday Morning blues when the systems go to sleep but why on a Friday Morning”. And in response she said “No there are very slow today”.

What is the purpose of visit?
Employment.

Who is Your client?
I said “Appvion Inc” but she could not hear it properly and re-iterated “App…what?” and I said “Appvion Inc” and there she said ohh…Appvion.

So what do You do for Appvion?
In midway she looked little un-interested. Probably she could make out that what I explained suffices what she wanted to hear. And I stopped.

What’s your education?
Answered

What’s your total yr of experience?
10 yrs is what I said.

What’s the salary?
Answered

She took some pause and kept making gestures to my kid who is trying to get down from mothers laps and go on the floor. The next question was to my wife.

H4 Visa Interview Questions
Your name Mam?
Answered.

So how long you have been married?
4 yrs.

Where are you going?

Wisconsin is what she said. She probably could not remember the place. And after a pause she said “Appleton”

Ok.
So he is your son?
What’s his name?
Answered.

How many people turned up for marriage?
1000+
That a big number I believe is what she said.

So four years of marriage with a kid. Good is what she said and was visibly in a good state of mind.
One final time she asked me if she can see the I797 form which I forwarded promptly. Then she returned it back to me.

You visa is approved but I tell You it’s one painful flight journey to US. Probably that was the advice to my son. And she said “Hi”…but he instead of saying “Hi” screamed “Bye bye” and waved his hand to the VO…In all smiles we said good day, thanked and left.

Exiting the US Embassy after Visa Interview
Took the exit root. Came to the main entrance and handed over the BLUE DART form along with Rs 900 cash and left. We could see it had rained in the mean while and long queue outside. We were out by 9:20 AM, distressed and happy.

Word of Advice à Tips: Don’t carry too many documents.
• Don’t over prepare.
• Wear something that looks good on You.
• Use the window as a resting place to keep the documents
• Don’t try an accent or try impress.
• They are doing the verification job for H1 B
• See a friend in VO and not a monster.
• Except your Passport they should not retain any other document. Ensure to ask for them and get all documents if they retain any by mistake.
• Try see some kids in that interview hall it would bring down the nerves.
• You are a dead man without any expectations so why be anxious VISA stamping.
• It is the if’s that bother the most. Sly them temporarily as You can see from my case she never cared about asking about my previous travel s on B1 VISA and stay duration or for that matter on my L1 B visa rejection. Reasons could be current case is strong and it could also be because of new passport which I had and she never realized that I have travelled in the past. The point is why bother too much. If you have to get the VISA no one can stop you from getting it and the other way round as well.
Good luck. It is easy don’t stress too much and enjoy,

 

   

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38 Comments

  1. @Saurav I am going for an H1B stamping along with my wife who does not speak English so how to proceed in this situation. I see people are saying i can schedule the interview in Tamil but i dont want visa to be rejected for this reason.

    Reply
    • yes, if she is not comfortable, please get the interview in Tamil to avoid any issues..you cannot answer on her behalf.

      Reply
  2. Hi,

    I took my 5 months old kid with me. I didn’t produce his photo at visa application centre. They asked me to carry one to the embassy. TovWhom should i give the photo? Will it be issue that i failed to produce it in visa application centre? I’ve interview appointment tomorrow. Quick help will be much appreciated.

    Reply
    • Hi Nithya,

      My kid’s photo was not accepted at Bio-metric center and asked us to carry another photo to Consulate at the time of visa appointment. Please share your experiences where do I need to handover the photo, Visa Officer or Is there any separate counter for this ?

      Reply
    • Hi
      Need urgent reply. I have attended biometric today with my 3 months old daughter passport, D’s 160 and photograph.. I could see he dint scan the photo but he stamped on ds 160 and mentioned carry the photographs to interview… What does that mean will this be an issue?

      Thanks

      Reply
      • Technically, children under 14 years of age are not required to be present at the Biometrics or at the Visa interview, so they would not have taken it. You need to carry hard copy of the photo so that they will scan during visa interview. Read USTRavelDocs Website with guidance.

        Reply
  3. HI,

    I am currently working on H1B VISA. I plan to get my wife here on Spouse/dependent VISA (H4 VISA). I am unable to get Marriage Certificate as we had not registered our Marriage. Now, when my wife contacted the ‘Registrar of Marriage’ to register the Marriage now in order to obtain a Certificate, registrar is required my physical appearance before the Registrar of Marriage is mandatory, which is not feasible now.

    Could you please suggest me is there any alternative.

    Thank you in advance.

    Reply
  4. OP seems to be from Cognizant. Designation as Manager but role as Developer. CTS or not, but this very discrepancy makes people like you disrespected. OP coolly disclosed client’s name here; what an idiot. These people sound so stupid when they open their mouths and then they have “Manager” as their designation which makes you look more dumb. And since they disguise their profile as “Managers”, eb1 category 😀
    Total frauds.

    Reply
  5. Hi,

    Did they ask for your marriage certificate during the interview ?. Also, can you please share your flying experience with your kid ?

    Thanks
    San

    Reply
  6. Hi Saurabh,

    I am applying for a H1B visa. I have the biometrics done. We took our 8 month old son for the biometrics. Do I need to take him for the interview ? I am asking this because the journey seems to be too much for him.

    Regards,
    Shekhar

    Reply
  7. Hi All, I am attending H1 visa interview and now filling DS160 for my wife and kid as well. We want to attend the Visa interview together. US Travel Docs support told that my profile not having the dependents during my last payment when i attended B1 Visa. Hence they asked me to fill the separate DS160 and separate VISA fee Payments for all dependents. And support team not commented on any thing the question that can i have same appointment for me (H1) and for my spouce and kid (H4). They simply say we are not sure if you get same day and same slot for both of you, you can attend. Is this possible? Can you suggest what can be done if we want to appear together for interview?

    Reply
  8. Hi There,

    I am Manish. My company wants me to go to US on H1B visa. I don’t know what package will my company provide me. My question is how much should my package be to survive in US with wife and baby of 1.6 years. I will be posted into Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

    Please let me know if u need more details.

    Reply
    • Depends on your experience & skillset. Below is what most India based IT services companies offer for India to US Transferees.
      3-6 years : $60,000/year
      7-9 years: $75,000/year
      10-12 years: $85,000-$90,000/year
      If you will be based out of Downtown Milwaukee, you need to make a minimum of 75k for a nominal life.

      Reply
  9. Hi,
    I am get a schedule for H1B and H4 visa stamping.
    Currently I have a doubt related to marriage photo album. Actually I have done a court marriage and does not have any photo album. Wanted to know, if the photo album is mandatory in this case as well and how to represent this to VO.

    Thanks

    Reply
  10. My wife has approved H1B petition and stamping is also done. She is currently not able to find any project in the company so I am planning to bring my wife on dependent VISA H4. So for applying H4 visa, my wife needs to take LWP (leave without pay). After getting H4 and LWB, once my wife arrives to US and suppose if she finds any project in the same company then Visa status can be changed back to H1B from H4 ?
    If yes then what can be the hurdles ?

    Reply
  11. Sorry I have another question.
    So my parents in India are applying for my daughter passport as she unworthy hennaed she is 5 years old. We both parents are in USA working and my dad asked me for NOC for applying for her passport. I don’t know how that process works and where can I find the format for NOC and what all docs required for that. Can anyone please help me.

    Reply
      • Hi Saurabh,

        Thanks for your quick reply. I posted two questions yesterday, somehow I don’t see the first one here. So reposting it;
        I am on H1b(from 2years)in CA and going to India for my first time H1b Stamping in Delhi. My daughter who is 5 years old is in India with my parents, this time I want to bring her with me as H4 dependent. I know for H1b and H4(for my daughter) I have to fill form DS 160 and visa fees seprately but do I have to take two separate appointments for the stamping interview for both of us. Can I just take one appointment for me and take her along with me for the interview though I will pay the visa fee for her separately. I have read somewhere that its not necessary to take kids under 14yr for visa interview and finger printing. So in that case can I just take one appointment for me and take her along with me or just take her passport with me or do I have to have an interview date for her too. why I am asking this because I am going to India on may 5th and would like to book my interview date from USA as I might not get date later if I delay but for now I can just book date for myself as my daughter passport is still not ready. I have to get a NOC for her passport then only my parents can apply for her passport which I will do it on Monday. So I was wondering if I can book my date from here and once her passport is ready I can pay her visa fees including DS160 and just take her with me for interview or carry her passport.
        Another question is my husband is also in USA working here on CPT/H1(filed), so do I need any of his documents for my daughter as he is not going to india with me. I am so confused, please help me.You quick reply will be really appreciated.

        Reply
        • Tina,
          Your daughter doesn’t need to appear personally for the interview. You can carry her documents and passport and just appear yourself.

          I think you can carry a NOC from the husband stating he has no objection to the daughter’s visa. You can carry copy of his visa and passport for his identification. If possible, check online with others who have undergone similar situation.

          Reply
          • Hi Saurabh,
            Thanks for your reply but it’s not clear for me.Please tell me that after paying my daughter’s visa fees and after DS 160 do I also have to book separate visa appointment for her stamping or I can carry her passport along with me and only book my appointment . Please specify

          • Tina,
            Your daughter doesn’t need to appear. You can carry her documents. More information here.

            I am not 100% sure but I think you still need to pay her fees and complete her own DS-160 form. You should check with others who have undergone this personally.

  12. Hi gurus,

    Planning to go for stamping with wife & son. I’ve got all docs required for me.

    1) Any specific document required from employer for H4(I’ve seen somewhere: Letter from employer that describes the relationship with the principal applicant and the purpose of travel)?

    2) What is the best thing to do, go all(spouse&son) together for stamping or get my visa stamping done and then for my wife & son?

    3) My wife is currently working…is it good option to disclose it or better to hide it?

    Any suggestions are highly appreciated!

    Reply
    • 1- I do not think any document is required from the employer of your spouse. I have heard that some people do ask for a NOC from the employer of H4 applicant. I did not face such situation neither did my friends.
      2-Better to go together. It does not affect the stamping. I and my wife went together.
      3-Its always better to tell the truth. It wont affect the result of H1b approval any ways.

      Reply
    • @Srini,
      I went for stamping yesterday at the chennai consulate and everything went very smooth.
      If your child is less than 14 years, you dont need to bring him/her.
      I took my Son for the first day at fingerprint and photo. They old ask your child’s photo, and i asked if my son is required for tomorrow. she said not required.
      Next day i didnt take him for the consular interview. It went pretty smooth.
      Infact the officer didnt even ask any questions to my wife.
      Just 3 questions:
      Who is your employer
      Where are you going
      What is your salary.

      The entire process for Day 1 was over in 30 minutes (stand in queue) and Day 2 was over in 25 minutes, including the in person interview.

      Reply
  13. Hi Sourabh, Experts

    Please guide me about whether BAMS doctor can work in USA ? Are there any H1 sponsor jobs available in USA for them ?

    Reply
  14. Hi,

    I went for H1 and H4 (for my wife) to Chennai on 12th (OFC) and 13th (Visa Intw) Sept. The VO asked just one question – Which Company do you work for? That’s it..no documents, not even I-797 was checked and no questions for my wife. Its pretty simple guys, I don’t think they will reject a H1 unless something is really fishy..all the best to everyone !!

    Reply
    • @Saurav,
      I think we both went to the same VO 🙂
      same here no questions were asked to wife either.
      btw, do you know how many days it takes for the passport to reach ?
      when checked online for tracking the passport, it says “Passport has been received from the consular section, and is currently being processed for delivery” for all 3 of us.
      I have opted to be delivered at VFS in bangalore.

      Reply

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