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Documents Importance- H1B visa Stamping Experience – Chennai, December 2010

Recently a very good friend of mine attended H1B visa interview at Chennai consulate… He was gracious to share his experience with our readers…Thanks to my friend…If you have attended visa interview, please send it to redbus2us(at)gmail.com, it will help our readers.

Visa stamping at Chennai Consulate General

Visa officer (V.O): Which company are you working for?

Me: I am working for XYZ company as a ABC.

V.O: What does the company do?

Me: It is an IT services company which provides computer software etc..,

V.O: Who paid for your H1B?

Me: My company sponsored my H1 fee

V.O: Why did you change employer?

Me: For career growth and better benefits

V.O: Which client are you working for?

Me: XYZ client

V.O: Can I see your LCA and Pay stubs?

Me: Produced them, he was particular if the LCA was filed at the client location

V.O: Do you have client letter?

Me: Produced it, he looked at it and questioned if I work closely with manager who gave me the letter, I answered him that he is my manager manages my project and oversees the budget of the project and I work closely with him.

V.O: Asked me for my W2

Me: Produced it. Asked me if I have worked only part year? I mentioned I worked for the whole year.

Thanks to Almighty, Visa got approved! 🙂

Did my homework and had all the required documentation and  was well prepared for all the questions and answered them confidently having eye to eye contact!.

Lessons to learn from Visa Stamping experience :

There has been so much scrutiny lately with the new H1B visa guidelines introduced earlier this year related to employer-employee relationship and it is very obvious with the kind of questions the visa officer asked.   If you look closely at interview, the visa officer is very keen on the documents….You need to have every single document LCA, Client letter, Pay stubs, and W2…these are very fundamental…The biggest lesson to take away is to be prepared with set of latest documents. Also, the Visa officer is asking “who paid for H1 ?”, some of you may be in situations where you may have ended up paying for H1B without knowledge or for some reason. In fact, it should be paid by the H1B sponsor… Read this article : H1B visa Online Advisory tool by DOL (Department of Labor) to know various details or info about H1B visa holder rights, etc…Also, Check the list of documents for H1B/L1 Visa stamping by US Consulate

Do you have any other H1B visa related question or experience to share ?


Image Credit: http://lisablake.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/experience.jpg

   

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20 Comments

  1. Hello

    I am a MBA finance student from Delaware and i am looking for Job & H1 Visa Sponsorship in United States. Three days back I went for an Interview in a financial Sales firm and the Job offered by the Company was a Commission based Job I mean no base pay only commision based salary. I have a question that for filing H1B visa Is there any minimum base salary that must be paid to the foreign worker by the employer filing? If yes than what’s the minimum base salary required at any occupaton?

    Thank You

    Reply
    • I am not sure if such an arrangement can be done on H-1. On H-1, the beneficiary must be paid at least the prevailing wages for that profession. In case of a pure commission based job, it is difficult to gauge what’s the base pay. In other words, your salary can vary from 0 to infinity (not literally) depending upon how much money you make for the employer.

      Check with an attorney.

      Reply
  2. Hi guys,

    Wondering if you all could help me .I hold a MBA from London and B.E ECE from India. Got my H1B approval need to apply for H1B interview in chennai. What would be my documents and how would be the Vo’s questions to me.

    Thanks for reading.

    Reply
    • You need to carry:
      – your credentials (resume, degrees, marksheets, experience letters, passport, I-129, 797 etc)
      – employer credentials (wage reports, contact information etc)
      – job information (client/project information, contract etc)

      Typical questions are around:
      – your experience
      – your employer credibility
      – your interview process
      – your prospective job offer

      Reply
  3. Hi,

    I went for my H1B stamping on Dec 9th and I was given a pink slip with a tracking number after the interview. This is my first H1B stamping and am planning to start my work in US on Feb 7th. My visa status changed from F1 to H1 from Dec 1st.

    I didn’t have any pay stubs during the interview as am planning to start my work only in Feb. I had the LCA, I 797 and the other legal documents except paystub during the intvw.

    How long could the admin processing take in a case like this ? Are there any chances that the visa can be rejected ?

    your help is highly appreciated !

    Reply
    • When you were issued the pink slip, did they ask you to submit any documents besides passport? If not, then it’s just some administrative processing that they need to do. There is no suggested timeline, and make take few weeks to couple of months for them to complete the processing.

      Reply
      • Thanks for your reply!

        Nope. They didn’t ask me to submit any other document. Do you think the lawyers who helped in filing the H1B can help to expedite the process?

        Reply
        • Unfortunately, there is not much one can do to expedite the process. Because they didn’t ask for any additional documents, it looks like they are doing some administrative processing at their end (you applied for F1 to H1, so they might be waiting for some system updates). Nothing much can be done except for being patient.

          Good luck!

          Reply
  4. Today i got a call from a company called Hexacorp and they are asking $2000 as processing fee for my H1 visa sponsor ship.Is this the genuine company should i go ahead
    please advise.

    Reply
    • Legally, the employer is supposed to pay for the H1 fees. If a company asks for money, that’s the first red flag. You can search for them over internet and flcdatacenter to know what their track record is. Also, try to join a company that has direct clients, else finding a project in this economy will be a tough task to do.

      Reply
  5. This experience shared is from someone who was already working in the US (hence the Paystubs, W2, etc). Any pointers on documentation required for someone who has not worked in teh USA?

    Reply
    • Max, other than pay stubs and W2 forms, everything should be same. If your sponsor is a consulting company, then you might want to carry Client letter and related offer letter, etc. Carry all of your original certificates and experience certificates as well.

      I will see if I can get hold of someone, who have not been to US, to share their H1B stamping experience.

      Reply
  6. congrats Vijay, waiting for your H1B story, please let me know when you post it on either here on redbus or on your blog

    Kumar can you read my first post please & reply.

    thanks

    Reply
  7. What if i am paying my H1B visa fees ? should i tell the truth or simply avoid this by telling a lie (telling the officer that my sponsor in paying the fees) ?

    Is the client letter compulsory ? what if suppose my sponsor hired me for various small project in which my sponsor doesn’t need to bother getting a letter from client?

    Reply
    • Deepak,
      Legally your H1B sponsor has to pay the filing fee. Use your own discretion.
      Yes, seems like they are asking for Client letters…it varies by case, it is always good to carry all documentation to avoid queries.

      Reply
    • Welcome Vijay !
      Good Luck for your visa stamping. Please send me your visa stamping experience(after your interview) to share with our readers.

      Reply
      • Kumar,

        Many thanks for your wishes. I hope all goes well and I will send you my experiences of visa stamping. Its a long story of how I met my H1B employer – but that would be for my blog 🙂

        I will get back to you as soon as my stamping is completed (whatever the result is:-))

        Reply

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