H1B Visa Stamping Info

How important is this new rule "Go to Home Country’s US Consulate"?
The reason why "Home Country" is insisted, not compulsory, is because consulate people in our home country will be in better position to analyze the certificates and documents from our country, and incase visa is not issued you will have the inconvenience of leaving to your Home Country without reentering US. With a US or Canadian education certificates and non-terrorist country citizenship, we can surly get our VISA stamped at Canada/Mexico, if we provide all the documents and other things required.

Appointment for Interview at US Consulate:
For taking appointment for a visa interview at any of the US consulates in Mexico and Canada, there is common website (https://www.nvars.com/use/ ) and non toll free phone number given in this website. You should take appoint at least two weeks in advance like on Nov 1st you can take appointment for Nov 15 or later. It is because US Consulate will mail information packet and forms after verifying the basic data you provide while taking appointment.
Remember that you can only reenter US after anytime your H1B visa start date or only 10 days before your H1b start date. So schedule your appointment accordingly. Also the pay stubs is not required to be shown if one pay period is not over after your H1B start date. So it is better to schedule within the first month of your H1B start date to avoid showing pay stubs, in case your employer is delaying to give the pay stub. Start date is not always Oct 1st for everyone. The start date and end date is given in I-797. Ask your employer to mail this to you.

List of doc your employer should give you:
I-797(either I-797Aor I-797B) ( I-797C is not acceptable) Must be original and full page
Current employment letter indicating the work description, duration and salary (Should match start date and end date and salary in other H1B documents). (My employer gave a letter addressing the specific US consulate to me.)
Copy of I-129
Copy of approved LCA (3 or 4 pages)
Recent pay stubs /pay slips if needed.
See bottom of the forms for the form names and check you have total pages.
If possible compare your set of papers with someone’s set of papers that got his H1B to be sure that your employer did not miss any of the document pages.

List of items needed at US Consulate for stamping:
· US Consulate appointment letter.
· DS-156 form – simple bio/demo and passport and visa details. (I tried to fill this online and get it’s print out, but there was some problem with the website. I took print outs from http://evisaforms.state.gov/ and filled it up. In this form write your contacts Last and first name in full)
· DS-157 only for male applicant.
· Valid Passport
· Canada visitor visa / Mexico permit
· 1 Passport-size photo taken within last 6 months, 2 x 2 inches, color on white/light background, showing full face, no head cover.
· Older passports containing previous visas
· Documents substantiating previous legal status in the U.S. ( In case of F1 All I-20s, OPT card , etcs)
· $100 U.S. non-refundable application fee ( This fee needs to be paid before the interview. For Toronto at Scotia Bank, see below for further details. Check out for other consulate)
· I-797(either I-797Aor I-797B) ( I-797C is not acceptable) Must be original and full page .
· Current employment letter indicating the nature of work , duration and salary
· Recent paystubs/payslips
· Copy of I-129B, petition completed by employer and filed with I.N.S.
· Copy of approved LCA, if applicable
· Evidence of qualifications must be original or certified copy (The non US certificates and experience should be evaluated and this evaluation certificate is the certified copy. Having US Masters degree, we need not worry about our desi certificates.)
· Reciprocity fee (After the interview the officer will ask you to pay $55 if they are stamping your VISA. You can also pay by credit card.)

Few more suggestions:
Please note that if you take an appointment before afternoon, then better to stay in Toronto/ respective city if you don’t know anyone there, also when you plan to move to the consulate for an interview better take a cab to the place to avoid delays.
Please note that you are not allowed to bring food, water and any electronic items along with you to the consulate, so the best thing would be to keep your cell phone in the hotel room, or else you would have to give to your friends waiting out site. Keep important phone number list written in paper with you.
There is no proper facility provided for waiting. So you better wear worm cloths. Taking umbrella with you is not a bad idea. There is no much advantage / requirement of wearing your very best formal dress / coats and spoiling it. Just look decent.
Keep all the required documents in proper order and reach there at least 20 minutes before your appointment time in order to avoid any rush.
Please keep the timings in mind of the Consulate if you are collecting the Visa on Friday then be there to collect it on time else you would have to wait for two days before you can have it back.
Please plane ahead for ensuring all the people accompanying with you have required documents to get visitors visa / permits and to reenter USA. See requirements in respective visa categories in US websites, and Mexico and Canada visas for tourism.
Please don’t forget to take into account the time difference due to time zones in scheduling your whole trip and including the buffer time for unexpected delays like traffic jams. (I reached Detroit Canada office at 1pm, instead of 7am due to sever traffic jams and 1hr of time difference mistake. The counter closes at 11am. There were considerate enough to give me Canada visa as I was having appointment letter of US consulate next day early morning.)
Better to have these following things with you.
Bank a/cs’ statements of previous months, w2s, Bank Statement of current balance. Experience Letters. Copies of all your original documents.

For Canadian Visitor visa :
Basically you need US consulate letter and it’s related documents showing you are eligible to get the visa stamping and all the documents that shows you are legally staying in US and also the financial proof that you can support the stay in Canada and flight to your home country incase you are not allowed to reenter US.
You need to fill a simple visitors’ visa form, and give two passport photos and $55 in cash only. Your Canada visa will be given to you within one hour.

#####Canada Consulate at Detroit######
Canadian Consulate GeneralImmigration Section600 Renaissance Center, Suite 1100Detroit, MI 48243-1798
Tel: 313-567-2085Fax: 313-567-2125
Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
FOR VISITOR SERVICES - (Visitor Visas):
Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Note* - no visa applications will be accepted after 11:00 a.m. If you miss the 11:00 a.m. deadline, you may still mail in your application.
GENERAL INQUIRIES:
FAX: 24 hours - dial (313) 567-2125
Telephone: 1:30 to 4:00 pm - Monday to Thursday - dial (313) 567-2085
Walk-In: 1:00 to 4:00 pm - Monday to Friday
Please note that because of Privacy concerns and heavy volumes, the preferred method for inquiries is fax transmission.

// Site of the broker helping out with visa stamping at Mexico//
http://victorgarciainternational.com/index.html
www.mexicoimmigrationconsultants.com
//Detroit Canadian Consulate – For your nearest city at " what’s new" select your city and hit ‘GO’//
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/can-am/menu-en.asp?mid=8&cat=116
//General//
http://www.oiss.yale.edu/visa/usvisaincanada.htm
//USA consulate sites//
http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/edirector.html
http://travel.state.gov/travel/tcn.html
//Go and schedule an appointment online//
https://www.nvars.com/use/
//To download VISA forms//
http://evisaforms.state.gov/

List of items given by US consulate:
· One DS-156 application form per applicant (Citizens of Cuba, North Korea, the Peoples Republic of China, Russia, and Vietnam, over the age of 16, must provide two application forms).
· One DS-157 application form per male applicant. This is a mandatory form for all male applicants between the ages of 16 and 45, regardless of nationality and regardless of where they apply. Females from Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Sudan, Syria, Libya and North Korea, ages 16 or older, must also complete this application form.
· Valid Passport (valid for at least 6 months past the intended stay in the U.S.)
· Proof of legal status in Canada/Mexico: original or certified copy
· 1 Passport-size photo taken within last 6 months, 2 x 2 inches, color on white/light background, showing full face, no head cover. (Citizens of Cuba, North Korea, the Peoples Republic of China, Russia, and Vietnam over the age of 16 must provide two photos for each applicant).
· Older passports containing previous visas
· Documents substantiating previous legal status in the U.S.
· $100 U.S. non-refundable application fee
· Reciprocity fee (if applicable)
· I-797(either I-797Aor I-797B) ( I-797C is not acceptable) Must be original and full page . Appointment should be made ten days prior to the validity date on the I-797 or after the validity date has passed.
· Current employment letter indicating the nature of work , duration and salary
· Recent paystubs/payslips
· Copy of I-129B, petition completed by employer and filed with I.N.S.
· Copy of approved LCA, if applicable
· If previously under J-1 in U.S. applicant needs waiver of 2 year foreign residence rule
· Evidence of qualifications must original or certified copy.
Consular officers (in Canada) may refuse to issue a visa to H-1B applicants if their education and /or work experience is solely or predominantly from a country other than the U.S. or Canada.
If you require additional information or have questions or concerns, please call the Visa Information Services Center:
From within Canada -1-900-451-2778 (There will be a $2.25 CND charge per minute.)
From within the U.S. -1-900-443-3131 (There will be a $2.00 U.S. charge per minute.

Sample Interview Questions:
What’s your name?
Where are you from?
I mean which country?
Why are you here? Why don’t you go to home country? Do you know Spanish? Do you know how to get to airport and buy a plane ticket for the home country in case you don’t get visa, since you don’t know Spanish.
Employment letter
Tax papers
Recent 5 pay stubs
Any police records
Family in US
Paperwork for legal entry in Mexico
My education level
What visa do you need ?
What do you do ?
(pointing to I-797): Do you have a copy of this ?
Have you been on H-1B before ?