Sucessful H1 B after 221(g) @ Chennai

[siva8613]

Hi All,

Want to thank everybody in this forum, for my successfull H1B stamping.

Only after seeing this forum I asked my employer for the additional docs required for stamping.

My employer assured me that it will be a cake walk for me since I had already been in US for 2 years in L1 visa. Still I pestered him & got the financial docs, State tax docs & unemployment wage reports.

I went for my visa interview on 6th Nov 2007. and this is what happened.

Myself: very Good Morning Sir!
Interviewer: Good Morning.(Please pass on the folder.)

after reciving all my papers
Interviewer: How long u have been in this IT field.
Myself: 4 years.

Intvwr: How many years in current company?
Myself: 4 years.

Intvwr: can I see your offer letter?
Myself: Sure. (Handed over my offer letter)

Intvwr: can I see your Degree certificates?
Myself: Sure.(& handed over my Provisional certificate & Degree Certificate)

Intvwr:What is ur Designation in curr comp & ur designation in new comp?
Myself: Software Engnr. & System Analyst in my new comp.

Intvwr: Client or inhouse project?
Myself: Client. (he was looking for something in the system (mite be a google search about the client))

Intervwr, gave a me a 221(g) blue form & ticked the employer related docs.

Interviwer: Drop all the docs & along with your passport in the VFS office.

Myself: Sir I have most of the docs you are asking for.

Interviwer: I am sorry, I dont have enough time to verify your docs. Please drop the docs in the address mentioned in the 221(g) form along with your passport.

Myself: Thank you.

I informed my employer abt it, recieved all docs. & went to the VFS office

Please be informed that VFS office for US related Visa is

U.S. Visa Application Centre
No.14, New No.4
Sadasivam Street
Gopalapuram
Chennai-600086

and not the Cenatoph road, Alwarpet address as given in 221(g) form.

You can submit the docs only @ 8:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m & 2:00 to 3:00 Monday to Friday.

You CANNOT carry bags or mobiles inside the VFS office, they provide a safety locker facilty for Mobiles alone.

Please have the DS156 printed back to back, else they insist to take a photo copy back to back. (This facility is available in VFS office itself).
Also take extra passport size photos meeting the consulate requirements.

I submitted all the docs, a VFS personnel verified all the docs & I was asked to pay Rs.155 after which I was given a reciept with a tracking num.

and finally the good news arrived exactly 5 days after I submitted the docs.

I got my passport with the H1 stamp, my original petition, I-129 & the LCA document.

Thanks a lot for the info you people have provided & hope my exp. was useful to you ppl.

regards,
Siva

[RamaSekhar]

Congrats Siva. It would be of great help if you could let me know who your employer is. Many consultants are reluctant in giving client letters and even if they promise in the beginning, later on they dont give during stamping. So if you can reveal your employer name, I would like to try for the same next year through them . My email Id is ramasekhar80@gmail.com. All the best

Regards
Rama

[Jigs.Dhami]

Hi Siva,


Congratulations for getting your visa stamped.

Need certain help from your side. Could you please let me know what all documents should be there with me so that I can take book my dates in USCIS website.

I do not have any documents from my employer yet and I have to book my interview dates for which I should be thorough that I have all the documents ready.


Best Regards,

jigs..

[deep_gagan]

Hi Siva,

Congratulations for getting your visa stamped.
I attended stamping interview at delhi on 4th Dec.VO gave me 221g_green and were asking for financial docs of the company.
Now my comapny will provide these docs by the next week and i m working in signapore.My friend will submit my docs at VFS centre delhi.
Kindly let me know weather i need to submitt a new DS-156,DS-157 and passport along with these financial docs.
Do we need to write something specifically on the envelope while submitting at VFS center.
I shall be thnakfull to you for your valuable suggestion.

Best Regards,
Gagan

[Rshri]

Hi Siva,

Congratulations.!!!!!:)

I am also in the same boat but not yet reached the destination.

I have also received the blue 221(g) form with all the documents clicked on petitioner side. Could you please let me know that weather in your 221(g) form all the documents from petitioner side were clicked or not?

This will help me gaining some confidence on my case.

Thanks a lot,

Cheers, Shrikant

[siva8613]

hey Shrikant,

All employer related docs were checked except the "Project Description" form.
(The last one in the employers related docs section).

Hey Gagan,

Your friend can drop the docs on your behalf, I was asked to submit the new DS156 & DS157 because the counsulate had changed the format, if you had gone for the interview with the new format, you can submit the same.
You have to submit the DS-156,DS-157 and passport along with the other docs requested. if you have the envelope sealed, the VFS personnel will ask your friend to open to verify the docs. let you friend be aware of the Drop box timings. you need not write anything specific in the envelope.

hey Jigs,

You need to carry all this,

Application visa fee original receipt issued by HDFC bank.( If you are applying in India)

Copy of interview appointment letter which you get at the time of setting appointment with VFS.

DS156
DS157

Valid Passport.
Original Experience Certificates from all your previous employment's.
Latest resume.
All your Original Degree Certificates

From your employer

Original H1 approval form I-797.
Offer letter from the company in USA.
Employers's incometax returns for the last 2 years

state unemployment wage reports for the last 3 quarters

contract letter between your employer & the job site where the employee is about to work

The applicant's complete itinerary of services, including company names and addresses.

Hope I haven't missed any.

Hey Rama,

Do you have any prior experience in US? cos my employer is reluctant to take ppl without any US experience.

All the very best to you guys.

[RamaSekhar]

Thanks for the reply siva
Yes, I do have US experience. If you can mail me your employer name to my email Id : ramasekhar80@gmail.com, I shall try and talk to your employer. Thanks once again

Regards
Rama

[Rshri]

Thanks for the reply, SIVA.

[sudhamsh]

Hi Siva,

Congratulations for getting your visa stamped.
I attended stamping interview at delhi on 4th Dec.VO gave me 221g_green and were asking for financial docs of the company.
Now my comapny will provide these docs by the next week and i m working in signapore.My friend will submit my docs at VFS centre delhi.
Kindly let me know weather i need to submitt a new DS-156,DS-157 and passport along with these financial docs.
Do we need to write something specifically on the envelope while submitting at VFS center.
I shall be thnakfull to you for your valuable suggestion.

Best Regards,
Gagan

DS-156 : Any one will be fine unless there are no changes. If you want to submit a new form, visit the VFS site useful links section for downloading the form. You need to fill this form online and print it.

DS-157 : You need to submit the old one unless there are no changes. Today I submitted this form with hand written information which was returned by the executive. Expecting this, I have taken my old form and happily submitted that.

There is no need for any envelope from our side. They will put in a plastic cover.

[swatcat53]

Congrats for the visa shiva...

I have a question,
which offer letter did you take to consulate?
Offer letter from consultant or offer letter from consultant's client ?

I could not manage to get a client offer letter, will that be a problem?

Thanks.

[nithyanandan.j]

Hi All....Thanks to Path2usa. I got lot of info from this site...here is what hapened to me....

On 7th Sep i went for the interview at chennai counslate....
VO: Hello Sir good morning..
ME: Good morning sir..how r u...
VO: Fine thank you how r u.
ME: fine thank you...
VO: can i have the file
ME: handed over the file...which contained ds 156,ds 157, I797, I129,
hdfc receipt and passport.
VO: what's ur highest qualification...
ME: masters in computer application...
VO: from were did u get this degree
ME: Bharathiar university, coimbatore, Tamilnadu.
VO: can i see ur degree...
ME: gave him all the marksheets...and degree certificate....
VO: where r u working now...
ME: XXXXX..
VO: how did u find this position...
ME: through my friend...he is working for that company now...
VO: In what technology...
ME: data warehouse...i explained about what is etl and said that i'll
be using informatica....
VO: do u have the financial statement of that company.
ME: No sir..
VO: before we come to a conclusion on ur visa...we need some documents
from ur petetioner...(now he showed me a form)... you need not come
here...since u r from trivandrum...u can make use of the drop box at
the vfs office cochin... once u drop all ur documents we will notify
you to send the passport...
( then he handed me all the doc's )
ME: i collected and wished him a thanks and left the counter....


Then I conveyed it to my employer....he took some time to send it to me....i got those doc's (only by nov end i got it). then i submitted the doc' at the vfs cochin. there they asked me to submit my passport aswell... i did so...and i got my passport with H1B stamping on 20th dec through blue dart...

What i presonally feel is like, the first weak point is the tax papers of US employer...once that is asked and we dont have that at that moment, they will issue 221(g). we could then submit it leter. but in chance if we give that tax papers at the time of interview, there are high chances of the case officer to ask for another doc which we might get into troble....( I felt this because most of them are getting the same experiance)

Thanks.
Nithyanandan

[nithyanandan.j]

Hi Siva,

Congratulations for getting your visa stamped.
I attended stamping interview at delhi on 4th Dec.VO gave me 221g_green and were asking for financial docs of the company.
Now my comapny will provide these docs by the next week and i m working in signapore.My friend will submit my docs at VFS centre delhi.
Kindly let me know weather i need to submitt a new DS-156,DS-157 and passport along with these financial docs.
Do we need to write something specifically on the envelope while submitting at VFS center.
I shall be thnakfull to you for your valuable suggestion.

Best Regards,
Gagan

Hi Gagan,
to my knowledge, i was asked to submit a new ds-156 and ds-157. it will contain a new hdfc bar code on it. they checked for the new no when i submitted my doc's.
sorry if i am wrong....

Nithyanandan.

[narsa_2007]

Hi nithyanandan,

congrats, can u pls let me know more inf on this bcoz i too in the same boat.

can u tell me ur contact no or mail id pls

i went to vfs chennai on sep 18th
they asked me for supporting doc from the employer, he almost ticked all the columns in that form.
still the employer didnt send the docs.
when i called them them they said they are going to send on 1st week of jan.

so pls let me know ur contact details.

[nithyanandan.j]

Hi nithyanandan,

congrats, can u pls let me know more inf on this bcoz i too in the same boat.

can u tell me ur contact no or mail id pls

i went to vfs chennai on sep 18th
they asked me for supporting doc from the employer, he almost ticked all the columns in that form.
still the employer didnt send the docs.
when i called them them they said they are going to send on 1st week of jan.

so pls let me know ur contact details.


Dont worry, I know this word will not convince you. I know how it would be waiting for it to happen. you can mail me to daynight007@yahoo.com.
All the Best.

[SRILAKSHMI]

Dear all
Thanks for the people Murli and others who are maintaing this forum. This forum helped me to answer all the questions which are asked by the visa officer.

Note: see in the attachment for 221 g blue form which I got.

I attended my H1B Visa interview at chennai on 20th December 2007 at 8.30AM.
My interview has gone like this.
VO: GOOD MORNING.
ME: GOOD MORNING OFFICER. AND I GIVEN THE BLUE FOLDER.
VO: U R WORKING IN XXXX COMP IN INDIA?
ME: YES OFFICER.
VO: WHAT UR TOTAL EXP? (TYPING SOMETHING IN HER COMPUTER)
ME: AROUND 2 YEARS.
VO: UR EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION? (TYPING SOMETHING IN HER COMPUTER)
ME: MASTER OF SCIENCE IN BIOINFORMATICS
VO: WHAT IS THE WORK U R DOING IN UR XXXX COMP?
ME: EXPLAINED ALL MY DUTIES AS I AM WORKING ON JAVA, etc. AND I ALSO TOLD HER AS I AM A SUN CERTIFIED JAVA PROGRAMMER.
VO: U HAVE DONE BACHEOLORS IN ?
ME : BACHEOLORS IN MATHS, PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY.
VO: SHOW ME UR MASTERS CERTIFICATES? (TYPING SOMETHING IN HER COMPUTER)
ME: GIVEN M.Sc OD, AND CONSOLIDATED MARKS MEMO.
VO: SHE VARIFIED AND GIVEN ME THE CERTIFICATES.
VO: WHICH COMP U R GOING TO WORK IN USA?
ME: YYYY COMP.
VO: WHICH PROJECT?
ME: STARTED WITH MY PROJECT NAME, AND THEN INTERRUPTINGLY...
VO: IS IT IN-HOUSE PROJECT OR CLIENT PROJECT?
ME: INHOUSE PROJECT.
VO: SHOW ME DOCUMENTATION FOR THE PROJECT?
ME: GIVEN THE DOCUMENTATION.
VO: VARIFIED FOR 1 MINUTE AND TYPING SOMETHING IN HER COMPUTER...
VO: US COMP TAX RETUNRS PLEASE.
ME: GIVEN THE TAX RETURNS.
VO: VARIFIED ALL THE TAX FORMS AND TYPING SOMETHING IN HER COMPUTER.
VO: DO U HAVE ANY MORE TAX DOCS?
ME: SEARCHED AND TOLD NO OFFICER.
VO: TYPING SOMETHING IN HER COMPUTER. AND TOLD ME AS WE NEED 2 YEARS TAX RETURNS (WHICH I HAVE ONLY FOR 1 YEAR AND 2 QUARTERS) FROM UR PETITIONER. THEN SHE TAKEN 221 G BLUE FORMS AND TICKED THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS:
1. A COPY OF THE PETITION WITH ALL SUPPORTING DOCS AS FILED TO USCIS.
2. A COPY OF THE EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT OR LETTER OF AGREEMENT SIGNED BY YOU AND THE PETITIONER.
3. PETITIONER'S INCOME TAX RETURNS FOR THE LAST 2 TAX YEARS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
3. A NOTARIZED LIST OF ALL THE PETITIONER'S EMPLOYEES FOR EACH LOCATION. THE LIST SHOULD SHOW ALL EMPS NAMES, SPECIFIC JOB TITLES, START DATES, END DATES, AND THEIR INDIVIDUAL SALARIES AND IMMIGRATION STATUS.
4. STATE UNEMPLOYMENT WAGES REPORTS... FILED TO ALL STATES
5. A DETAILED AND SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.
NOTE: VO DID NOT TICKED ANY REQUIRED DOCS FROM MY OPTIONS.
IMP: ---
ON THE 2ND PAGE OF THE 221 G BLUE FORM SHE (VO) STRIKED OFF ON THE PASSPORT OPTION.
AND TICKED TO SUBMIT ADDITIONAL DOCS VIA DROP BOX AT VFS.

ME: TAKEN THE 221 G BLUE FORM (I DID NOT OBSERVED) , I797, I129, PASSPORTM HDFC 1 RECEIPT. AND TOLD AS OFFICER I HAVE GIVEN THE DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION, AND I HAVE ALL ORIGINAL EXPERIENCE LETTERS FROM MY CUURRENT COMP IN INDIA.
VO: NO FROM YOUR SIDE EVERYTHING IS OKAY. BUT WE NEED MORE TAX DOCS FROM YOUR PETITIONER. SO GET THE DOCS N DROP AT VFS.
ME: THANK YOU OFFICER. AND CAME OUT FROM THE COUNTER.


HELLO EVERYBODY

ONE IMP NOTE IS : WHILE I AM APPLYING FOR THE H1B, IN MY RESUME I KEPT MY EXP AS 8 MONTHS BEFORE JOINING IN TO MY CURRENT COMP. IN THAT RESUME I MENTIONED AS I TRAINED ON JAVA, J2EE, OTHER TECHS AND HELPED IN THEIR ( THAT INSTITUTES) PROJECTS.
BUT AT THE TIME OF FILLING THE DS 157, 156, IN THE PREVIOUS COMPANIES EXP OPTIONS, I DID NOT MENTION ANY THING. SIMPLY PUT "NA". BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT IS LEARNING EXP AND IT DOES NOT NEED TO MENTION HERE AS GOOD EXP.
IS THIS ONE ALSO BECAME A REASON FOR THIS PROBLEM?

DOES I NEED TO DROP MY PASSPORT WITH ALL THE REMAINING REQD DOCS?

AGAIN DOES I NEED TO DROP ALL THE DOCS LIKE DS156,DS157, I797, I129, LCA?

IS THERE ANY CHANCE TO GET MY VISA ? OR ELSE I HAVE THROUGH OUT MY HOPES?
PLEASE HELP ME IN THIS CASE. WT I HAVE TO DO? I INFORMED TO MY PETITIONER. BUT NO REPLY.
PLEASE HELP ME.

REQ: MURALI, PLEASE HELP ME ON THIS.

THANKS IN ADVANCE TO ALL THE VIEWERS.

BYE FOR NOW.

SRILAKSHMI.

[syed1]

Hi Friends,

I'm on the same boat. I attended the interview on Nov 26 and told me they will contact me within 2 weeks. they contacted me immediately after 2 weeks i.e on11 dec to drop my ppt at VFS. i did it on 17 dec with new DS156 & DS157 and original I797.but till now I did not receive any reply from them. Usually they will courier the ppt within 5 days but my case went more than a week. please advice
Do you think they are on holiday?

i have another question, since i have UAE visa stamped on my ppt , do you think this is also a matter of delaying the process?

thank
syed.

[deep_gagan]

Hi Sudhamash,
Thanks for your valueable suggestion.

I m currently working in singapore and will not be able to submitt the Passport @VFS office Delhi.
And secondly on 221g_green form it is mentioned that i should submitt the required docs along with I-797,I-129 and LCA but during my last interview it was kept by the VO.
Do i need to submitt the Old Ds-156, 157 again.As i mentioned ..i m in singapore and my brother will submit these docs.And if i have to submit DS-156,157 it must requires my signature.
Any chance of getting Visa..?

Kindly suggest me wht can i do in this case.

Thanks n Regards,
Gagan

[deep_gagan]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Sudhamash,
Thanks for your valueable suggestion.

I m currently working in singapore and will not be able to submitt the Passport @VFS office Delhi.
And secondly on 221g_green form it is mentioned that i should submitt the required docs along with I-797,I-129 and LCA but during my last interview it was kept by the VO.
Do i need to submitt the Old Ds-156, 157 again.As i mentioned ..i m in singapore and my brother will submit these docs.And if i have to submit DS-156,157 it must requires my signature.
Any chance of getting Visa..?

Kindly suggest me wht can i do in this case.

Thanks n Regards,
Gagan

[sangee11]

hi Siva ,

Even mine is a similar case as yours, i had attended my interview and they had given me the 221 g blue form , i requested my company to send me all the docs especially Tax reports etc and they have sent the same now....

i have a doubt here in submitting the docs to the VFS office chennai ,
1) do i need to take a newly filled in DS 156 and DS 157
2) in the old DS 156 i had taken when i attended the interview i had jus spedified Address vr i stay as the city name, but now my Company has given me the proper address so can i put the correct address now in my new DS 156 , will it create any problem.
3) is it enough if i just keep a copy of the petition I797 and I129 or do i need to submit the originals also.

can any one of u kindly reply to this as it is urgent

Thanks in advance for your help

sangeetha

[nithyanandan.j]

hi Siva ,

Even mine is a similar case as yours, i had attended my interview and they had given me the 221 g blue form , i requested my company to send me all the docs especially Tax reports etc and they have sent the same now....

i have a doubt here in submitting the docs to the VFS office chennai ,
1) do i need to take a newly filled in DS 156 and DS 157
yes u have to take a new ds 156 and ds 157 form.

2) in the old DS 156 i had taken when i attended the interview i had jus spedified Address vr i stay as the city name, but now my Company has given me the proper address so can i put the correct address now in my new DS 156 , will it create any problem.
no problem in it.
3) is it enough if i just keep a copy of the petition I797 and I129 or do i need to submit the originals also.
do as ur case officer has asked u to.
can any one of u kindly reply to this as it is urgent

Thanks in advance for your help

sangeetha


Please find the answers....

[sangee11]

Hi Nithyanandan

Thank you very much for the reply ... hope will get my stamping get done soon..

I wish Everyone a happy & wonderful new year!!!

Thanks once again

sangeetha.

[sudhamsh]

Congrats for the visa shiva...

I have a question,
which offer letter did you take to consulate?
Offer letter from consultant or offer letter from consultant's client ?

I could not manage to get a client offer letter, will that be a problem?

Thanks.

Your employer will give the offer letter you. Normally a letter from the HR department of the client stating that they have a vacancy for you will be asked by the VO. If you have this letter, you need not worry.