H1-B Visa Approved – Consular Process – OFC (Chennai) – Interview (Delhi) – Jan 2021
Following H1B Visa interview was shared by Premchand.
- VAC Location: Chennai Consulate, Nungambakam.
- Date & Time: 24/01/2021 at 1PM
- Consular Location: Delhi consulate, Chanakya Puri.
- Date & Time: 27/01/2021 at 11AM
My Quick Background:
- MS in US, May 2017 Passed out.
- I started working in August 2017 under OPT.
- Filed H1-B Lottery in March 2018 – Not Picked.
- Started working on STEM OPT on June 12th, 2018.
- Filed H1-B Lottery in March 2019 – Not Picked.
- Filed H1-B Lottery in March 2020 – Not Picked.
- STEM OPT ended on June 11th, 2020. I stopped working.
- Returned to India on June 29th, 2020 as per the company’s suggestion.
- Surprisingly, picked in H1-B second lottery for 2020.
- Confirmed by HR on August 20th, 2020.
- H1-B Petition filed with USCIS on September 9th, 2020.
- Approval Notice received on September 22nd, 2020.
- Scheduled March 2021 appointment for Visa Stamping on October 15th, 2020.
- Rescheduled to 27th Jan 2021 as regular appointments showed up on Jan 13th, 2021.
- Visa Approved on 27th Jan 2021.
H1B Visa Interview Appointment Day Details:
I’m skipping VAC details since it’s shared by many others.
- Asked for Passport and I-797b form.
- Question1: Did you do your Masters in the US?
- Asked for placing the right hand 4 fingers on the fingerprint scanner.
- Question2: Which company do you work for?
- Question3: How long have you been working here?
- Question4: What are your job duties?
- Starting a long essay, he showed his hand to stop.
- After some typing on his keyword, He said, “ Your Visa is approved. You can collect your passport within a week”.
Key H1B Visa Stamping Takeaways:
- Since I have been in the US on June 22nd 2020, I was exempted from the proclamation.
- No employment verification letter or offer letter asked during the interview. I’m not sure why they did not ask for the letter. (Maybe because I am in consular process or somehow got lucky)
- Interview is pretty easy and doesn’t need to panic if you have all the supporting documents.
- There is a small locker to keep your phone at the Delhi embassy. Carrying Bags without someone accompanying you is not recommended.
- You can keep your mask ON throughout the interview process.
Great thanks for sharing. I have my interview on 9th March. I will get married on 28th February. I was and still in usa and traveling back on 23rd February. I have a question does my future wife will qualify for exemption as I was in the usa during proclamation.