Personal stories of H1B/H4 Stamping in Canada

Did anyone (or your spouse) get your H1B/H4 stamped in Canada? Can you please share your experiences here? The more descriptive you are, the more it will help everyone else. Thanks.

Bharthi

HI,

MY brother-in-law(BIL) went to canada for h1b stamping in 2005 febravary. I think he didn't face any problems there. He got canadian stamping in Newjersy consulate. They gave visa within one day I think. Then,after getting canadian visa he went to canada around end of FEB.

However, one of his friend,who went with him,stucked there. Because,his friend's name matches with some other guys name, who has some criminal record. So they took time to evaluate his case and later, I think they took one week,they stamped his visa.

This is not my personal experience and what I heard from my BIL i wrote here.

Regards,
srilak.

Originally Posted by bharthi

Did anyone (or your spouse) get your H1B/H4 stamped in Canada? Can you please share your experiences here? The more descriptive you are, the more it will help everyone else. Thanks.

Bharthi

hi everyone,
juss got to c this thread now,so want to share my experience
I n my husband went to Ottawa, canada for H1/H4 visa stamping (in october 2006)
we went to canadian embassy in NY for the canada visa, juss v can walkin, no need of appointments ,we need to show them H1 copy, visa apptment letter, paystub.they will issue u the visa the same day.

and in the US embassy in ottawa, if u have proper documents, there r not gng to ask u any questions and will go thru the docs and issue u visa.
on the day we went everyone who attended was issued a visa.
u can collect the passports the next day around 3pm.

i wish all the best for the people who r gng to canada for their stamping.
if anyone has any queries feel free to ask.

--Sreelatha

Hi,

We got our visa stamped in Vancouver, Canada.

First I got an appointment at the US consulate using this website

VARS - Welcome

Then we went to get our visitors visa to Canada in Seattle. There is no appointment required for this. We went there in the morning and they asked us why we were planning to go to Canada . We gave the reason. They asked us to come back in the afternoon and we got our visitors visa

For the H1/H4 visa stamping.. We went to the Us consulate 1 hr before our appointment. There was no problem at all. Make sure to carry your files only. Do not take cell phones, hand bags, etc. They will only allow files inside the consulate. If you have any envelopes they should be open.

The officer did not ask any questions. He asked to us to show our paystubs, employment letter and asked us to come back next day. Next day we went and picked our passports. There was no problem for us. But we did see another person was asked many questions and sent back to get additional documents which he did not have.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

These visas and stamping etc is extremely complicated matters. I wonder why the US makes it so difficult to understand. I have an urgent query and shall be very thankful for all the replies.

This person is working on H1b visa and has recently changed job. When he got the previous job, he got his H1B visa and travelled to his country of origin to stamp it into his passport and it is valid till Septemper 2007. Now he changed his job and has another H1b visa and I 94 which is valid till 2009. Now, can he go to Canada to get it stamped in his passport? Will he not have any difficulty to return to US? How does he make an appointment for this purpose in Canada in an US consulate?

Please, anyone who has done that recently, let me know as one does not want to take any unnecessary risk.

Thanks you.

L, Kamla

Hi Kamala,

I just happened to see this posting and dont know whether it is too late to answer ur question . I joined this site only a few days back and saw this question only today.

Here's what I can share with you:

a) My husband and I had been to Vancouver, Canada a couple of times to stamp our H1B and H4 visa. We had no issue whatsover since we had done the following:
1) Fixed an appointment (via www.nvars.com) two months in advance at the US Consulate in Vancouver.
2) Had carried with us all the H1B and H4 documents along with salary slips of my husband, proof of residence, etc.
3) Went to the US Consulate one hour ahead of the appointment. (We were not allowed to carry food, liquids and electronic items like car remote key, cell phone, cameras, etc.)
4) At the US Consulate, we answered the attending officer's questions confidently -- one of the questions was why we had not gone to India to get it stamped.
5) We had got our H1B visa and H4 visa stamped without any issue. Only that, we had to collect the passports with stamped visas the next day at 3 PM.

In your cited case, the original H1B along with its visa has expired. However, the H1B holder has a new H1B valid till 2009. There should NOT be any problem in getting the visa of the new employer stamped. God forbid, even if the visa is rejected, the H1B holder will be allowed to come back to the US on the previous expired visa as opposed to going back to his country, assuming the H1B holder has a clean record (without any criminal background).

Yes, the H1B holder does need to make an appointment with the US Consulate in Canada.

ALL THE BEST!

Thanks,
Jithiks (Krithika)

Originally Posted by Kamla

These visas and stamping etc is extremely complicated matters. I wonder why the US makes it so difficult to understand. I have an urgent query and shall be very thankful for all the replies.

This person is working on H1b visa and has recently changed job. When he got the previous job, he got his H1B visa and travelled to his country of origin to stamp it into his passport and it is valid till Septemper 2007. Now he changed his job and has another H1b visa and I 94 which is valid till 2009. Now, can he go to Canada to get it stamped in his passport? Will he not have any difficulty to return to US? How does he make an appointment for this purpose in Canada in an US consulate?

Please, anyone who has done that recently, let me know as one does not want to take any unnecessary risk.

Thanks you.

L, Kamla

Dear Jithiks/Krithika,

Thanks for giving such a detailed account of your experience in getting visa stamped at Canada.

No, it is never too late. These questions will be arising again and again for one or the other member. It is good to know these things and be informed about it for everyone who may need it.

You wrote a very detailed post giving all the relevant info and it is of great help.

Thank you so much.

L, Kamla

Dear Kamala,

You are most welcome! I am glad you were able to read this and as you mentioned, hope it will be useful to people who are in this situation.

Sure helps to gather and be well equiped with all the information when you travel to a foreign country!

Regards
Jithiks(krithika)

Originally Posted by Kamla

Dear Jithiks/Krithika,

Thanks for giving such a detailed account of your experience in getting visa stamped at Canada.

No, it is never too late. These questions will be arising again and again for one or the other member. It is good to know these things and be informed about it for everyone who may need it.

You wrote a very detailed post giving all the relevant info and it is of great help.

Thank you so much.

L, Kamla

Hi,

My husband and I are planning to go to India this fall. But before that, I need to get an H4 visa stamp in my passport. I am not from India, so-I think- I cannot get it stamp in India. Instead of that, I am thinking to go to Canada and stamp it over there. However, I am giving second thoughts about it, because I initially came to the USA on a tourist visa, and then after 4 months I got married and applied for a change of status - to H4, which it got approved. I know that US Embassy in Mexico does not stamp any visa for applicants who: entered the U.S. with a B visa issued in their home country that changed status to another visa category, e.g., F, J, H1B, but the visa did not have an annotation indicating intent to change status.
Is anyone familiar with the US Embassy Regulations regarding this matter in Canada? Has anyone had any experiences similar to mine?
We don't want to make multicities trip and stop in my home country, so the easiest way is to go to Canada, but considering my situation can I still apply for an H4 stamp, though I entered the USA on B visa stamped in my home country?
I would appreciate any help.

Thank you,

Hanna.