H1B visa appointment availability

[SHK4]

Need help in getting appointment of H1B in Canada

Here is our situation:
I am currently on H4 visa and my spouse is on H1B. Our last stamping was done in India and Currently we have Canadian COPR which is yet to be activated. Would we be eligible for Dropbox or would have to take in person visa appointment? If eligible for dropbox ,then can we mail in documents from USA to Canada or have to go to Canada and then submit the documents? Having said this USA embassy mail back passports to USA or some authorize person has to pick from USA consulate to Canada?

Hello

Did you get your Visa Stamped.
If yes, could you please explain the process.

 

[ashwin1400]

Has anyone had experiences in applying for a H1B visa (Dropbox/interview waiver) in a different province than the one they reside in? Basically trying to determine if sending it Calgary/Halifax will allow faster processing vs doing it in Toronto/Ottawa where they're clearly overloaded with applications..

 

[kng90]

Question on the whole mail in dropbox system - looks like a lot of people are being called in for interviews (that you need to schedule yourself). So what exactly is the point of mailing in documents? We might as well book an appointment for July or August and go to the in-person interview right? Not sure what I am missing here

 

[swan0206]

Question on the whole mail in dropbox system - looks like a lot of people are being called in for interviews (that you need to schedule yourself). So what exactly is the point of mailing in documents? We might as well book an appointment for July or August and go to the in-person interview right? Not sure what I am missing here

Not exactly sure if everyone are being called for an interview after you submit documents. But there might be some criteria where they are filtering and sending to people attend an in-person interview. Again, each case is different with USCIS as you already know. Here in the forum we only see who post their experiences but there might be lot of them who do not post here but gets approved with just dropbox itself. Till date, hardly i have seen less than 10posts asking them to come for an interview !!

 

[kng90]

Not exactly sure if everyone are being called for an interview after you submit documents. But there might be some criteria where they are filtering and sending to people attend an in-person interview. Again, each case is different with USCIS as you already know. Here in the forum we only see who post their experiences but there might be lot of them who do not post here but gets approved with just dropbox itself. Till date, hardly i have seen less than 10posts asking them to come for an interview !!

Thanks for your response. Yeah agreed. The sample size on this forum is too small to make conclusions! I am not sure if it has to do with being a Canadian PR/citizen. On the appointment scheduling page, it says you have to be a PR/citizen but when I called them, they said if you are inside Canada either on a study or work permit, you qualify as well. Maybe the ones on ICT work permit are being called in? Just guessing at this point

My only concern is if I have to get in the same appointment queue after mailing in the documents, I would lose some appointment slots just waiting for them to get back to me. Also, if I mail to say Toronto, I am forced to attend my interview there right? So that further restricts the slots. That is why I was wondering if I should just book an appointment in August instead of sending in the documents. Aug 16 is available in Calgary

 

[kng90]

Has anyone had experiences in applying for a H1B visa (Dropbox/interview waiver) in a different province than the one they reside in? Basically trying to determine if sending it Calgary/Halifax will allow faster processing vs doing it in Toronto/Ottawa where they're clearly overloaded with applications..

Oh I didn't know this is a problem. Are we not allowed to send it to other provinces?

 

[swan0206]

Thanks for your response. Yeah agreed. The sample size on this forum is too small to make conclusions! I am not sure if it has to do with being a Canadian PR/citizen. On the appointment scheduling page, it says you have to be a PR/citizen but when I called them, they said if you are inside Canada either on a study or work permit, you qualify as well. Maybe the ones on ICT work permit are being called in? Just guessing at this point

My only concern is if I have to get in the same appointment queue after mailing in the documents, I would lose some appointment slots just waiting for them to get back to me. Also, if I mail to say Toronto, I am forced to attend my interview there right? So that further restricts the slots. That is why I was wondering if I should just book an appointment in August instead of sending in the documents. Aug 16 is available in Calgary

The problem after Dec 2021 is that , we do not get to chose what we want to do. It is the system that decides whether to give a waiver and ask us to send documents or schedule an interview. Try your luck. Not sure, if they have put this as an extra step now just to stop opening regular interview slots and slow down the process.

 

[kng90]

The problem after Dec 2021 is that , we do not get to chose what we want to do. It is the system that decides whether to give a waiver and ask us to send documents or schedule an interview. Try your luck. Not sure, if they have put this as an extra step now just to stop opening regular interview slots and slow down the process.

Yes we don't have a choice that is correct. According to the system, folks on ICT work permit (no PR) should not be using the mail in option. On this forum, looks like everyone who got an interview request were all ICT WP holders. So I feel unless you are a PR, scheduling an interview is the safer option. I have booked Aug 16th in Calgary for now. Just 5 min back, I saw a May appointment pop up and it was gone before I could react!

 

[swan0206]

Yes we don't have a choice that is correct. According to the system, folks on ICT work permit (no PR) should not be using the mail in option. On this forum, looks like everyone who got an interview request were all ICT WP holders. So I feel unless you are a PR, scheduling an interview is the safer option. I have booked Aug 16th in Calgary for now. Just 5 min back, I saw a May appointment pop up and it was gone before I could react!

Nice that you got an option to book an appointment. Are you a PR? yeah keep checking, the dates are opening up. Month and half ago, it was showing Dec dates, 3 weeks ago October dates and now they opened August as well in Ottawa.

 

[kng90]

Nice that you got an option to book an appointment. Are you a PR? yeah keep checking, the dates are opening up. Month and half ago, it was showing Dec dates, 3 weeks ago October dates and now they opened August as well in Ottawa.

No I am not a PR. I am here for about a year on ICT. So according to the system I need to attend an in-person interview. I actually got a July 28 in Vancouver. Yeah it is getting better

 

[go4sacchi]

Yes we don't have a choice that is correct. According to the system, folks on ICT work permit (no PR) should not be using the mail in option. On this forum, looks like everyone who got an interview request were all ICT WP holders. So I feel unless you are a PR, scheduling an interview is the safer option. I have booked Aug 16th in Calgary for now. Just 5 min back, I saw a May appointment pop up and it was gone before I could react!

Your assumption is incorrect, I'm a PR (3 years residing in Canada) and was asked to attend in person after i submitted my docs for the interview waiver. You're thinking too much and trying to understand the system. As you already know its on a case to case basis. Also being on ICT you're eligible for a dropbox. Trying to enforce an appointment on youself is not going to fetch you any better results. Follow the process. On the other hand, I hear you on the loss of time you've to experience due to the back and forth, but dates open up on a regular basis due to cancelations. Keep checking early morning hours before 7 am and you may be lucky to get one. Cheers!

 

[kng90]

Your assumption is incorrect, I'm a PR (3 years residing in Canada) and was asked to attend in person after i submitted my docs for the interview waiver. You're thinking too much and trying to understand the system. As you already know its on a case to case basis. Also being on ICT you're eligible for a dropbox. Trying to enforce an appointment on youself is not going to fetch you any better results. Follow the process. On the other hand, I hear you on the loss of time you've to experience due to the back and forth, but dates open up on a regular basis due to cancelations. Keep checking early morning hours before 7 am and you may be lucky to get one. Cheers!

Lol yeah I am trying to analyze the system and find out how it works. Not the right way for sure. I am just going to follow the instructions I guess. Maybe this has changed what it was a few months back, but according to the new questionnaire page, only PRs and nationals are allowed an interview waiver. This is the actual verbiage there:

Qualifying statements applicable to citizens or nationals of countries that are NOT part of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

• Applicant is a national or permanent resident of the country in which the applicant is applying, and
• Applicant has been previously issued a U.S. visa (any class of visa), and
• Applicant submitted ten fingerprints when the previous U.S. visa was issued, and
• Applicant answered 'NO' to all of the Medical and Health, Criminal, Security or Immigration Law Violation questions on the DS-160 visa application form

Yes I have heard people calling support and hearing that temporary residents can mail in, but to do that they have to incorrectly state here, that they are a PR or national of Canada.

So I selected no to this and I don't have a choice to send in documents now. But got an appointment in Vancouver for May so I'm good for now. Thanks a lot for your feedback!

 

[Vaibhav.goel85]

I tried to book appointment today for My B1/B2 visa but it gave me to send the documents to consulate is it normal? I am Canadian PR had B1/B2 since 2010 which expired in 2020. Had h1B from 2012 to 2018 which I surrendered when I moved to Canada.

 

[harirajmohan]

I tried to book appointment today for My B1/B2 visa but it gave me to send the documents to consulate is it normal? I am Canadian PR had B1/B2 since 2010 which expired in 2020. Had h1B from 2012 to 2018 which I surrendered when I moved to Canada.

Lot of relaxations on waiving personal interview nowadays hence just go with the instructions you received from the site. Send the required documents along with the passports.

 

[ashwin1400]

Update on Ottawa dropbox
Background: Canadian PR, last stamping in India.
Timeline:
- Delivered - Sept 24th
- Application Received Update - 18th Oct
- Issued - 20th Oct
- Return Tracking Email 1 - 21st Oct
- Return Tracking Email 2 - 22nd Oct (with estimated delivery date, was able to track from this day)
- Ready for pick up - 25th Oct (They will ask for I.D that has address on it. I showed PR card and local utility bill)

Hope this helps.

Hi @tuhadapeo: I'm on the same boat as you were and noticed one of your earlier threads where you posted that the CAEC tracker was showing 'No status' for over a week after the documents were delivered. Did you see any other updates between Sept 24th and 18th Oct?

Thanks a lot !