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H1B visa appointment availability

S

svcanadapr

Full Member
Mar 12, 2019
48
25
I am Indian living in the US with an approved H1B petition. Recently, my Canada PR was approved. I am yet to land in Canada. When I land, I also plan to get my first H1B stamping done.

I am trying to book my H1B visa appointment using this site
https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/niv/information/tcn

I am surprised to see that many centers don't have available appointments.

Calgary: There are no available appointments at the selected location. Please try again later.
Toronto: available in Sept and I am looking at this site in April. So no appointments available for 5 months.

Is this normal?
Generally, when do people cancel their appointments?
 
J

justinline

Hero Member
May 19, 2009
365
107
If I remember correctly while scheduling the appointment there is question asked.......whether you are resident of Canada or something to that effect.

Usually for Canadian residents .....appointments are available same week or next week. Not sure about these days, I did stamping in Calgary and Vancouver just over year back.

With PR status I am wondering whether you can get in as resident or not.
 
S

svcanadapr

Full Member
Mar 12, 2019
48
25
justinline said:
If I remember correctly while scheduling the appointment there is question asked.......whether you are resident of Canada or something to that effect.

Usually for Canadian residents .....appointments are available same week or next week. Not sure about these days, I did stamping in Calgary and Vancouver just over year back.

With PR status I am wondering whether you can get in as resident or not.
Click to expand...
I agree with you, there are two options that suit my case

1) I am a Non Canadian Citizen residing in the U.S. and want to apply for a visa.
2) I am a Non Canadian Citizen residing in Canada who has completed the U.S. Nonimmigrant Visa Application (DS-160) form and want to apply for a visa.

As for case#2, though I will hold a valid Canada PR, technically I am not residing in Canada.
So I opted for case#1.
 
S

Samoinp

Hero Member
May 30, 2017
515
131
svcanadapr said:
I am Indian living in the US with an approved H1B petition. Recently, my Canada PR was approved. I am yet to land in Canada. When I land, I also plan to get my first H1B stamping done.

I am trying to book my H1B visa appointment using this site
https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/niv/information/tcn

I am surprised to see that many centers don't have available appointments.

Calgary: There are no available appointments at the selected location. Please try again later.
Toronto: available in Sept and I am looking at this site in April. So no appointments available for 5 months.

Is this normal?
Generally, when do people cancel their appointments?
Click to expand...
I had same experience back in late 2015 as well. I dropped it and went to Mexico where appointments were available within a week.
 
J

justinline

Hero Member
May 19, 2009
365
107
Hmmmm.....yeah then might be difficult to get early appointment. If you want to take a chance .....go for emergency appointment or wait for cancellation. With spring and summer.....I can only imagine wait will be longer.
 
S

svcanadapr

Full Member
Mar 12, 2019
48
25
Last edited:
S

svcanadapr

Full Member
Mar 12, 2019
48
25
Samoinp said:
Renewal. When i researched back then, different consulates have their requirements.
Check their website. As far as i can tell, first time stamping has to be done in home country.
Click to expand...
Not sure about the home country point especially for those who were on F1 visa.
Bahamas is an option, but again it is only for renewals.
https://bs.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/

I am eagerly waiting for someone to cancel their Canada TCN H1B slot.
 
S

svcanadapr

Full Member
Mar 12, 2019
48
25
Just an update on my experience getting my first H1B stamped in Canada as a new PR.

I kept an eye on cancelations of H1B appointments in the US consulates in Canada. Way too many slots showed up within a two-week timeline from the date I was searching on. Also, for some reason, all of a sudden, the US embassy in Ottawa opened up slots for almost 8-10 days. Though initially, I was worried about not finding an appointment, I eventually found a suitable slot in Ottawa and yes my H1B was approved.
 
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H

harirajmohan

VIP Member
Mar 3, 2015
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Category........
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App. Filed.......
29-May-2015
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30-Dec-2015 ReminderEmail(PCCs, NewPassport via cse 31-Dec-2015)
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11-Aug-2015
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23-Dec-2015
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26-May-2016 (BGC In Progress 25-May-2016)
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PR: 09-Jul-2016, PR Card: 17-Aug-2016
svcanadapr said:
Just an update on my experience getting my first H1B stamped in Canada as a new PR.

I kept an eye on cancelations of H1B appointments in the US consulates in Canada. Way too many slots showed up within a two-week timeline from the date I was searching on. Also, for some reason, all of a sudden, the US embassy in Ottawa opened up slots for almost 8-10 days. Though initially, I was worried about not finding an appointment, I eventually found a suitable slot in Ottawa and yes my H1B was approved.
Click to expand...
Congrats.
Time slots used to be available within 2 weeks for Canadian residents. Is waiting time nowadays high for residents too?
 
S

svcanadapr

Full Member
Mar 12, 2019
48
25
At the time of booking the interview slot, I am not a Canadian PR yet. I just have the PR application approved with a single entry visa stamped in the passport. Only after I landed, the immigration officer asked some questions and declared me a PR.
 
B

bruni23

Newbie
Jun 30, 2019
3
0
svcanadapr said:
Just an update on my experience getting my first H1B stamped in Canada as a new PR.

I kept an eye on cancelations of H1B appointments in the US consulates in Canada. Way too many slots showed up within a two-week timeline from the date I was searching on. Also, for some reason, all of a sudden, the US embassy in Ottawa opened up slots for almost 8-10 days. Though initially, I was worried about not finding an appointment, I eventually found a suitable slot in Ottawa and yes my H1B was approved.
Click to expand...
I am looking for a date in mid-August, but I am not getting any available slots and new ones are not showing up. I am finding it difficult to get an earlier date. Like you mentioned closer to the date slots sometimes open up due to cancelations, but I don't see any random July slots as well.

Can you please also share your experience for the stamping process. I am going going for my H1B renewal.
a) how long did the stamping process take and in how many days was the passport returned?
b) I have a period of only 3-5 days will it be possible to get the stamping done in that period?
c) Do all cases usually undergo admin processing?

Thanks .
 
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