H1B visa appointment expedition eligibility

[kvrssudhir]

Hello
Under what circumstance are we eligible to apply for H1B visa appointment expedition? Would appreciate if anyone can share their experience and what they have carried to prove they are eligible for expedition

 

[harirajmohan]

Hello
Under what circumstance are we eligible to apply for H1B visa appointment expedition? Would appreciate if anyone can share their experience and what they have carried to prove they are eligible for expedition

Any major reasons which affect your personally or financially or affecting US/your employer.
I think spouse/child/family separation is also being approved.
Surely any national interest will get approved.
May be if your employer looses financially if you are outside then they might approve. My friend got his exemption to fly with this kind of reason(he is critical for a state project and other private client since he is the important person in his team as his is small company).
I applied as a personal financial reason which got approved. (Reason: Was planning to move to US hence leased home in US but ended up not able to move paying rent for both homes)

We can see what other reasons are being accepted if our members weigh in.

Other reasons are listed here
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/extension-validity-for-nies-for-china-iran-brazil-south-africa-schengen-uk-ireland-india.html

 

[KanchKarthik]

@harirajmohan : If the request gets denied for one consulate, can I reapply expedite request for another Consulate?

 

[harirajmohan]

@harirajmohan : If the request gets denied for one consulate, can I reapply expedite request for another Consulate?

I dont think so as i remember that the site will display note saying we should only expedite only once.
Logically, i think that we can only expedite only once per reason. if your situation changes then surely you can expedite to consider your request since you are in different situation than before.

 

[KanchKarthik]

I dont think so as i remember that the site will display note saying we should only expedite only once.
Logically, i think that we can only expedite only once per reason. if your situation changes then surely you can expedite to consider your request since you are in different situation than before.

@harirajmohan :Makes absolute sense. Just getting organized before I submit an EA.

 

[harirajmohan]

@harirajmohan :Makes absolute sense. Just getting organized before I submit an EA.

Good luck. Nowadays more requests than last year being approved. Lets see.

 

[KanchKarthik]

Good luck. Nowadays more requests than last year being approved. Lets see.

@harirajmohan : My work starting Oct end on a particular project is of National interest and involves HIPAA data which cannot be accessed outside US. Waiting for the final approvals from my team for the justification. I hope it proves to be a strong justification. Will keep this post updated.

 

[KanchKarthik]

@harirajmohan @kvrssudhir : Update (09/17/2021): My expedited appointment for Toronto Consulate H1B interview got approved for Oct 7, 2021. So I am sorted for the interview.

 

[swan0206]

@harirajmohan @kvrssudhir : Update (09/17/2021): My expedited appointment for Toronto Consulate H1B interview got approved for Oct 7, 2021. So I am sorted for the interview.

Wow.Congrats. So did you submit a proof to get your expedited appointment ?? If yes, did you do it by yourself or the consulate asked for it?

 

[harirajmohan]

Wow.Congrats. So did you submit a proof to get your expedited appointment ?? If yes, did you do it by yourself or the consulate asked for it?

I was never asked for proof when i applied last oct.

 

[KanchKarthik]

@swan0206 : They did not ask for proof at the Consulate. But I carried the letter from my company with the justification in letterhead just in case.
View my entire experience at: https://www.immihelp.com/experiences/post/inital-h1b-ea-interview-oct-4-2021-toronto-us-consulate-visa-approved-experience-appointment-cancelled-ea-appointment-request-approved-h1b-amendment-ds-160-change-interview-experience-549489/

 

[swan0206]

@swan0206 : They did not ask for proof at the Consulate. But I carried the letter from my company with the justification in letterhead just in case.
View my entire experience at: https://www.immihelp.com/experiences/post/inital-h1b-ea-interview-oct-4-2021-toronto-us-consulate-visa-approved-experience-appointment-cancelled-ea-appointment-request-approved-h1b-amendment-ds-160-change-interview-experience-549489/

Thanks for link to the post. Thats one crazy ride. By the way, how did you apply for amendment when you were outside the US? Was that allowed or is that possible, because what i came to know through this forum is you should be inside the country atleast on the day packet reaches USCIS and later that you can travel. Can you please clarify on this

 

[KanchKarthik]

Thanks for link to the post. Thats one crazy ride. By the way, how did you apply for amendment when you were outside the US? Was that allowed or is that possible, because what i came to know through this forum is you should be inside the country atleast on the day packet reaches USCIS and later that you can travel. Can you please clarify on this

@swan0206 : I know right.... One hell of a ride....
So nothing prevents you from applying for an amendment from outside the US. In fact it is best practice to apply for an amendment as soon as any terms of your employment have changed. Specifically, title, job responsibilities, location, salary, etc. It takes longer in normal processing outside US. I went with premium processing, and it was approved within a week. The law firm recieved my H1B Amendment receipt and fedexed it to Canada for me.
Most IT services companies, especially contractors avoid this because they are already scrutinized and the location is based on client location.
In my case, I am full-time employee for more than 6 years with the same company, transfered to Canada and brought back to a home office location servicing multiple clients across US, so the profile was direct and clean. My organization also provides me the said salary as indicated in the LCA application and other standard employee benefits like 401k and medical insurance, which contracting companies don't.

 

[swan0206]

@swan0206 : I know right.... One hell of a ride....
So nothing prevents you from applying for an amendment from outside the US. In fact it is best practice to apply for an amendment as soon as any terms of your employment have changed. Specifically, title, job responsibilities, location, salary, etc. It takes longer in normal processing outside US. I went with premium processing, and it was approved within a week.
Most IT services companies, especially contractors avoid this because they are already scrutinized and the location is based on client location.
In my case, I am full-time employee for more than 6 years with the same company, transfered to Canada and brought back to a home office location servicing multiple clients across US, so the profile was direct and clean. My organization also provides me the said salary as indicated in the LCA application and other standard employee benefits like 401k and medical insurance, which contracting companies don't.

Thats so crystal clear. So, being a contractor, do you think it would be risky or chances of any hassle? To give my situation, i am with same employer for 6years but client is going to change. However, this is a remote work and my office is having multiple locations and also one close to border. And i am not transferred to Canadian entity. Its pure US based. Now after reading your post, there is also this option of filing from outside is what gave me a thought. Just need your suggestions. All this time i was thinking to get into US and file for amendment in premium and stay there till it gets approved and travel back to Canada.

 

[KanchKarthik]

@swan0206 : I would say, it will be risky for contractors, especially if it is very evident that they are defaulting on their LCA commitments. For Ex, you might be asked to show your paystubs or proof that the employer is covering medical insurance. You also risk the chance of getting an RFE, if all documentation provided as part of the H1B Amendment are not consistent holistically with the terms of your employment.

Can you explain your situation? I am not sure I get that correctly. You are working full-time (not contractor) for a US Firm from Canada. You are getting paid in USD?