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Just want share some of my experiences at the Toronto consulate in CANADA for my 7 th year visa revalidation. Please use this information at your own risk and I am not gauranteeing anything. This is just my experience.
My 6 years term is completed in Jan 2005 and I got the extension for one year approved and received the I797 approval notice in Dec, 2004. My I 94 is expired in Jan 2005. My Labor certification and I 140 are both approved and in the process of filing I 485. I had visa interview in Sep 2005. Following is the details:
Here is in detail about my visa interview experience. The visa office is located at 225 Simcoe street, Toronto, ON. It is located behind the main US Consular Officer building which is facing the main street University Avenue. My interview is at 09:30AM. In the letter they mentioned that they would not allow anyone inside the building until 1/2 hour before the interview time. I approached the office at ~8:10AM and they let me in! They did a standard security check and ask me to join a long line(of other people who came in for the interview). After that that line became three lines(i.e. they have three counters for receiving the applications). They have two counters first one for receiving the applications and the second one for the telling the status of the interview.
In the first counter they asked us to keep the bank receipt( for interview at Toronto consulate, we need to pay the fees of US$ 100 in advance at a Scotia bank located in Ontario province and take that receipt to the consular office) application forms(DS 156-, 157 and 158) and the original I 797 approval notice in that order in the PASSPORT. At that counter the lady verifies the application to see if it is filled completely and asks any questions she has. For me, she asked how long has it been since I came to US on H1. I said 6 years she noted it on the application. She also asked and noted my work number on the application. Then she told me to wait and I will be called. So I went and sat in one of the chairs in front of the counter. About 20 minutes later the lady from the second counter called me "INDIAN passport holder KATTA". I went to the counter and said Hi. The first and only question she asked me is how long have you been staying in USA on H1B? I said 6 years and it is the 7th year extension. Then she asked if my employer filed for the Labor certification and if I have a copy of that filing. I said yes and showed the copy(NOTE THIS IS NOT MENTIONED ANY WHERE IN THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS, I Carried all copies of filings and approvals so I had it with me when she asked for that) and tried to show the approval notice of my I140 while she is looking up in the system for my labor filing case details. She did not even look at the I 140 notice and returned the labor filing copy, that I gave her few minutes before, and said keep it for your records. She took my finger prints and moments later she said everything is fine and your visa is approved and you probably are aware that there is an additional fee 0f US$ 50 reciprocity fee. Please ask the guard to open the door to go up and pay the fees and come back to me. Then I went to third floor, paid the fees and returned to that lady back at the first floor. Then she took that receipt and said you can collect your visa tomorrow between 3-4 PM at the front of the office where I entered the building. The next day I went to the office at ~3:30PM and collected my passport and the original I797 approval notice(remember they took the original I 797 notice on the first day).
All the counters are like a ticket counter at the movie theater. They took my I94 stapled in the passport in the visa office and no I94 was given when I was entering the USA through the road and the INS officer said the I797 itself has the I94. In my case my I94 was already expired. So probably why they took it. I took bank statements for six months and immigration letter from the bank. All tax filings with W2's. Pay stubs for the entire year starting Jan to till Sep. Letter from employer. All original transcripts and certificates. All experience letters. Copy of the I129, LCA. Registration of the Car and insurance and of course Drivers License to show when crossing the border. But nobody looked at any of these. You can park your car on the street meter parking, in front of the visa office. There you can park for a maximum of 2 hours. If you want to park for more time, there are some paid parking lots in walkable distance where you can park for a while. I used these paid parking lots to park until the evening. Once the interview is done I walked around Toronto site seeing.
Once the interview is done you can go for site seeing there are several museums around there. CN tower and Skydome(retractable stadium) are in few minutes walk from the visa office. Just walk in the direction of the CN tower and Skydome is right next to the CN tower. There are few museums within about 3-5 kilo meters. Ontario science center is about 10-15 KM. Zoo is about 20 KM. You can buy a Toronto down town map(here in US itself I guess) that should give you a clear picture. You probably cannot cover all these in two days. One probably need 3-4 days. So proritize what you want to see if you do not want to stay more days.
I went for stamping by driving car. When entering Canada there is nobody on the US side of the border and the Canadian official on the Canadian side asked me what is my status in US. I said H1B. Then he asked if I have visitor visa? I said yes. Then he asked me to go in to a building few feet from there. I parked my car out side and went in and got customs cleared and went on to Niagara falls and then to Toronto. While entering the USA from Canada, there is no body on the Canadian side of the border and the INS officer on the US side asked me what is my nationality etc. and asked what is my status in US and where am I going in US and why am I going. I answered all questions and he told me to proceed and said good day.
And I am in US, That is all. Hope this is helpful for you guys.
Have a successful trip.
Srinivas
My 6 years term is completed in Jan 2005 and I got the extension for one year approved and received the I797 approval notice in Dec, 2004. My I 94 is expired in Jan 2005. My Labor certification and I 140 are both approved and in the process of filing I 485. I had visa interview in Sep 2005. Following is the details:
Here is in detail about my visa interview experience. The visa office is located at 225 Simcoe street, Toronto, ON. It is located behind the main US Consular Officer building which is facing the main street University Avenue. My interview is at 09:30AM. In the letter they mentioned that they would not allow anyone inside the building until 1/2 hour before the interview time. I approached the office at ~8:10AM and they let me in! They did a standard security check and ask me to join a long line(of other people who came in for the interview). After that that line became three lines(i.e. they have three counters for receiving the applications). They have two counters first one for receiving the applications and the second one for the telling the status of the interview.
In the first counter they asked us to keep the bank receipt( for interview at Toronto consulate, we need to pay the fees of US$ 100 in advance at a Scotia bank located in Ontario province and take that receipt to the consular office) application forms(DS 156-, 157 and 158) and the original I 797 approval notice in that order in the PASSPORT. At that counter the lady verifies the application to see if it is filled completely and asks any questions she has. For me, she asked how long has it been since I came to US on H1. I said 6 years she noted it on the application. She also asked and noted my work number on the application. Then she told me to wait and I will be called. So I went and sat in one of the chairs in front of the counter. About 20 minutes later the lady from the second counter called me "INDIAN passport holder KATTA". I went to the counter and said Hi. The first and only question she asked me is how long have you been staying in USA on H1B? I said 6 years and it is the 7th year extension. Then she asked if my employer filed for the Labor certification and if I have a copy of that filing. I said yes and showed the copy(NOTE THIS IS NOT MENTIONED ANY WHERE IN THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS, I Carried all copies of filings and approvals so I had it with me when she asked for that) and tried to show the approval notice of my I140 while she is looking up in the system for my labor filing case details. She did not even look at the I 140 notice and returned the labor filing copy, that I gave her few minutes before, and said keep it for your records. She took my finger prints and moments later she said everything is fine and your visa is approved and you probably are aware that there is an additional fee 0f US$ 50 reciprocity fee. Please ask the guard to open the door to go up and pay the fees and come back to me. Then I went to third floor, paid the fees and returned to that lady back at the first floor. Then she took that receipt and said you can collect your visa tomorrow between 3-4 PM at the front of the office where I entered the building. The next day I went to the office at ~3:30PM and collected my passport and the original I797 approval notice(remember they took the original I 797 notice on the first day).
All the counters are like a ticket counter at the movie theater. They took my I94 stapled in the passport in the visa office and no I94 was given when I was entering the USA through the road and the INS officer said the I797 itself has the I94. In my case my I94 was already expired. So probably why they took it. I took bank statements for six months and immigration letter from the bank. All tax filings with W2's. Pay stubs for the entire year starting Jan to till Sep. Letter from employer. All original transcripts and certificates. All experience letters. Copy of the I129, LCA. Registration of the Car and insurance and of course Drivers License to show when crossing the border. But nobody looked at any of these. You can park your car on the street meter parking, in front of the visa office. There you can park for a maximum of 2 hours. If you want to park for more time, there are some paid parking lots in walkable distance where you can park for a while. I used these paid parking lots to park until the evening. Once the interview is done I walked around Toronto site seeing.
Once the interview is done you can go for site seeing there are several museums around there. CN tower and Skydome(retractable stadium) are in few minutes walk from the visa office. Just walk in the direction of the CN tower and Skydome is right next to the CN tower. There are few museums within about 3-5 kilo meters. Ontario science center is about 10-15 KM. Zoo is about 20 KM. You can buy a Toronto down town map(here in US itself I guess) that should give you a clear picture. You probably cannot cover all these in two days. One probably need 3-4 days. So proritize what you want to see if you do not want to stay more days.
I went for stamping by driving car. When entering Canada there is nobody on the US side of the border and the Canadian official on the Canadian side asked me what is my status in US. I said H1B. Then he asked if I have visitor visa? I said yes. Then he asked me to go in to a building few feet from there. I parked my car out side and went in and got customs cleared and went on to Niagara falls and then to Toronto. While entering the USA from Canada, there is no body on the Canadian side of the border and the INS officer on the US side asked me what is my nationality etc. and asked what is my status in US and where am I going in US and why am I going. I answered all questions and he told me to proceed and said good day.
And I am in US, That is all. Hope this is helpful for you guys.
Have a successful trip.
Srinivas
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