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Hello,
I have completed the CP interview successfully on 25th Jan.
We (self, wife and 2 kids aged 7 & 5 respectively) landed on 20th Morning (Sunday) by BA at 1:00 A.M and put up at New woodlands and then slept till almost 11:30 in the monring and got up. The room given by NW was not good and I changed immediately as the first one had lot of mosquitoes and the AC creating lot of sounds. The hotel staff were co-operative but ofcourse for the Rs. 1100 + taxes that you pay. I don't highly recommend this hotel but for the food in the rest., which is too good.
I hired a taxi (Kartik travels) for all the 5 days and it proved to be very handy. Monday (21st) went to the lister around 7:25 A.M. As somebody said it is pretty much like a production line. Completed everything (blood and x-ray) of self and wife (kids not reqd.,) by 8:40 A.M or so and then went to Kodak photo center (opp; chola sheraton) and then waited till 9:30 A.M and got the photos done. After that I had some personal things like bank (changing traveller cheques etc.,) and then came back to hotel and had lunch. Went to the lister labs around 4 P.M for the reports but had to wait till almost 5:15 P.M or so for the reports, even though he said they would be ready by 4:30 P.M. Took the reports and came back and visited some of my old friends and tried to sleep well in the night but some how jetlag did not allow us to do that. Good thing is kids did not have any jetlag whatsoever.
Next day (22nd), we were not so fresh due to lack of sleep, but after breakfast went to Dr. Rajkumar who opened the doors around 7:45 A.M and asked us to be seated. All the tests such as bp, eye etc., etc., were done by the nurse. Dr. Rajkumar is too good and he speaks to you like a friend. While going through reports, he was talking to me as if we knew each other for a long time. He said, if there are no issues with the reports, the whole process is smooth. And, he asked to me check the reports that he is supposed to make and asked me to make copies. I thought the medical reports would be sealed. It is not so. He even asked to make copies for my own records. He asked me to take shirt and trousers off and checked all the parameters and checked whether all the parts of the body are ok or not. For ladies, he asks his nurse (whom he does not trust fully) to check. I had language problem with his nurse, who is a Malayalee I am told and does not know english fluently. Anyway, we came out by 10:45 or 11:00 A.M even though we were in the top of the queue, since the Dr. had to manually to write/tick all the things for all 4 of us. That apart from the chatting with doctor took lot of time. We were quite happy when we came out, since everything is normal. Hence, it is like 90% success since we have all the documents.
After that, we did quite a bit of shopping in chennai (which I happen to know very well, since I worked here for 9 years) and the knowledge (speak only) of local language helped matters most. You have to be careful with auto guys, who will generally demand 50-75% more if you talk to them at the hotel itself.
In the evening, we went to a temple and visited some more friends. Wed & Thu, we mostly spent visiting friends, shopping and other personal things.
The important day arrived (25th Jan) and the taxi driver was a trifle late in picking us up at 7:30 A.M but he was just in time. We reached the consulate at 7:40 A.M and was asked to be seated in the tent. We were called in around 8:15 A.M and submitted all the documents (in the same order that the pkt. 4 recommended/asked). I suggest that you follow the same order. I submitted the same old form of OF-230 which the consulate sent in Pkt. 4. I did not use the DS-230 or whatever on the web, even though I took it with me. I paid the application fee along with it and was given a blue slip to be filled up later on. We were asked to stay at the tent and we were asked to assemble in front of the building. We were asked to go back, since the officer wasn't ready yet. After that, we were asked to assemble again and the officer did turn up. After that, we waited and around 10:30 or so my name was called and I was the first to be called, in fact.
I went inside and the indian officer asked me how many years of experience I have and my current position. That's it. I saw him giving us back all the originals except the employment letter. He took the blue dart demand draft and asked me for the latest pay stub which he took and never returned. He asked me to pay the visa fee and go home. We were so relieved. I came out and did not get a chance to see other friends like superman, rajesh paul etc., but I expected them to see me, which did not happen. Anyway, I guess they were busy with their own issues. So, I came out by 10:45 A.M and called my parents (in vizag) to say everything went fine. I took copies of the application & visa fee receipts.
On the same day, I have sent my family back to my home town and I waited till 28th (Monday) to collect the documents from blue dart. The blue dart turned up at 2:15 P.M while I was waiting for him since 9 A.M and he asked me for appointment letter and the copies of application & visa fees. He said one of them should be fine, but he took both.
Lesson:
- Make copies of the application & visa fees receipt (2 copies to be safe)
- Make copies of the appointment letter (2 to be safe)
I made 2 copies of the immigration visa certificate that the consulate sent along with brown envelope. After visiting my home town for 2 weeks I returned on 10th Feb' 02 to Washinton DC (IAD). The process was smooth there but for some small problems. My elder son got fainted while standing in the queue at the immigration counter. He had to be rushed to hospital by ambulence. My wife went with him while I was doing the finger printing etc., She had to comeback again after I am done with my part. Luckily, she could also finish it on the same day. Otherwise, they were saying that if the staff changes, it could be a problem. Luckily, for us she could finish it and my son also was discharged after some routine tests. The kids were not required to do any finger printing etc.,
So, all is well that ends well.
Good luck to all the future CP'ers. I will be glad to answer any questions that u may have. My email id is : [email protected]
Bye
I have completed the CP interview successfully on 25th Jan.
We (self, wife and 2 kids aged 7 & 5 respectively) landed on 20th Morning (Sunday) by BA at 1:00 A.M and put up at New woodlands and then slept till almost 11:30 in the monring and got up. The room given by NW was not good and I changed immediately as the first one had lot of mosquitoes and the AC creating lot of sounds. The hotel staff were co-operative but ofcourse for the Rs. 1100 + taxes that you pay. I don't highly recommend this hotel but for the food in the rest., which is too good.
I hired a taxi (Kartik travels) for all the 5 days and it proved to be very handy. Monday (21st) went to the lister around 7:25 A.M. As somebody said it is pretty much like a production line. Completed everything (blood and x-ray) of self and wife (kids not reqd.,) by 8:40 A.M or so and then went to Kodak photo center (opp; chola sheraton) and then waited till 9:30 A.M and got the photos done. After that I had some personal things like bank (changing traveller cheques etc.,) and then came back to hotel and had lunch. Went to the lister labs around 4 P.M for the reports but had to wait till almost 5:15 P.M or so for the reports, even though he said they would be ready by 4:30 P.M. Took the reports and came back and visited some of my old friends and tried to sleep well in the night but some how jetlag did not allow us to do that. Good thing is kids did not have any jetlag whatsoever.
Next day (22nd), we were not so fresh due to lack of sleep, but after breakfast went to Dr. Rajkumar who opened the doors around 7:45 A.M and asked us to be seated. All the tests such as bp, eye etc., etc., were done by the nurse. Dr. Rajkumar is too good and he speaks to you like a friend. While going through reports, he was talking to me as if we knew each other for a long time. He said, if there are no issues with the reports, the whole process is smooth. And, he asked to me check the reports that he is supposed to make and asked me to make copies. I thought the medical reports would be sealed. It is not so. He even asked to make copies for my own records. He asked me to take shirt and trousers off and checked all the parameters and checked whether all the parts of the body are ok or not. For ladies, he asks his nurse (whom he does not trust fully) to check. I had language problem with his nurse, who is a Malayalee I am told and does not know english fluently. Anyway, we came out by 10:45 or 11:00 A.M even though we were in the top of the queue, since the Dr. had to manually to write/tick all the things for all 4 of us. That apart from the chatting with doctor took lot of time. We were quite happy when we came out, since everything is normal. Hence, it is like 90% success since we have all the documents.
After that, we did quite a bit of shopping in chennai (which I happen to know very well, since I worked here for 9 years) and the knowledge (speak only) of local language helped matters most. You have to be careful with auto guys, who will generally demand 50-75% more if you talk to them at the hotel itself.
In the evening, we went to a temple and visited some more friends. Wed & Thu, we mostly spent visiting friends, shopping and other personal things.
The important day arrived (25th Jan) and the taxi driver was a trifle late in picking us up at 7:30 A.M but he was just in time. We reached the consulate at 7:40 A.M and was asked to be seated in the tent. We were called in around 8:15 A.M and submitted all the documents (in the same order that the pkt. 4 recommended/asked). I suggest that you follow the same order. I submitted the same old form of OF-230 which the consulate sent in Pkt. 4. I did not use the DS-230 or whatever on the web, even though I took it with me. I paid the application fee along with it and was given a blue slip to be filled up later on. We were asked to stay at the tent and we were asked to assemble in front of the building. We were asked to go back, since the officer wasn't ready yet. After that, we were asked to assemble again and the officer did turn up. After that, we waited and around 10:30 or so my name was called and I was the first to be called, in fact.
I went inside and the indian officer asked me how many years of experience I have and my current position. That's it. I saw him giving us back all the originals except the employment letter. He took the blue dart demand draft and asked me for the latest pay stub which he took and never returned. He asked me to pay the visa fee and go home. We were so relieved. I came out and did not get a chance to see other friends like superman, rajesh paul etc., but I expected them to see me, which did not happen. Anyway, I guess they were busy with their own issues. So, I came out by 10:45 A.M and called my parents (in vizag) to say everything went fine. I took copies of the application & visa fee receipts.
On the same day, I have sent my family back to my home town and I waited till 28th (Monday) to collect the documents from blue dart. The blue dart turned up at 2:15 P.M while I was waiting for him since 9 A.M and he asked me for appointment letter and the copies of application & visa fees. He said one of them should be fine, but he took both.
Lesson:
- Make copies of the application & visa fees receipt (2 copies to be safe)
- Make copies of the appointment letter (2 to be safe)
I made 2 copies of the immigration visa certificate that the consulate sent along with brown envelope. After visiting my home town for 2 weeks I returned on 10th Feb' 02 to Washinton DC (IAD). The process was smooth there but for some small problems. My elder son got fainted while standing in the queue at the immigration counter. He had to be rushed to hospital by ambulence. My wife went with him while I was doing the finger printing etc., She had to comeback again after I am done with my part. Luckily, she could also finish it on the same day. Otherwise, they were saying that if the staff changes, it could be a problem. Luckily, for us she could finish it and my son also was discharged after some routine tests. The kids were not required to do any finger printing etc.,
So, all is well that ends well.
Good luck to all the future CP'ers. I will be glad to answer any questions that u may have. My email id is : [email protected]
Bye
