Procedure inside Chennai Consulate

[vidven]

Hi,
1. Can anyone tell what the procedure inside the consulate is. My mom has her interview in two weeks and she is very nervous about the whole thing. It will be so helpful if I can tell her what will happen inside the consulate.

2. Also, she has her interview in tamil. So how will they ask her questions. will the Vo and the translator both be on the other side of the window and she has to stand on one side and answer?? Whom will she show the documents if asked for. Most of their documents like NOC, Property docs, Pay slip etc will be in tamil. Will the translator go through them??

3. To whom should she answer the questions. To the translator or to the VO??

Any info on these will be of great help. Harini or Swetha, I think your moms had their interviews in tamil too. Can you guys shed some light here.

Thanks in advance!!!

[swetharao]

Procedure

Here are the procedures -

The security at the front door would check the passport and the appt letter.

And after that, they would do the security check for any electronic items etc.

Then, there would be a counter where your mom need to give/show the appointment letter and passport.

After that, there would be a counter where they get your HDFC receipts, DS-156, DS-157 and passport. They will put it in the file and give it to you back.

You need to go to another building where the interview will be held. People there should be able assist your mom to go there.

There you will be called upon your interview timings. You need to go and get your token. When your token number is called, you need to go and stand on the visa counter queue for interview.

Your mom needs to give only the file in which they have kept passport, DS-156 and DS-157. All the other documents need to be given only if it is asked.

For my parents, they did not even see any single document. For my MIL, they checked all the documents.

Ask your mom not to be tensed. She can ask anyone for help and there will be people to help her.

My MIL went alone for Interview and she was ok throughout the process.

Questions asked to my MIL

Here is some background abt our case - My MIL is a widow and my husband is the only son and she has 2 daughters who stays in India. We prepared all the documents according to the website. Thanks to everyone.

Questions asked to her -

1) Why is your husband not accompanying you?
He is no more.
2) Do you have a son?
Yes
3) Do you have any other kids?
Yes, 2 daughters
4) Where are they?
Chennai
5) Where are you staying?
Chennai
6) With whom are you staying?
She said that her mom lives with her.
7) When you are away, will your daughters come and stay with your mom?
She said that my daughters cannot come so I will leave my mom with my daughters.
8) What is your income?
Rs.XX,ZZZ
9) How do you get that income?
She said it is from pension and rental income.
10) Who bought all those rental properties? (May be they want to check whether it was all my husband's properties)
She said that her husband was an engineer and he bought all those properties.
11) Who sponsors your visa?
She said that her son is the sponsor.

In between, the lady asked for the documents and she had gone through each and every document in both the files. We had prepared 2 files for Visitor docs and Sponsor docs and we pasted post-its with names on it.

And finally they said that she got the visa and she can pay the fees.

I was very tensed as my MIL is single. And one good thing is, we are not in any urgency, so we asked her to stay cool and mentioned to her that she can apply any number of times if she is not getting now. I think the documents and her confidence really helped in this case.

Good luck!

Regards,
Swetha

[vidven]

Thanks so much Swetha. did your parents/MIL take their interview in regional language?? Did they answer the questions to the translator. My mom's documents are all in tamil. How will the VO got through them??

Thanks for your time and patience!!

[swetharao]

Yes. My parents as well as my MIL had their interview in Tamil only.

I believe your mom would have the property affidavit with her. Most of the time, they would ask only that. If VO asks for property document, then she needs to show it. I think translator would help in that case.

In my parents case, VO did not ask for any documents except DS-156. For my MIL, they saw all documents. She had her property documents, but VO did not ask for it. VO had gone through only property affidavit (got from auditor).

Hope this helps.

Good luck!

Regards,
Swetha