H1B Visa Stamping !!

Those three days…

Yes, three days. Recently US embassy has changed some rules so one has to take two appointments on two different days, one for biometric and other one for interview with the consulate. For me, I had to travel from Bangalore to Chennai, so extra day got add up.

Traveling to Chennai is always adventurous, especially if you do not understand or speak Tamil. I am saying adventurous, adventures can be dangerous too. 

Day 1

It was 24^th of October, Wednesday and people around the country were celebrating festival of Dussera, I was celebrating my sleep. 11:30 my cell phone started ringing, it was from my colleague who was also going for his visa stamping, fortunately we both got same interview dates to we thought of traveling together.

‘Bus is at 12:30 if you are done with your sleep’ his voice gave a hint of panic situation. And I replied with a sentence which acts as a panic controller ‘I am in my way’ it hardly took anytime to get ready, as I was already done with my packing, I just had to wrap myself.

‘What time the bus will reach?’ I asked the driver and in reply I got a weird silence. This was the first hint, that I was going to a foreign country called Chennai, where no one will answer unless until your question is in Tamil.

We have booked seat number R9, R10 a seabird traveler’s multi axle Volvo bus. All was well. It stopped at a nice restaurant for lunch and as the conductor has already told that it would stop only for twenty minutes, we had to literally throw the food in our mouth and had to run so it doesn’t leave us there. After a nice lunch and AC running to a temperature of 22 degree Celsius, one needs a nice cozy nap. But thanks to the conductor he put on a Tamil movie named ‘journey’ which was about a bus accident on the highway. Great stuff isn’t it? Especially if you are also in a bus running with a speed of 90 on a highway. I could see some people getting a shivering whenever our bus took a sharp turn or a sudden break, thanks to the movie.  

Finally we were on the great soil of Chennai, surrounded by at least seven auto drivers. Rather than talking to us they were talking or can say arguing with each other. Finally one of them won and turned to us and said something like ‘Enga ponga’ or enga pongana’ which he himself translated to ‘where going’ once he found a blank sheet expression stuck on our face. Before I could respond to it, my friend took out a sheet of pare and read the address and the next moment a number started echoing 300…300…300. Although Company was paying our expenses but it looked high enough. But every auto driver repeating same number left no choice but to stuff ourselves in one of those autos.

After struggling for half an hour we finally found the guest house. But this half an hour hunt caused fifty more rupees as the auto driver claimed he has burned more than 300 rupee gas, I believed him after he repeated the word ‘gas’ for 17 times.

   Rooms were already booked. So I just dumped my bag on the bed and ordered dinner. Next hour I was busy inspecting my documents and the cloths, which I had planned for the biometric, strictly formal. 

Day 2

I felt like I was in love, was having trouble with sleep, heart was not in control and body slow like an earthworm. It was already seven in the morning. My appointment was at 9 and I was ready to go at 8. This time the manager of the guest house helped me getting an auto with bargain of 160. And in few minutes I was in front of US embassy.

It was a normal building, same as an LIC office if you have seen one. A small gate with single security guard, was surrounded by a stream of people few in formals like me, few with families and kids, all having bunch of files and documents with them. I went and stood in the line, which was not moving till 8:30. At exactly 8:30 the security guy called and the line started moving rapidly and next moment I was at the gate in front of him. ‘Yours is at 9 you can wait few minutes’ he said politely and I was pleased. After entire 8:30 batch people were inside, we had to wait for at least twenty minutes and the guy called again. Here I was the first person from 9’ O clock batch to enter the campus. I have already seen the direction where people were headed. I took the same path, it lead me to stairs and after climbing twelve steps I was again part of a queue, some of the people from previous batch were still waiting for their turn. A fat lady in blue trousers and ping shirt appeared and started calling names form the sheet. As and when person’s name appeared he went and joined the line. Just when I started to doubt whether my name is there or not, she called me and next moment I was also a part of the line which was going into a chamber having a huge metal door.  

I entered the room to find people in same blue trousers and pink shirts all around. One of them took the documents, verified and handed me over with an extra pink colored piece of small paper with a number printed on it, they called it a token. Once I got the token I was directed to a hall room, with lots of chairs, it was like a waiting room of some railway station. Walls were connected through windows to many small small rooms and some people, in same uniform were sitting behind those windows. There was no digital screen to display the token numbers, instead one of those were calling out loud for the numbers. My number came and I was in front of a window.

‘Name and Date of Birth?’ the lady from the other side asked. Once she was satisfied that I was the correct guy she asked me to stand straight to take a picture from the camera which was hanging from the corner of the window. Then after taking finger print of all my fingers she wished me luck for the interview.

It was all done, I thought for such a small task they were wasting a complete day and also the trouble of asking two appointments, anyway, now it was time to complete the tasks which I was not able to do before, sleep. I woke up only to realize that the day was already over.

Opened the laptop just to find few mails and remaining day went working on those mails, thanks to my support project.   

          

Day 3

Morning 6’O clock, all alarms were yet to be shot. Interview was at 10:30 but you have to believe that I was ready for it before 8. Next one hour I spent just reading the news paper and sipping tea. Sharp 9 I was at the reception asking the manger to call for an auto. 60 rupees and I was in front of a building not very different form the one which I visited yesterday, just a bigger version and more than extra security, every few steps they very checking document, checking for electronic items or anything suspicious. i was already prepared, carrying just the files and myself. No mobile, no rings, no wallet, not even handkerchief, just few rupees which were sufficient to take me back to my hotel.

In the queue you can find almost complete India, families, brides, children, old parents, officials, managers, employees, tourists, almost all genres.  Once you are in, first thing will be to understand where to go, I asked one of the guy who was in same uniform and he directed me to a counter where the guy on the counter took out some bunch of papers from my bundle of documents and tied together in a separate bunch and handed me a printed paper written ‘N-07’, one more token. This time there were digital screen which were displaying the numbers and the window on which you have to report. I found an empty chair and dumped myself waiting for my number to be displayed.

I was again in a queue, this time the lady behind the window was not an Indian national, and again my fingerprints were taken and verified with the one which was taken yesterday. Now I was in final line, which was as big as a line in front of a government tap, just before the regular time of the water to flow from it.

All seems tensed; I was helplessly trying to control my own heartbeat. The queue took us to an adjacent building and at the gate a security guard started to send people in by count, sometimes ten in a row and sometimes just two. My turn came and I was in front of a huge metal door, it was heavy that in first attempt I was not able to open it. Across the door there was a similar hall room which gives a look of a waiting room of some railway station, full of people.

I got a chair to sit and started observing the procedure while keeping an eye on the display screen which was showing the token numbers and the window number on which your fate is going to be decided. Window 24 was just in front of me and looking at the guy on it I started praying that I should not get the same window. He was showing no emotions, and I noticed many of them were returning from that window with their passport, which is a sign that your visa has been rejected. But irony that my token number and the window number 24 aligned in the same row of the table which was being displayed on the screen.  I stood up and went in front of the window. A lady was already there and to my relief her visa got approved and she left the window smiling. My turn,

‘Hi’ he said without a smile.

‘Hello’

‘Can I have your documents?’

‘Sure’ I handed over the one which was separated and tied by the officer when I entered the embassy.

He checked the documents and turned to me with few generic questions, like.

‘What is your client name?’  ‘How much salary you will get?’ and ‘for how long you have been working for your current employer?’

Once he was satisfied with my communication skill, he said, ‘okay sir, I am approving your visa, you will get your passport within 3-4 working days.’ He finally smiled. I said thank you and left the window. That’s all.

Rest of the day went fine, in traveling and sharing experience with my family and also the friend whose visa too got approved. Cheers.