Sharing my visa stamping experience in New Delhi
Summary of timeline -
Dec 24th - arrived in Delhi (flew United from Chicago to Delhi)
Dec 30th - VAC appointment
Jan 5th - Consular appointment
Jan 6th - Admin processing
Jan 7th - Issued
Jan 10th - Ready for pickup
Experience details:
- Travel from Chicago to Delhi - Got RTPCR done from one of the free testing centers in the city, filled air suvidha form and downloaded the confirmation email form. Carry 2 prints of this form as you will be asked this apart from your boarding card and passport.
- VAC appointment - Arrived 30 minutes before my appointment, people were already lining up outside the Shivaji Stadium Metro Station 30 minutes ahead of their appointment. They asked for DS 160 confirmation page and appointment confirmation page. They put a sticker on my passport which had the date of my consular appointment and bar code number. They took a photo and did fingerprinting and asked me to attend consular appointment on 5th (which was my appt date).
- Consular appointment - Arrived 1.5 hours early, took 30 minutes to submit my mobile and bag outside the embassy (its a locker run by a private vendor so be careful to not keep anything expensive in your bag). They allowed you to take all your documents in a plastic carry bag along with your wallet and sanitizer. Upon entry there was a waiting area where I waited for about 20 minutes. Folks sitting in my row were asked to moved to the interview section. The first activity in the interview section was document verification. They took my passport and my I-797 and returned them after scanning. I was asked to take my fingerprints and requested to move to the interview section. The Visa Officer asked me for passport and I-797 and asked the following questions: 1. What is your highest degree? 2. When did you graduate? 3. Do you work internally for your employer to which I answered yes(took me a few second to understand the question - realized that many folks work as consultants for the employers sponsoring their visas) 4. What is your salary? 5. What is your work site? Towards the end she asked me to share my fingerprint again and said Visa approved!
- Passport picked up at the VAC center