TravelSmart: Renewing your H1b Visa in Toronto

Looking to renew your H1b? Low on vacation time and don't want to spend the money and time to go to your home country? Considering Toronto/Canada for renewal? I'm here to help mate!

1. Go here and apply for your visa and get your appointment date. File the application form online, pay the $150 fee online and also submit your photos digitally. I took my photos myself.

2. Get an appointment date about 3 weeks in advance so you have time to buy your flight tickets (plan for around 7 business days in Toronto), prepare documents and apply for a Canadian visa if necessary. Consider also that Toronto is a big city and the DHL pickup locations and the consulate are not close to each other and so make considerations for travel time and planning.

3. Go to Canada for your interview and on approval the visa will be stamped in your passport and sent to a DHL office for pickup.

Other notes assembled from frequently asked questions:

Employee vs. Contractor

I’m a full-time employee (not contractor), so that affects experience. Contractors/consultants need to prove the vendor-client relationship. Most employers give employment letters for only 3 months out and it worries the consulate to approve a 3 year visa on a 3 month employment guarantee. But it's all the documentation you have. Take photos and letters to prove employment and length of actual projects and engagement. Just be prepared, that's all you can do.

Documents

As for documents they only asked for my previous passport with the old h1b stamp. They didn’t ask for any other documents (I had bank statements, wage records, tax records, offer and employment letters, performance reviews, office photographs, all old passports and visa stamps)

Immigration Clearance on Return to US

When entering the US (immigration) they asked for the old passport, h1b stamp and company letter and a lot of the same questions asked during the interview.

Interview

(my responses shortened and in bold)

1. Tell me about your employer and your job. Petition says address of home company, you say you work in SF. Explained

2. What degree do you have. EE. How is this relevant to your current job. Explained my current roles and how the degree helps me in my daily job

3. Tell me about your previous H1b and employer. Talked about previous job and why I left it for this job and how they are related.

4. Asked about life in San Francisco and how it is to work for employer continued to chat about life and work

--He issued me a provisional visa.

Timing

Visa interview was on Monday, issued visa on this day (no PIMS). Sent to DHL office on Thursday, I picked up on Friday. They recommend 7 business days from interview to receipt. In the case of PIMS nothing is certain.

Many people think you need to renew H1b in your resident country. While it is preferable especially for your first H1b stamping, you actually don’t have to. I did my first H1b in London (was a resident there) and the second in Toronto. My home country is Sri Lanka.

I’ve been hearing though that depending on your home country and city consulate the success rates may be different. Some people who have gone back to India have not been able to come back. Toronto is a tough consulate. Vancouver and Tijuana (I have heard) are easier. London definitely was easier. Essentially there was a time when it was easier to renew in the home country. It isn’t the case anymore. It’s fair chance wherever – you just need to have your documents. It is cheaper to renew at a border consulate (Canada or Mexico) vs. India because of the cheaper flight cost.

The end to end time in Toronto from interview to Passport receipt was 5 business days (can be sometimes 7 days). In Mexico it is around the same. I am hearing it is much longer in India.

Source(s): my experience

www.wannabetechie.com

TravelSmart: Applying for a Canadian Visa from San Francisco

Straying away from the topic of hot technology, I thought I'd share some valuable information surrounding visa applications similar to an older post about applying for a UK visitor visa.

San Francisco residents are faced with a lot of consulates operating out of LA or Seattle, making the application process and timelines a little tricky. I'm here to help!

If you're already here, you just want the details so I'm going to get right down to it.

You need to apply for a canadian tourist visa (TRV – temporary resident visa).

Type up a letter that lists of all the documents required for an applicant who is currently a US resident with H1b status (or whatever status you are in --this will slightly affect the documents required to prove residency in the US).

Here are the links that I found very helpful:

· Comprehensive visa guide: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5256ETOC.asp

· Photo specifications. I was able to take and print the picture for the US visa myself but the Canadian consulate has more stringent requirements. On some parts of their website they have even asked it to be taken by a professional photographer:http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5256EB.asp

· Fee schedule. Single entry visa will be given for period of trip and multiple entry visa will be given for two years. Cannot make payment online. Must be (drawn in US dollars) a money order/cashier’s check or bank draft payable to “Canadian Consulate General”http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5256E5.asp

· Application by mail. If you cannot make it to the Seattle or Los Angeles consulate for same day service (apply 9am, receive visa by 3pm – keep in mind arriving at the consulate after 11am will classify your application as apply by mail and will not have same day service), you can apply by mail. Use USPS Express Mail – most convenient for you and the Canadian consulate. Add a paid self addressed express mail envelope in your package that you will be sending to the consulate. Once you get the visa the consulate will send back your passport and requested documents in the self addressed express mail envelope. As for costs, this ran me about $40 including tracking (delivery confirmation) and signature service. Express mail is fast – overnight service.

· Timing. Technically it takes 14 business days for a mail application to process (additional days are added if you have a passport from this list of countries http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/los_angeles/imm/visa_temp.aspx?lang=eng#MANDATORY). The real timing for me was 3 business days. I sent out the package on Thursday evening and I received the USPS express mail by the following week Wednesday morning 9am.

Source(s): my experience

www.wannabetechie.com

Apple iPhone 5 Rumors: What's Coming July 2011?

Premiership News writes:


Apple’s expected to release its 5^th generation iPhone in a traditional fashion as usual to new product launch policy new product for many years which is at July 2011. In this article, we will try to understand what the iPhone 5 will bring to the market by depending on the tips and taking advantage of the official sources and sources close to Apple.

Firstly the hardware will be redesigned for sure due to improve the signal problem occurred with the previous version and obviously for style purposes.

The company behind the chipset was Infeneon, but have been changed to Qualcomm and it is expected to have GSM / CDMA / UTMS support. It could be said that the 5^th generation iPhone will not have LTE

Apple said in a statement made previously, and indicated that the current stage of transition to 4G currently. They have also stated that this year will not be the iPhone 4G year because of the unstable equipment.

A new processor called A5, (double-Cortex A9 processor) with 1.2 GHz clock speed is to be used. Therefore it is possible to say that the new iPhone will be faster and higher performance.

Source(s): Premiership News

www.wannabetechie.com