Chennai Medical and Interview Process

[CarolynRitesh 0]

Hello,

For those of you who are a little curious about Chennai, here is our story of the week!

We stayed at Crystal Residency Hotel (they have a website, check them out) on the 1st and 2nd - they have 24 hour checkout and we just happened to arrive at 6:40AM on the first, so the timing was perfect! For a double AC room it was 1600 rupees a night + taxes with good room service and free breakfast included. The best thing about them is that they are close to Lister Labs (5 minutes by auto if they know the way), 10 minutes from Sanjan John by auto, and 5 minutes walk to the Consulate - just find the underground subway close to the hotel to cross Anna Salai road.

Lister Labs - 1st Floor (A/C!!). (Required forms: Passport, Interview Letter and Medical Cover Letter from Packet 4)

Guard asks for purpose of visit and will then give you a token number and sticky tag with 'Customer' on it. Go to the reception area and wait for your token number to be called. Ask for the consent letter from the receptionist for the blood (HIV) test. Fill in the basic data like name, passport number, case number, DOB, date of interview and sign it and return the form to the receptionist.

There are 3 different cabins where they take blood samples. Look at the screen on the wall for your token and cabin number for the blood sample taking. Once in the cabin, they will ask for your passport and enter details into a computer from the passport. You pay the 800 rupee fee when in the cabin. They will then take your blood sample(about 1/2 a syringe worth) and then ask you to wait in reception.

Very quickly, they will then call you for the x-ray. (They asked Ritesh to remove his t-shirt, don't know about women!) After that, it is back to reception while they make sure the image is clear - this is NOT a report on your health, just purely for making sure the image is good. Once that is verified, you will get a receipt and ask you to come back at 4:30. There is NO USE going anytime before 4:00, because they start giving them back at 4:00. Give them your receipt, and then they quickly return your x-ray and blood sample results in a sealed envelope.

Dr. Sanjan John (Not A/C, Ground Floor in a residential area) Required Docs: Passport, Interview Letter/Date, X-Ray, Blood Reports - Sealed, Vaccination Records)

The appointment with Sanjan John can be set the same day, he does not take 'appointments' as it is a 'walk-in' clinic, but it doesn't hurt to call him on the same day. The office is more like a house than a clinic.

1) Give the receptionist your report and complete the form provided by the office with basic details.

2) Weight and Height taken

3) Wait for some time, you will be called in to the Dr. (no token system)

4) Dr. explains your reports from the lab.

5) Give the Dr. your vaccination records

6) Dr. completes the medical history form with you and takes blood pressure.

7) Based on your vaccination record, Dr. will give you shots as needed, the 'td' (a type of tetanus shot) is NOT available in India, so he gives that. Ritesh also was given a 'varicella' shot. These shots were 1400 and 1500 a piece.

8) Dr. puts the reports in a brown envelope UNSEALED - the Consulate does NOT allow sealed envelopes inside!

9) Take a copy of these reports for your records (and the x-ray) for use in the US!!

10) Total cost was 3600 rupees - CASH! 700 for Consultation, the rest for vaccinations. HAVE CASH ON HAND FOR THE EXAM AND IF YOU DO NOT HAVE SHOTS!!

11) Note: X-ray NOT required for the Consulate!

INTERVIEW DAY:

While the Consulate opens earlier for business, we got there at 7:30. If a guard says that only the Applicant is allowed in, politely tell them that you are the spouse and a USC and you are allowed in! Make sure you have that yellow interview letter and passport ready. (Same for USC on the passport) There is a guard window outside who will look at your interview letter and passport and approve you to go in. Then it is security check time. Do NOT carry ANYTHING in except documents and a wallet if possible. I didn't carry a purse in - too much hassle!! They do a complete check of your bag of docs and yourself.

If it is earlier than 7:45, you wait in a NON A/C area where other people will be queued for different visas, this is NOT our area. Around 7:45, a Consulate staff member takes the group of Non-Immigrant (including long-term visitor visas) and Immigrant Visas (including K and CR/IR) to another building to the back and right of the initial building. There are two waiting areas - the one farthest back has the general non-immigrant visa applicants, and the first area is for immigrants. He will then take your yellow letter and put it in one of the windows, asking you to sit in the first row or two out of three. (The extra non-immigrant visas will eventually fill up the back row and be shifted into the other room as space permits, do NOT sit in the back row!)

At 8:00, the first round of interviewers move to the windows. These are Indian staff members. There are three windows for us - 9, 10, and 11. You will be standing at a counter with a glass wall in between you and the interviewer using a microphone to speak and an opening to slide your papers through. There is also an electronic finger printing machine.

The Indian interviewer will pull up your file and call your name - we tried to see if there was some kind of system, but it was not completely consistent. (NOT first come, first served!) Obviously, different things will come up for different couples in the questioning process. Here is our list:

1) Demand Draft, MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THE WEBSITE THE DAY BEFORE AS RUPEE RATES CAN CHANGE - THE DEMAND DRAFT MUST BE EXACT!! (Ours was 16, 800 for CR1, DCF)

2) Medical Reports

3) Because there is a 13 year age difference, she commented on that - but did it politely as the USC was present. (I can imagine it could have been rude if I was not there.)

4) She asked about our family members not being present at the ceremony/reception

5) She asked about how long I (USC) had been in India, where we work, where we live.

6) She asked where we met, and how our relationship evolved. (Everyone is asked that question - and if the marriage was arranged, they ask by whom and more details.)

7) Because this is a DCF process, and I have not been in the US, she mentioned that I may have to go first back to the US, and wanted us to supply our joint sponsor, even though we had assets well above the required limits.

8) Just some general chit-chat, quite friendly, and a review of the docs.

** She did ask the last time I was in the US, and held my passport for the Consulate officer to review as there are no stamps in a USC's passport when we go in and out of the US, but they can swipe it and see the dates.

Ritesh did his fingerprinting at the end, but some people did not have theirs done at this time.

After the fingerprinting, she gave a pink paper with a number at the top. (Half stays on our file for the Consulate Officer to call when ready.)

There are usually two time frames for interviews - 8:00 AM, and 9:00 AM. Those are about 15 minutes for each applicant and are done by the Indian staff member. In between the two rounds of interviews, a staff member explained that if you get the visa, you will receive it via courier, and that it will be a large gray bag with your passport inside, as well as a brown envelope with a corner cut out so you can see the tips of documents. This MUST NOT BE OPENED AT ALL or you MUST PAY THE VISA FEES ALL OVER AGAIN! This must be carried to the US POE. Also, if you have not already done your fingerprinting, it is done before 10:00AM.

The second round starts at 10:00 AM with an American. All of the interviews are done by 1 person only, rather than the 3 windows in the first round. Window 10 on our day! Again, there is no consistent system for calling the numbers. The consulate officer then takes one case at a time and reviews the information.

Questions:

1) Did you fill out the forms yourself? She seemed to be unhappy if people had had any agent do this for the person.

2) Do you swear to the truth of the information?

EVERYONE ASKED QUESTION 1 & 2!

3) She asked Ritesh about how we met, how our relationship evolved, when he proposed, etc. (And told me I was free to correct him if mistakes were made!)

4) She asked me about my job and what I do in India.

5) She also asked about his family not being in attendance.

6) She asked how I convinced him to go to Michigan as it is so cold there.

7) She asked what Ritesh would be doing for work and what I would be doing for work - did NOT seem concerned that I was not sure yet what I would do!

9) Then she said everything looks good, he must enter the US within 6 months of getting the visa.

10) Ritesh asked at that point if the joint sponsor I-864 was necessary and she went back into the stack and said NO, our assets, etc. was more than enough. We asked if we could have my Dad's Affidavit back, and she said SURE! She also returned our proof of relationship, etc.

And that was all! We were done by 11:30, and we were about the 5th couple out of 8 for that day!

All in all, it was a great experience, the staff were friendly and helpful, and Chennai Consulate is AWESOME!

The only 221 g we saw was for a woman that simply needed to get copies of EVERY page of her husbands passport and courier it back through VFS. Her husband may have been an LPR, so the pages from his Indian passport might have been needed.

[indianheart 2]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

[ELW 5]

Congrats to both of you, Carolyn & Ritesh!! :dance:

LOVE all your details, this is the best Chennai post so far! I'm saving the post for the next time someone wants to know details.

When are you coming to USA? Anyway summer is coming up and will gently ease your guy into Michigan weather.

[sara..... 371]

congratulations :dance: :dance:

[CarolynRitesh 0]

Thanks everyone! :) It is SOOO hard to come back to work, but I was able to put my notice letter in today!

The funny thing is, both Ritesh and I HATE hot weather and almost DIED in Chennai! We both agree that Bangalore has the best weather in the world, except maybe the UK, so you know we are a littel crazy! I can't wait to see him in some cold weather, but worry about black ice and snow on the roads. We are leaving India on the 19th of May, and I am sad about that, but we are going to go crazy with the food for the next 6 weeks!

[ELW 5]

I agree, Bangalore has the best weather of anywhere in India (that I have visited). Not too hot and not too cold, year round.

Happy journey to both of you next month! We find that the local Indian stores have many good spices (we cook like 90% Indian at home). But be sure to check expire dates, they keep some things for AGES (like Priya pickles! ).

[CarolynRitesh 0]

I know what you mean about being careful about the Indian grocery stores and expiration dates! My hometown has become a "Little India" since I left in 1994, and I check every time I go back to see what they keep in stock so I would know what we should bring back. Definitely some bags of loose tea, whole cardamom, vanilla beans, biryani spices, chat spices (we are going to attempt to make chat, that should be interesting!)... Two years ago I could find Limca, but the last trip they stopped carrying it.

What most people in the US don't realize is the diversity of India - in a two mile radius, I have met speakers of Telegu, Gujarati, Tamil, Maharashtrian, Punjabi and Malayalam. Ritesh only speaks Hindi (and English), and that is almost like being from a different planet! The food is totally different too, and while we both love idli and dosas, he just looks at me oddly when I add raita to my biryani or dive into coconut based dishes from Kerala. Luckily, he is very adventurous when it comes to Western food and other world cuisines, and I can't wait to have him try some Greek, Mexican and Thai dishes. We are also excited to have a real oven and try more baked dishes - thank goodness he LOVES to cook and try new recipes - and thank goodness for a Mom who knows the importance of self-reliance in a son!

These next few weeks are going to be sooooo crazy trying to figure out what to take, give away, ship, etc. as well as look for jobs, figure out where we will live long-term, think about cars and getting him a DL (if we move to a warmer climate, he wants to get a motorcycle - we just love his Enfield!), prepare for culture shock for both of us - now the real journey begins!

[k3visa 0]

Hi guys, please let me know your comments..

Does Chennai care if the marriage was arranged and it is between first cousins ...?

is there anyway that they can come to know? Will it be a problem at all?

Is there any law in US that is against Cousin marraige?

Please let me know this fast....

THanks so much

[ELW 5]

Most states in USA allow marriage between first cousins; some do not. Please see this link:

USA Law: Marrying First Cousins

I doubt that Chennai Consulate would care if the marriage was between first cousins, because it is an accepted practise in India. But I cannot say for sure because I have no personal experience.