Mumbai Interview

[Lifehastomoveon 37]

Hi All,,

I am waiting for case complete in NVC and interview date to be scheduled. Before that I jus wanted to know abt the mumbai consulate , interview questions, and other procedures. My wife should be flying from Chennai to Mumbai for interview.

Which one is the cheapest airline from Chennai to Mumbai?

My wife does not know anyone in Mumbai. How can she manage there and where to stay near to consulate which is walkable ?

How soon She should be arriving Mumbai?

what are the supporting documents She should take with her? If beneficiary is not comfortable with English during interview, Is there any other option to answer in their regional language? If yes, Will there be a translator?

What abt VAC? Could My wife take VAC appointment for photograph and biometric in Chennai before interview or in Mumbai on the same day of interview?

Which one should be the visa pick up point for my wife? It would be delivered at door step or Should my wife collect it from a visa pick up point in Mumbai or in Chennai?

Many Thanks.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to India regional forum; questions are country specific.

[vkrishn 97]

Hi All,,

I am waiting for case complete in NVC and interview date to be scheduled. Before that I jus wanted to know abt the mumbai consulate , interview questions, and other procedures. My wife should be flying from Chennai to Mumbai for interview.

Which one is the cheapest airline from Chennai to Mumbai?

My wife does not know anyone in Mumbai. How can she manage there and where to stay near to consulate which is walkable ?

How soon She should be arriving Mumbai?

what are the supporting documents She should take with her? If beneficiary is not comfortable with English during interview, Is there any other option to answer in their regional language? If yes, Will there be a translator?

What abt VAC? Could My wife take VAC appointment for photograph and biometric in Chennai before interview or in Mumbai on the same day of interview?

Which one should be the visa pick up point for my wife? It would be delivered at door step or Should my wife collect it from a visa pick up point in Mumbai or in Chennai?

Many Thanks.

1) Whatever airline comes cheaps on bing/travel or other travel websites.

2) Consulate is right behind BKC hotel and takes at the max 2 mins to walk to the consulate from the hotel. We stayed there. Slightly expensive but was very convinient.

3) Is she going to Mumbai for the interview only or is she taking the medical and VAC there? so answer depends on that. Lets say Interview is on Monday morning at 7:30AM then reaching mumbai previous day like sunday afternoon/evening should be good enough just in case flight gets delayed and to cover that.

4) They do ask if you need a translator once you step in to the consulate. At Least they asked my wife. She said "No" and not sure if other languages than Hindi are supported if one is not comfortable in English. As far as supporting docs go, we took pretty much what we submitted to NVC (Originals like Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, PCC and a copy of these).

But make sure your wife keeps with her

a) DS260 confirmation page stamped at VAC center

b) Passport

c) Interview letter

d) Any other docs requested in the Interview letter.

5) My wife is from Chennai and she took the VAC and Medical at chennai. No need to take it at Mumbai if you are resident of chennai. As long you get both done before the VISA interview day you are good. Check my timeline for when my wife did the VAC and medical at chennai. Mumbai hotels are expensive and if it were me i wouldn't waste my money on staying there for the VAC and medical when it can be done at chennai itself.

6) Your passport + sealed envelope would be sent to the VAC you indicated while scheduling the fingerprint appointment at the VAC. So in our case VAC was at chennai at Cenotaph road and wife picked it up from there. Your passport and sealed envelope will NOT be sent to your home. So make sure you do indicate while scheduling the fingerprint appointment where you want to pick up your passport+sealed envelope.

Hope this helps.

Edited May 5, 2014 by vkrishn

[bkghosh 121]

Hi All,,

I am waiting for case complete in NVC and interview date to be scheduled. Before that I jus wanted to know abt the mumbai consulate , interview questions, and other procedures. My wife should be flying from Chennai to Mumbai for interview.

Which one is the cheapest airline from Chennai to Mumbai?

My wife does not know anyone in Mumbai. How can she manage there and where to stay near to consulate which is walkable ?

How soon She should be arriving Mumbai?

what are the supporting documents She should take with her? If beneficiary is not comfortable with English during interview, Is there any other option to answer in their regional language? If yes, Will there be a translator?

What abt VAC? Could My wife take VAC appointment for photograph and biometric in Chennai before interview or in Mumbai on the same day of interview?

Which one should be the visa pick up point for my wife? It would be delivered at door step or Should my wife collect it from a visa pick up point in Mumbai or in Chennai?

Many Thanks.

I am going through pretty much the same things right now.

Airlines: From Chennai to Mumbai there are tons of flights. Spice Jet, Jet Airways, Indogo and others. Here are some websites to look into. We used the last one.

http://www.yatra.com/flight-schedule/Chennai-Mumbai.html

http://www.makemytrip.com/flights/mumbai-chennai-cheap-airtickets.html

http://www.cleartrip.com/flights/results?from=MAA&to=BOM&depart_date=03/06/2014&return_date=05/06/2014&adults=1&childs=0&infants=0&dep_time=0&ret_time=0&class=Economy&airline=&carrier=&x=57&y=16&flexi_search=no&tb=n&page=loaded

If the interview is scheduled early in the morning (7:30 or 8:30 am) then she needs to be there the previous day.

There are two very nice (5 stars) hotels with in stone's throw (1 min and 2 min) from the US Consulate. Trident and Sofitel. Both have excellent reviews. I recommend staying within walking distance from the consulate rather than far away as you can't tell what the traffic situation will be that morning. The rates are about $130 ~ $150/night.

The Interview Letter will show the documents she will need. You should also review the following pdf from US Consulate - Mumbai: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/mumbai/395145/pereirals/IV-Packet4-December2013.pdf

Also check the following link: http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/ivinterview_preparation.html

Make a profile for her at US Travel Docs. You can do that right now: http://www.ustraveldocs.com/

[elsy & mark 17]

5) My wife is from Chennai and she took the VAC and Medical at chennai. No need to take it at Mumbai if you are resident of chennai. As long you get both done before the VISA interview day you are good. Check my timeline for when my wife did the VAC and medical at chennai. Mumbai hotels are expensive and if it were me i wouldn't waste my money on staying there for the VAC and medical when it can be done at chennai itself.

6) Your passport + sealed envelope would be sent to the VAC you indicated while scheduling the fingerprint appointment at the VAC. So in our case VAC was at chennai at Cenotaph road and wife picked it up from there. Your passport and sealed envelope will NOT be sent to your home. So make sure you do indicate while scheduling the fingerprint appointment where you want to pick up your passport+sealed envelope.

Hope this helps.

So my interview is scheduled on June 3rd. I am from Bangalore and I am planning to go to Chennai to do my Medicals and VAC. So you are saying as per the last point, that after interview my passport and sealed envelope will go to the VAC where I had fingerprint appointment done? I dont want that because that would mean i need to make one more trip to Chennai and i am not going to waste any more money.

[elsy & mark 17]

So my interview is scheduled on June 3rd. I am from Bangalore and I am planning to go to Chennai to do my Medicals and VAC. So you are saying as per the last point, that after interview my passport and sealed envelope will go to the VAC where I had fingerprint appointment done? I dont want that because that would mean i need to make one more trip to Chennai and i am not going to waste any more money.

So is there any way we can collect the passport and the sealed envelope from Bangalore itself?Thank you.

[vkrishn 97]

I am not sure if Bangalore has a VAC. When you schedule your fingerprint appointment on ustraveldocs it would also give you options of locations to pick up your passport from. I don't remember seeing b'lore there. Might want to check it out.

[vkrishn 97]

Here you go. They have a pick up location for B'lore.

http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-loc-passportcollection.asp

[elsy & mark 17]

Here you go. They have a pick up location for B'lore.

http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-loc-passportcollection.asp

Thank you so much. Also can you please confirm if we need to first call the Apollo hospital to check if there are any available dates or we can just choose which ever date we want and ask them to fix it on that date? Sorry if you have answered this question before.

Finally, planning to do the Medical on 15th May and Biometrics on 16th, that is if we get to chose the dates.

[vkrishn 97]

Thank you so much. Also can you please confirm if we need to first call the Apollo hospital to check if there are any available dates or we can just choose which ever date we want and ask them to fix it on that date? Sorry if you have answered this question before.

Finally, planning to do the Medical on 15th May and Biometrics on 16th, that is if we get to chose the dates.

Wifey got through after trying for 3-4 times on the phone and was told that they don't take appointments but more of a walk in starting 10AM. That is what she did and went at 10AM on a weekday. If you are planning to do the medical on 15th may they will give you the report on 16th evening at 5pm i guess for which you will have to pick it up. I hope you planned for that as well.

[anuspras 65]

Medical report will be sent directly to embassy by the hospital. It will not be given to you by next day.

[elsy & mark 17]

Medical report will be sent directly to embassy by the hospital. It will not be given to you by next day.

Where did you get that info from? I think you're wrong.

[elsy & mark 17]

Wifey got through after trying for 3-4 times on the phone and was told that they don't take appointments but more of a walk in starting 10AM. That is what she did and went at 10AM on a weekday. If you are planning to do the medical on 15th may they will give you the report on 16th evening at 5pm i guess for which you will have to pick it up. I hope you planned for that as well.

Thank you.

Yes.Once Biometrics done on 16th will collect Medical report on same day from Hospital.I am hoping it will not take too long at VAC.

[vkrishn 97]

Medical report will be sent directly to embassy by the hospital. It will not be given to you by next day.

That is only if you have an abnormal medical report.

http://chennai.apollohospitals.com/key-information

Where did you get that info from? I think you're wrong.

Yep.

[vkrishn 97]

Thank you.

Yes.Once Biometrics done on 16th will collect Medical report on same day from Hospital.I am hoping it will not take too long at VAC.

VAC was just 10 mins for my wife. Should be quick. Make sure to take the docs needed for VAC.