A Pathway to the USA
A P a t h w a y t o t h e
USA
F o r I n d i a n I T p r o f e s s i o n a l s
By: Madhukar Mazire
A Pathway to the USA
Preface
Dear Reader Friend,
My name is Madhukar Mazire and I am a Asst Manager IT working in USA for a while now. I worked in India for 7 years and now moved to USA on L1 visa for work. When I was in India it was a mystery for me for “How to go to USA for work?” It remained mystery until I found the pathway to my dream to work in USA. I am writing this e-book to all those known and unknown friends of mine in India who are seeking the same pathway to fulfill their dreams to live and work in the “land of opportunities – America”. I had to struggle like many others to know each and everything at every step of the process. Now after settling down over here I just thought of writing this e-book, which would help my fellow Indians to understand the process in detail and find out the sources of information at one place. I strongly believe that information plays a very vital role in today’s world. If you have the information on “How to do things” then it’s much easier for you to achieve your goal. Else otherwise everybody is struggling the same way now days to get the same information.
I do not claim that the process mentioned in this book is the only process and mechanism to be followed. But this is what I followed and to my knowledge most of the Indians follows, to come and work in USA. This e-book shall serve as a primary source of information for most of the sources of information on Internet. Please understand that my main intension of this e-book is to share my experience and knowledge with many aspirants and help them understand to take decision and follow steps for procedure. I intend that this will make their life easy. I also understand that the procedures might have undergone changes to some extend as the time lapses. So one has to use this e-book as a guideline or handbook, which will help them to quickly get access to the updated source of information.
All the best and have a good luck to fulfill your dream…!!!
Regards,
Madhukar Mazire madhukar_m@hotmail.com
Note: Please feel free to share this e-book with your friends
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A Pathway to the USA
Preface................................................................................................................................. 2
Introduction......................................................................................................................... 4
Do I aspire to go to USA for work? .................................................................................... 5
Starting Point ...................................................................................................................... 6
What is H1B petition?......................................................................................................... 7
What’s the best time to start with?...................................................................................... 8
Where is my new USA based company? ............................................................................ 9
How do I select my new USA based company? ............................................................... 11
How consulting business works in USA? ......................................................................... 14
Procedure for H1B petition filing ..................................................................................... 17
How do I track my H1b petition application status?......................................................... 18
Wait…Wait…Wait… ....................................................................................................... 19
Bingo…! My petition is sanctioned, what’s next?............................................................ 20
Why take an appointment in USA consulate in India? ..................................................... 21
Wait… what about my dependents? ................................................................................. 22
How do I take an appointment in USA consulate in India?.............................................. 23
Again wait… wait… wait… ............................................................................................. 29
How do I prepare myself for the H1B Visa stamping Interview? .................................... 30
The Judgment day!!! ......................................................................................................... 32
What could go wrong (rarely, but possibly)?.................................................................... 34
“I am the king of this world…!” ....................................................................................... 35
Airline to USA – Which one should I select? ................................................................... 36
Pack-up activities .............................................................................................................. 38
Documents required – V. V. IMP. .................................................................................... 39
How much money should I carry? .................................................................................... 40
USA - Port of Entry .......................................................................................................... 41
What is I-94? ..................................................................................................................... 43
I am in USA, Now What’s next? ...................................................................................... 44
Calling cards to call back India......................................................................................... 45
Travel options ................................................................................................................... 46
Resume Building............................................................................................................... 47
Preparation for telephonic Interviews ............................................................................... 48
Preparation for face-to-face interviews............................................................................. 49
Opening a bank account .................................................................................................... 50
Applying for SSN ............................................................................................................. 51
Driving License – A Must................................................................................................. 53
Credit History? – Oh my god, I do not have one .............................................................. 55
Got a Job! Now what next?............................................................................................... 57
Finding an accommodation at Job location ...................................................................... 58
I need a car!! Where do I search? ..................................................................................... 59
I need a car loan, who will help me? ................................................................................ 61
Finding a Desi Grocery shop ............................................................................................ 62
Money Transfer to India, How to?.................................................................................... 63
Mobile and Savings on regular calls to India.................................................................... 64
Need a job change, H1B Transfer, How To? .................................................................... 66
Consulting Vs FTE (full time Employment), a comparison ............................................. 67
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A Pathway to the USA
Introduction
United States of America, a Land of Opportunities. It’s been always a great dream for many of the India IT consultants and professionals to live and work in USA. I was one of them until late 2007. After working for about 7 years in India. I strongly aspired for a life in USA. USA was my destination to live and work. There were three main reasons for me
- Many of the IT clients are from Europe and America. So wanted to work closely with American companies to learn many things as how business goes and the work culture in USA. This learning curve I was expecting mainly to add values to my knowledge and experience of working with American Clients.
- Wanted to save good money in comparatively less time. Obviously when I say savings I refer to savings in terms of Indian Rupees Equivalent. The plan is to stay here for couple of years, save USD, go back to India, convert it to INR and live more comfortably in India with great savings in hand.
- Everybody says that the American lifestyle is a very high grade and comfortable lifestyle. My father being government server in Maharashtra, I spent my childhood at various district places in south Maharashtra. Then I spent 5+ years in Metro city like Mumbai and stayed in a very good place like Thane. Still I was eager to understand what do “they” mean by better lifestyle in America.
I decided to come to USA in Oct 07 on B1/B2 (tourist or Business)Visa, and with all the procedures I landed in this “Land of my dream” on Nov 07. Do not get scared of the duration (1 months). Under normal circumstances, most of the aspirants spend 8 – 14 months to come to USA from the time they confirm their wish.
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Do I aspire to go to USA for work?
The very first step is to ask self a question
“Am I really willing to go, live and work in USA?”
Yes, indeed this question should be asked to yourself. There are parameters associated for the decision to the correct answer to yourself.
- Are you fresher or experience in IT work?
o If you are a fresher (just out of collage or with no software working experience) then it is very difficult for you to get an opportunity in USA. Very few people would still try to get a chance but then there are many hurdles and you would loose money and time in most of the cases if it doesn’t really work for you.
o Experience people having more than 3 years of experience would face very little hassles. More the experience, better is chance to get it through in first go.
- Are you prepared to undergo a long running H1B process for 8-12 months?
o The day you make you mind of going to USA, it takes 8-12 months to complete the process and landing in USA. It could be 5-6 months if you are extremely lucky. Few people leave the process in the middle because of the less patience.
- Do you have savings for 1 to 1.5 Lakhs?
o I am talking about those luck birds that get an opportunity to fly to USA through an assignment. I am talking about those who are seeking an opportunity in USA by their own. We all know we have many frustrated IT professionals among us who are awaiting USA opportunity through the assignment since a long time. Few of them wait for a long and few takes steps to make their own path to their dream. I am talking about the later category people who want to build their own way to USA. The money is required at various steps as below:
° INR 25K to 100K as a security deposit to the company in USA during the process (depending upon the company)
° Approx. 8K for the Visa stamping fees in USA consulate in India
° Approx. 32K for the Airfare from India to USA
° Approx. 10K for the shopping in India
° Approx. USD 500 (Approx. INR 25K for initial back up in USA)
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A Pathway to the USA
Starting Point
Now that you have made yourself clear that you want to come, live and work in USA. Let’s start looking for a starting point of the procedure. By this time you should be clear with the question “Why”. I mean once you are clear with “Why do I want to go to USA?” then come “How do I go to USA to live and work?” Please understand that the entire process is a time sensitive process. You will have to take care of every step in a timely manner. If you miss anything, you loose a year and you will have to wait until next year for the new process. The process is difficult if you do not know the granularity but it is easy if you know “what’s next?”
So here two immediate questions would be in your mind.
o What is the H1B visa and it’s processing?
o What is the best time to start with?
Let’s see the details in the next section.
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A Pathway to the USA
What is H1B petition?
The United States H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa, which allows a US company to employ a foreign individual for up to six years. As applying for a non-immigrant visa is generally quicker than applying for a 'Green Card', staff required on long-term assignment in the US are often initially brought in using a non-immigrant visa such as the H1B.
Individuals cannot apply for an H1B visa to allow them to work in the US. The employer must petition for entry of the employee. H1B visas are subject to annual numerical limits. This limit is called as H1B Quota. The H1B visa is designed to be used for staff in
"specialty occupations", that is those occupations that require a high degree of specialized knowledge. Generally at least the equivalent of a job-relevant 4-year US Bachelor's degree is required (this requirement can usually be met by having a 3-year degree and 3 years' relevant post-graduate experience). However, professionals such as lawyers, doctors, accountants and others must be licensed to practice in the state of intended employment – e.g. a lawyer must generally have passed the relevant state bar exam. Non-graduates may be employed on an H1B visa where they can claim to be
'graduate equivalent' by virtue of twelve or more years' experience in the occupation.
The initial visa may be granted for up to three years. It may then be extended, in the first instance for up to two further years, and eventually for one further year, to a maximum of six years. Those wishing to remain in the US for more than six years may, while still in the US on an H1B visa, apply for permanent residence (the "green card"): if such employees do not gain permanent residence, when the six year period runs out, they must live outside the US for at least one year before an application is made for them to enter on an H or an L visa.
To summarize you would require-
- A Graduate degree in India
- A work experience of 3-4 years or more (more the better)
- A US company who would file a H1 petition for you in USA.
- A perfect time to start with.
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What’s the best time to start with?
As I have already mentioned that H1B process is a time bound process and you should keep an eye on the timelines of the process and every step. The US homeland department starts taking H1 petition application from 1st April of each year. They collect applications until the quota reaches. The quota in 2005 and 2006 was 65,000. Means
65,00 people can come in USA from rest of the world in “specialty occupations” category. Out of which 20,000 is dedicated to Chile/Singapore under some US-Chile/Singapore treaty. Remaining 45,000 covers the entire world and various sectors. You will have to check for the current quota of H1B cap.
You can find the current quota of H1B cap at link below:
http://www.path2usa.com/h1bcorner/index.htm#h1
In addition to this, separate quota of 20,000 is allocated to foreign nationals having post graduation (MS degree) in USA.
The demand is so high to come and work in USA that it is highly unpredictable when this quota will be over each year. In one of the very early 2000 year the quota was full on the first day only i.e. 1st April. In 2005 the quota was full on Aug 05 and in 2006 the quota was full on mid May 2006.
So you should synch-up in such a way that your company files for an H1 on 1st April. So you need to do all your homework and company searching well in advance. So the best time to start with the process is from Dec-Jan of each year.
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A Pathway to the USA
Where is my new USA based company?
Now that we have learnt about the basics of the H1 petition, we need a US based company that would file H1B petition for you. Where would you get such a company? Well there are many ways to find out for company.
- Find a company through a friend who is already working in USA. You can either find a friend’s company or you can request a friend to look out for some other company. A reliable friend in USA is the BEST option for searching a company. As he knows the USA market and many companies, he can guide you for the same. Most of the companies ( almost 100% of the desi companies in USA) seeks new candidates from India every year and process for their new H1B petition. These companies prefer the
“employee referral program”. The existing employee refers his friend, relative having working experience in software. The company screens the resume and analyzes the market requirement for the candidate’s profile. If the requirement is good, then they immediately entertain the candidate.
- You can search for the advertisements in the local newspaper. The classified of mid- day and times of India as well as the overseas appointments sections are filled up with such advertisements.
- Find a company in USA directly using websites on Internet. One of the popular website is
http://classifieds.sulekha.com/
- Search for companies that entertain the fresh H1 application. On the above website, see the ads in right and left panes of the webpage. All those companies process H1B visa for new candidates from India. You will have to click those ads to get the contact details for the companies and call them as soon as possible. Speak to them first over telephone and convey your willingness to come to USA. Then get the email id and send your updated resume to them for screening.
Tip: You can make a USA call from your computer for just INR 1.15 using
www.anyuserindia.com service. Go to this website and download the dialer for free and
then you will have to buy the card from the dealers. You can get the list of dealers from
the website. The sound clarity is awesome and service is excellent. It is a very cheap and
reliable service for frequent calls to USA. Alternatively you can also buy calling card from
yahoo messenger as well for min of INR 450 (USD 10). With this you can get a talk time
of up to 1000 mins that is more than enough.
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A Pathway to the USA
- Then first step company do is making a call to candidate to for a screening interview They check the background profile of the candidate and most importantly the communication skills of the candidate.
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A Pathway to the USA
How do I select my new USA based company?
Many of the buddies feels cheated once they come to USA with some company and understand that they are not getting proper remuneration and benefits. The consulting business in USA is a different kind of business and you need to understand “the way it works”.
- When consulting companies in USA plan to take Indian candidates in USA, they are spending almost USD 4000 on each candidate (Approx. INR 175,000)
- They also spend time for about 6-10 months on each candidate with hassles of the
H1 petition.
- They need to keep track of the candidate’s status through their attorney
- They spend money on the salaries of the HR/recruiting people and office expenses
- They make initial accommodation and travel (for interview within USA) arrangements for the candidate until he gets his first job.
Certainly they expect couple of things from this business
- Assurance that the candidate comes to USA and joins then for a long term
- They generate revenue out of candidates services to their clients
- They get a make over in couple of months
- They expect to get profit from revenue generated from candidate’s billing
By considering these business facts, they provide the candidate comparatively less salary in a range of 55K to 70K depending upon the skills and experience of the candidate. It also depends upon the billing rate of the candidate they expect (upon the demand of his skill sets and experience) in the USA when the candidate arrives. 60K is a decent salary for a single person to stay and enjoy in USA to start with. (Obviously everyone wants to earn 100K+ per annum on an average).
Stay at east coast of USA is cheaper as compared to west coast. Hence salary expectations could be 10% more in case of west coast.
Also medical insurance is a very important factor in USA. Everyone in USA MUST have a medical insurance otherwise you are finished by the heavy bills of the doctors and medicines. Many companies provide comprehensive medical plan that is considered the best plan in USA. It covers Medical + Dental + Eye. But most of the US based Desi companies provides group medical plans in which company pays 70% and candidate pays 30% (It is approx. USD 80 per month per person.) every month.
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One more important thing is “bench salary”. Bench is a period when candidate is not on a project and searching for an opportunity. Some companies provide Bench salary, means even though candidate is not on a project, the company will pay for his salary. Most companies do not pay Bench salary. For those who pay bench salaries, have their salary structure lower as compared to other companies. You need to understand that in consulting business nobody does favor on you and nobody pays from his or her own pocket for good. It’s you who earns money for the company and they pay a part of the income to you. Some companies also pay min salary ( let’s say USD 1500 or 2000) on bench for survival purpose.
Most of the companies pay monthly salary. But few of them pay fortnightly (every 15 days) salary. Most of the American companies pay fortnightly salary. Having money as soon as possible is always a better option, isn’t it! ☺
There is nothing right and wrong. Each system has it’s own advantages and dis- advantages. So by considering the above details, you should ask couple of questions to the company:
Some companies ask for a bond or agreement to work with them for 1-2 years. Thought such a kind of bond or agreement is not legal in USA and has no value at all, it bears a psychological burden on the candidate.
As I mentioned earlier, almost all companies as for a security deposit of 25K to 100K INR before staring the H1 petition. It is because the company spends about 175,000 INR for each candidate and if the candidate refuses the offer at the end of the process, the company looses the money, the time and the estimated profit from the candidate. The company is helpless in case candidate refuses to come to USA. So they need assurance. Most of the companies refund the deposit as soon as the candidate joins them in USA.
There is no concept of sick leave or casual leave in most of the consulting business. You work, you get paid, you do not work on a day, you loose money for the day. As simple as it could be! After successfully completion of one year with the company some companies give 10 working days salary to candidates under the name of “Paid Vacation to India”. Remember they do not give you airfare or any expenses. They say that this 10 days salary could be used for your India trip ☺
- What will be your salary?
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- When will you get an increment in the salary and what it will be?
- Salary will be monthly or fortnightly?
- Do company pay full or part salary on bench?
- Do you pay advance salary in case required?
- What are the details of the initial accommodation and travel?
- Who will pay for the ticket from India to USA for the first transit?
- What medical insurance option do company provide?
- Is there any bond or agreement associated with the assignment?
- Do I need to keep any original documents with you as a security? (Do not go with the company which as for a original certificate document)
- How much security deposit is needed for starting H1 Petition?
- Is this security deposit refundable?
- Do you have “Paid Vacation”?
The answers to these questions would help you to understand the philosophy of the companies operations and would help you to take the decision of selection of your company.
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A Pathway to the USA
How consulting business works in USA?
Let’s have a look at the mechanism of the consulting business in USA with example.
- Sachin is a software engineer working in JAVA technologies in some company In
India. Sachin is having 5 years of Software experience.
- He processes his H1 through some XYZ company in USA and goes to USA for work.
- XYZ Company finds a 6 months project for Sachin in New York and sends him at client location.
- Most of the India companies in USA are second level companies for the deal. The end client always assigns a DIRECT VENDOR for recruitment and those are mainly American companies. The Indian companies works with those direct vendors to get the requirements at client sides and provides the consultants for the work. End client pays to direct vendor. Direct vendor deduct his profit and pays to India Company. Then Indian company pays to the consultant.
- XYZ company offers Sachin a Salary of 60K USD (60,000 USD) per annum.
- Sachin starts working at client and sends a timesheet on weekly or fortnightly basis.
- The consulting business works on Hourly basis in India. Means every worked hour is paid with the agreed amount.
- Below is a calculation for the monthly deal.
End client pays for JAVA candidate 85 USD / Hour
Client Pays per day - Candidate works 8 hours a day
680 USD / Day
Client pays per month - Candidate works 21 days 186 Hours 14280 USD / Month
Direct Vendor's portion – American Company USD 20 per hour 3360 USD / Month
XYZ company get the final billing USD 65 / Hour 10920 USD / Month
Sachin's Salary per Annum 65000 USD / Annum
Sachin's salary per month 5417 USD / Month
XYZ company pays 70% of the Medical Insurance for Sachin
245 USD / Month
XYZ Company pays 10.2% of the Employer Tax 553 USD / Month
Net with company 4706 USD / Month
Tax for Sachin Approx 33% 1788 USD / Month
Net take home for Sachin 3629 USD / Month
- Please understand that this is an approximate calculation and shown just to give you an idea of how the business goes in terms of finance.
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- The XYZ company will have to manage it’s own expenses and HR salary from this monthly profit. (Do not worry this is the least possible figure we are talking about and companies normally deals with 50 + consultants. So that makes their share of roughly 250,000+ USD per month in which they will have to manage their office of 5-
10 people, that’s more than enough, isn’t it! ☺☺)
- So with this calculation, XYZ company earns (4706 * 6 ) approx 28K which eventually does a make over for the expenses company made on Sachin’s H1 application + some good profit as well ☺
- So it’s good to bear with initial 6 months with the company who gave you an opportunity to come to USA. Then you can demand more salary ☺
- More the billing rate, more is the income and eventually more will be the profit for company as well as candidate.
- After 6-12 months, candidates are interested in % share basis. Which means instead of salary, candidate would get % of the billing rate for his work. Normally this billing % share is 70% for the candidate and 30% for the company.
- The same assignment on a % basis would go something like below
End client pays for JAVA candidate 85 USD / Hour
Client Pays per day - Candidate works 8
hours a day
680 USD / Day
Client pays per month - Candidate works 21 186 Hours 14280 USD / Month
days
Direct Vendor's portion – American
Company
USD 20 per hour 3360 USD / Month
XYZ company get the final billing USD 65 / Hour 10920 USD / Month
Sachin's % in the billing 70% 7644 USD / Month
XYZ Company's % in the billing 30% 3276 USD / Month
Sachin pays 100% of the Medical Insurance 450 USD / Month
XYZ Company pays 10.2% of the Employer
Tax
553 USD / Month
Net with company 2723 USD / Month
Tax for Sachin Approx 33% 2374.02 USD / Month
Net take home for Sachin 4819.98 USD / Month
- Notice that Sachin pays 100% for his medical insurance and his net income is increased by approx. 1200 USD per month if he opts for a % basis rather than salary
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basis for the same billing rate. ☺☺ (Rise in USD 1200 per month is USD 14400 per annum which is Approx. INR 6.5 Lakhs)
- The tax % 33 is an average Tax. Some states have lower taxes and some have higher. But the range is 30% to 42%)
- One important thing is, if you have dependents like spouse and child then you get rebate in tax. (Isn’t this amazing ☺). With wife you get 3-5 % rebate in tax and with wife and one child you get 5-8% tax rebate.
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Procedure for H1B petition filing
Once you decide the company in USA then the first work would be to make an application for the H1B petition.
- You need to provide following documents to your company
Sr No Document Name
1 Latest Resume
2 Pass port photocopy (All written & printed pages only)
3 SSC certificate photocopy
4 Intermediate or PUC or HSC certificate photocopy
5 Bachelor's Degree Convocation photocopy
6 Bachelor's Degree Marks Sheets photocopy
7 Computer diploma certifications (If any) photocopy
8 Previous employer experience certificates photocopy
9 Current company appointment letter photocopy
10 Compensation details & Latest pay slips for 3 months
11 Form 16 (Indian taxation details for last year) photocopy
Note: Do not send any original document. Send all photocopies only. Depending upon
the new rules for H1, their could be additional document required, please check with your
company.
- Your company will send these documents to their attorney and get it filed for the labor certification
- H-1B status requires a sponsoring U.S. employer. The employer must file a labor condition application (LCA) with the Department of Labor attesting to several items, including payment of prevailing wages for the position, and the working conditions offered. The employer must then file the certified LCA with a Form I-129 petition
- It normally takes 3-6 weeks. Once the labor is done then they will file an application for H1 petition in the US INS department
- When the attorney submits the application he gets a receipt with EAC number. EAC number is a proof that your application is submitted. You can request EAC number from your company who files for your H1 petition.
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How do I track my H1b petition application status?
You can use this number for tracking the status of the application on the official website.
Note: below is the official website for tracking the EAC number.
https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/caseStat.jsp
You can create your free profile using applicant customer at below link
https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/termsconditions.jsp?contextType=CU_EN
Provide your details with e-mail id and EAC number and set an alert for the notification
when the status changes.
You can create a profile using additional EAC number for tracking status for your friends as well.
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Wait…Wait…Wait…
Now it’s time to wait…. Wait… wait… The INS takes anywhere between 15 days until 8 months for the processing of the H1B petition for any application. As soon as the petition status is changed, you will get an email notification for the same. (If you set alert in the above website).
You have no option but to keep hoping for the best with your fingers crossed.
Meanwhile keep in touch with your company HR and get the idea of US market, the demand and supply of the technical skill sets you have and keep watching CNN ☺
The best utilization of this time could be learning driving if you do not know 4-wheeler driving. It is very important that you know driving and have a good practice. Life is very handicapped in USA when you do not know driving. So you need to learn driving and practice as well for better confidence.
Learning swimming would also be a good idea. You find many friends at gymnasium, sport centers and swimming pools ☺
Last but not least, start exploring further details in your technology. Start reading and learning new technical things to improve and strength your technical profile.
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Bingo…! My petition is sanctioned, what’s next?
On one fine day, early in the morning you will see the most awaited mail of your life. You will get the automated alert of status change of your H1 petition. (Obviously if you have set an alert into the application status checking site mentioned above). Once the petition is approved, the INS sends the approved petition with labor documentation and I-797 document to your employer through the attorney. It takes about 1 week to reach those documents to your employer. Then you employer also intimates you of this good news of this important milestone.
Few of you may ask what is I-797 document? I-797 is an INS generated document and is the proof that you have been approved for working in USA. It is also called as “Notice of action”. It is a primary eligibility document for you to prove that you are having permission to work in the USA. This document in ORIGINAL is required while you go to USA consulate in India for Visa stamping.
Once your employer receives the petition documents, he prepares an offer letter / contract for you to show in the USA consulate in India. He sends all his documents through the attorney accompanying attorneys letter to Consulate general in India. This process may take 2-4 weeks to reach all the necessary documents to you.
Bingo…! You have just achieved a great and important milestone in your process.
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Why take an appointment in USA consulate in India?
Now that you have received all documents from your USA located company / attorney required for Visa stamping. Remember, H1 petition describes that your profile is required in USA at your employer’s place and it’s a green signal for you that you are required at USA. This documents is a clearance document from requirements perspective in USA at your employer and is a not a ticket to go to USA.
To enter into USA you need a H1 VISA stamped on your passport. Who will stamp VISA on your passport? The officer in USA consulate in India will stamp visa on your passport after “an interview”.
Who is consulate officer and why is the interview required??
- Remember until now all the process has happened just on the basis of the papers and documents provided by you. Nobody has watched you yet. You are asking for a permission to enter into another country, so the representative are assigned to interview quickly and see if you are the designated person of interest who holds the valid petition. This person is a Consulate officer who represents the USA
- He conducts interview for your and check your original documents in personal
- He may ask you few question about the previous experience and prior employer
- He may also ask for your intention to go to USA
- He may verify your current employer and future employer details
- He may ask questions for your background check
- He may put a request on hold asking for additional documentation or proofs that is called as 221 (g) which means consulate needs some addition documents before they approve your Visa.
- He may approve you a VISA or he may reject a VISA
This is the reason why you are required to take an appointment with USA consulate in
India for an interview.
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Wait… what about my dependents?
Getting dependent visa is a comparatively easier task. No application is required to process in USA for processing the dependent visa. Once you received your petitions approved, just request your employer to send you a letter requesting USA consulate in India to approve the dependent visa for your dependents.
Remember that the dependents could be your spouse or dependent kids less than 18 years old. Your brother, sister, parents and grandparents are not considered your dependents.
The letter should clearly mention the details of your dependents like name, passport number, date of birth and relation with you. The letter should be on the letterhead of the company and signed by the authorized member of the company preferably the HR manager of your new USA based company.
The documents required for dependents visa are
For Spouse
° Marriage certificate
° Marriage Album
° Passport of spouse
° Letter by your employer specifying the details of the spouse
For Child
° Birth Certificate
° Passport of child
° Letter by your employer specifying the details of the child
Please make sure that the documents like marriage certificate and child birth certificate are translated and notarized if the originals are in Non-English language (Indian language).
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How do I take an appointment in USA consulate in India? Once you receive the original H1 petition documents (Notice of action I-797, photocopy of I-129, letter from your attorney, your original contract / employment agreement, letter from your employer on companies letter head for your dependents) from your employer then you will have to follow the procedure mentioned below:
- All nonimmigrant visa applicants except "Officials traveling on government business" and "Officials of international organization traveling for official purpose" must pay the Application Fee and VFS Service Charge at a designated branch of HDFC bank before applying for a visa.
You can get the updated information on the application charges on the following link:
https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/ApplnForms/RulesAndFees/VisaFees.aspx
You can also get the updates list of designated HDFC banks at the link below:
https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/ApplnForms/HDFC/HDFCAddressList.aspx
- When you submit the fees to the HDFC bank, you need to carry your and your dependent’s passport to the bank.
- You also need to carry Cash or DD if you do not have a bank account with HDFC
bank.
- DDs issued by cooperative banks are not accepted.
- The current visa application fee is Rs 4,800/- per candidate and VFS’ Service
Charge: Rs 281/- (inclusive of tax) per candidate.
- This fee is payable in cash or by DD/HDFC Bank cheque favoring “HDFC Bank a/c
VFS”.
- After submitting the fees you will receive a visa fee receipt, which contains the BAR
code with 2 copies (one for you and one for consulate).
- You need to wait for 2 more days. The fee receipt gets activated 2 working days from date of issue. Do not attempt to take an appointment online till then.
- After 2 complete business days, you can take an appointment online for your interview.
You will have to go to the link below to take an appointment:
https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/Home.aspx
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- For Non-Mumbai applicant go to the link below:
o https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/ApplnForms/FeeDetails.aspx
- For Mumbai applicant go to the link below:
o https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/ApplnForms/Procedure.aspx
- Click continue button to go the application. Keep your Visa Fees Receipt with you along with your passport and all other documents that you have received from your employer.
- On the next screen click on “NO” for the BEP user
- The on next screen click for “Create a new application” link
- The fill-up the next screen matching your details as below:
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- Then you will see the earliest available date of interview at USA consulate in Mumbai in your selected region
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- You can see that 4th December 2006 is next available date for me now when I am creating application on 11 September 2006. It’s approx. 3 months from now. Please remember that this is the normal wait time for 2-3 months to get an appointment for interview in USA consulate in India.
- The fill up the passport expire date for you.
- Here you will be asked to enter the HDFC Bank Receipt Number (Barcode No), which you would have received after paying the visa fees in HDFC bank. Enter your details and then proceed further for the application.
- Once you finish the application information, you will be asked to download the application copy in PDF format. This copy is generated by the website for you upon you filling the entire information.
- The copy of interview appointment letter is also generated for you for the available date selected by you.
- You will have to repeat the process for your dependents.
- Get the prints for all the application generated online and the interview appointment letter generated online.
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- Keep multiple copies of the documents and send one set of documents to VFS (Visa facilities services) for verification.
- The forms generated for you are:
o Form DS 156
o Form DS 157
o Interview Letter
o Guidance Sheet
o Questionnaire List
o Checklist to create a packet to send to VFS
- The checklist is as below
- 1. DS-156 in original signed and with photo affixed.
- 2. DS-157 in original. If you are 15-55 years of age.
- 3. Additional Questionnaire in original.
- 4. Photocopy of the Notice of action (Form I-797).
st
- 5. Photocopy of passport data pages (1
and last page).
- 6. Photocopy of the passport pages bearing Observation or Remarks.
- 7. Photocopy of Interview appointment letter.
- 8. Original HDFC fee receipts (Yellow copy).
The photo must be carefully taken and should match the requirements mentioned on the
link below:
https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/ApplnForms/RulesAndFees/Specifications.aspx
- Below is a sample photograph
- The photo may be in color or black and white, but must have only a white or off-white background. Photos with dark, busy, or patterned backgrounds will not be accepted
- When you go to the photographer ask him specifically for meeting H1 Visa specification for the photographs.
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- While submitting the documents to VFS, do not submit any document in original except you DS 156 and DS157 and HDFC consulate copy.
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Again wait… wait… wait…
As discussed earlier, the normal wait time for getting an interview date with USA consulate in India is around 2-3 months. You can re-schedule your appointment on an earlier date as well provided the earlier date is available on the website. There are various incidences when people cancel or postpone their appointment. Those available seats are assigned to the new applications of existing applications for pre-pone purpose. If you are lucky enough then you could get an appointment in a month. You need to keep track of availability on a regular basis on the website.
Meanwhile you can use this time to do the translation of your marriage certificates or birth certificates and notarize them. You will also need to prepare for the interview. See the section below for more details.
Also get the international vehicle-driving license (IDP). In many states, you will have to personally go to the RTO office location from where you have taken the driving license along with the passport to get the IDP. IDP plays a very important role during your initial time until you get the state-driving license in USA. Many states provide driving-license without the road test if you have an IDP. Get additional knowledge from your company HR people.
You can make the best use of this wait period by learning to cook the items of your interest. Learn to cook at-least daal-rice and couple of vegetables. If you are non- vegetarian then do not forget to learn cooking recipe for Chicken dishes. ☺
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How do I prepare myself for the H1B Visa stamping Interview?
Now that you have submitted your documents to VFS and received the interview date for visa interview at USA consulate in India, you will have to prepare for the interview. Remember that the interview is a very important and decision taking milestone in your process. The interviewer can ask various types of questions related to:
- Details of your prior employer
- Details of your current employer
- Details of your new employer in USA
- What is the business of your new employer?
- What’s the location of your new employer and how many people work?
- Who are the clients of your new employer and what is the website?
- What is your new role and designation?
- Why do you want to go to USA?
- Where would you stay in USA initially?
- What will be your salary in USA?
- Who is spending on your Air tickets initially?
- What is the bench salary?
- Who is your contact person in USA and what is your new manager’s name?
- What is your current role and designation?
- What are the details of your current project?
- Sometimes, mainly for less experienced candidate, the officer may ask a technical question in his technology. E.g. for a JAVA candidate he may ask
“what is Object Oriented programming?” or “What is polymorphism?”
- The officer has a wide range of questions and he can ask any question
- He has the sole right to decide for approval or denial of your H1 visa stamping and there is no appeal for his decision.
- Would your dependent spouse be working in USA?
- Would your dependent spouse be learning in USA?
You need to gather the answers to these and many other related questions. The best option is to discuss these questions with your HR in USA Company and get the clarifications for these answers. The answers MUST be satisfactory and LEGALLY correct. E.g. if you answer YES to “Would your dependent spouse be working in USA?” this question then 100% your visa will be rejected. Because the H4 dependent spouse and children legally can’t work in USA. It’s illegal. You need to know this before hand. The I-129 document has your annual salary mentioned on it. This is the figure you MUST
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answer to “What will be your salary in USA?” question. If there is a difference in the figures, most likely your visa will be denied for providing false information.
By now you would have realized that how important is this H1 Visa Stamping interview in
USA consulate in India. One wrong answer to a question can result in denial of your visa. If possible, you will have to schedule a mock visa interview with your HR people in USA on telephone. It’s very useful to get a glimpse of the interview time. Prepare your updated resume as well. You need to carry the resume at the time of interview. Also study the details of your new companies website carefully. You need to remember the contact person names, their complete addresses in USA, office address in USA and telephone numbers.
Also you need to take care of your forefinger few days before the interview. Remember that you need to give fingerprints of your left and right hand forefinger at the time of interview. If you have skin cut on your both the fingerprints then most likely you will be sent back and asked to come again when the cut heals completely.
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The Judgment day!!!
Now it’s the judgment day for you ☺ All the best. Get ready, dressed well, most preferably in formals and reach to consulate office at least 45 mins before your scheduled interview time. Remember use white, off-white, or light blue color shirt. And the trouser should be dark one, preferably dark blue or black. Do not forget to take all your original documents, I-797, I-129, copy of documents sent to VFS, Marriage certificate, Birth Certificate for child, Marriage photo album, all previous years income tax returns, last 6 months bank statements, your updated resume, the printout of couple of pages of the websites of your current company and new company in USA etc.
Do not carry any suitcase, camera, lather bag or mobile. For security reason, these things are not allowed in consulate area. You need to carry all your original documents carefully in a plastic bag only. Do not forget to carry your DD for visa issuance amount mentioned on the VFS site mentioned below
(https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/ApplnForms/RulesAndFees/VisaFees.aspx)
Currently it is 2,400/-. Per candidate. Also carry a pen with you. Once you enter in consulate, the security checking will be done. Then you will receive your documents from sent to VFS from he entry counter. A VFS representative would hand it over to you.
You will have to stand in the queue for fingerprint entry. After which you will receive a token number. At the finger print counter you will have to submit the documents along with your original passport.
It’s time for you to sit on the chair and wait for your token number. Listen carefully for your turns as there are many windows where interviews are conducted and token number are called one after another followed by the window number. Often you would see people entering in the interview cabins and coming out with a smile. Also few would come upset or crying out of the interview box.
Remember you need be very confident and presentable in front of the officer. The decision would come in as early as 1 min or could take 30 mins. The “YES” or “NO” is conveyed to you immediately. Keep all your documents handy.
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Once your turn comes, enter the interview box with smile and full confidence. You need to take your dependents along with you. Convey a big greeting to the officer and give him a pleasant smile. The interview box has the telephone for the conversation as the box is partitioned with a glass and you would not clearly hear the officer. Pick up the phone handset and start speaking with the officer. Listen carefully to the officer the answer the question in short. Do not tell him the history and geography. The answer should be quick, smart and short. Do not provide additional information. Keep smiling and look fresh. Don’t be panic. Let it be a happy conversation. You should look aspirant to work in USA but certainly should not look eager to work and stay forever in USA.
The officer would give you the result immediately. If he approves your visa then he will keep your and your dependents passports with him and also will keep the DDs for visa issuance fee. Convey your greetings and come out of the interview box.
If he rejects your visa then he will tell you the reason why he is denying Visa for you and return back your passport and your DD for visa issuance fee.
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What could go wrong (rarely, but possibly)?
There are chances of rejection of H1 visa stamping. There could be many reasons:
- The company you are going for is black-listed in USA consulate
- The company has a bad reputation in USA for some reasons
- The candidate’s communication skills are not at par with min requirements
- The candidate is not presentable
- The candidate tries to provide false information
- The candidate could not provide satisfactory answers to consulate officer
- The documentation is not enough
In case of rejection, you need to get back to your USA based company immediately and convey them what happened and analyze what went wrong. You can still re-apply for the visa stamping with full preparation, but remember, if you get the rejection for the second time them you can not apply for visa stamping of any type in USA consulate for next 2 consecutive years. That means you can’t enter USA for next 2 years.
You have to be very careful while re-applying for the visa. The expert attorney should be in good position to help you in order to make your case strong.
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“I am the king of this world…!”
Once the consulate officer is happy with your interview, he approves your visa. In that case, he would keep your (and your dependent’s) original passport(s) and your DDs for visa issuance fee (INR 2400/-) with him. Then you can get the passport stamped with H1
Visa by 2 ways:
- First the consulate will stamp the visa on your passport the same day and will courier you by priority courier on next immediate day at the address given by you
- You can visit the consulate the same day between 3 and 4 PM and you can collect the visa stamped passport on the same day in person.
Remember, you need to show the original HDFC receipt (the one that you received in HDFC bank after submitting the visa application fees) to the consulate office while collecting the passport. Also you need to show this receipt to the courier guy who carries your passport delivery.
Once you get you passport, go to home, reach to the top of your building, spread both of your hands and shout:
“ I am the king (or queen) of this world “ …………….
HaHaHa, I was just kidding…. I mean now you are all set to go to USA by first available flight ☺
Call to your company buddies and covey this good news to them. It’s a party time for you to celebrate this major milestone.
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Airline to USA – Which one should I select?
Now it’s time for you to get your air tickets done. You need not take the return tickets. One-way tickets to USA would work. It’s better to buy tickets in India rather than buying one from USA. You will have to find out the location of nearest international airport to your office location where you would be going for the first time.
- Speak to your company HR people about the best possible option.
- You can look for a better deal on www.makemytrip.com website.
- Remember in such a scenario you would be going alone and hence look out for your comfort level for stop over.
- You will get cheap tickets if there are more stop over.
- Normally India to USA has one stop over. It depends upon which airline you choose for the travel.
- If it’s British Airways, most likely it will have Heathrow Airport in London, for
Air-France it will be Paris.
- It depends on which place you are going to USA. If it were east coast like New York or New Jersey the preferable airport would be Newark airport in New Jersey. In this case you can opt for Air India flight No 191, which is a Mumbai-Paris-Newark flight (www.airindia.com). Though the stop over is at Paris, you need not get out of the plane, it’s just 90 mins stop over and same plan takes you to Newark.
- The cost of the airfare varies and depends upon the airline. It could range from 26K to 38K depending upon how early you do the reservations and what is the season of the year. So earlier the better.
- It’s recommended that you speak to your USA company mates first, get their opinion about the best travel time so that they can arrange for your accommodation.
- You will have to visit some travel agents near your place for checking for better airfare deal. Sometimes travel agents give heavy discounts as they receive some promotional discounts directly from the airlines.
- By considering all these option, make your flight bookings as soon as possible and well in advance at least 3-4 weeks go get a good deal.
- Meanwhile you can use this time to put your resignation in your existing company and complete the notice period.
- Also you will require time to meet your friends and relatives and do some shopping for yourself.
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Preferably book you tickets such that you reach in USA on Friday or Saturday. This will get you a company from your office or friend circle, as they would be free to take you out for you basic shopping and grocery on weekend.
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Pack-up activities
While doing the pack-up, you need to get details of the weight limits for your check-in luggage. Accordingly you will have to buy 2 big size bags, normally 32 KG bags. You have variety of bags available in the market with wide variety of brands. You will also have to buy a small size bag as a cabin luggage bag.
Note: Make sure that all your bags have stroller wheels. Those who have already traveled abroad would agree with me that it becomes very difficult to handle 2 big and 1 small bags without stroller wheels. Spend a little extra on stroller and make your life easy.
Following could be a guideline for pack-up activities
- Put resignation in your current company and finalize on the notice period
- Purchase the 2 check-in bags having capacity of 32 KG with stroller
- Purchase 1 cabin luggage having capacity of 8-10KG with stroller
- Purchase at-least 2 suites, preferably dark color suites with ties
- Purchase couple of pairs of formal shirt and trousers pairs for office use.
- 1 sport shoes, 1 formal shoes, and 1 dozen formal socks and couple of pairs of sport socks (white cotton socks)
- Arrange to manage your bank accounts when you are in USA. Preferably apply for net banking if you do not have one.
- Purchase a 2 liters pressure cooker with extra whistle, 2 safety valves and 2
extra side rings
- Make an arrangement to setup a standing instruction for the recurring loan
EMI for your previous loans if any.
- If you have savings accounts in multiple banks then apply for net-banking for all accounts, get it activates and make sample transactions from each other to get a understanding of fund transfer.
- If possible, make your family member a join account holder in one of your savings bank account, so that they can operate the account whenever required while will be in USA.
- Update your insurance agent and bank accounts with your personal email ids that you use frequently.
- Make a photocopy of all your original documents. Keep one set safe at your family members in India, and keep extra set of photocopies with you.
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Documents required – V. V. IMP.
As discussed in earlier section, you need to make photocopies of all your original documents. Keep one set of documents with your family members in India. Take one extra set of photocopies with you and keep it in a check-in baggage.
Take all you originals and arrange it in a leather file. If you don’t have one, buy one file having multiple plastic folders. Arrange your academic certificates, all your previous employer experience certificates, recent pay stubs, all previous years income tax returns, PAN Card, I-129, I –797, passport, International Driving Permit, air ticket etc. Do not forget to take the address of the location where you are going in USA and at least 2 contact numbers of the contact person and a back-up person. You will have to get the travelers cheque (TCs) and some cash as well. You can get the travelers cheque and foreign cash (US Dollars) from bank as well as travel agents or foreign exchange agents. Do not forget to take a receipt of the transaction. Keeping more TCs and less cash is a better option. Keep atleast USD 150 cash and take remaining as TCs. Do not forget to keep these original documents always with you in your cabin luggage. DO NOT KEEP THESE DOCUMENTS IN THE CHECK-IN LUGGAGE OR YOU MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE.
Always keep a pen with you for any documentation required at port of entry of departure process terminal.
Keep an extra pair of dress in your cabin luggage and some snacks.
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How much money should I carry?
This is a little tricky question indeed. You need not carry too much of cash with you. A USD 200 would work for you. You can get the US currency in any of the banks having Foreign Exchange department. There are separate branches of ICICI, HDFC and other banks, which serves as a FOREX branches. Alternatively you can buy FOREX from your local FOREX agent or private tour operators like SOTC.
It’s safe to carry USD 200 cash and approx 1000 as traveler’s checks (TC) with you. It depends on case-to-case basis. Speak to your HR from new company about how much you need to carry. Generally it takes approximately 2-4 weeks for you to get the client once you reach to USA. We will discuss the process in section later. USA Company arranges for your accommodation and travel but you need to take care of your food. And having some extra bucks don’t harm.
Once you get the TCs just note down the check numbers and keep it safe. Writing a mail to self with the details is a good practice.
In case you loose the TCs during the travel, you can retrieve the new TCs with no cost from the bank anywhere in the world. You should know the TC numbers though.
If possible, get some coins and change money for USD 10. Many times it helps.
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USA - Port of Entry
Once you travel to US, the first thing you face is the USA port of entry. It is the immigration office on the airport. You will have to get out of the plan and look for the immigration signboard to follow. Once you reach to the place, make sure to enter to non- immigrant’s line. Usually you will find 2 separate lines at port of entry, one is for US citizens and green card holders and the other one is for foreign aliens (non-immigrants). Now keep you documents ready in hand (Passport, I-797, I-129), and memorize the contact person’s name, phone no and the address where you are going.
Go to the desk of the officers once your turn comes. This officer grants your final milestone i.e. actual entry into the USA. Smile, greet him and show your documents when he request for the same. You will have to undergo the fingerprint scanning again here. Do you remember, you had fingerprints scanning in USA consulate in India when you went to VISA stamping interview? Here the finger prints are matched and if they don’t match then you will be send back to India from airport (No kidding, but it doesn’t happen unless you have a fraud visa ☺).
Officer will match the fingerprints and will take your photograph for record purpose. He may ask you same kind of questions that you face in USA consulate in India. If your answers are far away from his expectations then he may put you on hold and may do additional enquiry. This is a rare case. Remember, you need to be accurate, prompt and confident. Do not provide additional information to the counter. Answer with confidence what you are asked for, and I am sure you are good to go.
Once the process is over, the officer will give all your documents back. He will pin a small document called I-94 on you passport. Please check all your original documents and do not forget anything at the counter.
Congratulation, you have just cleared the port of entry officer. Welcome to USA. ☺
Now see the signboard to check the gate for your flight. Your luggage will be available at the shown gate and you need to follow signs to the luggage retrieval gate. You may be required to collect the trolley and here comes your first expense of nearly USD 3 in the USA. Collect a trolley, go to the gateway and collect your bags. Then follow the exit sign. You may be asked for the security clearance baggage checking by an officer at the exit
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counter. Do not worry. Just follow what he ask for and show your full cooperation. They will scan your baggage and if require, they may ask you to open the luggage. Properly packed food should not be a problem, but you will have to trash your loose food items, in case of security check.
Once you are out of airport, meet you contact and get ready with your camera to capture the memorable moments of landing for the first time in your dreamland.
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What is I-94?
The I-94 is a U.S. visitor's arrival and departure record. This card will be giving to you upon entry to the U.S. Please keep this card as you will be asked to turn it into DHS when you depart. This is a very important document and always keep it stapled with your passport near your visa is stamped.
Your visa expiry date and I-94 card expiry date may be same of different. But incase your I-94 arrival card has different expiry date then this is the date until which you can live in USA. Stay beyond this date is absolutely illegal and is a serious crime.
Many a time it happens that people have H1 visa expiry date of 1 or 2 years down the line and the I-94 card expiry is 3 years down the line. Means, if you do not leave the country then you can live in USA until the expiry of the I-94 card even though your H1 visa has expired earlier.
But once you leave the country anytime, then you will have to hand-over the I-94 card to the INS officer at the airport and you need to have a valid H1 Visa before again entering the USA. For the second time, a new I-94 card will be issued to you and this will be your new date until which you can live in USA.
Incase you loose this document during your tenure in USA, immediately get back to your company HR and attorney to get a new copy of the document. This should be done as soon as possible.
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I am in USA, Now What’s next?
After reaching to passenger lobby, you will find the information center and few shops on the airport building itself. You can buy a international calling card to make calls to India. You can buy a $5 or $10 card and speak to your beloved for 50 or 100 mins. The instructions to use the card are mentioned on back of each calling card.
Once you get your company accommodation, you are all set to start your routine here. Initially use the food items you brought from India for survival for couple of days. Get to know about the nearby shopping malls.
Prepare yourself for the first day of the office. You need to make a good impression on office buddies on your first day.
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Calling cards to call back India
You can use and finish the first calling card that you would have brought on the airport. For making the regular calls to India the most suitable, affordable and reliable option is to get a reliance calling card. Actually you will have to open an account on reliance calling card website.
Use the below link
http://www.relianceindiacall.com
This is a prepaid account. You need to first refill your account to make the calls. Once you register for free here then you can refill the account using your credit card. You can use your India credit card as well to recharge the prepaid account. Then just dial the reliance contact number from any mobile or landline number, dial your pin and dial the number in India prefixed by 91. That simple. The voice clarity is excellent and you get 78 exact mins for the refill of USD 10 for calling to anywhere in India.
You can but other prepaid cards in the market who claim to provide more mins but they charge the weekly maintenance fee, call connection charges and call rounding for 3 mins which actually comes out to be lesser talk time for the same money if you are talking 5-10 mins a day. Those kinds of calling cards are good when you want to make a 1-hour call to India. Reducing number of calls and spending the card in fewer days make usage of those cards efficient. If you want to speak to your family on a regular basis (daily or alternate 1-2 days) then more economical option is reliance prepaid calling card. (Am I doing the marketing for Reliance-prepaid calling card? Hey Mr. Ambnani, can I have my commission check please? He he he… I am jus kidding)
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Travel options
This is a very interesting topic to discuss. Except metro cities like NY, DC etc, the public transportation is very poor in USA. (I would say WORST). The cars are comparatively cheaper in USA and hence everyone has car here. The bus and metro (local train) options are very few and expensive as well. You need to be located very near to metro station or bus stop. In summer it’s okay that you can at least walk down a mile to catch the bus or metro, but in winter it becomes very difficult to walk that long. Spending on cab
(taxi) is a real pocket cutting option. Still you may want to try that option initially as most of the companies pay for the travel done during initial days until you get a project. You need to find out the available cab service numbers. Like India, you won’t find plenty of autos and cabs running on the roads. You need to call the cab service number, tell them your address and time when you want the cab. The cab will be available exactly at the committed time. Do not get late. You need to stand in front of you home and should be clearly visible from the road. The cab driver will give you a sarcastic look if you are late. Provide him with the exact address of destination.
Remember you need to pay at-least 10% of your final bill as a tip. (e.g. Dollar 1 for a bill of dollar 10 to 15). This is a trend and social behavior and you MUST follow it.
The cab drivers do not accept TCs or credit card. You must have enough cash to make the payment.
For every public transportation in your area, you will find an official website and you can check it for the available routes and timetable.
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Resume Building
After meeting your office mates the first job for them as well as you is building your resume. This is a very critical and important job. The resume is the first impression of your technical skills and represents you to the clients; hence it must be impressive and complete any all angles. HR people do have the updated format, which is “current” in the market, and they will ask you to update you resume accordingly. They will have interactions with you to fine-tune your resume.
This activity takes nearly 2-3 business days to complete and finalize your resume. Then the resume is shared among the recruiter team who looks for an opportunity for you in the USA market. There are various options:
- They search for the suitable matching position from the available list of positions that they have received from their direct vendors to many clients
- They send the resume to the direct vendor network to find out the suitable position
- They search for the suitable position on the job sites and contact the vendor
- They put your resume on the job sites for vendors to search having suitable matching position with their client companies.
With all these options, they will start getting calls from the vendors and client companies who are looking for the position matching the skills. They discuss the rate/hour for this position and if negotiations are done for the position in accepted margins then they will submit the resume to the client. Client manager arranges the interview and informs the company about date and time. Mostly the office number is given or the residence number is given where you are staying. Client gives a call on time so be punctual. Once the interview is done, the client finalizes the candidate immediately is he likes the candidate. They may ask for a face-to-face interview, upon which you need to go to client office on a given time to undergo in-person interview. They would immediately let you or your company know the result if they need you or not.
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Preparation for telephonic Interviews
You need to really prepare for the telephonic interview. You need to write and practice a script for better results. You need to focus on following items while facing the telephonic interview:
- Initial greeting to the interviewer
- A detailed answer to the question “Please describe yourself?”
- A detailed description of your academic career
- A detailed description of your previous employment
- A brief overview of the types of projects you have worked with
- A brief overview of the domains (financial, telecommunications, mortgage, banking) you have worked with
- A detailed description of the last project and client you worked with
- Your role and responsibilities in last project done
- The details of the system architecture and database of your last project
- The challenges you faced in your last project or previous projects
- Technical Q/A for the technical skill sets you are having
Many people says that if the interviewer is American guy, he asks questions to know if you understand the basic concepts of the technical and functional domain that you have worked for. If the interviewer is Indian guy then he ask questions to know “what you don’t know?” rather than “what you know?” (he he he… isn’t this funny? I have no comments on this but this is a general opinion from the people living in USA since a while). I would say it’s a person dependent approach. The interviewer knows his requirements in better way than anybody else. The way candidate needs a job, the interviewer needs a contractor buddy to work for him and to make his life easy. So interviewer evaluate in his own way in order to find the best available match for his requirements. But you need to prepare for all kind of situations for the interview.
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Preparation for face-to-face interviews
Once you get through the telephonic interview, many clients (not all) ask for an in-person
(face-to-face interview). You will have to go to the client place of arranged date for the interview. Make sure of the following:
- The suite is a must while going for the in-person interview
- Keep a hard copy of your resume with you
- No need to carry any original documents except the letter given by the company (if any)
- Take the exact address of the interview location, get the time required to reach to that location from your house and options of commuting. Get this info from your recruiter or HR person
- Do not wear sport shoes, use only formal shoes
- Do not wear white socks (sport socks). The socks MUST be dark
- Wear a matching tie to your suite
- Take the contact person’s name and contact number
- After entering the client’s office, wait in the lobby until you get escorted by someone
- Speak to reception and convey the contact person’s name and interview appointment
- Be confident and fearless
- Greet the interviewer with smile and show your readiness for the interview.
- Listen carefully if the interviewer is a non-Indian guy. You might get lost in his ascent. If you do not understand the question, please request him to ask again.
- Keep a pad and pen with you during your interview
- Do not forget to take the name and contact details for the person interviewed you.
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Opening a bank account
While you are searching for client and project, you can open your bank account. You will have to request your company HR to open bank accounts. Preferably request for bank account on the first day of your office. You can en-cash your travelers checks once you open a bank account and you can immediately get a temporary ATM card, so no risk of carrying big cash in you pocket.
Open an account in the same bank where your company has the corporate account. This makes life easier as your paychecks (salary checks) get debited immediately if they are running the automated payroll on the bank account.
You will have option to open a “Savings” account and “Checking” account. I would say you open both the account. The min balance for Savings account is normally USD 300 and for checking it is zero. On checking account, you get checks that you can use for the payments. The savings account has a higher interest rates, so you prefer to open the
“Savings” account. Also do not forget to get the Internet user id and password for managing the bank accounts. Nearly 95% + transaction you do over net banking. Carry your travelers’ checks and passport while going for opening bank account. Do not forget to collect your temporary ATM card, net banking UID and PWD and submit the TCs in your account. Also get the bank routing number and keep your account information always with you.
Once you are back, provide the bank account details to the HR and Accountant and make sure they update their database records for timely payments in your account.
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Applying for SSN
What is SSN? Well, SSN is a social security number. A number issued by the US government to people for payroll deductions for old age, survivors, and disability insurance. Anyone who works regularly MUST obtain a SSN. The nine-digit Social Security Number is used by the US federal government to track workers' contributions to the Social Security retirement system. Because it is unique to each individual, it is widely used as a personal identification number.
Generally, the term social security describes a program that uses public funds to provide a degree of economic security for the public. The specific social security discussed here is the United States government program established in 1935 that provides old age, disability, and survivors insurance, as well as supplemental security income, an income for elderly or disabled people. In the United States, employers and employees are required to pay Social Security taxes. The money raised from these taxes primarily goes to providing benefits for those who have reached retirement age or are otherwise currently eligible. In this way, today's workers provide funds for the people drawing benefits today, and when today's workers retire, the workers of that time will (at least theoretically) provide the funds. You receive Social Security benefits based on the amount of Social Security taxes you have paid, which, up to a certain maximum amount, is based on your income. People who have had greater incomes tend to get greater Social Security benefits. But Social Security also pays a disproportionate amount to people earning low incomes. They need the money more, and a dollar they pay in Social Security taxes provides them higher benefits than a dollar paid by a high-roller. In this way, Social Security in principle provides for those in need.
The social security card looks something like the image below:
The numbers on your Social Security card actually mean something!
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Note: to know more about the social security number visit the link below:
http://people.howstuffworks.com/social-security-number.htm
Your new company HR will take you to the SSN office nearby your office location. You will have to again take all your original documents including passport, I-797, I-94. You also need to know your mother’s maiden name (Especially your mother’s maiden last name and her father’s name)
Once you apply for the SSN, it takes anywhere between 2 weeks to 2 month to get your number and card. Typically you get this in 3-4 weeks. Once you get the SSN card, just sign it and keep it safe. Few things about using SSN:
- Never disclose your SSN to anyone, not even your best friend
- Only tell your SSN to the bank and finance people
- You might need to tell your SSN to insurance companies in case of auto or life insurance
- Provide SSN to mobile service provider while taking a new connection
- Provide SSN while leasing an apartment
Apart from these places, you might rarely require to provide you SSN. Not all services require the SSN disclosure. But many services like bank account, insurance, mobile require SSN. You do not get credit card from any bank until you have SSN. Also you never get USA driving license from any state until you have a SSN.
IMP: SSN is a very important number and never write it anywhere. You will have to remember this number all the times. This is your legal identity in USA.
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Driving License – A Must
Unlike India, in USA the driving license is considered a highly important document and proof of identity. Anywhere you go, people will ask for your driving license to confirm your identity. You can still drive on your international driving permit (IDP) that you would have taken from RTO office in India. Each state has it’s own law of entertaining the IDP. Remember, you can’t drive on IDP beyond the permissible period; otherwise it’s a serious crime. If you did not get your IDP to USA, then you are helpless for couple of weeks, until you get your SSN and driving license.
In USA, SSN is your legal identity for all documentation purpose. It has your name and SSN. But it is not a photo identity. Driving license is a photo-identity and is associated with your SSN.
Unlike India, the driving pattern is Left hand driving in USA. The best part is most of the vehicles are auto transmission and hence no hassle of changing gear and no earlier skilled driving required in order to learn the car driving. It has automatic gear stick, accelerator and brake. Just acceleration and brake, that’s it. Yes, but the other side is, the cars in USA are bigger in size than India and having greater power hence, high pickup and higher speed limits makes you scary initially. But practice makes human perfect.
Getting driving license is a milestone and a process. Almost all states have 2 steps process for providing driving license.
- First step is to undergo the computer test
- Second one is to get the road test
Many states like New Jersey provides the driving license after the first step, if you have an IDP. But in the states like Virginia, you must take both the steps in order to qualify for the driving license. Each state has it’s own website for the details of driving license and rules and regulations for the driving. They generally have the manual on website to refer.
Note: for example, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) website is as below:
http://www.dmvnow.com
You will have to prepare for the computer test. You will have to refer to the driver’s manual to understand the rules, sign boards etc. Then go for a computer test along with
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your SSN card and other documents in original. Also do not forget to take your proof of residence (lease agreement or bank statement). Once you are through the computer test you can take an appointment for the road test.
Before going for road test, it is recommended that you take driving lesions from the driving school. If you know driving well, then go for 2 hour driving session, if you are beginner then recommended for 6-8 hours of driving session. The roads are marked and the traffic is very structured. The speed limits are also high (55-65 miles per hour, i.e. 95-
110 KM per hour). The traffic is moving with this speed and you need to be very careful while changing the lane and taking the exits.
3 important concepts:
- Do not drive over the speed limit
- Blind spot: The area marked in red in the image below is called a blind spot as the driver can not see vehicle in these areas in the back mirror. You need to turn your head over the shoulder to see the blind spot area for yourself. You must see over the shoulder while changing the lane
- Never drink and drive
Depending upon the state, the driving school charges anywhere between USD 35 – 55 per hour for driving session for you. Take lesions from them and request them to take you to DMV for the road test. Use their vehicle for driving test. If you do not have IDP, then you might require going for a learning permit.
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Credit History? – Oh my god, I do not have one
After receiving my driver’s license, I decided to buy a commuter car. Not too expensive and not to over driven. I wanted to buy a descent car, which I could use as a commuter car from home to office, market and nearby places on weekends. I searched for a dealer and went to him for looking a car and to get information about the finance options available, as I did not have enough money to pay. Dealer asked me the SSN to check the
“credit history” so that he can provide me the finance option. I gave him the SSN and in
10 mins after checking his computer, he told me that “Sir, I am sorry to say but only YOU exists in this country as you have SSN but not your credit history”. My friend with me who had been staying in USA since last 6 years, told me that I need to have credit history in order to get the better finance deal. I asked the dealer for what he can offer to me, as I do not have a credit history. He said after his calculation that he can offer a loan for 75% of the car price with 25% interest rate… I was just fainted to listen to that… 25%… oh my god. I had been using credit cards in India since last 5 years but as those credit cards were not linked to my SSN, I had no credit history.
In short, credit history is a partial profile of your financial life given within a particular time frame (usually measured in years). It shows the extent to which you pay your bills on time and how much you may owe particular parties. It also means a record of an individual’s debts and payment habits, which help a lender, determine whether a potential borrower is like to repay a loan in a timely manner.
As you do not have a credit history, the lender does not know your liabilities and capabilities of repaying the loan and hence they charge the higher interest rates. You are required to build a credit history in this country. 2 possible options:
- Get a secured credit card from your bank: You pay a minimum of USD 300 and get a secured credit card for yourself from the bank. The bank will give you a credit card for the same amount. Start using it and paying the bill on time. This way in couple of months, you will build your credit history that you can take credit and pay on time. But this is like using your own money and refilling the account in the form of a credit card.
- Get a regular credit card from credit unions line Digital Credit Union bank
(www.dcu.org) DCU provides a unsecured credit card for the limit of USD
3000 even though you do not have a previous credit history. Visit the DCU website, check the procedure, send your documents photocopies and you will get your credit card in 7 business days. ☺ Spend on this credit card for
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all your transaction in shops and pay the credit card bills on time to build a good credit history.
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Got a Job! Now what next?
While giving the interviews, you would get a job. Congratulation, this is a important milestone you have reached. Now you will have to sign a contract documents with the client as well as your company.
Before going to the client location, you need to find out
- Accommodation for yourself
- Travel options
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Finding an accommodation at Job location
Once your job location is confirmed, you need to search for an accommodation. Many companies provide initial 1-2 weeks of accommodation. But going ahead, you need to find out for yourself. The best place to find an accommodation is Internet.
- Use the www.sulekha.com website to search for the accommodation. Most of Indian community people give their ads on this website. This website is very organized, easy to use and most of all FREE.
- Search for your job location area and find out the accommodations options
- You can go for a compete rent a house or shared accommodation having separate bedroom.
- You will have to call the ad owner and confirm the details, show your interest and obviously negotiate for the rent.
- Depending upon the location the shared accommodation charges various anywhere between USD 350 – 750. In south it’s cheaper and in North – East and North West it’s very expensive.
- You can finalize the deal on the phone only, and your accommodation problem is solved. ☺
- Alternatively you can search for the accommodation on http://sfbay.craigslist.org/
- You can ask your company for an advance to pay the deposit to the new rented home.
- While confirming the accommodation you have a assured agreement for a period of 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 months or you can go for a month on month basis.
- Make sure you sign a lease agreement in order to get a residence proof.
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I need a car!! Where do I search?
- Once you get your driving license, you would want to go for a commuter car.
- You can get a car for as low as USD 1500
- The decent reliable car would cost you nearly USD 3000-7000
- You will find a wide variety of car manufacturers and models.
- Initially go for a used car from Toyota, Honda or Nissan. These cars are very low maintenance cars
- The car value is based on various parameters such as manufacturers, model, and year of manufacture, condition of the car.
- You can get an estimated value of the car based on these parameters on the
Kelley Blue Book website (http://www.kbb.com)
- The average 7 years old Toyota Camry, 4 door sedan, 70,000 miles on it in good condition would cost you nearly 7000, where the same car with 100,000 miles would cost you USD 5000.
- You can buy a car from a individual seller, but you will have to pay in cash or full check payment before you get a car in your hand
- Alternatively you can buy it from dealer in your area, where you get the same parameter car with slightly higher rate but you can go for a loan.
- Dealer gives a limited warranty, which saves your pocket in case of breakdown in warranty period. Dear also maintains good car and takes care of issue prior to selling it.
- Before going to a dealer, search for your car on the website to save a trip to dealer. You can see all the cars for sale on Internet. The most popular one is http://www.autotrader.com. Provide your area zip code, and start searching for your car.
- The common experience is people takes 3-4 weeks time to search for their car with desired parameter and budget.
- One more important thing, you need to check the history of the car before you buy it.
- Every car is quipped with a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), which is a unique number for each vehicle. Carfax company (www.carfax.com) keeps track of records for all vehicles in USA. You should never buy a car before looking into the carfax report of the car. Buy a 1 month subscription for nearly USD 25 on carfax website using your credit card. Check the carfax report for the car that you have found using its VIN. If the car is clean and no accident records, then go to dealer for taking a look at the car and negotiation.
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- Meanwhile you might require a comprehensive guide on “how to buy a car?” I would recommend using the following link to read and understand the granular details of auto buying tips and tricks. https://www.dcu.org/streetwise/auto/buyguide/home.html (Thanks to DCU)
- Incase you are taking an auto loan from DCU, after confirming your car with dealer; take a buyer’s order from the dealer for the car. Fax the documents with your bank account to DCU. They will send your car loan check on next day.
- Then call an auto insurance company (www.geico.com) and provide the VIN number of the car and ask for a insurance binder for this car. They will quote you insurance amount and offer you the monthly payment option. For no driving history in USA, you would typically get a quote for USD 750 for a comprehensive insurance for 6 months time. You may need to fax this binder to loan bank.
- Give the check to dealer and you are good to go to ride you own car ☺
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I need a car loan, who will help me?
The DCU bank helps people having no credit history. They provide auto loan for up to USD 15,000. The interest rate could vary between 11% to 14%, It’s not a low interest but still very reasonable as compared to dealer interest (21% to 25%)
Open a checking and savings account with DCU for just USD 5 and you are eligible for the loan once you are a member of DCU ☺.
Once you open a checking account with DCU in 3-4 business days you get an
Internet banking UID and PWD, you can apply for the loan online as well. Typically for a 6,000 loan for 3 years with interest rate of 11.5% results in a monthly loan installment of USD 200.
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Finding a Desi Grocery shop
Initially you would enjoy the pizza hut, McDonald’s or Subway food chains. But going ahead you would want to shop for the grocery for cooking at home. Indian community is spread in each state and county of USA. So you do not have to worry about the India grocery shop. Just enquire for a good Indian grocery shop to your house owner/house mates (if he is Indian) or best place to ask for is an India office buddy.
You will get all Indian food items, brands and varieties in such India grocery shops. Buying grocery and cooking at home makes your monthly food expenses very low.
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Money Transfer to India, How to?
Once you start getting monthly paychecks you would want to send money to India. The best available option is using money2india service by ICICI bank.
- You need a checking bank account in USA and SSN number for opening an free account on Money2India service web site.
- Register for a free account with your SSN and bank account details from which you want to send money to India
- After the registration, the money2India will make 2 small credit transactions
(less than a dollar) in your bank account. In 3-4 days you will have to check your bank account, get those 2 transactions, return back to the money2india website and verify the account with those 2 little figures.
- This confirms the money2india that the account belongs to you
- Then you are good to go for the FREE money transfer to India
- Just select an Automatic Clearing House (ACH) money transfer, provide your destination bank and account details in India, enter the amount in USD to transfer and click confirm.
- The money2india will pull the money from your provided bank checking account in 3-4 days and transfer it to the ICICI bank’s account with New York Bank in NY, USA.
- Then they will send credit the destination account with the currency conversion rate for that day for Indian rupee.
- It takes absolutely 5 business days from the date you initiated the transaction. You can keep track of the transaction on website as well as you get notification once the transaction is completed.
- 3 important things
- The transaction is safe, reliable and absolutely FREE
- The conversion rate is best in the market
- The transaction is on time.
- Alternatively you can make a check payment from USA to India as well but it is a little more time taking.
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Mobile and Savings on regular calls to India
- Once you get a SSN, you can get a mobile service.
- There are couple of good market telecom player who provides mobile services (e.g. T-Mobile, Varizon, Sprint etc)
- Before finalizing on the service provider, just speak to couple of your friends in USA. Make a survey of what service provider do they corresponds to. That’s because if you belong to the same service provider as many of your friends, then you can get a cell to cell calling free with your friends for free or for a very little extra fee.
- Remember the incoming and outgoing calls are charged the same way.
- To give an example, I have a T-Mobile service with,
- Basic plan as
- 39.99 per month
- 600 min free on weekdays (Monday to Friday 7 AM to 9 PM)
- Weeknights Unlimited (Monday to Friday 9 Pm to 7 AM free)
- Weekend Unlimited (Friday 9 PM to Monday 7 AM free)
- All USA free Roaming (anywhere you can go in USA)
- T-mobile to T-mobile free (within service provider free) For just additional USD 6 per month
- 40 Cents per minute after initial 600 minutes in a month
- So you can make out that initially you get 600 mins for USD 40 i.e. 15 cents per minute. And after 600 Mins you will be charged 40 cents per minute.
- If you know that your calls are going to be more than 600 minutes on weekdays because of initial interviews on cell, then it’s better to go for a higher minutes rate plan.
- If you continue with 600 mins plan and talk for 400 more mins in a month i.e. will cost you USD 160 in addition to your normal plan of 40 i.e. total = 200
- Instead you could save USD 150 by choosing a 1000 min plan for USD 50.
Note: in USA, you need to keep your eyes open before selecting or choosing the product.
Understand and explore the various available options first, that saves you tons of dollars.
- So during your initial interview time, you would want to keep a higher talk time plan and then you can come to a basic plan as needed.
- Also as discussed earlier, use relianceindiacall prepaid service to make cheaper and reliable calls to India. If you want to make a long time call like
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one hour call or so, then go for any other calling card in the market which claim 60-70 mins for 5 dollars.
- With reliance, you can make as many calls up to 78 mins for USD 10. No additional hidden charges and no hassles.
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Need a job change, H1B Transfer, How To?
- Once you get to work for couple of months in USA, you will start savings money and then will definitely start getting various “better” offers from other companies.
- As I told you initially, your company takes efforts to bring you in USA from India and hence it’s highly likely that your company is going to keep large portion of your billing and would provide you average salary structure.
- After working for a while you will see people with your same skills in consulting are earning much more than your income. It’s more likely that you would also get couple of offers from the local consulting companies.
- Consider following before you change your job:
- Stay at least 6 months with your current employer
- You can make a shift as early as you get your first pay stub. It is because you need to present last pay stub in order to change the employer.
- See the market scenario and analyze it
- Speak to various companies and check for the offers you would get based on your profile and the demand of your skill sets
- Negotiate well and understand all the terms and considerations of the contract for the offer.
- Check for things like, Medical insurance, your hourly rates, your net take home salary, additional benefits, overtime charges, bench salary etc.
- First get your new employer find a client for you, have the interviews done, once finalize, then provide your documents to new company in order to get the H1 transferred
- Few companies charge H1 transfer fees (50-50% or 30-70%). Remember H1
transfer fee is USD 3200 as of now.
- Your new employer will apply for a H1 transfer for you through his attorney and you will get a transfer application receipt in 2-3 business days.
- You can give notice to your old employer once you receive this notice. It takes anywhere between 2-5 weeks to transfer your H1 visa, but you can start legally working for a new employer once you file for a H1 transfer.
- Do not let your old employer know until you get this H1 transfer receipt.
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Consulting Vs FTE (full time Employment), a comparison
This is an interesting topic of discussion and probably most popular in USA. The Consulting candidate is a free bird and has a choice to select his client, project and work location preference. FTE has very less choice of these options and will have to go for the client that company offers. Consulting people make more money when they are on project because of their higher consulting hourly rates. FTE gets paid on a salary basis, many companies pay overtime as well. But irrespective of the efforts, FTE suffers the internal politics of the office as compared to consultant. FTE gets less workload as compared to consultants. They have a wide choice of working 8 hours a day and enjoy the work-life balance, consultants are loaded with work and they are paid too. Consultants need to find next project once the current one is finished, and in many cases they are not paid when they are on bench. The FTE gets regular salary irrespective of they are on project or bench.
Each one has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s the choice you prefer, more money- less stability OR average money-more stability. So what’s your choice?
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