Post by guitarhead on Dec 23, 2015 4:08:16 GMT
I recently renewed my E3 visa in Ottawa. Apart from the time spent waiting for the new visa to be processed, and the paperwork that needed to be completed the process was relatively straightforward.
Here is a checklist of documents that I brought to my interview (note that not all of these documents were actually needed, but I brought them all to be safe):
1. Australian passport including my previous E3 visa
2. My DS-160 (non-immigrant visa application) confirmation page
3. A printout of the appointment instruction sheet (includes confirmation of the appointment time and date, and instructions for attending the interview)
4. One 2 x 2 inch passport photo (I took this photo myself using a digital SLR, and ordered prints online using a professional printing service)
5. Labor Condition Application (LCA) form ETA-9035
6. Job offer letter with salary specifications from my employer, indicating that I will be engaged in a specialty occupation
7. Original degree certificate (this wasn't needed - nobody asked to see it)
8. Degree equivalence evaluation (showing what my Australian degree was equivalent to in the US - again this wasn't needed)
9. Visa processing fee (Machine Readable Visa fee) (also wasn't needed)
10. Printouts of 4 of my most recent pay slips (I had read online that this is a good idea - however again these were not needed)
The lawyers that my employer used to assist in the renewal also supplied me with a form G-28 (Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative) - however I didn't need to use this either.
I scheduled my interview for Wednesday morning. It is recommended that you do not arrive at the US consulate (or embassy in the case of Ottawa) more than 30 minutes before your scheduled interview time - in such cases you may be turned away and told to come back later. It's also advisable to carry as little as possible with you (i.e. leave your mobile phone, wallet, handbag, etc. in your hotel room). One of the girls who was next to me in line was carrying a handbag which led to her being denied entry, when she got to the security guard he told her she was not allowed to bring it inside the embassy, and that she had to find somewhere else to store it and only then would she be admitted.
The interview process went smoothly, there were a series of 'checkpoints' to go through where people asked to see various forms and documents before the final interview with the consular official. For me the interview was very brief, I think I was asked two questions related to how long I had been employed in my current position, and where I originally obtained my degree, and that was it.
Following the interview, there was a processing period of around 2 days, and on Friday I received notification that my passport (with newly processed visa) was ready for collection at the pre-determined courier location. The timing worked out since I had booked a return flight to the US for the very following day (Saturday). Since I didn't have a car, it was a bit of a pain to get to the Loomis branch (about 15 minutes drive from downtown) to collect the passport, but not too bad (I used uber).
Probably the biggest pain was getting all the information together needed to complete the DS-160 accurately. For someone who has travelled internationally fairly extensively this can take some time, and it's worth double- and triple- checking to ensure you fill everything in correctly (better not to risk any errors).
A few other tips:
- I had heard from another Aussie under the E3 that Canada has tightened its restrictions on third country nationals applying for visas, and that they had stopped allowing interviews during the summer months. Not sure how true this is, my interview was in November 2015 either way this didn't apply to me.
- Scheduling the interview can be a bit of a game... once you have scheduled your interview (via the US Department of State visa appointment service) you are allowed to reschedule your appointment time as many times as you want (up until the day before the appointment). I was looking to get an appointment as early as possible, so I logged onto the website daily to check if new times had become available. In my experience new (earlier) appointment times opened up fairly regularly so while initially my appointment was originally scheduled a couple of months in advance, I was able to bring the date forward by several weeks by frequently rechecking the website for new times becoming available.
- I ended up submitting the DS-160 a couple of times, since I found some minor errors in my first submission. One in particular - if you are returning to the US under a second E3 visa, then technically you are applying for an E3R visa (not an E3). Not sure if this matters on the DS-160, but I figured it was better to be safe.
Here is a checklist of documents that I brought to my interview (note that not all of these documents were actually needed, but I brought them all to be safe):
1. Australian passport including my previous E3 visa
2. My DS-160 (non-immigrant visa application) confirmation page
3. A printout of the appointment instruction sheet (includes confirmation of the appointment time and date, and instructions for attending the interview)
4. One 2 x 2 inch passport photo (I took this photo myself using a digital SLR, and ordered prints online using a professional printing service)
5. Labor Condition Application (LCA) form ETA-9035
6. Job offer letter with salary specifications from my employer, indicating that I will be engaged in a specialty occupation
7. Original degree certificate (this wasn't needed - nobody asked to see it)
8. Degree equivalence evaluation (showing what my Australian degree was equivalent to in the US - again this wasn't needed)
9. Visa processing fee (Machine Readable Visa fee) (also wasn't needed)
10. Printouts of 4 of my most recent pay slips (I had read online that this is a good idea - however again these were not needed)
The lawyers that my employer used to assist in the renewal also supplied me with a form G-28 (Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative) - however I didn't need to use this either.
I scheduled my interview for Wednesday morning. It is recommended that you do not arrive at the US consulate (or embassy in the case of Ottawa) more than 30 minutes before your scheduled interview time - in such cases you may be turned away and told to come back later. It's also advisable to carry as little as possible with you (i.e. leave your mobile phone, wallet, handbag, etc. in your hotel room). One of the girls who was next to me in line was carrying a handbag which led to her being denied entry, when she got to the security guard he told her she was not allowed to bring it inside the embassy, and that she had to find somewhere else to store it and only then would she be admitted.
The interview process went smoothly, there were a series of 'checkpoints' to go through where people asked to see various forms and documents before the final interview with the consular official. For me the interview was very brief, I think I was asked two questions related to how long I had been employed in my current position, and where I originally obtained my degree, and that was it.
Following the interview, there was a processing period of around 2 days, and on Friday I received notification that my passport (with newly processed visa) was ready for collection at the pre-determined courier location. The timing worked out since I had booked a return flight to the US for the very following day (Saturday). Since I didn't have a car, it was a bit of a pain to get to the Loomis branch (about 15 minutes drive from downtown) to collect the passport, but not too bad (I used uber).
Probably the biggest pain was getting all the information together needed to complete the DS-160 accurately. For someone who has travelled internationally fairly extensively this can take some time, and it's worth double- and triple- checking to ensure you fill everything in correctly (better not to risk any errors).
A few other tips:
- I had heard from another Aussie under the E3 that Canada has tightened its restrictions on third country nationals applying for visas, and that they had stopped allowing interviews during the summer months. Not sure how true this is, my interview was in November 2015 either way this didn't apply to me.
- Scheduling the interview can be a bit of a game... once you have scheduled your interview (via the US Department of State visa appointment service) you are allowed to reschedule your appointment time as many times as you want (up until the day before the appointment). I was looking to get an appointment as early as possible, so I logged onto the website daily to check if new times had become available. In my experience new (earlier) appointment times opened up fairly regularly so while initially my appointment was originally scheduled a couple of months in advance, I was able to bring the date forward by several weeks by frequently rechecking the website for new times becoming available.
- I ended up submitting the DS-160 a couple of times, since I found some minor errors in my first submission. One in particular - if you are returning to the US under a second E3 visa, then technically you are applying for an E3R visa (not an E3). Not sure if this matters on the DS-160, but I figured it was better to be safe.