Leo_Loves

Hi all,

I'm heading back to London around Xmas. By that time, I will have a renewed H1B but my passport stamp will have expired. My questions are thus:

1) How far in advance can I book a US Consulate appointment?
2) From the date of the appointment, how many working days will I need to leave for the passport to be returned to me?
3) Where's the official list of forms and things I'll need to bring for the renewal appointment?
4) Do I need to fill out a whole new DS-160, or can I just re-print my 3-year-old confirmation page and bring that?

Cheers!
--Leo

xathras

Interested to see response on this one since I will be in similar scenario

uncletravlingphil

Similar questions here...

triptastic

I am in the same situation.

1) Appointments are available for December (I have appointment booked for Dec 19) via the online system. ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb/niv

2) Unknown - I hope not too long

3) When you make the appointment online, it gives you the list of what you need

4) Need a new DS-160 I think

You can setup your appointment online once you have completed a new DS-160.

scrubbedexpat099

AP would be the big unknown.

uncletravlingphil

AP?

scrubbedexpat099

Yes.

uncletravlingphil

Right. If you could go ahead and explain what that means... that would be awesome.

ian-mstm

AP usually stands for "administrative processing"... and can often throw a monkey wrench into any visa application. AP involves additional checks either for the applicant, the application, or the sponsoring company - and it can take 2 weeks or, often, 4-6 months... which, sad to say, happened to at least one BE member last year! Unfortunately, there's no way to know ahead of time if someone will end up in AP - so, as Boiler suggested, "AP would be the big unknown."

Ian

scrubbedexpat099

There is a current thread on H and AP.

uncletravlingphil

OK thanks. I had a colleague have to go through AP last year, as it happens...

ellie_gbr

I had my first H1B stamping at the US Embassy in London last Christmas and the timeline was as follows:
18 Dec: Appointment (visa approved)
20 Dec: Email from Courier staying they have my passport and tracking number
23 Dec: Passport and I797 delivered to home

For more info, as I recently switched jobs and obtained a new H1B I had to visit the embassy again in order to return after a conference in Germany. The timeline was similar;
15 Sep: Appointment (visa approved)
18 Sep: Email from Courier staying they have my passport and tracking number
19 Sep: Picked up passport and I797 from DX Depot near Heathrow.

Hope that helps!!

In addition:
* You can probably book an appointment now but you need to fill out the DS160 first. If they don't have dates available in December yet, pick a different date and keep checking the calendar and switch when the December date opens up.
* Yes you must fill out a new DS160
* The only document they wanted from me both times (aside from the appointment letter and DS160 confirmation) was the original I797 approval notice. They kept this and returned it with my passport. You can see the official list here http://london.usembassy.gov/niv/niv_...documents.html .