In USA on H-1B–First Thing First–Start Building Your Credit History or Credit Score

 

You need to open a Checking Account in a Bank. For those of you who are coming from Pakistan, what you call Current Account in Pakistan is called Checking Account in USA. To open a Checking Account you need your Original Passport and I-94. You will receive a Photo Debit Card, which you can use in ATMs, POS machines, Online Purchasing etc.

! Interest Alert ! Banks also have Saving Accounts which works on interest.

Similarly, you’ll have to apply for a Secure Credit Card. The only difference between a Secure Credit Card and a regular Credit Card is that you pay for your Credit Line in advance to safe the Bank from risk of defaulted payments. While in case regular Credit Card, Bank offers you a certain amount of Credit Line depending upon your Credit History or Credit Score. But, because you are new to USA and you don’t have any Credit History or Credit Score yet, so you have an option to “buy” your Credit Line for your “Secure” Credit Card. If you pay $2000, your Credit Line will be $2000, so on and so forth. Other than that, there’s no difference in a Secure and a regular Credit Card, both works exactly the same.

If you are short on money, than a minimum recommended Credit Line for a Secure Credit Card is $2000. Although, you can go for less than that too.

! Interest Alert ! In order to build your Credit History or Credit Score, you will have to do your purchases via Credit Card. So it is recommended to always synchronize your purchases with the amount you have in your Debit Card or Checking Account. Always, clear your Credit at the end of every month. Finally, if you are going through tough times and are short on money, stop using Credit Cards altogether, or you will be lost in the maze of interest with no outlet.

So what Credit Reporting/History/Score is?

Credit reporting is a system lenders use to decide whether or not to give you credit or a loan and how much interest they can charge you for it. Your credit report is based on the bills payments you have missed or been late paying, loans that you have paid off, plus your current amount of debt. A credit report contains information on where you work and live, how you pay your bills, and whether you've been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) gather this information and sell it to creditors, employers, insurers, and others.

Based on the information in your credit report, lenders calculate your credit score so they can assess the risk you pose to them before they decide whether they will give you credit. The higher your score, the less risk you pose to creditors. Your score can range anywhere from 300-850.. Aiming for a score in the 700s will put you in good standing. A high score, for example, makes it easier for you to obtain a loan, rent an apartment, or lower your insurance rate.[Source – USA.GOV]

How to improve your Credit Score?

Make sure you get your apartment, car, utilities, telephone and services in your name and make sure you pay all your bills and rent on time.

International Driving Permit–IDP– Post H-1B Visa Stamping Action Items

 

This post is a part of series of posts that makes up “Post H-1B Visa Stamping Action Items”.

Why International Driving Permit?

An International Driving Permit is not a driver license. The permit only verifies that you hold a valid driver license in your home country. Your foreign driver license, not the International Driving Permit, allows you to drive in USA.

You are not required to have an International Driving Permit to drive in USA, but the permit has value. The permit verifies, in several languages, that you have a valid foreign driver license. A police officer who cannot read the language on your foreign driver license can read the permit.

Location / Address / Map

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Timings:

Monday to Saturday - 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Friday - 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Lunch Break - 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm

Required Documents:

1. Three recent Passport size photographs
2. Photocopy of Valid Passport and Valid Visa Copy
3. Photocopy of Local Driving License
4. Photocopy of CNIC
5. Medical Certificate

Fees & Duration:

• Fee ~ PKR 600
• Duration – Same or next day.

Process:

1. There’s a Post Office opposite to the Clifton Driving License Branch. Go there and buy stamp ticket for International Driving Permit.
2. Go to the Reception Area and ask for International Driving Permit form
3. Fill the form, paste the stamp ticket on the top right corner.
4. Attach photocopies of documents mentioned in the section above
5. Keep original documents with yourself which you may have to show to the Driving License Branch Officials.
6. Attach photographs
7. Submit the filled form with all attachments.
8. There’s a fee which you have to pay
9. You will have to appear before the License Authority to get your IDP approved and collect it at the same time.

Protectorate of Emigrants Stamp on Passport–Post H-1B Visa Stamping Action Items

 

This post is a part of series of posts that makes up “Post H-1B Visa Stamping Action Items”.

What is Protectorate of Emigrants Stamp?

For every Pakistani citizen, who is going abroad for any reason, it is a mandatory requirements to get NICOP, Life Insurance and Protectorate of Emigrants stamp on his/her passport. It is IMPORTANT to note that without the Protectorate of Emigrants stamp, ASF/FIA/Custom officials at the airport will not allow you to get onboard.

Location / Address / Map:

Protector of Emigrants
Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment
14-J, Block No.6, Near KFC,
Nursery, PECHS, Karachi.
View Larger Map

Timings:

Submissions are only allowed during 09:00 and 12:30 PST. On Friday submissions are only allowed during 09:00 and 11:00 PST

Required Documents:

1. Original Passport – with H-1B Visa Stamp
2. 4 Photocopies of #1
3. Original I-797
4. 3 Photocopies of #3
5. Original Computerized National Identity Card CNIC
6. 4 Photocopies of #3
7. Original National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis NICOP – If you have have applied for the NICOP and have the Token issued by NADRA, than this NICOP Token would also suffice.
8. 3 Photocopies of #5
9. Original Employment Offer or Contract
10. 4 Photocopies of #7
11. Resignation Letter given to previous employer
12. NOC if your last employer was a Government functionary
13. Life Insurance
14. 2 CNIC Photocopies of your blood relative i.e. Father, Mother, Siblings, Children – required for Life Insurance
15. Bank Challan Receipts
16. Information Form
17. Photographs – At least 4.
18. For #4 and #17 above – If you have more, keep them with yourself, because it’s my experience that our government departments are too obsessed with collecting Photographs and Photocopies of CNIC. The amount of photocopies of documents these government department requires, each one of them “attested” with a 17 or higher grade officer is just insane! I believe this is the main reason why stationary guys and notary public guys are still in business :)

Fees & Duration:

• Fees – Total PKR 6,500 – See breakdown below:
1. State Life Insurance – PKR 2.000
2. Employee’s Welfare Fund – PKR 2,000
3. Protector Registration Fee – PKR 2,500
• Duration – Same day

Process:

• IMPORTANT TIP: Go straight to #10 i.e. the Helper Guy. You will see a man, in his late forties. Ask him about the process, he will guide you step by step, fill your forms, challan, etc, make your file ready to submit by yourself and will accept any nominal fees from you for his services. He doesn’t seems to be greedy as you usually see such places. Seems educated and very polite person to talk to. In my experience, the government should hire him for helping people in such a great manner. But then I thought, may be when he is hired, he might become one of those that are sitting on government seats!
• For all those who can remember the steps and can go through the process on their own, read further
• Go to #7 i.e. Reception Area and tell them that you want the Protectorate of Emigrants Stamp on your Passport.
• They will ask to show the required documents
• They will issue you the Information Form, NBP Challan etc.
• Now, you will have to submit Challan and Fees to three different banks; National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited and United Bank Limited.
• See the map below to locate these:
  View Larger Map 
  
• Go “inside” HBL first and ask for “Employee’s Welfare Fund” Challan. Fill the challan, submit PKR 2,000 and get the receipt.
• Go to the window of NBP, the one which is on the far right side – see the small red circle mark on the image map above. Submit the challan along with PKR 2,500 and get the receipt.
• Go “inside” UBL, fill the “Deposit Slip” with following details
• Account# – 621-7
• Title of Account – State Life
• Amount – PKR 2,000
• Submit the Deposit Slip along with PKR 2,000 and get the receipt.
• Go to photocopy shop and make copies 2 copies of all the receipts
• Go back to the Protectorate of Emigrants Office, fill the forms, attach photocopies, photos, Challans, and other required documents, mentioned above.In what sequence? please ask that Helper Guy I mentioned in first point, because I just forgot the sequence :)
• Present this file (containing all documents, challans, etc) to Reception Area i.e. #7 in the image above.
• You will then be asked to take this file to the Protector of Emigrants Registration Section show at #16 in the image above.
• The Protector of Emigrants Registration Section will check all documents and will send the file to the Protector of Emigrant Officer
• Protector of Emigrant Officer will sign, emboss on Passport and forward the file to the Briefing Section
• At 15:00 PST the Briefing Section will conduct a session where he/she will brief all the newly protected individuals with all the necessary aspects of rights on foreign soil, protection of Government of Pakistan, Insurance matters, Incident and Health Hazards, etc..
• After the briefing session, you will be handed over your original documents which includes the Protectorate of Emigrants Stamp on your Passport.

Submit H-1B Visa Documents and Fees to American Express and Schedule your Embassy/Consulate Interview

 

This post is a part of series of posts that makes up “The Complete Process Trail for H-1B Work Visa”.

Once you have submitted online your Nonimmigrant Visa Application DS-160, you have to submit following documents and fees to:

American Express
Ground Floor, Shaheen Complex
Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road
PABX 92-21 3263 0260-80
amextravelkarachi@aeg.com.pk
Web: http://www.aegusvisa.com.pk/

View Larger Map

List of Documents to submit:

1. Confirmation page of DS-160
2. Original Passport valid for at least 6 months at the time of submission along with an enlarged (A4 size) copy of the first two pages of current and old passport. Original passport would be returned after due verification
3. Copies of previous passports first 2/4 pages, covering 15 years of travel
4. Travel history form for last 10 years. You will get a paper document from American Express on which you can fill your Travel history.
5. One photograph; having size of 2X2 inches preferably color photograph taken against a white or off-white background, printed without borders on non glossy paper. Computer Scanned photographs are not acceptable and photograph cannot be modified in any way, re-touched, penciled or altered by computer software Photograph should have been taken within last 6 months.
6. I-797, I-29
7. HEC Form – You will get this document from American Express. Fill it, sign it and attach it with the rest of the documents
8. Original SSC (Metric) Certificate
9. Original HSSC (Inter) Certificate
10. Original Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD’s Degree/Certificate
11. Original SSC (Matric) Marks Sheet
12. Original HSSC (Inter) Marks Sheet
13. Original Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD’s Transcript
14. Submit H-1B Visa Fee - US$190
1. Do not forget to get the receipt
15. Once you submit all these to American Express
1. Take receipt against submitted visa application
2. Take an interview appointment date. (Interview date will be noted on the Visa Fee Receipt).

Submit Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application DS-160

 

This post is a part of series of posts that makes up “The Complete Process Trail for H-1B Work Visa”.

Once you’ve received your H-1B Package from your Sponsor, you can now go ahead and submit the Online Non-immigration Visa Application DS-160. The DS-160, Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application form, is for temporary travel to the United States. Form DS-160 is submitted electronically to the Department of State website via the Internet. Consular Officers use the information entered on the DS-160 to process the visa application and, combined with a personal interview, determine an applicant’s eligibility for a nonimmigrant visa.

Go to Consular Electronic Application Center website. This website is hosted by US State Department and they recommend that you use Internet Explorer or Firefox browser to access the DS-160.

Before you start filling the DS-160, make sure you have following documents with you:

• Photo (digital or soft copy). Please refer to the Photograph Requirements for detailed guidance.
• Passport
• Travel itinerary, if you have already made travel arrangements.
• Dates of your last five visits or trips to the United States, if you have previously travelled to the United States. You may also be asked for your international travel history for the past five years.
• Résumé or Curriculum Vitae - You may be required to provide information about your current and previous education and work history.
• Other Information - Some applicants, depending on the intended purpose of travel, will be asked to provide additional information when completing the DS-160.

Do note that, you can save your application or return to a partially completed application. When you begin a new DS-160, you will be issued a unique application identification (ID) number after selecting and answering a security question. Write down the Application ID displayed on the top right-hand corner of the page. If you need to close the browser before submitting your application, you will need this Application ID to continue your application.

IMPORTANT – You have to fill separate DS-160 for every family member going with you to USA. Once you finish your DS-160, on the “Thank You” page you will see an option to create a family or group application. When you select this option, certain information from your application, such as destination, will automatically be imported to and displayed on a new application.

After you have completed the DS-160, you must take these next steps below:

• Print and keep the DS-160 confirmation barcode page. (You do not need to print the full application.)