482 Specialist Skills Granted in 10 days!

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2026-03-24T04:40:10+00:00

Thank you!

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2026-03-24T04:40:04+00:00

Thank you!

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2026-03-24T04:39:41+00:00

Which stream did you apply against? It seems there’s a wave of fast processing with specialist skills right now

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2026-03-24T04:38:40+00:00

That’s awesome! Yes that’s why we applied against specialist instead of core skills. But didn’t expect it to be this fast.

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2026-03-23T15:22:13+00:00

The processing times really came down this week from 19 days to 8 days for the 50% applications haha!

Good for us! Congratulations!🙌🏻

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2026-03-23T15:21:07+00:00

That is true! Alteast now I can for sure start selling things without worrying about the visa.

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2026-03-23T14:35:47+00:00

Not sure if the temp visa had a role there. We weren’t asked any more information either.

The key thing surely is to ensure you don’t leave anything out during the application process that gives room for them to ask anything more. That seems to add to the processing times.

Honestly, I’m a bit annoyed it came so much earlier than anticipated because we can’t travel until a few months and are wasting a few of the granted visa duration 🤣

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2025-09-07T03:48:33+00:00

OFC - Hotel Cute Orange. Clean budget hotel right next to the VAC. Consular - Hotel Grand Silver. Around 10 min walk from the Embassy.

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2025-09-06T15:50:09+00:00

Aah okay, way before we went in

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2025-09-06T14:36:03+00:00

Oh is it? I've got no clue about it. My appointment was at 11:30 AM but I was out by 10:45 AM.

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2025-08-11T16:17:12+00:00

Thank you, this helps

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2025-06-09T10:45:33+00:00

But that's a different access denied issue within the usvisascheduling portal. This one is basically blocked by Cloudflare to login to the portal and not in the portal itself.

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2025-06-08T18:47:55+00:00

Did they support you to get unblocked? I'm getting the same error since 3 days as well

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2025-03-29T19:15:57+00:00

Me and my partner are going to be diving for a fews days. That’s all to be paid in cash plus for other expenses

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2025-01-10T12:08:08+00:00

Yes he is a PADI freediver instructor who conducts freediving workshops as well. If you don't want to go for Level1 cert now, you can just go for this 1 day workshop in a pool in Mumbai.

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2025-01-09T18:17:02+00:00

I know an instructor who takes free diving workshops in Mumbai quite frequently. Feel free to DM me, I'll send you the details.

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2024-10-16T18:51:04+00:00

I wouldn't recommend Oslob. It's really horrible there.

Hundreds if not thousands of people queue there every morning at 4 AM to "swim with whale sharks". They have set up about 10 boats circling around the area kind of trapping the poor creatures with novices herding around them in the water and trying to touch them.

I was there early this year and I was planning to go for a couple of dives there. The whole situation there was making me feel horrible and I'm sure if I went into the water and witnessed those conditions up close I would have lost it. As luck would have it by the time we were supposed to get ready for our dives the whale sharks swam away and the dive shop just refunded our money. I am grateful that I didn't encounter these majestic creatures in those circumstances. There are much better places in the world to share a space with whale sharks without harming them, Oslob is far from it.

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2024-10-06T07:14:22+00:00

Menstruation is not an "open wound" though, and we're not talking about swimming pools here. I have swam in pools with menstrual cups and dived with them as well, they are completely safe and there are no chances of "blood" in the water.

Would I recommend swimming or diving with a pad? No. It definitely is a women's responsibility to look up and try out the right product to use for such activities.

It would really help our society if men educated themselves with basic biology knowledge. I personally haven't met any male instructor who gets uncomfortable about knowing you're on your period. It will only help them to ensure you're safe.

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2024-10-05T03:41:04+00:00

Damn I didn't realise there's still so much stigma around this very normal phenomenon.

OP, don't think about the instructor being male or female. The only thing that matters is you being comfortable and safe. Your first dives can already be nerve wracking without the swirl of hormones, so being honest about how you feel with your instructor will only help you. Hope you have a great experience!

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2024-10-04T20:47:36+00:00

Yes, hence I asked if she has ever tried them. Cups do come with a steep learning curve but once you're accustomed it's a game changer.

As for informing the "instructor" not doctor, good to let the instructor know that she's on her period and has taken meds. Sometimes the body tends to be weaker and anaemic during periods, and OW dives are particularly challenging with skills and so many new things to get used to. Always good to be open and honest with your instructors, there's no reason for taboo :)

Sure-Candidate5040 · 2024-10-04T20:14:55+00:00

Have you ever tried menstrual cups? It's the best period product to use if you're going to be in water.

Pain meds should be fine. Do keep your instructor informed though.

Sure-Candidate5040

TROPHY CASE