Office of Workforce Security, Dept. of Labor - This department has a complete section on Foreign Labor services (including H1B and Permanent Residency) which is the most informative site I have found till date! It also lists the processes and stages in the filings! You probably don't need to hire a lawyer if you understand this site well. Download forms from here; Labor Condition Application (form ETA 9035) that goes into H1-B petition. Look up Department of Labor website for more info.
Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) - Department of Justice agency enforcing laws regulating admission of foreign-born persons to US. Download forms from here; H-1B Petition (form I-129 & Supplement) and H-1B Data Collection & Filing Fee Exemption (form I-129W).
CA Labor Market Info - Employment Development Department (EDD), California
CA FAQ Labor Market Info - Frequently asked questions, EDD, CA
CA Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Wages by Occupations - Complete list of all occupations & their wages. Can be used as a guide for determining wages for Labor Condition Application (LCA) in California
CA Prevailing Wage Request Form (pdf) - Download pdf form, fill in occupational details and fax it. Get a return fax in about week's time of the prevailing wage
Need Passport Stamped from US Consulate? - Some recommend getting it from Canada. So here are some useful tips from personal experience. We were recommended to visit Vancouver, Canada (nearest consulate) to get our passport stamped with H1B visa. The tips are in order of priority;
1. Get US Consular Appointment - Visit the US Consular Visa Appointment Reservation System (www.nvars.com). Note that not all US Consulates offer online appointments. Also, the chances of getting an appointment online are slim. Most likely, you will have to call a '900' or toll-free/credit card call (how ironic?) number of the consulate you wish to visit. We were told that fresh appointments were released @ 7am (est) on specific days so had to get up @ 4am (our time) and finally get ours. Later, they send you the details & forms by post.
2. Start Preparing Your Packet/Thorough Check Your Packet - Here's a link; Victor Garcia or multipleentry.com - The site has a pretty good listing of the documents required for different visas and also provides info on stamping your passport from a border post(?)
3. Get Canadian Visitor's Visa - Lastly, but never the least! Be sure to carry complete itinerary of your travel to and from Canada. Forms are downloadable. Following are some useful links;
Vancouver International Airport
Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles
US Consular Services in Canada
US Embassy in Ottawa, Canada
4. Be sure to explore Canada while you are there! - Enjoy your trip! Shopping, Eating, Sight-seeing. You never know when you will visit again. All your major credit cards work smoothly there. The exchange rate is also beneficial to the US$ (1 US$ = 1.5 CAD$ approx.) Get tour book and road maps from AAA (their discounts work there as well). Its just like planning your trip to anywhere here.
India ! Get informed !
India - Another resourceful site !
The Official Central Railway website, all current updated information on central railway with train information ! Very cool !
The Official Indian Railways website, again, all the latest position !
Tata Instititute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) site, recommended for any search/subsearch on India..check its Mumbai link below !
Geographical Information System (GIS) site for World and India too ! why should this be left behind ?
Bhabha Atomic Research Center, we are all proud of -
Air India, the Nations's official air carrier ! See the Maharaja here..
Official Indian site ...loads of information about Indian states, politics, Government etc... very resourceful !!
State of Maharashtra official website, very cool !
Site Map for Mumbai -maintained by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)...recommended !
Mumbaikar ? find others here..
IIT Bombay ! The Indian Institute of Technology at Mumbai. Also check it here.
MTNL - Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited ! Kai mhantos ?
MTNL Online ! Online Mumbai Directory. I haven't checked it out thoroughly yet, let me know how it is...
BEST ! Bombay Electric Suburban Transport ! Cool na ?
Pictures of Mumbai ? Check them out there !
MMRDA - Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. Bappa re !
Craigslist.org - FREE Apartment/Roomate search all over USA
Justindian.com - Another FREE apartment/roomate search site for all over USA
Home Finder's Bulletin - Based in Berkeley, CA for Apt/Roomate search locally
USA Architect/Firm Search - Find contact info, work specialization of Architects/Firms in USA
Vivasmart.com - Need college books? New/Used cheap and off the web! I did.
Conversion Utility Site - Convert measurement units, Imperial & Metric with Calculators for each!
E-ArchInfo.com - Great job Purvi Shah! Great site for info on Indian Architecture (Education/Colleges/Students)
Mahesh.com - find most of the current info on India here..
Bharath.com - similar stuff + Music (real audio songs)
India Mall - jobsearch, listings etc...they should do it better !
ArchIndia - website about the Building industry in India
Want to Return to India ? check out this site for " how to " !
Hindi MP3z ? Check this site for latest Bollywood songs. Pick whatever you want !
Site has direct ftp connection to Hemanth's server and lot others !!
Bharath.com - Real audio songs in Hindi and most other Indian languages !!
English MP3z ? Try this one...
Bodyscapes, some shockingly explicit body photographs, but on nice concept !
Want to Fool anybody ? Go here to know how. This is really funny !
Lost pals ? Click there to locate lost friends by their names, schools, colleges etc. if they are already registered there !
How about a cool Promo? Look up Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Promo. You won't be dissapointed!
Awesome Engineering Site - Really! play with Engineered creatures as your mouse controls their movement on gravity/anti-gravity
Dancing Lessons anyone?
Map Collections (1500-1999) Old 'n' Gold. See US cities then!
Ashish Mayer - with me at Michigan, came a year later straight from Lucknow!
Chetan Potdar - same batch as me at Sir JJArch and my wife's cousin!