221g white paper

[pradeepmummidi]

221gdeepuMay09

My case also has an updated date of June 6 2013.

Similar Scenario. Did my masters in Medical and Bioinformatics. Working Full Time for a non profit organization, 4 basic questions asked and issued 221g.

[USER553]

Guys, my case updated date also got changed to June-06.

When was your interview .. Did they ask some documents to be submitted OR did not ask anythiung & it was only a name check..

[USER553]

My case also has an updated date of June 6 2013.

Similar Scenario. Did my masters in Medical and Bioinformatics. Working Full Time for a non profit organization, 4 basic questions asked and issued 221g.

When was your interview & was it TAL/name check

[221g052013]

221g052013

When was your interview .. Did they ask some documents to be submitted OR did not ask anythiung & it was only a name check..

Interview was on May 01 (New Delhi), VO asked few regular question about employer, salary, if I'm married, have kids etc. and kept my passport and I797. Next day I got an email saying my visa is on hold and they need additional documents from my Petioner. Documents asked were - all the docs. that were filled with USCIS, employment offer letter, client verification letter, projects list that I'll be working on, W2s\paystubs\tax returns.

[imirza]

Nice to know that there is progress on many of the pending cases. I wish you all good luck.

No updates on my visa application (H1B & H4) status since the interview (Dec 11, 2012). The case is still under administrative processing.

The only minor difference this time is when I called the Dept of State today the lady said "looks like the visa consular officer at the post where you interviewed is still trying to determine if you are eligible for a visa". I am not sure if I am reading too much into this but thought I will share it on the forum anyways.

-Mirza

[h4221g]

H4 and 221g

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum. I went for my H4 intv on May 16th and was handed a 221g pink slip at the Chennai consulate. The consular office did not ask me one question and directed me to another Indian lady, who asked me random (and from what I have read common) questions like my sister's age, my height etc.

I did my Ph.D in biochemistry, and was previously working in a university in the US in research. This may have triggered the TAL I think. Right now, am stuck in India with my 18 month old, while hubby has gone back.

This wait is especially hard because there is no end date in sight. It seems like 221g can take anywhere from 2 weeks to a year. Any idea what seems to be the avg rate of clearance for chennain embassy?

[mask728]

Case update date changed for me too...says June 6th today. Called DOS, ofcourse still pending but atleast I was able to confirm 2 things

1. Someone is doing something with my case
2. The actual status is still an error on their side. Apparently for many fiancee, dependent visa's also CEAC shows an incorrect status of "Refused" even though it is in fact still pending processing.

Lets see....almost cant take it anymore!!

[munna221g]

At least its a good thing to see status update date

Case update date changed for me too...says June 6th today. Called DOS, ofcourse still pending but atleast I was able to confirm 2 things

1. Someone is doing something with my case
2. The actual status is still an error on their side. Apparently for many fiancee, dependent visa's also CEAC shows an incorrect status of "Refused" even though it is in fact still pending processing.

Lets see....almost cant take it anymore!!

Assalam alai kum brother,

I know its frustating to see 'refused'.. On the side note, at least something is going on the case... Mine is still as follows:

Date of case creation: Feb 14th
Status update: Mar 18th...

Pray tonight (Shab E Meraj) Inshallah we all will get soon...

[USER553]

Assalam alai kum brother,

I know its frustating to see 'refused'.. On the side note, at least something is going on the case... Mine is still as follows:

Date of case creation: Feb 14th
Status update: Mar 18th...

Pray tonight (Shab E Meraj) Inshallah we all will get soon...

ASAKM


Please remember me in your prayers too. Jazakallah khair.

[DOCMD]

Visa issued today at 4 pm. Was away from computer whole day.
Good luck to all of you. Everyone will get their visa's issued, don't loose hope.
Thank you guys for sharing information, it helped a lot to get through this tense time.

[munna221g]

Congrats! 3 months and you got it...

Visa issued today at 4 pm. Was away from computer whole day.
Good luck to all of you. Everyone will get their visa's issued, don't loose hope.
Thank you guys for sharing information, it helped a lot to get through this tense time.

Congrats friend.. All the best for your safe travel.. If you can... please post a synopsis of your visa interview, consulate, wait time and your back ground (i mean TAL or something..).. Thanks in advance

Munna

[DOCMD]

Congrats friend.. All the best for your safe travel.. If you can... please post a synopsis of your visa interview, consulate, wait time and your back ground (i mean TAL or something..).. Thanks in advance

Munna

Background: Doctor graduated from India and did MD in US on J1 visa
J1 in 2009 for 1year, no problem.
J1 in 2010 for 2 years, admin processing which took 6 weeks.

Filed for H1 And appeared for interview with wife on feb 28th, white paper given with no additional documents asked. 4rth march, asked to submit my old passport. Passport submitted on march 6th at jalandhar.
Many weeks passed no change in status and no response from embassy. Lawyer contacted embassy/dos and no good response. Employer contacted senator and was told that embassy comes under homeland security department and they trump all.
May 23rd, received a call from embassy asking if I need to submit additional passports and whether I have submitted my old passport, my case status date changed to 7th march. May 24rth our date changed to may 24th. On may 30th my wife's date changed again and on 31st her visa issued. My date changed to 5th June and then visa issued on 6th June.

Not coming back for visa extension until I get green card or advance parole. Good luck to you all!

[pradeepmummidi]

When was your interview & was it TAL/name check

Ofc : May 8th 2013
Interview : May 9th
Email questionnaire sent to submit resume, itinerary, invitation letter
Docs Submitted : May 10th

I'm not sure what the reason would be. Guessing TAL due to bio field and questions asked.

[phoenix1]

Visa received after 30 days - 221g, PhD doing research for US university.

Dear friends,
I was a silent observer to this always active thread. I received my H1B visa after a month of wait.
My visa interview (Kolkata ) was like many others reported here where nothing relating to my work was asked. Then I was told my documents were all fine
but they need to do some more processing and they need more information. My passport was taken and the petition was returned.

I was asked to email the answers to questions written on the 221g form. The questions were about my research. I replied to them within 4 hrs and
my status was set to 'pending' and remained same till the 30th day. I emailed them on the 30th day and got the usual reply. The status date changed on
the 31st day for the first time. Then on the 32nd day I got an email that passport has been collected and ready for pickup, I checked my status and
it said 'issued'

Suggestions for postdoc's going for H1b stamping :
1. Carry letter from boss/PI.
2. Make/keep resume in MS WORD format and list of projects in a MS WORD file.
3. Try to get a flex ticket, at-least the coming back part.
4. If you get a 221g, try to make the most of the time you are in India :-) ...it might end suddenly.

Wishing all the best to all the people still waiting.

[snbtcca]

221(g) - Some clearance Stats at Chennai Consulate

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum. I went for my H4 intv on May 16th and was handed a 221g pink slip at the Chennai consulate. The consular office did not ask me one question and directed me to another Indian lady, who asked me random (and from what I have read common) questions like my sister's age, my height etc.

I did my Ph.D in biochemistry, and was previously working in a university in the US in research. This may have triggered the TAL I think. Right now, am stuck in India with my 18 month old, while hubby has gone back.

This wait is especially hard because there is no end date in sight. It seems like 221g can take anywhere from 2 weeks to a year. Any idea what seems to be the avg rate of clearance for chennain embassy?

Though no one can predict with exact timelines of processing, you can get an idea about typical processing times for 221(g) cases. I have done some analysis on all the cases since the biginning of this year for Chennai Consulate. My findings are as below:

1. (a) Total 221(g) cases from 1-Jan-2013 to 6-Jun-2013: 2591 (b) Total Issued: 855

2. Recent cleared cases:
(a) 31st May: 26 Visas Issued -> 1 pending since Aug 2012; 2 since March 2013; 20 since April 2013; 3 since May 2013

(b) 3rd June: 29 Visas Issued -> 1 pending since 22nd Feb 2013; 19 pending since April (22nd*1, 23rd*3, 25th*2, 26th*5, 29th*6, 30th*2) 2013; 9 pending since May (1st*1, 6*2, 16th*1) 2013;

(c) 5th June: 55 Visas Issued from Pending status -> 1 pending since 5th March 2013; 15 pending since April (23rd*1, 25th*1, 26th*4, 29th*2, 30th*7) 2013; 39 pending since May (1st*2, 2nd*10, 3rd*13, 6th*10, 7th*1, 22nd*1, 24th*2 ) 2013; Record day for 221(g) clearances for the time period of my analysis

(d) 6th June: 10 Visas Issued from Pending status -> 4 pending since April 2013 (26th*4, 29th*1) ; 6 pending since May 2013 (1st*1, 2nd*1, 3rd*2, 6th*2)

3. Looking at the trends, it is apparent that the current moving clearance lot contains 221(g) cases assigned 5-6 weeks back. Cases assigned before April 2013 are clearing out very slowly.

All the Best to people who were handed over the 221(g) between 6th and 13th May at Chennai. Majority should clear in no later than a weeks time.

Disclaimer: Statements made by me are based on just my analysis of all the cases assigned 221(g) since January 2013 and do not represent any official guidelines. Use the same on your own discretion.

Note: My Dataset contains 4239 rows as unique case numbers and 101 columns with dates of processing/Status for all the cases since Jan 2013.