221g white paper

[vtaraf]

My case at Kolkata consulate got cleared and I was issued the visa today. Thanks for the reply. You were correct in saying , that the case update date meant that there was activity which in my case was the visa getting issued.
Thanks a lot and wishing you all lots of luck and hope your visa's get cleared soon.

[rmkhan]

I lost my hope to get my Visa

As/K Bro Khalidjxb, Munna221g , Mask728 & Others,

As Most of you know my background already but let me explain to you all again quickly. I went for VI for fresh H1B in first week of Feb 2013 at Delhi. VO did not ask anything he just took my passport & start tying on his computer meanwhile he asked to me 2-3 questions like client name, Location & current position duration. After Interview he put my case on admin check & hand over me a white slip with a pretty smile & asked to wait for 2-3 weeks. Since then there is no update on my case till 25 Aug 2013. My case got updated on 26 Aug , 27 Aug & finally 29 Aug. I was very happy that this is normally a good sign So I was hoping to get cleared soon but since 29 Aug there is no update on my case. I am really very very disappointed now I tried all the options but nothing worked as so far. I Called DOS they deny to place an enquiry then called India's US-Visa center they also said same. Sent so many e-mails to Traveldoc but every time they sent me a standard reply. Tried live chat option too & they said that we can escalate your case & provide a case number but again there is no change.

Anybody can suggest me what can I do now OR anyone have ever faced this kind of situation. Anyone can guide me to know expected result of my case. Some of my friends are now suggesting to me that I should forget US-visa. Any help would be much much appreciated because I am not able to take any decision?

AH

Third, fourth time means..number of time AP status got updated, as i follow all the pending cases daily on CEAC website and record them on excel sheet. In your case it seems more than 5 times. You wouldnt believe i follow this forum only to get update on your and khans status.

I am ready to share my excel sheet if you can provide the email ID, that gives you an idea how to get statistics of any date.

My email ID is the same ID of this forum on gmail.

[wt4visa]

As/K Bro Khalidjxb, Munna221g , Mask728 & Others,

Anybody can suggest me what can I do now OR anyone have ever faced this kind of situation. Anyone can guide me to know expected result of my case. Some of my friends are now suggesting to me that I should forget US-visa. Any help would be much much appreciated because I am not able to take any decision?

AH

rmkhan bhai, many folks have faced and are facing this kind of situation, some are going through this for 2nd, 3rd time.. this is extremely frustrating but there is hope as consulate didn't refuse your case and moreover they are holding on to your passport, don't listen to your friends. Just keep calling DOS folks and try to open an inquiry.

You have said it is fresh H1B, did you do your MS in U.S. and currently waiting to go back or this is your first US visa stamping?

[rmkhan]

This is my first US Visa

Thanks a lot for your response & keeping my hope alive. Bro, this would be my very first trip from outside of India. I never visited any country before this. This would be my very first visa on my passport. Insha Allah.

One more thing I would like to highlight here. I am holding 2 passports because the issuing authority did some mistake. They put my last name in middle name column. So, when I noticed it I went to get it correct so they correct my name in new passport & cancelled old one. is this may be a cause to delay???

rmkan bhai, many folks have faced and are facing this kind of situation, some are going through this for 2nd, 3rd time.. this is extremely frustrating but there is hope as consulate didn't refuse your case and moreover they are holding on to your passport, don't listen to your friends. Just keep calling DOS folks and try to open an inquiry.

You have said it is fresh H1B, did you do your MS in U.S. and currently waiting to go back or this is your first US visa stamping?

[wt4visa]

Thanks a lot for your response & keeping my hope alive. Bro, this would be my very first trip from outside of India. I never visited any country before this. This would be my very first visa on my passport. Insha Allah.

One more thing I would like to highlight here. I am holding 2 passports because the issuing authority did some mistake. They put my last name in middle name column. So, when I noticed it I went to get it correct so they correct my name in new passport & cancelled old one. is this may be a cause to delay???

To my knowledge if you have valid, unexpired passport you are good, many people including myself have an expired(cancelled) old one and a new one. This is not the reason for the delay, don't over stress yourself.

Look at the bright side, since you applied in Feb, i believe you got your I 797 for FY 2013, and you should have good couple of years left on your 797.

[mask728]

As/K Bro Khalidjxb, Munna221g , Mask728 & Others,

As Most of you know my background already but let me explain to you all again quickly. I went for VI for fresh H1B in first week of Feb 2013 at Delhi. VO did not ask anything he just took my passport & start tying on his computer meanwhile he asked to me 2-3 questions like client name, Location & current position duration. After Interview he put my case on admin check & hand over me a white slip with a pretty smile & asked to wait for 2-3 weeks. Since then there is no update on my case till 25 Aug 2013. My case got updated on 26 Aug , 27 Aug & finally 29 Aug. I was very happy that this is normally a good sign So I was hoping to get cleared soon but since 29 Aug there is no update on my case. I am really very very disappointed now I tried all the options but nothing worked as so far. I Called DOS they deny to place an enquiry then called India's US-Visa center they also said same. Sent so many e-mails to Traveldoc but every time they sent me a standard reply. Tried live chat option too & they said that we can escalate your case & provide a case number but again there is no change.

Anybody can suggest me what can I do now OR anyone have ever faced this kind of situation. Anyone can guide me to know expected result of my case. Some of my friends are now suggesting to me that I should forget US-visa. Any help would be much much appreciated because I am not able to take any decision?

AH

Asak Brother,
I dont know what to tell you but trust me you have to hang in there. I have been waiting for 13 months now and I understand that each of us has a separate list of worries etc. but if you are still employed and not stuck with a mortgage etc in the US, try and just continue to wait. One thing is for sure, when it takes this long, it always gets resolved. its just a matter of time. If god forbid they had to refuse your visa, they would have in the first few weeks of AP. They will eventually issue it and hence its just a waiting game. Have patience!!! having said that, in the mean time

1. Continue to call DOS and request that they put an inquiry on your case. Ask them how you'll know a response was received on your inquiry etc....
2. If you havent already contact your local state senator in US, they can also inquire on your behalf. Even though this doesnt resolve a case, it sure pushes it a bit
3. Pair up with a couple of brother who are waiting along with you. Stay in touch via emails and phone calls....this helps a lot.
4. Rest assured, Inshallah this will end on apositive note for all of us.

[rmkhan]

You are all guys awesome

As/k Bro's.,

You are all guys really very awesome. I am very thankful to all of you.I am following this thread since a long time. you are all doing a very great job to encouraging folks all time.This is very important thing which we can do in our hard time. I wish you Mask728 all the very best.I hope you will get clear very soon.Lets remember of each & everyone in our duya's & pray to Allah so that he can forgive us soon.Aameen.

Asak Brother,
I dont know what to tell you but trust me you have to hang in there. I have been waiting for 13 months now and I understand that each of us has a separate list of worries etc. but if you are still employed and not stuck with a mortgage etc in the US, try and just continue to wait. One thing is for sure, when it takes this long, it always gets resolved. its just a matter of time. If god forbid they had to refuse your visa, they would have in the first few weeks of AP. They will eventually issue it and hence its just a waiting game. Have patience!!! having said that, in the mean time

1. Continue to call DOS and request that they put an inquiry on your case. Ask them how you'll know a response was received on your inquiry etc....
2. If you havent already contact your local state senator in US, they can also inquire on your behalf. Even though this doesnt resolve a case, it sure pushes it a bit
3. Pair up with a couple of brother who are waiting along with you. Stay in touch via emails and phone calls....this helps a lot.
4. Rest assured, Inshallah this will end on apositive note for all of us.

[mask728]

I have no idea whats going on at the consulates.....I havent heard of any "visa issued" or "case updated" situations in the last couple of days. V quiet everywhere.... Have you??

[munna221g]

Hope is the only thing we can do!

Assalam alai kum borthers,

Sorry.. I was very much busy with work.. I was constantly on the forum but couldnt post anything..

MASK Bhai and myself got same status updates so far since Aug 23rd.. The following are the updates:

Aug 23rd, 29th, Sep 3rd, Sep 6th, Sept 11th and Sep 16th. Escalated by DOS and US travel docs.. Still same message that the case is pending Admin processing. DOS told me that because of the escalation of Aug 20th, they requested passports on Aug 22nd. They thought the processing was complete, but it was not. Thats Weird. So, it has been close to month since they took my passports.

After reviewing forums, I understood that my case is put back in Admin processing. As per my research I understood that when the case is in Admin processing, there are two stages of it. The case will initially go through some security clearance which takes 4 to 6 weeks time.. (this is standard for all.. common muslim names and non muslims as well, unless there is another 221g for employer verification). If the applicant is given the dreaded white slip which will trigger an email from the consulate with basis questions of travel dates, resume in txt, publications etc, the case will go for Name check which takes 4 to 6 months or more depending on the commonality of the name. The initial security clearance is valid for 90 days... And hence consulate will have to do one more round of security check before stamping as it would have expired in 5 months of name check admin processing. Thats the reason folks get multiple status updates before visa issuance. For those who see single update before issuance, their initial security clearance is still valid...

It has been a month since RMKhan, MASK, wt4visa and myself got multiple updates. Hence, Inshallah in another 2 weeks or more we will get visa. My analogy might be completely wrong.. But it doesnt harm to assume if it helps us stay positive. For example, Brother Taher4u (along with lot of other folks) for multiple status updates in June upto June 11th. After which his case went for name check thing.. It got completed in August and his status got updated and issued as his initial security clearance was still within 90 days. Its just an example..

Bottomline, INshallah we are all very close. Matter of time and hopefully we will be back soon.. Please pray for everyone..

Regards
Munna

[rmkhan]

Thanks for sharing so much detailed explanation

W/K Munna221,

Thanks a lot for sharing such wonderful information. How you know all this?? you are doing a very good job!!. I was not able to place any enquiry yet from any place. I had a live chat session with a guy who told me that he can escalate my case. However, they updated my case on 26th, 27th & 29th Aug. What you can say on my case? My case again went to AP.??

Pls help me to understand my case.

AH

Assalam alai kum borthers,

Sorry.. I was very much busy with work.. I was constantly on the forum but couldnt post anything..

MASK Bhai and myself got same status updates so far since Aug 23rd.. The following are the updates:

Aug 23rd, 29th, Sep 3rd, Sep 6th, Sept 11th and Sep 16th. Escalated by DOS and US travel docs.. Still same message that the case is pending Admin processing. DOS told me that because of the escalation of Aug 20th, they requested passports on Aug 22nd. They thought the processing was complete, but it was not. Thats Weird. So, it has been close to month since they took my passports.

After reviewing forums, I understood that my case is put back in Admin processing. As per my research I understood that when the case is in Admin processing, there are two stages of it. The case will initially go through some security clearance which takes 4 to 6 weeks time.. (this is standard for all.. common muslim names and non muslims as well, unless there is another 221g for employer verification). If the applicant is given the dreaded white slip which will trigger an email from the consulate with basis questions of travel dates, resume in txt, publications etc, the case will go for Name check which takes 4 to 6 months or more depending on the commonality of the name. The initial security clearance is valid for 90 days... And hence consulate will have to do one more round of security check before stamping as it would have expired in 5 months of name check admin processing. Thats the reason folks get multiple status updates before visa issuance. For those who see single update before issuance, their initial security clearance is still valid...

It has been a month since RMKhan, MASK, wt4visa and myself got multiple updates. Hence, Inshallah in another 2 weeks or more we will get visa. My analogy might be completely wrong.. But it doesnt harm to assume if it helps us stay positive. For example, Brother Taher4u (along with lot of other folks) for multiple status updates in June upto June 11th. After which his case went for name check thing.. It got completed in August and his status got updated and issued as his initial security clearance was still within 90 days. Its just an example..

Bottomline, INshallah we are all very close. Matter of time and hopefully we will be back soon.. Please pray for everyone..

Regards
Munna

[mask728]

W/K Munna221,

Thanks a lot for sharing such wonderful information. How you know all this?? you are doing a very good job!!. I was not able to place any enquiry yet from any place. I had a live chat session with a guy who told me that he can escalate my case. However, they updated my case on 26th, 27th & 29th Aug. What you can say on my case? My case again went to AP.??

Pls help me to understand my case.

AH

asak Bhai,
There are some specific situations when the case update changes

1. When you call DOS and ask them to place an inquiry on your case. Now if they from their end see that there has been recent activity on your case, they will not be able to place the inquiry. Apparently the case has to be idle for some n number of days before they are allowed to place the inquiry. Oncethey do, they send an email to an escalation contact who takes cares of inquiries within their department. That person will look into the case and if possible push it to the next level or notify the consulate as a reminder about the case. THIS IS WHEN THE CASE UPDATE DATE CHANGES. Now when the DOS person receives a response from this escalation contact is a mystery because it would come back to the same person who placed the inquiry. sometimes they update in their system and sometimes they dont. Therefore, if you end up speaking with someone else, its possible they wont be able to give you a feedback. The good thing is either way the case gets pushed which is good for us

2. When you call the consulate first they look if it has been past 60 days since your interview. If yes they then look at when was the last time you had send an inquiry (email to travel docs or call etc). If that was at least 30 days back , they can "escalate" the case. When they do this, the case gets sent to a person inside the consulate who has a much higher authority. I've heard it could also be the person who took your interview. That person will look at the escalation and check to see if the responses have come from DOS, or other agencies etc and if possible will move your case to the next level. Therefore they touch/move your case and THIS IS WHEN THE CASE UPDATE DATE CHANGES. This can happen only once in 30 days as I mentioned

3. When you have your local US senator's office send an inquiry to the DOS. The senator's or congress persons office have access to an inside team at the DOS or US Consulate. They send your case details to them and most likely to the US Embassy in New Delhi through DOS asking for an update etc. They receive a response from the DOS with the same info that we get but at least this way it gets logged in their system that a govt official also inquired about your case etc. It doesnt help expedite but if for any reason the case is stuck somewhere, or pending some human intervention etc, it gets pushed. When the DOS or Consulate look into your case upon the request from this govt official, YOUR CASE UPDATE DATE WILL CHANGE.

4. Along with the above situations (which are specific to something we can initiate) when your case passes a certain stage in the AP, the case update will change. This could mean anything from, name check clearance, background clearance, FBI clearance, DOC clearance, employment verification etc etc.....basically each time your case passes a certain stage the date will change. This depends on each individual case and hence can vary from one applicant to another. For example, some names are more common than others hence they will have more "hits" in their name check process hence will need more instances of human interference (check, clear, verify DOB, picture etc ands hit "enter").....

What Munna221g and I and some other have done is that we tried to see if there is a specific pattern with these updates. As we have come across many folks who were/are waiting for AP, there does seem to be a pattern and based on that most likely things look good for us at the moment. having said that, if it was past 90days since your case was put in AP, those recent update dates mean that most likely they received the clearance/checks they needed but unfortunately by the time they got all that, your initial screening had expired, and hence they probably had to re-initiate another one which takes approx 4-6 weeks. Hopefully you'll see some changes in the next couple of weeks. Also they have triggers which they get once they send that check....they look at each case which is pending and if the check is complete, they issue and close the case. If the check is not complete, they set another timer to return and check on your case in a few days. when they reset this process, the update date also changes....

Hang in there, Inshallah it will end soon for all of us........Inshallah I hope I dont have to tell you my plan B.

[rmkhan]

Any one has any news for today?

Is anyone has any news here for today? Any updates from any consulate. I think, All consulates are quite since a long time. what do you say guys??

[mask728]

My Status to ISSUED today!!!!

Is anyone has any news here for today? Any updates from any consulate. I think, All consulates are quite since a long time. what do you say guys??

Salam Brothers,
My status has FINALLY by grace of Allah changed to "Issued" today. The update date changed on friday and till 3pm today it was still pending. it Finally changed to issued just now. Very excited I called the consulate support for next steps and they have asked me to wait till EOD tomorrow to hear from them about the status of my passport.....Inshallah once I get that notification tomorrow I will go and pick up my passport.

I will be away from this forum for some time as I have a lot to prepare for but in the mean time here are my update dates from the last couple of months

Case creation date : Aug 24th 2012

Case update Dates : May 30th 2013, 06th June, 12th August, 16th August, 23rd August, 29th August, 03rd Sept, 06th Sept, 11th Sept, 16th Sept, 20th Sept

AND finally 23rd Sept it changed to ISSUED.

TOTAL WAIT TIME = 13MONTHS!!!

Having said that, use my case example and hang in there....If I got it, Inshallah you will too!!

I'll write again later....

Thanks to everyopne specially Mirza and Munawwar bhai for being in touch with me and helping me get through these last few months of terrible waiting!!

AH
Sami

[wt4visa]

Congrats!!

Salam Brothers,
My status has FINALLY by grace of Allah changed to "Issued" today. The update date changed on friday and till 3pm today it was still pending. it Finally changed to issued just now. Very excited I called the consulate support for next steps and they have asked me to wait till EOD tomorrow to hear from them about the status of my passport.....Inshallah once I get that notification tomorrow I will go and pick up my passport.
AH
Sami

Askm Sami bhai, Hearty Congratulations!!!

[rmkhan]

Heartly Congratulations!!!!!!!!

W/ks Brother,

Many many congratulations!!!!! Thanks for sharing & Pls stay in touch it would give us strength to wait.

Have a safe & nice journey.

Allah Hafiz.

Salam Brothers,
My status has FINALLY by grace of Allah changed to "Issued" today. The update date changed on friday and till 3pm today it was still pending. it Finally changed to issued just now. Very excited I called the consulate support for next steps and they have asked me to wait till EOD tomorrow to hear from them about the status of my passport.....Inshallah once I get that notification tomorrow I will go and pick up my passport.

I will be away from this forum for some time as I have a lot to prepare for but in the mean time here are my update dates from the last couple of months

Case creation date : Aug 24th 2012

Case update Dates : May 30th 2013, 06th June, 12th August, 16th August, 23rd August, 29th August, 03rd Sept, 06th Sept, 11th Sept, 16th Sept, 20th Sept

AND finally 23rd Sept it changed to ISSUED.

TOTAL WAIT TIME = 13MONTHS!!!

Having said that, use my case example and hang in there....If I got it, Inshallah you will too!!

I'll write again later....

Thanks to everyopne specially Mirza and Munawwar bhai for being in touch with me and helping me get through these last few months of terrible waiting!!

AH
Sami