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Successful first time H-1B after 221g white in Hyderabad, India
After four weeks of mental torture, I have finally received an update that says my H-1B visa is issued. I am posting this for the benefit of similar victims.
Qualifications: MS and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from USA and B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from India. I work for a big chemicals company in the USA.
Date of OFC interview: March 3rd, 2013
Date of consulate interview: March 4th, 2013
Place of interview: Hyderabad, India
VO said everything looks good on my visa application but my case needs administrative processing. She said I should be expecting an email shortly from the consulate about what they need from me. I had all the documents (anything they could ask) with me at the time of interview but she did not ask for any of them. She retained my passport and I-797 but upon asking she gave my I-797 back and kept my passport with her. She gave a white 221g slip that had only one box checked that said:
You will receive further instructions at the e-mail address you provided in your application. If you did not provide an email address, or if you do not hear from us within five business days, you should e-mail us at [email protected]. You can track the status of your case by going to *** and entering your case number.
Received an email on March 4th evening asking to submit Resume, Research articles, proposed research, Transcripts, etc. via email to [email protected]
Contacted my company lawyer same day and they said it looks like a standard Security Advisory Opinion, prompted by the nature of my work and there is nothing that can be done to avoid it. They also said it typically takes about 2 weeks to resolve.
Emailed all the documents on March 4th night itself.
Kept emailing once a week to [email protected] asking them about the status of my visa application. Every time I got the standard reply:
Thank you for writing to the U.S. Visa Service Desk.
We understand that you would like to know the status of your pending case.
With regards to your query, we would like to inform you that your passport is still under process at the Embassy/Consulate.
Applicants are informed most administrative processing is resolved within 60 days of your visa interview. When additional administrative processing is required, the length of processing time will vary based on the circumstances of each case.
We would also like to inform you that the visa processing is on the sole discretion of the Embassy/Consulate.
We would request you to kindly go through the given link:- *** in order to check the case status of the visa application.
We hope this answers your queries.
Have a pleasant day!
Yours sincerely,
U.S. Visa Service Desk
I have emailed them asking whether they have received the documents that I have submitted and got this:
We have received the documents submitted by you. Your application is pending under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for mandatory administrative processing. There is no definite time frame for this processing as it depends on the individual circumstances of each case. The Department of State is continuously working to improve processing and expedite visas, and we appreciate your patience. Please be assured that we will contact you as soon as his processing is complete. You can also check the status of your visa online at ***.
Kept checking ceac website with my application ID (CEAC number) and it always showed that my application was refused. After that there was no update for about 3 weeks since my interview.
After 3 weeks the "Status Updated Date" on the CEAC website changed from March 4th to March 14th and the status was still refused. I got worried whether they even started processing my application because from what I have gathered the status should read "Administrative Processing". Meanwhile, I got more frustrated because of the two holidays during the fourth week (Holi on March 27th and Good Friday on March 29th). My wife and kids are stuck in the USA. My kids are US citizens but my wife got H-4 stamped last year as my dependent. She did not have any problems.
Finally, after exactly 4 weeks of my interview, on April 1st evening, the status on CEAC website changed to "Administrative Processing".
The next day evening (on April 2nd, 2013) it changed to "Issued".
Your visa is in final processing. If you have not received it in more than 10 working days, please see the webpage for contact information of the embassy or consulate where you submitted your application.
I expect to receive my passport and return to the US next week. For those in similar situation all I can say is: Be positive. If your case is genuine, I am sure you will receive your visa soon. I know it's easier said than done but unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to expedite this process. Good luck.
Qualifications: MS and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from USA and B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from India. I work for a big chemicals company in the USA.
Date of OFC interview: March 3rd, 2013
Date of consulate interview: March 4th, 2013
Place of interview: Hyderabad, India
VO said everything looks good on my visa application but my case needs administrative processing. She said I should be expecting an email shortly from the consulate about what they need from me. I had all the documents (anything they could ask) with me at the time of interview but she did not ask for any of them. She retained my passport and I-797 but upon asking she gave my I-797 back and kept my passport with her. She gave a white 221g slip that had only one box checked that said:
You will receive further instructions at the e-mail address you provided in your application. If you did not provide an email address, or if you do not hear from us within five business days, you should e-mail us at [email protected]. You can track the status of your case by going to *** and entering your case number.
Received an email on March 4th evening asking to submit Resume, Research articles, proposed research, Transcripts, etc. via email to [email protected]
Contacted my company lawyer same day and they said it looks like a standard Security Advisory Opinion, prompted by the nature of my work and there is nothing that can be done to avoid it. They also said it typically takes about 2 weeks to resolve.
Emailed all the documents on March 4th night itself.
Kept emailing once a week to [email protected] asking them about the status of my visa application. Every time I got the standard reply:
Thank you for writing to the U.S. Visa Service Desk.
We understand that you would like to know the status of your pending case.
With regards to your query, we would like to inform you that your passport is still under process at the Embassy/Consulate.
Applicants are informed most administrative processing is resolved within 60 days of your visa interview. When additional administrative processing is required, the length of processing time will vary based on the circumstances of each case.
We would also like to inform you that the visa processing is on the sole discretion of the Embassy/Consulate.
We would request you to kindly go through the given link:- *** in order to check the case status of the visa application.
We hope this answers your queries.
Have a pleasant day!
Yours sincerely,
U.S. Visa Service Desk
I have emailed them asking whether they have received the documents that I have submitted and got this:
We have received the documents submitted by you. Your application is pending under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for mandatory administrative processing. There is no definite time frame for this processing as it depends on the individual circumstances of each case. The Department of State is continuously working to improve processing and expedite visas, and we appreciate your patience. Please be assured that we will contact you as soon as his processing is complete. You can also check the status of your visa online at ***.
Kept checking ceac website with my application ID (CEAC number) and it always showed that my application was refused. After that there was no update for about 3 weeks since my interview.
After 3 weeks the "Status Updated Date" on the CEAC website changed from March 4th to March 14th and the status was still refused. I got worried whether they even started processing my application because from what I have gathered the status should read "Administrative Processing". Meanwhile, I got more frustrated because of the two holidays during the fourth week (Holi on March 27th and Good Friday on March 29th). My wife and kids are stuck in the USA. My kids are US citizens but my wife got H-4 stamped last year as my dependent. She did not have any problems.
Finally, after exactly 4 weeks of my interview, on April 1st evening, the status on CEAC website changed to "Administrative Processing".
The next day evening (on April 2nd, 2013) it changed to "Issued".
Your visa is in final processing. If you have not received it in more than 10 working days, please see the webpage for contact information of the embassy or consulate where you submitted your application.
I expect to receive my passport and return to the US next week. For those in similar situation all I can say is: Be positive. If your case is genuine, I am sure you will receive your visa soon. I know it's easier said than done but unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to expedite this process. Good luck.
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