221(g) yellow form during H1B Visa stamping

[visit2011]

Approved!!!

Name - Jyoti Bhagat
VI Date-Aug 21st 2012
Slip- No Slip Given
Visa type - H1B
Department - Masters in Computer sc, Working as Quality Analyst (Full Time)
Docs- No Docs asked, all documents including I-797 and Passport returned
Consulate : New Delhi
Processing: Me or my Employer have not been contacted. DOS says Delay is caused by pending Petition Verification in PIMS. Yesterday I was called to submit my passport directly at the US Delhi Embassy and had a surprise Visa Interview by the Same VO.
He APPROVED my visa. After 5 Months of long wait. Good luck to you all.

[ras305]

Name - Jyoti Bhagat
VI Date-Aug 21st 2012
Slip- No Slip Given
Visa type - H1B
Department - Masters in Computer sc, Working as Quality Analyst (Full Time)
Docs- No Docs asked, all documents including I-797 and Passport returned
Consulate : New Delhi
Processing: Me or my Employer have not been contacted. DOS says Delay is caused by pending Petition Verification in PIMS. Yesterday I was called to submit my passport directly at the US Delhi Embassy and had a surprise Visa Interview by the Same VO.
He APPROVED my visa. After 5 Months of long wait. Good luck to you all.

Congrats...wish you good luck...TC.

[dilemma221g]

Hello everyone..!

After all the googling I've been doing for the last 7 months, here is what I figured:-
Cases with petitions valid for an year, the max wait period is 9 months. They've issued the visas by the end of 9th Month if not earlier.
If the petition is valid for 3years, god save us. I've come across people who've been waiting for more than 15months. You can find such cases everywhere (immihelp, ******** etc).

So hope for the best.

Hello everyone,
Recently I made my status inquiry and got the following response from the consulate.

"Your application is pending under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for administrative processing. Post does not have the authority to take any action on such cases until we receive authorization from the Department of State. As soon as we receive a response from the Department of State, we will contact you in order to complete the processing of your visa."

Did anyone receive the same response whose case is under admin. process? This response is something new for me because so far I used to get their standard reply that we all know of. It have completed 14 months already. My company attorney is also looking into it. My passport is still with them..!!!
Can anyone please tell me what it could be since they are waiting on response from DoS? I know that we can not predict any reasons but just share your point of view.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
AK

[hawkeye13]

Did your attorney already write to DOS ?

Hello everyone,
Recently I made my status inquiry and got the following response from the consulate.

"Your application is pending under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for administrative processing. Post does not have the authority to take any action on such cases until we receive authorization from the Department of State. As soon as we receive a response from the Department of State, we will contact you in order to complete the processing of your visa."

Did anyone receive the same response whose case is under admin. process? This response is something new for me because so far I used to get their standard reply that we all know of. It have completed 14 months already. My company attorney is also looking into it. My passport is still with them..!!!
Can anyone please tell me what it could be since they are waiting on response from DoS? I know that we can not predict any reasons but just share your point of view.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
AK

[dilemma221g]

[QUOTE=hawkeye13;293655]Did your attorney already write to DOS ?
Hey I already talked to my attorney and she said she will contact DOS later on. As per my understanding she should now because its already been 14 months.. My passport is still with them all these time... No decision has been given and now they gave me this reply. I guess they don't have any reason to reject it otherwise they would have rejected by this time. No further docs asked after i submitted requested employers docs way back in December 2011 itself..!!
Any suggestion?
Thanks

[hawkeye13]

[QUOTE=dilemma221g;293662]

Did your attorney already write to DOS ?
Hey I already talked to my attorney and she said she will contact DOS later on. As per my understanding she should now because its already been 14 months.. My passport is still with them all these time... No decision has been given and now they gave me this reply. I guess they don't have any reason to reject it otherwise they would have rejected by this time. No further docs asked after i submitted requested employers docs way back in December 2011 itself..!!
Any suggestion?
Thanks

I am not saying that they will reject it. But according to me Attorney should contact DOS as soon as initial 60 days are over.

[dilemma221g]

[QUOTE=hawkeye13;293667]

Did your attorney already write to DOS ?
Hey I already talked to my attorney and she said she will contact DOS later on. As per my understanding she should now because its already been 14 months.. My passport is still with them all these time... No decision has been given and now they gave me this reply. I guess they don't have any reason to reject it otherwise they would have rejected by this time. No further docs asked after i submitted requested employers docs way back in December 2011 itself..!!
Any suggestion?
Thanks

I am not saying that they will reject it. But according to me Attorney should contact DOS as soon as initial 60 days are over.

Hey thanks for your reply. I told my attorney the same thing that she should contact them now. But she asked me to wait some more time then she will contact them.. I don't know why is she saying like that???

[hawkeye13]

[QUOTE=dilemma221g;293669]

Hey thanks for your reply. I told my attorney the same thing that she should contact them now. But she asked me to wait some more time then she will contact them.. I don't know why is she saying like that???

Well if you have waited for 14 months than wait for 1 more week; just to fulfill your attorney's requirements.
But dont wait more than that.
In meanwhile contact VFS and ask them if they know what it is.

[dilemma221g]

[QUOTE=hawkeye13;293687]

Hey thanks for your reply. I told my attorney the same thing that she should contact them now. But she asked me to wait some more time then she will contact them.. I don't know why is she saying like that???

Well if you have waited for 14 months than wait for 1 more week; just to fulfill your attorney's requirements.
But dont wait more than that.
In meanwhile contact VFS and ask them if they know what it is.

Hey,
I will be in touch with my lawyer..! However VFS is the one who sent me that reply.. And I questioned them if consulate require any further docs either from me or employer??? They said consulate would contact you directly if required..! So bottom line is they don't know anything..! Lol...
I have no idea what to do?? I hope lawyer will do something about it.. I guess it should move once my lawyer contact DOS as its pending since long time..!
Thanks again
Regards

[hawkeye13]

[QUOTE=dilemma221g;293691]

Hey,
I will be in touch with my lawyer..! However VFS is the one who sent me that reply.. And I questioned them if consulate require any further docs either from me or employer??? They said consulate would contact you directly if required..! So bottom line is they don't know anything..! Lol...
I have no idea what to do?? I hope lawyer will do something about it.. I guess it should move once my lawyer contact DOS as its pending since long time..!
Thanks again
Regards

Also, cant you reach to embassy with Tel: +91-(0)11-2419-8000 ?

[hawkeye13]

[QUOTE=dilemma221g;293691]

Hey,
I will be in touch with my lawyer..! However VFS is the one who sent me that reply.. And I questioned them if consulate require any further docs either from me or employer??? They said consulate would contact you directly if required..! So bottom line is they don't know anything..! Lol...
I have no idea what to do?? I hope lawyer will do something about it.. I guess it should move once my lawyer contact DOS as its pending since long time..!
Thanks again
Regards

Also you can reach out to Department of State and ask them about confusion at (202) 663 1225

[ras305]

[QUOTE=hawkeye13;293697]

Also you can reach out to Department of State and ask them about confusion at (202) 663 1225

I am not trying to discourage anyone here, but DOS doesn't respond to any queries other than the regular status check questions (which you can also get from the CEAC website).
Everytime I've tried to ask for additional details on my case, the representatives kept cutting me off with a standard response that I'll be contacted by the mumbai consulate when AAP is complete, as if in a hurry to disconnect the call.

My employer and I have asked the lawyer to contact them multiple times.
It appears all he can do is send an enquiry which need not necessarily be acknowledged by them. My lawyer tried a couple of times to get an update but with no success and eventually said he wont be of much help.

I have also tried to get a second opinion from other lawyers I'll be completing 8months in a fortnight.

I am not sure what else we can do to get this moving.

[dilemma221g]

[QUOTE=ras305;293772]

Also you can reach out to Department of State and ask them about confusion at (202) 663 1225

I am not trying to discourage anyone here, but DOS doesn't respond to any queries other than the regular status check questions (which you can also get from the CEAC website).
Everytime I've tried to ask for additional details on my case, the representatives kept cutting me off with a standard response that I'll be contacted by the mumbai consulate when AAP is complete, as if in a hurry to disconnect the call.

My employer and I have asked the lawyer to contact them multiple times.
It appears all he can do is send an enquiry which need not necessarily be acknowledged by them. My lawyer tried a couple of times to get an update but with no success and eventually said he wont be of much help.

I have also tried to get a second opinion from other lawyers (posted a question on avvo) and even there the response was to wait and watch.

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/h1b-visa-stamping-at-mumbai-consulate-jun-12--got--1084157.html?callable=false&published=true

I'll be completing 8months in a fortnight.

I am not sure what else we can do to get this moving.

@ras
Thanks you for your post. I called up DOS yesterday, they told me that case is under admin. process at consulate. That's it.. I tried to ask her about the response i got from the consulate but she told me that it's still under process..!!! Hey did your attorney already wrote to DOS for you?? I thought it would move if attorney talk to DOS..!!!

[ras305]

[QUOTE=dilemma221g;293773]

@ras
Thanks you for your post. I called up DOS yesterday, they told me that case is under admin. process at consulate. That's it.. I tried to ask her about the response i got from the consulate but she told me that it's still under process..!!! Hey did your attorney already wrote to DOS for you?? I thought it would move if attorney talk to DOS..!!!

As expected...you can't blame DOS reps either...anyways..
My lawyer did tell us that he submitted an enquiry for status update (not sure if it was with DOS or consulate) which was not acknowledged/replied to.....following is the response in his own words after our first email exchange in early Oct'12 :-

"I have submitted an enquiry. Note that there is a very limited amount I can do in these situations. Consulate usually just confirms that the case is pending subject to completion of administrative processing, but there's nothing we can do to speed up the process. That said, I will keep trying. "

Perhaps, I'll reachout to him to check if the enquiry was submitted with DOS.

Do let me know how things go after your lawyer talks to the DOS.

[dilemma221g]

[QUOTE=ras305;293863][QUOTE=dilemma221g;293773]

@ras
Thanks you for your post. I called up DOS yesterday, they told me that case is under admin. process at consulate. That's it.. I tried to ask her about the response i got from the consulate but she told me that it's still under process..!!! Hey did your attorney already wrote to DOS for you?? I thought it would move if attorney talk to DOS..!!!

As expected...you can't blame DOS reps either...anyways..
My lawyer did tell us that he submitted an enquiry for status update (not sure if it was with DOS or consulate) which was not acknowledged/replied to.....following is the response in his own words after our first email exchange in early Oct'12 :-

"I have submitted an enquiry. Note that there is a very limited amount I can do in these situations. Consulate usually just confirms that the case is pending subject to completion of administrative processing, but there's nothing we can do to speed up the process. That said, I will keep trying. "

Perhaps, I'll reachout to him to check if the enquiry was submitted with DOS.

Do let me know how things go after your lawyer talks to the DOS.[/QUOTE

Hello there,
I already discussed this issue with my lawyer but she said she will contact DOS after specific period Of time. She also mentioned that they need to follow certain guidelines provided to AILA by DoS on how to handle such cases. My lawyer handled such cases in the past with positive outcome but she is advising to wait as of now as nothing can be done to speed up process.
She also explained not to make multiple status inquiries with the consulate, she said " The DOS has specifically stated in liaison minutes with AILA, that duplicative inquiries from different sources is counter productive. " she told me that she will be the only person making status check with them.. I know it's not helping anyways but we don't have any other option, do we???
Anyways thanks for your reply, will keep you posted bro.
Regards