H1B 221(G) asking for more documents from Employer - 2nd May 2012, Hyderabad

[H1VisaHyd]

Hi Guys,

I need urgent help/advise on the below case:

I started my job in US on October 3, 2011 on Part time H1B visa. I came to India after 3 years (went to US just after my wedding in 2009) on April 22, 2012 and I attended my H1B visa stamping interview at Hyderabad on May 2, 2012.

Unfortunately, my visa was held up and the interviewing officer gave me a 221g white form. On that form, he checked the “other” box and wrote “proof for need for H1b, how many applied, etc.”

Below is an overview of the interview process:

1) Started with asking questions about my employer, my responsibility and my salary.

Visa Officer asked for I129.

2) Visa Officer: How come you are on H1b on a part time? There is no part time in H1b. How did USCIS approve your visa?
Me: As my company already works with consultants but there are lots of expenses involved and hence.

Visa Officer: Expense control is not a valid reason for H1B
Me: they wanted somebody in house so that if they have any issues or concerns or questions, they can approach me and i can start working on it asap.

3) Visa Officer asked me why did I take this position.

4) Visa Officer: There are so many unemployed US citizens and Indians as well who have green card or H1 visa but instead of hiring them why did the company apply h1 for you and hired you?
Me: They must have liked my Qualifications and 3 years work experience in Wipro.

5) Visa Officer then asked me about the number of employees and how did I find this job.
I said I found the job posting on Dice.com.

6) Visa Officer took my documents bundle and retained the following documents:
i. Letter from employer requesting for visa
ii. Offer Letter
iii. I797A for H1b
iv. I797A for H4
v. Pay Stubs and W2
v. I129 and LCA
vi. Letter from Petitioner to US Citizenship and Immigration Services
vii. Unemployment Wage Report
viii. Company Annual Statements for 2009-2011
ix. Company Tax Returns 2009-2010
x. List of Employees

7) Visa Officer asked some questions about my husband, his qualifications and work.

Conclusion:

8) Visa Officer:. How much did you pay for visa?
Me: Company paid for my visa. Company pays to attorney as it applied for my visa.

9) Visa Officer: Did the company deduct any amount from your salary?
Me: No.

He returned back the following documents from the package I handed earlier:
i. Passport
ii. Itenary
iii. Degree Certificates and Mark sheets
iv. Resume
v. Copy of SSN Card
vi. Company's Lease Papers
vii. HDFC Green Slip

He then gave me 221G white slip and asked me to get the following documents from the employer:

i. Company's Job Postings
ii. Candidates applied for the position
iii. Company's Interview Process
iv. How or why did company choose me
v. Proof of need for H1b visa

Issue / Concerns:

A) Are the questions asked by the officer relevant to my case, especially questions about the visa fees? What was his intent? Is he planning to reject my visa?

B) My visa was rejected once in 2010. I applied again with the same company with additional documents and it was approved. Visa officer questioned me about this in the interview. Will he take that into consideration while reviewing my documents? How will that affect my case now?

C) Company had posted for the job position 1.5 years back and once I was selected in the interview, they cancelled the posting. Now the employer is unable to retrieve the job posting as the account expired. What shall I submit to prove this? What can I do?

B) Visa officer didnt ask me to submit passport with the documents - is it a red signal in my case?

C) How long will it take for my visa to get approved or otherwise?

Thanks in advance for taking time out to read my case and respond - I really appreciate it.

[H1VisaHyd]

Hi,

Can someone please help me out here? Any advise is appreciated..

Thanks!

[shervin143]

A) Are the questions asked by the officer relevant to my case, especially questions about the visa fees? What was his intent? Is he planning to reject my visa?
>>> The VO was trying to figure out of you paid for your petition. If yes, that is totally illegal. If his intention was to reject your visa, then there is no need to issue you a 221g. They have the right to reject it right away.

B) My visa was rejected once in 2010. I applied again with the same company with additional documents and it was approved. Visa officer questioned me about this in the interview. Will he take that into consideration while reviewing my documents? How will that affect my case now?
>>> They will take all your cases into consideration. But that doesn't mean that your case will be rejected.

C) Company had posted for the job position 1.5 years back and once I was selected in the interview, they cancelled the posting. Now the employer is unable to retrieve the job posting as the account expired. What shall I submit to prove this? What can I do?
>>> Get this in writing from your employer and submit to the consulate.

B) Visa officer didnt ask me to submit passport with the documents - is it a red signal in my case?
>>> In most cases they return the passport and ask the candidate to submit it back when the visa gets approved. You cannot derive anything from the passport being return back with a 221g. Search and read the posts on 221g/admin process. Lot of people got their passports with 221g and later asked for it to issue the visa.

C) How long will it take for my visa to get approved or otherwise?
>>> No one can predict that. They are cases by case basis.