F1 student VISA, 221g, pink slip

[Lovepreet@205]

Hello everyone
i had VISA interview on 6th November 2019 at Chennai US consultant. V
interview was fine. I was asked normal questions like What was my major project, when did i finish my b.tech(may 2019), what am i doing now, in which University i am going for my phd, is it fully funded (yes) then she didn't ask anything about financial as i got admission in fully funded phd program....then she asked what will i do after completing my phd. In the end she gave me pink slip and said to mail them few documents like my cv, previous projects abstract, previous international travels detail etc. She said my Visa is on hold under 221g and said they will process it as soon as i mail those documents.
it's still in administrative processing.

Is anyone facing same problem and please tell if someone had f1 visa interview around 6th November or after 6th November and visa got approved.
Thank you

[f1visaspring2020]

Hello, I have the same kinda issue for my Masters. I had my interview on December 4th, was given the pink slip and was asked to submit the documents. the consular officer mentioned to submit it as soon as possible so that they can process it soon but it is still in administrative processing. I had to make my ticket an open ticket as I was supposed to travel 22nd. My classes start 10th January. Please let me know if you get any update. If anyone else knows how to follow up , that would be great too.

thank you.

[Shef17]

Hi, did you guys receive your Visa? When did you receive? I want to know how long it took for resolution? Thanks!

[anveshj]

Overstaying on a visa is a tricky situation. They usually put a blanket ban of 3 years if someone is accused of this. However, usually the decision on this is swift and USCIS do not usually put it in admin processing stage.

Having a 221g status can actually be a little frustrating and painful. On top of that, its a one way communication channel. They will update you or ask for additional information when they want but would not respond to any of your queries even if its from an attorney.

A standard template driven answer is provided.

I had been in similar situation in 2011. I used to work with a very reputed IT company and had all my documents\records in place. i had been staying in US for the last 3 years and had went back on a vacation and needed to get my visa re-stamped. However, i was handed a 221g during my interview. No explanations were given and was told that usually such cases are resolved within 4–16 weeks.

Hereafter, it became a painful and frustrating wait. The case remained in that stage even after 16 weeks. I tried sending queries on the status through my company attorney but received a standard response that they cannot provide additional information and it would take 4–16 weeks (Even though it was past 16 weeks).

During those days, a pdf file was loaded on the website and one could see the status of your case along with all other similar cases. it was a 221g case book.

I analyzed the pdf and found that on any given day 20–35 requests were put in 221g status. A very good% of them used to indeed get resolved within 16 weeks.

However, the pdf also showed that there were many older cases too which had continued to stay in 221g status even after 2–3 years. But the number of cases which were in 221g after a year\year and a half were less than 2–3% i.e. if 700 cases were put in 221g around 12–15 months back, currently around 20–25 of them may would have remained in that status.

I received an approval after a good 10 months. Honestly, i had given up any hope by that time.

while there was no trend in terms of when cases could be approved, it can be wholly frustrating. I hope you get to hear from then in next 1–2 months at the max. All the best!