L1B interview - 221g pink slip and passport taken by chennai consulate

[ak1]

L1B 221(g): My timeline

First of all thank you to the members of this community for sharing their experience and insight.

I had a lot of help reading the threads and now I want to give back.

My visa timeline;

1) Type of visa applied: L1B blanket (with spouse on L2)

2) Date of receipt of petition from employer: 24 Dec 2014

3) VAC date (fingerprint and photo): 2nd Jan 2015
4) Interview date: 8th Jan 2015 at Chennai Consulate

5) Received 221(g) blue slip after interview, visa officer (VO) asked resume and told to check back in two weeks.

6) Checked status on CEAC website on 13th Jan 2015: Status: Administrative processing

7) Checked status on CEAC on 20th Jan: Administrative processing

8) Checked status on CEAC on 3rd Feb: Issued

9) Got email on registered e-mail id to pick the passport on 4th Feb 2015.

I am still to collect my passport but I feel relieved now.

Things I learned:
1. Be patient
2. Visa issuing authorities take there own time, it cannot be influenced in any way.
3. The passport status check (on ustraveldocs website) and visa application status (on CEAC website) works pretty well.
4. The status "There is no status update available for the passport number submitted" does not necessarily means your passport has gone missing from the consulate. Its just that they have not updated the latest status.

Good luck all.

[neeluiyer]

I have gone through the situation which is as mentioned below... L1 B Blanket, Chennai Consulate, Kept the Passport and other documents, No checking of documents done....

Waiting for the reply for last 14 days.... (Oct 3rd 2013 was the interview date)..

Does it mean that even if there is delay.... you will be getting VISA Stamped?

Rgds,
Neel

[ASINGH01]

Got 221g on L1B at chennai consulate on June 8th 2012 , still waiting

I attended L1B interview on chennai consulate on june 8th 2012, VO just asked 2 ques, employer name and type of relationship of employer with client and given me 221g pink slip, went to counter 31 and got case number with no documents asked, They kept documents along with passport,i am still waiting update and case is pending process.
I have couple questions.
I have approved h1B petition from another US employer who is major IT giant, but because my passport is not with me and i cant go for visa stamping, has anyone used any process to withdraw passport from the consulate and how much time it takes. I talked to VFS and they asked to send them email which i did last week but still did not get any reply from them, i need my passport urgently please suggest me what should i do, i am in delhi right now and would it make sense to fly to chennai consulate on any working day to get my passport or i have to just wait for the reply from VFS which may take weeks. Any help appreciated. Thanks

[ASINGH01]

Mine L1B also went to 221g in June 4th 2012

I attended L1B interview on chennai consulate on june 8th 2012, VO just asked 2 ques, employer name and type of relationship of employer with client and given me 221g pink slip, went to counter 31 and got case number with no documents asked, They kept documents along with passport,i am still waiting update and case is pending process.
I have couple questions.
I have approved h1B petition from another US employer who is major IT giant, but because my passport is not with me and i cant go for visa stamping, has anyone used any process to withdraw passport from the consulate and how much time it takes. I talked to VFS and they asked to send them email which i did last week but still did not get any reply from them, i need my passport urgently please suggest me what should i do, i am in delhi right now and would it make sense to fly to chennai consulate on any working day to get my passport or i have to just wait for the reply from VFS which may take weeks. Any help appreciated. Thanks

[vijaran]

Hi,

I'm also with you..I attended last week..passport retained and pink slip 221g no documents asked..

valk,ftc or any one got positive news..

kindly update its really terrible and it seems days are very slow...

[rushmee23]

Hello,

We had a Visa appt at the Chennai Consulate today to get L1 A stamp on my passport and L2 for my wife. The first consular asked us few questions, said our papers are all in order but sent us to another consular officer for administrative processing. She asked us few questions, took our documents and our passports and handed back a pink slip to us (221G). She even said that your visa has been approved for now and that we'll get our passports back in 8-10 weeks.

We are very concerned. Dear expert kindly please advise on the following -

1) Are our chances of approval good given that the consular took the passports from us.
2) Typically how many weeks will it take for us to get our passports back.

Dear VALK - in how many weeks did you receive your passport and was it good news?

Thanks,
FTC

Hi


DID u get your VISA stamped??? As i am going through the same situation...! please tell

[rushmee23]

hi

hi,
I am also going through the same situation.

Did u get the VISA???

[ftc]

L1a

You are very lucky Ragsun. Congrats.

Last Monday was our appointment and today it is 1 week!! Been tracking on the VFS passport tracker ( still says processing in US embassy/consulate) and on that chennai admin processing PDF file (shows pending against our case number)

Did you call the consulate often in that one week? Is their some other place we could track this aswel? And most importantly, was yours a L1A case too?

Any suggestions are more than welcome.

[ragsun1]

Mine was the same case and i got my PP in one week

No documents asked on pink slip

[ftc]

Pink slip

Thank you!! The hellish wait begins!!

[shervin143]

Btw have you come across any cases where the passports have been returned within 2 weeks?
>>> Yes. If you search immihelp, you will find out similar experience posted by the members. It has also taken more than 6 months in few cases. That is why it is each case dependent and the timeline is hard to predict.

[ftc]

L1-A Visa Stamping @ Chennai Consulate - Pink Slip given and passport taken

Thanks for your response

This is so frustrating! She did say 'your visa has been approved' ... hope that is true indeed.

Btw have you come across any cases where the passports have been returned within 2 weeks?

[ftc]

L1-A Visa Stamping @ Chennai Consulate - Pink Slip given and passport taken

Thanks for your response

This is so frustrating! She did say 'your visa has been approved' ... hope that is true indeed.

[shervin143]

1) Are our chances of approval good given that the consular took the passports from us.
>>> Hard to predict. You will have to wait until the admin process gets completed.

2) Typically how many weeks will it take for us to get our passports back.
>>> It is impossible to predict since each case is different. Follow these threads.

http://www.immihelp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83064

http://www.immihelp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83302

[ftc]

L1-A Visa Stamping @ Chennai Consulate - Pink Slip given and passport taken

Hello,

We had a Visa appt at the Chennai Consulate today to get L1 A stamp on my passport and L2 for my wife. The first consular asked us few questions, said our papers are all in order but sent us to another consular officer for administrative processing. She asked us few questions, took our documents and our passports and handed back a pink slip to us (221G). She even said that your visa has been approved for now and that we'll get our passports back in 8-10 weeks.

We are very concerned. Dear expert kindly please advise on the following -

1) Are our chances of approval good given that the consular took the passports from us.
2) Typically how many weeks will it take for us to get our passports back.

Dear VALK - in how many weeks did you receive your passport and was it good news?

Thanks,
FTC