H1B, H4 Visa

Visa Appointment: November 4th

VO only asked three questions and at the end of the interview VO said my application has to go through further verification and screening.

I am a FTE for a start up company in Bay Area.

Up until today December 20th, my case status stated Administrative Processing, today December 24th I received an email stating my Passport is ready for pick up but Case status still stated administrative processing. Has anyone faced similar issues?

Received a blue slip stating "Visa refused for administrative processing and the application will be reconsidered when the processing is completed".

Anyone with similar experiences?

Thank you.

24th Dec and 26th Dec are holidays for consulate?

VAC appointment- Dec 18
Visa Interview-Dec 19

Only asked 3 questions and at end of interview visa officer said your visa is approved and kept my passport. Only I-797 was asked and no slips were given.

Since then my case is in Admin Processing.

Did anyone have a similar experience?

VAC appointment: Dec 05
Visa Interview: Dec 06

At the end of my interview VO said congratulations your visa is approved and kept my passport. He didn't ask for any documents and no slips were given. This was my 5th face to face stamping.

Since then mine and my wife's case is in Admin Processing. There was an update on December 17th, 2019 but status remained Admin Processing.

Did anyone have a similar experience? Please let me know. thanks.

VAC appointment - Dec 10,2019
Visa Interview - Dec 11,2019
Consulate Location - Hyderabad
I am working in Indian MNC from past 10 years , end client is well known company in United states.
I have attended my Third h1B visa extension interview on dec 11 2019 @ Hyd.
Interview went well with basic questions , At the end VO said everything is fine and handed over the 221g white slip . He said that the Administrative process will complete in a week time.
VO collected my passport and did not ask any additional documents .

My Visa status is last updated on Dec 11 and the current status is "Administrative processing ".

My 221G white slip description is as follows:

"Your visa application has been refused under section 221(g) of the us immigration and nationality act(INA) .Your application requires additional administrative processing before a final decision can be made .No visa shall be issued unless an application is complete ".

Can you please respond if anyone faced the similar situation , Little nervous as I need to travel back on Jan 02,2020.

1) Does this 221(g) description is looking normal or it is something different ?
    There are no check boxes on my 221g slip and as of today I was not asked for any additional documents
2) I believe the average waiting time for this cases will be 10 working days , Is this correct?

Really appreciate your response on this regard.

 

Dear all,

Thank you so much for sharing all your experiences which kind of helped us in what to expect and look for.

Here are my experiences.

I and My wife both are on H1B and both have our Visa stampings scheduled.

My case: Drop Box at Hyd
16th Dec - Dropped the documents.
17th Dec - Application Received
18th Dec - Admin Processing
19th Dec - Admin Processing
20th Dec - Issued and Collected the passport. Visa got stamped.

For my wife,
16th Dec - Finger prints
17th Dec - Visa interview
Standard questions like Salary, client letyter , Job duties etc...
Kept passport and issued a 221G , no docs requested - admin processing
18th Dec - Got a call from Embassy to submit client letter and LCA, and we have done on same day
19th Dec - Collected the passport with no stamp ( This I kind of expected with all the experiences from the 221G postings, Thanks to all users)
It has 221G asking few docs like SOW etc.
Employer accumulated everything and sending the docs on 23rd Dec 2019.

We have to see how long it would take for my wife to get her visa.

We booked tickets to leave in mid of Jan.
Keeping our fingers crossed, But one thing I can certainly tell is - We felt bad and sad when we were going through this...But atleast all the users experiences helped us in what to expect and what we may have to face...

Thank you so much for taking time and posting all your experiences.

It would be better if we can keep track of 221G time lines.

immihelp has a tracker, But I am not finding it easy to read and depict the actual time lines.

I’m working as a FTE at a major player in the automotive industry. This was my first H-1B stamping after COS earlier this year.

17 Dec: VAC

18 Dec: Interview
Documents needed: Passport and I-797
Questions asked:
1. What is your designation at <my employer>?
2. Explain your roles and responsibilities.
3. What is salary?
4. Where did you study in the US? What was your degree and major?
5. Where do you currently live in the US? How long have you been there?

19 Dec: CEAC status changed to Issued
20 Dec: Passport ready for pickup

Hope this was helpful! Good luck!

My Background: FTE working on H1B and dependent wife on H4 appeared for Visa stamping at Hyderabad US Consulate general. Was working in same company same position for more than 4 years now. VO took both passports and gave 221G form with 2nd checkbox checked and with a case number. Said the administrative processing should be quick and will receive an email or call about further action needed from my end.

interview on 20-Dec-2019 when can we expect to hear back from USCIS

Summary: I am a User Researcher at a startup in San Francisco. I got my H1B visa approved yesterday at the consular interview in Mumbai. The interview took 5 minutes and was pleasant overall, but the officer threw in a curveball, an unsuspecting question perhaps because my company is relatively new and unheard of. So be prepared to not just answer questions about your job role but also what your company does, and what it’s core products are if it’s a new name. Play the defense ;)

My Background: I was on H4, and then changed to H4 EAD- had a full time job at a global company, and then changed to an H1B visa. Not too long ago I transferred my H1B to a startup and have been working there for a few months. I got 2 RFE’s (one for the new H1B application at the global company, and another during the transfer to the Startup). My RFE’s have been about my job role because the UX field, especially research is not that cut and right, and does not have a conventional path. My undergrad and grad degrees are both from the United States.

Doc drop off (Dec 11): Got fingerprinted, photograph taken, and a barcode affixed to my passport. Did not really “drop off” any documents.

Interview day (Dec 20): When I got to the front of the line (before going to my window), the supervising person asked me to keep my original I-797 ready. When I approached the window, this is how the conversation went.

Officer: “Good Morning. [Pause] Do you have a Master’s degree?”
Me: “Good Morning. Yes, I have a Master’s degree in [subject] from [university] at [location]”

Officer: “What is your company name?”
Me: “Do you mean the current company that I am working at?” [He nods] “I am currently at [Company name]”

Officer: “What does your company do?”
Me: “My company is about…and this is what our core products do…”

(At this point, I was prepared to answer typical questions about my job role and what I do because I get asked a lot of times about this outside as well. Moreover, this was standard protocol in a visa interview. I had my usual spiel ready. However, the officer surprised me with a completely unsuspecting question about my company that caught me off-guard.. slightly.

Officer: “Why do you need a core product to do this? Why can you not do this [task] without a core product??” [I was like “uhhh???%%”]
(Valid question. He was asking like any layperson would. He was curious about the company and the product. I could handle this because as a user researcher I’ve looked at the needs & pain-points of my target audience. I understand the current user experience and journey of the end user, and know well how the product solves for these problems)

Me: “Currently, our target users X,Y,Z have to deal with a lot of logistical and physical constraints as they go about completing their day to day tasks using conventional means such as …, however with our product, using advanced tech and with a simple click they can get accurate measurements..thus saving time and effort. This makes their jobs easier and more productive.”

Officer: “Okay, is this company about interior home remodeling?”
Me: “No, this is exclusively exterior home remodeling, for e.g… ”

[He handed me a multilingual pamphlet stating employee rights and labor laws, and asked me to read it later.]

Officer: What’s your salary?”
Me: $$

Officer: “Your H1B visa is approved. Thank you” [kept my passport]

**All along, he DID NOT ask to see a single piece of document, not even the I-797)

Hello Guys,

Anyone got a mail from ustraveldocs that visa interviews on 24th are postponed?

Please respond.

Thanks