A hard circumstance at the U.S. consulate could hold your visa and force you find alternative solutions to get back to United States. During certain critical situations, it is most important to take the right decision and reach the path of success. One of our H1B Wiki visitors has shared his H-1B visa stamping experience at India.

H-1B Visa Stamping Experience in his own words:

I want to share my 18th May 2011 visa stamping experience. It was not a pleasant interview and took less than 10 minutes.I got my H-1B in 2010 and came to India first time after that.

Interview at Hyderabad Consulate:

ME: Good Morning.
VO: No response from VO

VO: Where do you work?
ME: Client name (my company is a staffing firm).

VO: Can I see your client letter?
ME: Gave it.

VO: What your company does?
ME: Project management, staff augmentation and workforce management solution

VO: She stopped me midway and asked is it a Consultancy?
ME: Yes

VO: Asked me who will supervise my work and how do my employer controls my work?
ME: My manager from client will assign day-to-day tasks. My employer will have weekly meetings with me to see how I am doing.
(VO doesn’t looked convinced from my answer)

VO: Can I see your pay stubs?
ME: Gave them

VO: Can I see the USCIS cover letter?
ME: I am searching for it (She asked me to handover the folder)

VO: couldn’t find the document.

She gave me a pink slip similar to the following and asked me to submit all the necessary documents specified in the pink slip.

 Post Interview – 221 g:

I have submitted all the requested documents (DHS cover letter, LCA, I797, Client Letter) and have been in touch with the U.S. Embassy with emails. They have been replying saying that my case have been held under ‘Admin Processing’. 

I immediately contacted my client company and got approval to work from home and started working from home. I didn’t have huge problem from my client since my whole team works from a distant location and my manager was ok with me working from India.

After a couple of months, I got a letter from the U.S. consulate saying that my case has been forwarded to USCIS for evaluation and I need to contact the USCIS for any further enquiries. I then found that that the USCIS basically reevaluates my H-1B petition and confirms the consulate in India.

Letter from USCIS:

“Dear Applicant,

As per the US Embassy your application is refused under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) as the petitioner was not able to provide you qualifying employment in the US.  Section 221(g) prohibits the issuance of a visa to an individual whose application is incomplete or inconclusive, or whose eligibility has not been firmly established.  Your case has been returned to the Kentucky Consular Center in the United States.  Once KCC receives the case it will be sending it to the approving USCIS office. For further inquiries you/petitioner may wish to contact the approving USCIS office. ”

I already waited for more than couple of months and there comes a letter from USCIS to wait for some more time!!  WTH? What to do now?

I already waited for more than couple of months and I wanted to try the option of transferring my H-1B and reappearing for H-1B visa interview at the U.S. consulate in India.

I was initially working in the EVC model (Employer Vendor Client) and I was rehired by my Vendor directly after I explained the whole scenario in India. He applied for H-1B transfer under premium processing and I got the approval within a week. Great!!!!

Successful H-1B Visa Stamping Interview Experience at Hyderabad: 

ME: Good Morning Madam.
VO: Good Morning

VO: Where do you work?
ME: Client name.

VO: Can I see your client letter?
ME: Gave it.
(VO went through something on her computer)

VO: What happened in the previous interview of yours?
ME: I was working with my ex-employer then and I had a vendor in between my client and my employer. And, that is why the consulate asked me to submit additional documents for verification.

VO: So what’s changed now?
ME: I have been directly hired by the prime vendor and I work directly for the client now through my employer. I will be working for the same position, for the same client.
(VO went inside and came back after 10 minutes)

VO:  So are you confirming there is no middle man between your employer and client?
ME: I replied YES.
(VO looked at me with a smiling face)

VO: Your visa has been approved. Your passport will be mailed to you in three working days.
ME: Thank you madam.

Hurray!!! And that was it. My entire struggle for three months had come to an end. I flew back to the United States as soon as I received my passport.

After I reached U.S., in a few days I got a reply from the USCIS that my H-1B (Applied through the E-V-C model) has been reaffirmed and that I could go for my H-1B stamping. So, this is how I managed to get back to United Stated after going through such a complex situation receiving 221(g) at the U.S. consulate in India.

We sincerely thank the visitor who shared his valuable experience with the H1BWiki team. Any comments or questions are greatly appreciated.

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