H1B 221g refusal at Chennai

S

shankaran

Registered Users (C)
H1B 221g refusal at Chennai -- VISA issued after two refusals

Hello all,

I attended the interview at the chennai consulate on the 11 of Jan 05. Initially, the officer asked me how can a chemical engineering degree help me to play a software analyst role, and I explained to him about my lengthy experience in the IT field and my previous assignments at the US And UK plus the certifications I had received from major software vendors.

This did not convince him and he went on saying that my degree did not help qualify for this role, then it stuck him to ask me if I did any programming courses at college and I said yes. He took a look at my transcript and typed away something on his computer. After this, he started enquiring about my US employer and at the end of it all I was asked to get the following details and appear for the interview any time.

a. W-2 forms of all employees of the petitioner
b. Photos of the petitioners office
c. List of petitioned employees at the chennai consulate
d. Role / Job description for the next 12 months

I've observed a few other posts and found that the same items as above were asked for and when submitted, the VISA was granted. I am waiting for my employer to post the same and I hope the VISA comes through this time.
I hope my degree will not be a concern when I go for the interview next time. Pls. advice.

Thanks,
shankar.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Degree should not be a deal-breaker in this case ... since you have relevant courses and prior experience.

What kind of a company is this ? If its a fairly large and well known company, you should have no issues. If its small and employs a very high % of H1 employees, there might be some more scrutiny.

But if the company is clean (I mean no H1/wage violations etc), you should be fine.
 
Dear readers,

I appeared for the interview yesterday with the relevant documentation after my previous visit received a 221g. I must say, I am yet to recover from the interview experience I had with the consular officer yesterday.

She was not satisfied with the documentation that my employer had sent, and pls. note that she did not even go through all the points mentioned in the documentation. There were comments as to why I was going to work for a small company in the US when you have major Indian IT companies to work for. Then came questions which were more directed towards the company and I obv. did not have any answer. After all this agony, she asked for my education evaluation and since I was under tremendous pressure, I couldn't find it in my file, even though I had taken it. She said it doesn't matter 'cos even if you produce it, I am still not going to issue a VISA as I need more info from your company. There comes another 221g form with a number of checked items.She asked me to come back with the required and exact documentation. She also mentioned that one does not have to come again and again if they have the exact documentation.

Sometimes, I just could not understand what they mean by exact documentation. There's no set guideline and the consulate just sets its own standards from day to day and it varies from officer to officer. I have found some officers to be very sweet and extremely patient, even when they refuse applications. Sadly, it was not my day.

I am onto my second refusal and the good part is my employer has stood by me and we are working to get everything right ( Pls. don't ask me what defines a right here). If anyone has any thoughts / advice / questions, pls. feel free to let me know.

My question to you all is: IS the chennai consulate dead against any small company in the US or what's their problem?


-SN
 
It really happens here in Chennai consulate. Mine is also a medium size company in CA and a subsidiary in India. Earlier I faced problems with 2-3 H-1Bs as the consulate always wanted more and more information about my US company. Then, I attended a seminar at hyderabad about 2 years back and contacted the company visapro which, to my good luck, had an office in india. So I used their services when the consulate had asked a long list of documents. But they presented the case so beautifully that my employee got the visa. After that I have used their services for 4 Hs and 3 Ls and they all have come through.

By experience I have learnt that the consulate people look for certain types of information and it is good to have an assistance than mess up the case. surprisingly now the chennai didnt give any 221 g letter to my employees who later went for stamping. Provide all documentation and prepare a good supporting letter, covering all the information. Sometimes officer just go through the letter and dont even ask for documents.
 
shankaran said:
Dear readers,

I appeared for the interview yesterday with the relevant documentation after my previous visit received a 221g. I must say, I am yet to recover from the interview experience I had with the consular officer yesterday.

She was not satisfied with the documentation that my employer had sent, and pls. note that she did not even go through all the points mentioned in the documentation. There were comments as to why I was going to work for a small company in the US when you have major Indian IT companies to work for. Then came questions which were more directed towards the company and I obv. did not have any answer. After all this agony, she asked for my education evaluation and since I was under tremendous pressure, I couldn't find it in my file, even though I had taken it. She said it doesn't matter 'cos even if you produce it, I am still not going to issue a VISA as I need more info from your company. There comes another 221g form with a number of checked items.She asked me to come back with the required and exact documentation. She also mentioned that one does not have to come again and again if they have the exact documentation.

Sometimes, I just could not understand what they mean by exact documentation. There's no set guideline and the consulate just sets its own standards from day to day and it varies from officer to officer. I have found some officers to be very sweet and extremely patient, even when they refuse applications. Sadly, it was not my day.

I am onto my second refusal and the good part is my employer has stood by me and we are working to get everything right ( Pls. don't ask me what defines a right here). If anyone has any thoughts / advice / questions, pls. feel free to let me know.

My question to you all is: IS the chennai consulate dead against any small company in the US or what's their problem?


-SN
Click to expand...

shankaran,

is this your first H1 or renewal.
 
221 g bitten

221 g

Hi,
My name is Pavan Right now I am in India and have a query on my H1B.

My case:

I went to delhi for H1B stamping on september 13 and the consulate asked me to get some papers which i happen to take on sept 30 2004 and the consulate has placed a query of Administrative processing on H1B and it has been already 6 months and i havent recieved any mail from us consulate from delhi regarding my case. I have done my masters from usa and came for a h1b stamping to india.( change of status from f1 to h1)

My questions are:

1. What is administrative processing and it takes how many days ?

2. Is it possible for me to go to chennai when my administraive processing is going on?


Type of Visa: H1B
Consulate attended: Delhi
Dates attended: Sept 13, 2004 and Sept 30, 2004
Type of Query: US employee check
Documents with the consulate:
1. LCA
2. I129 Petition
3. W2 of all the employees
4.Experience letters
5.Company contracts

waiting for the reply from consulate from past 6 months

Contact no : ( local) 9848803358 ( Hyderabad No:) Email : kandarpa_99@yahoo.com

Can anybody advice me on this.

All The best
Pavan
 
VISA at last

Hello all,

I had gone to the Chennai consulate for the third time, after being refused twice, and got my VISA approved. Will post the details about my interview and some of my views soon. Pls. watch this post.

This forum has definitely helped me gain an insight on how to be prepared for VISA interviews and I hope my views / opinions help you all to some extent.

All the best!!!
 
Hi shankaran,
congrats on getting the visa stamped finally. Please post ur interview experiences in detail. Its certainly going to be very useful for everybody atleast those who have received a 221(g).

thanks,
aspirant.
 
H1b- 221 G

Hi

One of my friend got 221 g Visa refusal for H1B.As the reason is petitioner is not able to give him an employment.So me too applied to the same company.Does it affect my case too?And is there any chance for him to take for H4 Visa?Will H1b refusal will stopped him to go for H4 Visa too.

Please reply

Vini
 
Perhaps some information about the future project, employer details (including financials) will increase the chances of an approval. H-1B and H-4 are distinct, so yes it's still possible to get an H-4.
 
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