221G - white form - H1 to H4 Conversion of status

USA
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Hi Anil,

My wife went for H4 Visa stamping at Vancouver Canada and got a 221 G white form. Officer did not ask any documents but retained her passport and my original i 797 document. VO had only checked the copy of my passport and returned it.

My wife has been working on H1 for the last 5 months and is moving to H4. She was working on F1-OPT before that. I did not go for stamping as my visa is still valid.

Q1 - what does white 221G color form mean?
Q2 - Since passport is kept with VO does it mean we can expect a quicker response in 2-3 weeks?
Q3 - Vo said they need to do more verification - does it mean they want to verify primary H1B holder details?
Q4 - VO did ask where is the primary H1B holder right now and she replied he is in canada now. Not sure if they got confused with this answer. Also before that VO asked when did you come to Canada and she replied yesterday.

2

Hi @aj_us

It seems that US embassy officer wants to verify the H1B before they can issue H4. You are probably right that the answer about you in Canada may have created the confusion.

Keeping the passport with them is a positive sign and the case should be processed within couple of weeks.

I do not think there is any need to worry. The color of the form 221g does not mean anything. Each US embassy uses their own color and there is no standard format.

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Thanks a lot for the clarification and thanks for all the work you are doing, it is helping us all a lot.

Also, I have one follow up question- When my wife went for her H4 stamping my original I797 was retained (still surprised why).
I have a valid H1 visa stamping till Sep 20 on my passport, can I enter usa by road from canada with a copy of my i797 or do I need original i797 to enter USA?

4

It is better to have the original H1B i797 but you can enter using your H1B visa stamp too.

It depends on the CBO officer and if they want to see the original i797.

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5

Hey @Anil.Gupta ,

The status changed from refused to Administrative processing today.
Not sure What this means. I know there is a lot of confusion between Refused and Administrative Processing.
It was in Refused status till afternoon today.

Screen Shot 2020-03-04 at 12.51.36 PM
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Looks like CEAC has reverted the changes that they made on March 3, 2020.

I reported about the CEAC refused status changes done on Mar 3, 2020 here:

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Hey @Anil.Gupta not sure if we should interpret that as “CEAC reverted the changes” - as our case Last Updated date also changed along with that from March 3 to March 4th.

Screen Shot 2020-03-04 at 5.49.28 PM

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Last updated date change usually means an activity on your case. We are not sure if CEAC has made any changes in their system or not yet.

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1 - Does that mean that our case might have a reply soon?
2- Also an FYI - Our attorney said not to use original i 797 for H4 stamping any time.

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You can expect to hear from US embassy soon. Sometimes, there are multiple updates done and ‘last updated’ date might change multiple times.

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11

hey @Anil.Gupta just an update our visa status changed to issued today. Thanks for your help.

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Congratulations @aj_us

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13

Same issue here from AP to refused
Visa type : DV

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Hi @yasser_zaid

Don’t worry. We have confirmed reports that ‘refused’ only means form 221g admin processing if you have been issued form221g.

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Thank you but till now one month from interview after submit DS 5535 form for all applicant through email as per US embassy request
My visa type is DV