I recently received a 221g after my h4 visa Dropbox appointment and they’re requesting additional documents - “the principal applicant’s H1b visa copy once approved.” My husband, who’s a Canadian citizen, doesn’t have a visa foil but gets his stamp at US immigration whenever he travels.
Lawyers at his work mentioned that Canadian citizens are exempt from H1b visa stamps(visa foils) and mentioned new approved i797 should be enough.
His current i797 is valid until May 9th, 2024, with a new i797 until 2027. I’ve tried contacting customer care and they didn’t know what was needed and asked to open a case and said it’s a special case and will be forwarded to concerned department and asked me to wait for reply. I am very anxious as I am stuck and don’t know what should I do.
Last year during stamping, they only needed the i797 and stamp, but this year, they only collected the last visa stamp and didn’t collect i797 at appointment. Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks Anil for your prompt reply. I opened a case on USVisascheduling customer care and after speaking with them over phone they asked me to wait to submit my passport again with i797 till the concerned department gets back to me. As per them it’s a special case since my spouse is Canadian citizen.
I thought if just going and dropping of my passport with my husband’s I797, i94 and wording from his company’s immigration lawyer that I mention in my post above. I am worried if I go ahead with the submission and they return my passport again it will be a long waiting game.
Would you recommend to just go ahead and submit the passport again?
OR
Wait till usvisascgeduling replies back on documents needed as I have case open?
Thanks Anil. I will wait for them to respond for a day or two just to support my case. I will keep you posted and might have more questions for you on timeline.
@anil_am22 they responded to my case saying submit form G-28. I called the US Visa help desk and after asking them could you explain why that’s needed the representative said Maam you don’t need to submit one just follow instructions given in 221g letter.
Upon explaining again that i797 acts as valid document for my husband’s visa - they asked me to open a new case that they will escalate to the Chennai VAC if I want the answer.
It feels like I am just going around in circles. As per your recommendation I have a cover letter drafted and my husband entered back in US yesterday and his i94 is update to reflect his admit until date until 2027. Do you think I should just go drop those off and hope they approve my visa?