221g refusals
Immigrant visa applications, after having been already approved by USCIS, are then sent to the National Visa Center for further processing. Once the application becomes “documentarily qualified” meaning all documents were already submitted and passed through NVC criteria, the application is then sent to the consulate for interview appointment. At the consulate, there is another round of scrutiny and evaluation of documents and of the applicant himself. If for some reason, the consular officer feels the need for more documentation or information, he may tell the applicant to submit further evidence or refuse the issuance of the visa and review the application for further processing. This process is what is known as 221g administrative processing. So when you receive this type of decision, what should you do?
Here are some tips:
Take note that this is not a denial. This is just a refusal pending review or pending your submission of more documentation and information. So make sure that you follow the instructions on the refusal letter given to you by the consular officer at the time of interview.
Be aware of the deadline. The refusal letter would specify the time period you would have to comply with the request for additional evidence. Submit what is required as soon as you can.
If your case is specifically referred for administrative processing, there is no specific time period for the consulate to render a decision. It depends on the nature and circumstances of your case. You may want to follow up with the consulate six months after your interview or you may check your case status from time to time at the consulate website.
And while we are in this topic of 221g processing, there has been a lot of refusals at the US Consulate in Manila lately for nurses. The nurses I spoke to told me that most of them are petitioned by staffing agencies and no reasons were given by the consular officers why they had to undergo further administrative processing. As of now, there are quite a number of these nurse-applicants who are still in limbo as to where their applications presently stand.
So, to our readers who are nurses and have pending petitions, just be aware that this is presently happening and make sure that your papers are in order. You may want to coordinate with your petitioner how you can avoid being issued a 221g refusal.
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