H1B Visa Renewal@Tijuana, Mexico - 221g white slip

gopal56

By gopal56,
in H1B : Visa Stamp

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gopal56 Member

gopal56

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Hi All,

 

I wanted to share my interesting and hopefully it will be useful to others who are planning to go for H1B Visa Stamping in Tijuana Consulate, Mexico.

 

Details:

 

04/13/14: I drove to Sandiego border from Bay Area on Sunday and stayed in Marriot hotel. This is close to Border/ASC appointment/Visa Consulate.

 

04/14/14:  ASC appointment.  This process took for 5 to 10 minutes.

 

04/15/14:  I had a H1B Visa Appointment on this day at 10am and received a 221g white slip with next step as "when the administrative processing is completed, we will contact you".

 

Visa Officer asked me few questions like employer, job duties that's it.  My case is pretty straightforward with H1B Visa Renewal with the same Employer and it is a known company as well.  Already stayed for 6 years in USA with I-140 approved status.  It seems as if Visa Officer wanted to delay the Visa Stamping in my case and no idea though, not provided any specific reason/details on why Visa is not issued at this point of time.  All I hear from him is "Sorry , we would like to do some additional processing before issuing Visa" and he collected my Original I-797 form but he returned Passport.

 

Next Steps after receiving 221g white slip.

 

- I kind of stuck in Tijuana, Mexico and waited for 3 days. Sent an email to the Consulate to figure out the processing time and received a response in 24 hours saying that it is going to take indefinite time so prepare for travel/stay arrangements accordingly.

 

- I was thinking to stay for 3 weeks to 1 month in Tijuana, Mexico before flying to India.

 

As a last resort, I tried approaching the Immigration office at the Border with some request, explained my situation, showed my copy of H1B petition (expiry date in 2016) and they have treated this as a special case. After few hours, screening, they have given me temporary I-94/one time entry to USA with validity date of 2016. As per the Immigration Rules, they can not provide any I-94 if we don't have a valid visa but I guess i made it with some Luck.  Ideally the best scenario would be go for H1B Visa renewal Stamping before your visa expires which is safe bet any time for entering USA again.

 

Hope it helps.

 

Regards,

Gopal

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gopal56 Member

gopal56

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Agreed. Visa is a must to enter into US.  As I said earlier, I believe it is just a special case/remote chance but somehow worked.

I am not sure there is 1 missing info that I have a valid B1/B2 visa with same H1 employer till 2017 on my old passport which I don't remember since the officer pointed me on that.  But I am very honest with officer that I am looking to enter with H1B with temporary I94 card and not with B1/B2 visa at all.  So If you look there is some valid US visa on my passport even though technically it is not valid to enter with that visa as I am currently having an employment and residence in USA.  And looks like they just helped me indirectly by screening/looking into details on my current 221g status and considering my history etc also they have a justification that I have some kind of valid visa to allow me or enter into USA.  And they have given me a temporary I94 and a visa waiver or 1 time entry form etc .

 

Hope it helps someone.

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vidat Newbie

vidat

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Hi Gopal

 

I too am now stuck in the same situation. I got the 221G on a H1B renewal on April 24th. I got the 221G on my first H1 stamping appointment in India as well. Back then it took 2 weeks for my visa to get approved. This time around the officer said, as I already did the screening once, it should be a lot faster the 2nd time, maybe as fast as 5 working days. She said she will leave a not in the system requesting faster processing.

 

I am stuck in Tijuana until this process finishes while my family is in the bay area. Had a question on your case.

 

Will you now have to come back to Tijuana once again once your case is resolved? Will the temporary I94 not impact ur case when u go back for the visa stamp?

 

What did you ask for the temporary I94 at the border? Let me know.

 

 

-Vidat

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rahul412 Advanced Member

rahul412

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Will you now have to come back to Tijuana once again once your case is resolved? Will the temporary I94 not impact ur case when u go back for the visa stamp?

 

What did you ask for the temporary I94 at the border? Let me know.

Dude, think practically. If you can enter into US even when your visa is pending then what's need for new VISA??

You cannot enter into US if your visa is pending.

 

AFAIK, their is nothing called permanent I94. So everyone has  temporary I94.

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gopal56 Member

gopal56

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What makes you think that its a special case?? I guess that officer might have misunderstood your situation. Better contact an attorney before its too late.

 

A person needs  valid visa to enter into US and in your case you doesn't have valid visa. Something went wrong here.

Ok. Thank you Rahul, will check with attorney further on this.

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gopal56 Member

gopal56

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Hi Gopal

 

I too am now stuck in the same situation. I got the 221G on a H1B renewal on April 24th. I got the 221G on my first H1 stamping appointment in India as well. Back then it took 2 weeks for my visa to get approved. This time around the officer said, as I already did the screening once, it should be a lot faster the 2nd time, maybe as fast as 5 working days. She said she will leave a not in the system requesting faster processing.

 

I am stuck in Tijuana until this process finishes while my family is in the bay area. Had a question on your case.

 

Will you now have to come back to Tijuana once again once your case is resolved? Will the temporary I94 not impact ur case when u go back for the visa stamp?

 

What did you ask for the temporary I94 at the border? Let me know.

 

 

-Vidat

 

Hi Vidat,

 

yes, I would need to come back to Tijuana once it is resolved as my case is pending with this consulate and my I-797 is with them.  Also I got to know that I have an option to pick my visa/I-797 in Indian consulate as well if needed. Also I am supposed to handover the temporary I94 and Visa waiver forms when I come here again for picking my visa.  I am still checking into details whether there will be any impact to my case with temporary I94 and hopefully not as it was given to me by the border immigration officers.

 

Sorry for the confusion on temporary I94, this is nothing but one time entry into USA as it just allowed me to get back in for now but in any case I need valid visa to get back in/out of USA.

 

Regards,

Gopal

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gopal56 Member

gopal56

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Is this true?? I never heard about that. How can you pick your visa from Indian consulate??

yes that seem to be true. Based on the request, Tijuana consulate can send all the details/instructions to Indian consulate so that we can get the visa done accordingly in Indian consulate without traveling back to Mexico.  just to let you know this information was provided by immigration officers only but don't have more details on this one.

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rahul412 Advanced Member

rahul412

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yes that seem to be true. Based on the request, Tijuana consulate can send all the details/instructions to Indian consulate so that we can get the visa done accordingly in Indian consulate without traveling back to Mexico.  just to let you know this information was provided by immigration officers only but don't have more details on this one.

Never heard about this process.

Just tops the updates.

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vidat Newbie

vidat

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pvar147

 

I am yet to here back from the consulate. I was asked for some additional information when I had my interview. This is my 2nd H1 visa interview and my 2nd time getting the 221G. Since they already gathered information from me when they last interviewed me, I was told they only need to verify any changes in my profile in the last 2 years. So, I was told this should be a lot faster. However, it's been close to 2 weeks since I took my interview and there is no change to my status. I am stuck in Tijuana and await the clearance so I can get back home. 

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gopal56 Member

gopal56

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Gopal /Vidat,

 

Did you get any updates on your 221g process ?? anyone have idea on how long 221g decision usually takes in Tijuana ??

 

Sorry for the late reply.  I didn't hear any updates on 221g yet from the Consulate?

 

Vidat,

 

Did you hear anything yet from them?

 

Regards,

Gopal

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  • 3 weeks later...
Satbir Newbie

Satbir

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Gopal/Vidat,

 

Did you get any replies?

I got white slip today in Tijuana for my H1-B restamping and am trying to evaluate my options.

The officer explicitly told me not to enter US even on visitor visa till the administrative processing is complete. 

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  • 1 month later...

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