221G in Guadlajara White slip: Indefinitely detained in MX

[seattle82]

I am requesting your inputs on this unfamiliar issue that has taken place with me here in Guadalajara, Mexico starting July 6^th, 2017. I am a valid H1B holder with a visa expiring July 2018 that was issued in Mumbai, India on April 15, 2016. Below is the scenario & steps my wife & I have taken. My wife is a US Citizen but my papers through her have not yet been processed. The issue here is with my H1B.

 

March 30, 2016, Mumbai: Visa interview completed. Given an RFE to complete medical panel. I had a couple brushes with the law with 2 DUI’s from keeping not so good company & a domestic violence incident from my ex-girlfriend in 2013 that were cleared by the courts in Jan 2015.  They were reduced sentences that would not impact my immigration. 2 reckless driving & non-DV charge since the court never saw it to be a valid reason.

April 15, 2016, Mumbai: 3 year visa provided

May 12, 2016: I flew to the US

May 17, 2016, Mumbai:  US embassy system flags my visa & I am asked to re-appear. US embassy does not send me any notice. More of this below. Note: Me or my firm never received any notice.

June 28, 2017: I leave to Guadalajara for a 5 day vacation with a valid work visa.

July 6, 2017, GDL, MX: I get stopped at baggage check when my visa swipe did not generate a boarding pass at Delta. On calling CBP (Customs & Border patrol) , Delta was told to have me report to the GDL US embassy. I promptly did but was not entertained. On creating some noise at the US Citizens queue that a foreign national was being held in a foreign country with no answers, my number and email was taken after 6 hours of waiting. I was told that information would be sent to me when they had any.

July 7, 2017, GDL: End of day Friday after staying right out the embassy so that I am noticed etc. I was sent an email saying my visa was revoked for failure to reappear on May 17, 2016 & that I should report to Mumbai embassy. No further information was given.   I responded to the email saying I never received any but no further response was given. My attorney emailed the embassy requesting answers, but no response was given to him either.

July 10, 2017, GDL: My wife flies in to GDL and uses her US citizen privilege to speak with a consular officer in an emergency request. She demanded answers and then in a 1 on 1 meeting was told about me not reappearing & that Salesforce was contacted instead of me / my employer. I have nothing to do with Salesforce & therefore the Mumbai US embassy sent the request to the wrong entity . My DS 160 from 2016 clearly states my information, my employer etc. as does my visa on the passport & inspite of that the wrong firm/ person was contacted & we were surprised that this  was even possible given that they could check my DS-160. She was advised that I re-interview. Our lawyers notified. We emailed our Senator for intervention & friends for awareness. We got traction from the Senator whose office contacted the embassy. So did my lawyer. No response was given.

July 13, 2017, GDL: I interview. The officer is surprised at what happened as the system does not prevent me from re-entry. She asks for 24 hours to get back to me as she had to do some speaking with the supervisors etc.

July 14, 2017, GDL: I was asked to appear for a follow up interview. It was a Friday 3 PM appointment. Instead of understanding what went wrong with the whole Salesforce contact etc. I was interviewed by 3 officers about my work situation, Client relationship with my employer, project work and how sub-contracting works.  When I had applied for my visa on March 30, 2016, I was working for Client A. In Feb 2017, I moved to Client B within the same MSA. The officers had a discussion in the backdoors and the mic was kept switched on. They talked about the mayor contacting them, my responses to them etc. I was then given a 221 G white slip with the ‘Need Additional Information’ checkbox ticked stating: Amended petition needs to be filed by employer because of change in location & client. I discussed with them that my employer is the same & I was working in the same jurisdiction. The officers said, no and that I needed to submit the amendment. They also suggested that perhaps I should consider filing for my papers through my wife as she is a citizen. I did not respond to that. When I got out of the embassy, I talked to my employer and lawyer and go to know the following > (As per the amendment rule you do not need to submit an amendment if:  The new work location is in the same Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Considering this we have not submitted any amendment as both work locations are in same MSA).

My attorney has submitted a detailed response about the improper detainment & the above law that does not require a petition. I submitted that in response to my 221 G. On repeatedly calling the embassy, they have requested that I do not call and that they will reach out to me when their check is completed.

 

July 21, 2017; GDL: It has been a full week and no resolution. I am not sure what is happening and have not contacted the embassy. My wife is working with the attorney, mayors and other avenues. I had a new job to begin on July 10, 2017. They are not withdrawing my job and have also filed an H visa for me. Given that there is no premium processing, I have to only wait.

 

 

As you can see there is a bigger issue going on than just my visa. I had a legal valid visa to re-enter the country and was stopped. I understand that my options are 1) Wait on the new job H visa to get approved and stamping will happen only in Mumbai & 2) Wait on processing my spousal EAD/ visa etc. which also is going to take a few months.  Your inputs to what my route should be in light of the above is appreciated.

[seattle82]

July 24: Checked online tracking based on my AA00 number and saw Case updated : July 24 2017

July 25:  Morning 7 am an email stating  : Consular officer would like offer letter , master service agreement & pay stubs back until Jan 2017 to date. I submitted all documents and email stating I was offered the position by the client. I called the next morning to confirm they received not only PDFs of the documents but also will consider the authentic emails. 

July 26: Waiting

I see this to be close to the final decision since this is usually what an officer asks for when I go in person to get a stamp.

Your thoughts ? 

 

[seattle82]

Does no one have any inputs here on what the situation seems to be like ?

[Tjgarla]

Did they also take the documents that shows that you dont have any pending cases or cases that you were convicted to be cancelled?

 

Asking these documents like offer letter , paystubs and all are the beginning steps for their investigation. 

I saw a similar case for a guy with a DWI last year in the same blog. They wanted him to get his Drug test done in the local US authorized clinic in mexico . I believe he stayed in Mexico for a month or so. But i dont have any update after that.

 

Search for old blogs in the site for more information. Good luck. 

[seattle82]

Documents were taken, analyzed and returned. Instead a new reason on the 221 G was assigned completely devoid of the documents related to the court cases. 

[seattle82]

On 7/21/2017 at 8:12 AM, seattle82 said:

I am requesting your inputs on this unfamiliar issue that has taken place with me here in Guadalajara, Mexico starting July 6^th, 2017. I am a valid H1B holder with a visa expiring July 2018 that was issued in Mumbai, India on April 15, 2016. Below is the scenario & steps my wife & I have taken. My wife is a US Citizen but my papers through her have not yet been processed. The issue here is with my H1B.

 

March 30, 2016, Mumbai: Visa interview completed. Given an RFE to complete medical panel. I had a couple brushes with the law with 2 DUI’s from keeping not so good company & a domestic violence incident from my ex-girlfriend in 2013 that were cleared by the courts in Jan 2015.  They were reduced sentences that would not impact my immigration. 2 reckless driving & non-DV charge since the court never saw it to be a valid reason.

April 15, 2016, Mumbai: 3 year visa provided

May 12, 2016: I flew to the US

May 17, 2016, Mumbai:  US embassy system flags my visa & I am asked to re-appear. US embassy does not send me any notice. More of this below. Note: Me or my firm never received any notice.

June 28, 2017: I leave to Guadalajara for a 5 day vacation with a valid work visa.

July 6, 2017, GDL, MX: I get stopped at baggage check when my visa swipe did not generate a boarding pass at Delta. On calling CBP (Customs & Border patrol) , Delta was told to have me report to the GDL US embassy. I promptly did but was not entertained. On creating some noise at the US Citizens queue that a foreign national was being held in a foreign country with no answers, my number and email was taken after 6 hours of waiting. I was told that information would be sent to me when they had any.

July 7, 2017, GDL: End of day Friday after staying right out the embassy so that I am noticed etc. I was sent an email saying my visa was revoked for failure to reappear on May 17, 2016 & that I should report to Mumbai embassy. No further information was given.   I responded to the email saying I never received any but no further response was given. My attorney emailed the embassy requesting answers, but no response was given to him either.

July 10, 2017, GDL: My wife flies in to GDL and uses her US citizen privilege to speak with a consular officer in an emergency request. She demanded answers and then in a 1 on 1 meeting was told about me not reappearing & that Salesforce was contacted instead of me / my employer. I have nothing to do with Salesforce & therefore the Mumbai US embassy sent the request to the wrong entity . My DS 160 from 2016 clearly states my information, my employer etc. as does my visa on the passport & inspite of that the wrong firm/ person was contacted & we were surprised that this  was even possible given that they could check my DS-160. She was advised that I re-interview. Our lawyers notified. We emailed our Senator for intervention & friends for awareness. We got traction from the Senator whose office contacted the embassy. So did my lawyer. No response was given.

July 13, 2017, GDL: I interview. The officer is surprised at what happened as the system does not prevent me from re-entry. She asks for 24 hours to get back to me as she had to do some speaking with the supervisors etc.

July 14, 2017, GDL: I was asked to appear for a follow up interview. It was a Friday 3 PM appointment. Instead of understanding what went wrong with the whole Salesforce contact etc. I was interviewed by 3 officers about my work situation, Client relationship with my employer, project work and how sub-contracting works.  When I had applied for my visa on March 30, 2016, I was working for Client A. In Feb 2017, I moved to Client B within the same MSA. The officers had a discussion in the backdoors and the mic was kept switched on. They talked about the mayor contacting them, my responses to them etc. I was then given a 221 G white slip with the ‘Need Additional Information’ checkbox ticked stating: Amended petition needs to be filed by employer because of change in location & client. I discussed with them that my employer is the same & I was working in the same jurisdiction. The officers said, no and that I needed to submit the amendment. They also suggested that perhaps I should consider filing for my papers through my wife as she is a citizen. I did not respond to that. When I got out of the embassy, I talked to my employer and lawyer and go to know the following > (As per the amendment rule you do not need to submit an amendment if:  The new work location is in the same Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Considering this we have not submitted any amendment as both work locations are in same MSA).

My attorney has submitted a detailed response about the improper detainment & the above law that does not require a petition. I submitted that in response to my 221 G. On repeatedly calling the embassy, they have requested that I do not call and that they will reach out to me when their check is completed.

 

July 21, 2017; GDL: It has been a full week and no resolution. I am not sure what is happening and have not contacted the embassy. My wife is working with the attorney, mayors and other avenues. I had a new job to begin on July 10, 2017. They are not withdrawing my job and have also filed an H visa for me. Given that there is no premium processing, I have to only wait.

 

 

As you can see there is a bigger issue going on than just my visa. I had a legal valid visa to re-enter the country and was stopped. I understand that my options are 1) Wait on the new job H visa to get approved and stamping will happen only in Mumbai & 2) Wait on processing my spousal EAD/ visa etc. which also is going to take a few months.  Your inputs to what my route should be in light of the above is appreciated.

I was lucky to have got a timely approval from a new reputed employer. I took in the new papers to the same officer who provided me the 221 G before and she recognized me immediately. I did not have to explain the old and new case to her ( I used my intuition along with help on this forum to go to the same officer) and got my new papers approved under 5 minutes. I was specifically told that the current 221 case would have gone on forever and I was lucky to have got a reputed employer. This saved me from additional stress, time, money , energy, losing my house , life ...the story never ends. Good luck all.