Ottawa stamping - 221G and success

[xombiemoto]

Hello all,

I went to Ottawa embassy for the H1b visa stamping on November 28 and got 221G and today on December 06, 2011 I got the successful stamping done and got the approval email from embassy.

I thought I would share my experience for the benefits of others.

My employment arrangment - EC model.

I carried all the employment letters and contract letter from my employer and client both.

I was very positive that I will get the stamping in the first place itself but then the 221g happened.

221g white slip --> Further review checked off on it.

When I arrived at the embassy and waiting in the waiting area to be called I noticed that the chinese visa officer and the other white guy were friendly and mostly everybody were getting the visas stamped. I took it as a good sign but when my turn came and the chinese guy called me for the interview and he suddenly turned straight faced and started asking all possible questions and he was asking the same questions back and forth (Don't know for what reason but I found it weird). I answered all the questions calmly and also he asked to see below documents

I-129 with LCA

Latest I-797

Employment letters.

Contracts and client letters from my client.

My current pay stubs (I handed over the whole bunch for 2011).

I was also watching him what he was doing and he pulled out a form from his side and I knew I was going to get 221g even before my interview was over.

He said he can not grant me the visa at the moment as they need to do some reviews and will send me an email. He said please do not come at the embassy with this 221g form and please wait for the email from embassy. I said thank you and walked out in disappointment.

He kept all the above documents including my passport.

I informed my employer and client that if they receive an email from them then be aware.

On December 1, 2011 my client received a call inquiring about me, they asked him about the letter which I submitted to them. Also they sent him an email with 9 questions which were directly copied from Jan 8th 2009 employer-employee relationship memo and asked him to answer them.

All the questions are basically related to employer-employee relationship and to proved who has the control over you.

My client contacted me and he worked with my employer in order to answer the questions correctly and emphasizing that my employer has the ultimate control over me. He responded to the email on December 2, 2011 and I took a sigh of relief and prayed that the embassy do not come back to us with more questions and demands.

I got up today and checked my email and saw an email from them that they have processed my application and approved my visa. I also got an email today evening from loomis express mentioning that they have picked my passport for the delivery.

During this process a lot went on in my mind but I hanged on and got over the mind boggling stress and situation.

I would say it was not that bad of an experience as it only took 10 days in my case for them to get back to me with approval after I was issued 221g.

Thank you all for the very informative information on this forum.

Tips:

Also it is becoming a norm to issue 221g forms in all of the embassies and they are stressing much more on employer-employee relationship than anything else.

Please keep your records straight and work with your employer to establish documentation for employer-employee bond and relationship very strongly.

Do not oversee or miss any documentation or details before going to the interview.

Above all, don't panic and stay positive even if you get 221g. You are not the only one in the same boat and you are not standing infront of a judge who is deciding your life, it's just a visa.

If you have any questions which are well thought out and researched and still not answered then reply in this forum and I will try to answer them.

Thank you and best of luck to all of you who are planning to go for stamping anywhere.

[Sai_raj9]

@xombiemoto

First of all Congrats dude,

Can you please tell me what are the questions your Client has received from Embassy?

I would really appreciate if you could help me with this.

[xombiemoto]

Thanks Sai_raj9.

If you google h1b employer-employee memo there will be a link which will direct you to the pdf document on www.uscis.gov.

There are 11 bullet points/questions starting on the bottom of page 3 and it continues on page 4. check them out.