H1B Stamping Toronto May 1 - Administrative Processing 221G Yellow

saladin2012

By saladin2012,
in H1B : Visa Stamp

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saladin2012 Member

saladin2012

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Hi,

I went for my first H1B stamping on May 1st at Toronto. 8 AM appointment, everything completed by 9:30AM.

I work direct full-time for a local/county government hospital. Education is related to the job duties. (public health field)

All documents carried and nothing missing.

*I have a Muslim name but not a "common" Muslim name.

White lady visa officer.

Interview lasted 3-4 minutes, just asked me a couple of questions like:

1) Where do you work?

2) What duties do you perform?

3) Studied where and what? (I did my masters in US).

Most of the interview time was spent in her typing stuff into her computer & probably waiting for stuff to load on her computer.

Did not ask to see any documents or employer letter or anything.

After the questions and typing stuff into her computer. She mumbled, "I am approving your visa but we need some additional administrative processing, this can take 2 weeks to 2 months and you will be informed by email." Gave yellow 221G.

Returned the passport and i797, kept a copy of i797 nothing else.

I left Toronto already as I had other travel plans.

--- Staying in Toronto ---

I stayed at the economical shared accommodation provided by one of the forum users here. The place is nice, in between the airport and the consulate. They provide airport pickup, food, internet, consulate drop off and airport dropoff too. Very helpful folks.

If you are going to Toronto for stamping, ask if they have accommodation available for you, his username is dba.qadir *********** on this forum and the same email address for inquiries. Search for the user on this forum and find their other posts and testimonials if needed, I recommend them.

Case status is in admin processing when I checked the CEAC website today morning, status last updated since May 1.

I am expecting 4-8 weeks for this process, but I know a lot of cases are pending approval since several months.

Thanks

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rahul412 Advanced Member

rahul412

Posted
Posted

Hi saladin2012,

Can we travel to India on 221g yellow slip and come back to Canada once the H1B visa is approved. Other question I had is Do we have any time constraint to come back to Canada and get visa stamped once the H1B is approved.

Thanks.

You can travel to India from Canada.

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saladin2012 Member

saladin2012

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In reply to the above friends:

Yes, you can leave Canada and come back when you are asked to submit passport. Ofcourse it all depends on your specific circumstances, I did not have option to work-from-home during the time waiting for the 221g to resolve, secondly since I have Muslim name it might take months, thirdly I had plans to go to India so I just left instead of staying in Canada doing nothing.

You will ofcourse need Canada visa to come back, better if your have a multiple entry visa valid until the expected time you might be coming back for stamping. Leaving Canada does not affect the US processing in any way, they might not even know you left Canada or not.

To stay longer in Canada, please contact DBA QADIR , one of the post above to arrange economical stay in Toronto even if your interview was away from Toronto.

Yes, I interviewed on May 1 and my status still shows Administrative Processing and I did not receive request for any documents, I assume my case is name-check which has nothing to do with my employment documents or verification, thus might take months.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...
saladin2012 Member

saladin2012

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First time "last update date" changed on the visa status checking page on Sep 4, same day got email from Toronto consulate to re-submit the passport to get the stamp within 90 days.

I have not yet gone to submit, but will be doing soon.

 

Assuming the 221g has cleared, will only know when see the passport stamped.

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  • 4 weeks later...
saladin2012 Member

saladin2012

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Got 221G cleared and visa stamped, for details read above messages.

Final Update and summary.

 

May 1 2013 - Visa Interview, Toronto

Direct full time employer, no client or vendor

221G Yellow issued, most likely name based

No documents seen at interview or requested throughout the case

Sep 4 2013 got email to re-submit passport for stamping

 

I had left Canada after interview, had multiple entry visa, re-entered canada and submitted passport

 

Oct 17 I submitted it

Oct 28 status changed to Issued

Oct 30 collected the passport with stamp

 

Total time from interview to 221g-cleared email, 4 months. May 1 - Sep 4

221g reason, most likely Muslim name based, employers heard nothing from DHS or consulate and no documents requested.

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  • 2 weeks later...
mohdsohail.uddin Member

mohdsohail.uddin

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I was asked to submit my passport along with 221g Tuesday and status says "Issued" and I am waiting for the passport. No loomis email yet. Any suggestions.

Not to worry, sometimes it takes longer than expected.

In worst situations, they might put case into administrative processing again. (It happened recently)...

Hello,

Can you pls share how much time it took to clear admin processing again for second consecutive time?

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saladin2012 Member

saladin2012

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@MSU@ Please don't confuse my case with other people's cases mixed in this thread.

 

Note: Until the visa is issued, the status will say Administrative Processing, it does not mean its 221G unless they gave you a paper with 221G notice. All steps done until visa is issued is Admin Processing and it shows up for everyone, atleast for one day even without 221g.

 

I did NOT get a second 221g, my timeline is expained above as well, please read my msgs for exact dates of what took how long.

 

No, I did not have any communication with consulate. Moreover all they communicate is a pre-formatted reply which has no information about the case specifically.

 

Accommodation advice: I found the user dba.qadir on this thread, just contact him for cheaper longer term accommodation if you are stuck in Canada (any city), he can arrange acc in Toronto with all facilities for much much cheaper cost.

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  • 1 year later...
saladin2012 Member

saladin2012

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@H4renewal :

I left Canada to go India during the admin processing period.

 

Admin processing reasons are not explained to the candidate even if you ask. My case was most likely due to my Muslim name, I still work for the same employer, direct full time with no paperwork problems or gaps. I renewed my H1B without a problem in US but did not get it stamped yet.

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