Issued a 221G Letter

[hpizzle 2]

My spouse was unfortunately issued a refusal under Section 221G for her CR1 visa. The interviewing officer did not believe that I (American born) could agree to marry a girl in India within 5 months. Even though there was logs and log of Skype/WhatsApp/Facebook transcripts, letters, gift receipts, he denied the visa without even asking to see them. Has anyone else experienced this? We now have to submit more documents at a local office. Does anyone know how long the process takes once documents are submitted? The officer said they would not conduct another interview. 

 

 

[Just Paul 4,595]

37 minutes ago, hpizzle said:

My spouse was unfortunately issued a refusal under Section 221G for her CR1 visa. The interviewing officer did not believe that I (American born) could agree to marry a girl in India within 5 months. Even though there was logs and log of Skype/WhatsApp/Facebook transcripts, letters, gift receipts, he denied the visa without even asking to see them. Has anyone else experienced this? We now have to submit more documents at a local office. Does anyone know how long the process takes once documents are submitted? The officer said they would not conduct another interview. 

 

 

Submit the documents.  It can take as long as it takes at the embassy.

You are married so when the petition goes back to the USCIS you can provide more information about your marriage.   I suggest that try to spend more time with your spouse.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Paul & Mary

[givionte 138]

I see no mention of photos, passport stamps and travel visits, have you ever actually met in person?  Like said above, I suggest spending more face to face time, and record those interactions, perhaps have a family get together so you can provide proof you have spent time with your spouses family.  Also, gather up signed letters from both families parents and perhaps a family friend giving their blessings of your relationship together, and anything else you can gather in the short-term.

[hpizzle 2]

11 minutes ago, givionte said:

I see no mention of photos, passport stamps and travel visits, have you ever actually met in person?  Like said above, I suggest spending more face to face time, and record those interactions, perhaps have a family get together so you can provide proof you have spent time with your spouses family.  Also, gather up signed letters from both families parents and perhaps a family friend giving their blessings of your relationship together, and anything else you can gather in the short-term.

 

She had everything with her; wedding album, reception album, album of just misc. pictures of us with our families. We spent 2 weeks together before getting married. I then visited her a few months after and we spent another 2 weeks together traveling. We have photos of us all across India, her with my family and friends and me with her family and friends. The problem was, the officer never even ASKED to see anything. He immediately said that I am not convinced that he agreed to marry you within 5 months, then added that there are Indian girls in America too that I could have found. I don't know what else we could have possibly done besides me (the spouse) being there in person to convince them. 

 

All of the documents that were requested; marriage certificate, taxes, proof of income...he did not ask to see.

 

Edited July 24, 2019 by hpizzle

[givionte 138]

Sorry to hear she had a bad experience during the interview.  The good news is you can submit all that evidence that you didn't submit initially, and that may be enough to get through on your second attempt.  It's quite important to submit as much evidence as possible for bonafide marriage with the I-130, since the embassy will view those files and begin to form their opinion.  The interviews generally are just a formality, they've often already made a decision before they sat down, but use the interview to take additional notes or confirm what they already know.  It's surprising they didn't care to look at the additional albums you brought if a bonafide relationship was the issue.

[Kim and Joseph 36]

15 minutes ago, hpizzle said:

 

She had everything with her; wedding album, reception album, album of just misc. pictures of us with our families. We spent 2 weeks together before getting married. I then visited her a few months after and we spent another 2 weeks together traveling. We have photos of us all across India, her with my family and friends and me with her family and friends. The problem was, the officer never even ASKED to see anything. He immediately said that I am not convinced that he agreed to marry you within 5 months, then added that there are Indian girls in America too that I could have found. I don't know what else we could have possibly done besides me (the spouse) being there in person to convince them. 

 

All of the documents that were requested; marriage certificate, taxes, proof of income...he did not ask to see.

 

What is the timeline of your Relationship? From first Communication to now? That's important too, Were you there at the Interview?

Edited July 24, 2019 by Clark & Lora

[Lucco 3]

Sounds like they suspected fraud and I have no idea what their evidence was. Ask yourself these three questions.

1, Were there red flags in your case?

2, What questions were specifically asked at interview?

3, Is India considered a high fraud country?

[carmel34 3,631]

6 hours ago, hpizzle said:

She had everything with her

Good lesson for others--send all the evidence of bona fide relationship, time spent together, passport stamps, photos, boarding passes, and documents showing financial co-mingling, with the initial I-130 petition with more evidence side-loaded of more visits and financial co-mingling at the NVC stage.  At the interview they have already made a preliminary decision on the relationship being bona fide and they don't have to look at anything you bring to the interview.  Front-load, side-load evidence for this important reason. Bringing evidence to the interview is too late.  Hopefully in OP's case the visa will eventually be approved once all the evidence that was taken to the interview is submitted and reviewed, but it will add many months to the approval process.  Good luck!

[hpizzle 2]

56 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

Good lesson for others--send all the evidence of bona fide relationship, time spent together, passport stamps, photos, boarding passes, and documents showing financial co-mingling, with the initial I-130 petition with more evidence side-loaded of more visits and financial co-mingling at the NVC stage.  At the interview they have already made a preliminary decision on the relationship being bona fide and they don't have to look at anything you bring to the interview.  Front-load, side-load evidence for this important reason. Bringing evidence to the interview is too late.  Hopefully in OP's case the visa will eventually be approved once all the evidence that was taken to the interview is submitted and reviewed, but it will add many months to the approval process.  Good luck!

Do you really think it will take months? She was told to submit the additional documents at a local office. They would then take her passport and issue the visa upon approval. The officer kept all of the official documents.

[ShreebhagyaK9 321]

39 minutes ago, hpizzle said:

Do you really think it will take months? She was told to submit the additional documents at a local office. They would then take her passport and issue the visa upon approval. The officer kept all of the official documents.

Did he keep her passport or return it? 

I went through the same. I was told he will approve me after looking through my photo album and chats. And that I will have to wait for only 1-2 weeks. Luckily, they requested my passport back a day after my interview. We have been legally married for almost 4 years, known each other for 5 and a half years, different religions, different cultures. My husband has travelled to India 18 times throughout our relationship and we only had a court marriage.

All you can do now is submit the requested documents and keep checking CEAC for the current status. If they get what they want and you are able to overcome their doubts they will definitely approve it. Unfortunately, AP has no timeline. Some are approved sooner than others. Some have to wait months and even years. 

[hpizzle 2]

4 minutes ago, ShreebhagyaK9 said:

Did he keep her passport or return it? 

I went through the same. I was told he will approve me after looking through my photo album and chats. And that I will have to wait for only 1-2 weeks. Luckily, they requested my passport back a day after my interview. We have been legally married for almost 4 years, known each other for 5 and a half years, different religions, different cultures. My husband has travelled to India 18 times throughout our relationship and we only had a court marriage.

All you can do now is submit the requested documents and keep checking CEAC for the current status. If they get what they want and you are able to overcome their doubts they will definitely approve it. Unfortunately, AP has no timeline. Some are approved sooner than others. Some have to wait months and even years. 

Thanks for the info. They returned her passport and said something along the lines of the local office taking it once the documents are submitted.

[ShreebhagyaK9 321]

17 minutes ago, hpizzle said:

Thanks for the info. They returned her passport and said something along the lines of the local office taking it once the documents are submitted.

At this point, all you can do is submit the requested documents. If they are satisfied with what you submit, your wife will definitely get approved. They asked her to drop the requested documents at a VFS office right? 

What sort of questions were asked at the interview? And what documents did they request to be submitted? 

Edited July 24, 2019 by ShreebhagyaK9

[givionte 138]

1 hour ago, hpizzle said:

Do you really think it will take months? She was told to submit the additional documents at a local office. They would then take her passport and issue the visa upon approval. The officer kept all of the official documents.

It is possible, depending on how busy the office is, they might have to put their packet at the bottom of the pile, and potentially require a 2nd interview which you would have to schedule for.  Prepare for the worst, because you never know.

[hpizzle 2]

33 minutes ago, ShreebhagyaK9 said:

At this point, all you can do is submit the requested documents. If they are satisfied with what you submit, your wife will definitely get approved. They asked her to drop the requested documents at a VFS office right? 

What sort of questions were asked at the interview? And what documents did they request to be submitted? 

Yea, VFS office. They asked her my name and how we met. Then he asked how I agreed to a marriage so quickly. They requested that we submit documents showing on-going communication before and after the marriage (which she had with her already). The one positive is that the VFS office is close to her house and they said she would not need to return for a 2nd interview. Everything can be completed from the VFS office.

[ShreebhagyaK9 321]

7 minutes ago, hpizzle said:

Yea, VFS office. They asked her my name and how we met. Then he asked how I agreed to a marriage so quickly. They requested that we submit documents showing on-going communication before and after the marriage (which she had with her already). The one positive is that the VFS office is close to her house and they said she would not need to return for a 2nd interview. Everything can be completed from the VFS office.

Alright! They barely keep documents over the counter during the interview. I consider myself lucky that they kept my documents during the interview. Submit what they ask and wait to hear back. Keep tracking the status on CEAC. Good Luck!