Update on our case; wife issued 221G after marrying US born citizen

[hpizzle 2]

I wanted to provide an update on our case as I believe it will help others in the future. First and foremost my wife got her visa!

 

Here is the original thread:

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/713710-issued-a-221g-letter/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-9815399  

 

Summary - US born Indian married girl from India on first visit/meeting. We had been speaking for 5 months over Skype/WhatsApp/etc. Met through family friends. She was issued a 221G letter because the officer was not convinced of our marriage, mainly because I was born in the US. He did not ask to see any proof at her interview. She was asked my name and how we met before being denied.

 

After being given the 221G letter, she provided pages and pages of our WhatsApp log, Skype chats, and Facebook posts. The entire process moved fairly quickly. Here is our timeline:

 

Married	8/31/2018
I130 Petition Package Mailed	9/22/2018
NOA1 Received	10/3/2018
Fee Deducted	10/2/2018
NOA2 Received	2/9/2019
NVC Case Created	3/28/2019
AOS and IV Fees Processed	4/1/2019
Sumbitted DS and I-864	4/26/2019
Interview Confirmation	6/13/2019
Interview - Issued 221G	7/24/2019
CEAC Created - AP	7/24/2019
221G Documents Submitted	7/29/2019
Documents Returned and Passport Submitted	8/5/2019
CEAC Updated - AP	8/7/2019
CEAC Updated - AP	8/16/2019
CEAC Updated - Ready	8/29/2019
CEAC Updated - AP	8/30/2019
CEAC Updated - Issued	9/3/2019
Visa In-Hand	9/6/2019

 

My suggestion for those who may be in a similar situation: the US citizen should also go to the interview! I believe if I was there, she would not have been given the 221G. Who knows though - I have heard that in India almost everyone is given the 221G letter. Also, during the DS260 stage, I provided ONLY what was asked - so no chat logs, etc. This was a mistake. My thinking was that since they are not asking for proof of a bona fida marriage besides certificate, I do not need to provide photos, logs, etc. as it may look overly suspicious. I figured my wife can just show this at the interview. I think this was a big mistake. If additional proof was provided, it may have been seen before the interview. 

 

All in all, my wife got her visa and I will be going to get her soon =). Thank you to everyone on this site and best of luck to everyone else! 

 

 

 

[JeanneAdil 6,505]

congratulations

make sure she has communication with a cell / computer with family to help her not be homesick

whatsapp is free to talk face to face online

[Ola&Adunni 51]

Congratulations , as she had previous visa denials ?

[hpizzle 2]

3 hours ago, Ola&Adunni said:

Congratulations , as she had previous visa denials ?

She had been denied a study visa for England when she was in school. Nothing else from the States.

[Ola&Adunni 51]

Very good, thanks . Wish me luck on my upcoming interview 

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports.

[YasArr 24]

16 hours ago, hpizzle said:

I wanted to provide an update on our case as I believe it will help others in the future. First and foremost my wife got her visa!

 

Here is the original thread:

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/713710-issued-a-221g-letter/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-9815399  

 

Summary - US born Indian married girl from India on first visit/meeting. We had been speaking for 5 months over Skype/WhatsApp/etc. Met through family friends. She was issued a 221G letter because the officer was not convinced of our marriage, mainly because I was born in the US. He did not ask to see any proof at her interview. She was asked my name and how we met before being denied.

 

After being given the 221G letter, she provided pages and pages of our WhatsApp log, Skype chats, and Facebook posts. The entire process moved fairly quickly. Here is our timeline:

 

Married	8/31/2018
I130 Petition Package Mailed	9/22/2018
NOA1 Received	10/3/2018
Fee Deducted	10/2/2018
NOA2 Received	2/9/2019
NVC Case Created	3/28/2019
AOS and IV Fees Processed	4/1/2019
Sumbitted DS and I-864	4/26/2019
Interview Confirmation	6/13/2019
Interview - Issued 221G	7/24/2019
CEAC Created - AP	7/24/2019
221G Documents Submitted	7/29/2019
Documents Returned and Passport Submitted	8/5/2019
CEAC Updated - AP	8/7/2019
CEAC Updated - AP	8/16/2019
CEAC Updated - Ready	8/29/2019
CEAC Updated - AP	8/30/2019
CEAC Updated - Issued	9/3/2019
Visa In-Hand	9/6/2019

 

My suggestion for those who may be in a similar situation: the US citizen should also go to the interview! I believe if I was there, she would not have been given the 221G. Who knows though - I have heard that in India almost everyone is given the 221G letter. Also, during the DS260 stage, I provided ONLY what was asked - so no chat logs, etc. This was a mistake. My thinking was that since they are not asking for proof of a bona fida marriage besides certificate, I do not need to provide photos, logs, etc. as it may look overly suspicious. I figured my wife can just show this at the interview. I think this was a big mistake. If additional proof was provided, it may have been seen before the interview. 

 

All in all, my wife got her visa and I will be going to get her soon =). Thank you to everyone on this site and best of luck to everyone else! 

 

 

 

Oh.. I  am from India too. My husband is US born citizen. We even had a talk for like 3 months and than got married in his first India visit. After reading yours, I am much worried. If you want, please share any more experience you guys had. It will be helpful as I am in same situation.

[YasArr 24]

2 minutes ago, YasArr said:

Oh.. I  am from India too. My husband is US born citizen. We even had a talk for like 3 months and than got married in his first India visit. After reading yours, I am much worried. If you want, please share any more experience you guys had. It will be helpful as I am in same situation.

And when we submitt forms to NVC, at that time we should submit the call logs and chat history??

[NikLR 13,227]

6 hours ago, YasArr said:

And when we submitt forms to NVC, at that time we should submit the call logs and chat history??

You should have submitted everything with the initial I-130 petition.  If not then as additional evidence at the nvc. 

[hpizzle 2]

5 hours ago, NikLR said:

You should have submitted everything with the initial I-130 petition.  If not then as additional evidence at the nvc. 

I actually did submit a lot of logs at the I-130 stage. 

 

12 hours ago, YasArr said:

And when we submitt forms to NVC, at that time we should submit the call logs and chat history??

Submit everything at the I-130 stage and DS-260 stage. I believe everything uploaded for the DS-260 goes to the Embassy. 

 

12 hours ago, YasArr said:

Oh.. I  am from India too. My husband is US born citizen. We even had a talk for like 3 months and than got married in his first India visit. After reading yours, I am much worried. If you want, please share any more experience you guys had. It will be helpful as I am in same situation.

Have your spouse present at the interview. I honestly thought my case was a slam dunk to the point where neither my spouse or myself were nervous for the interview. US born citizen, no criminal background, never married, no kids, financially stable...I never thought we'd get a 221G letter. The only thing I could have done different is submit evidence with the DS-260 and go to the interview so that is my thoughts to you.

[NikLR 13,227]

1 hour ago, hpizzle said:

I actually did submit a lot of logs at the I-130 stage. 

 

Submit everything at the I-130 stage and DS-260 stage. I believe everything uploaded for the DS-260 goes to the Embassy. 

 

Have your spouse present at the interview. I honestly thought my case was a slam dunk to the point where neither my spouse or myself were nervous for the interview. US born citizen, no criminal background, never married, no kids, financially stable...I never thought we'd get a 221G letter. The only thing I could have done different is submit evidence with the DS-260 and go to the interview so that is my thoughts to you.

Nothing submitted at NVC has to be looked at.  It generally is, but doesnt have to be. 

[YasArr 24]

2 hours ago, NikLR said:

Nothing submitted at NVC has to be looked at.  It generally is, but doesnt have to be. 

So if not submitted at i130 stage so I should do that NVC stage? Is that possible. Will they accept that as they haven't request??

[YasArr 24]

On 9/6/2019 at 8:31 PM, hpizzle said:

I wanted to provide an update on our case as I believe it will help others in the future. First and foremost my wife got her visa!

 

Here is the original thread:

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/713710-issued-a-221g-letter/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-9815399  

 

Summary - US born Indian married girl from India on first visit/meeting. We had been speaking for 5 months over Skype/WhatsApp/etc. Met through family friends. She was issued a 221G letter because the officer was not convinced of our marriage, mainly because I was born in the US. He did not ask to see any proof at her interview. She was asked my name and how we met before being denied.

 

After being given the 221G letter, she provided pages and pages of our WhatsApp log, Skype chats, and Facebook posts. The entire process moved fairly quickly. Here is our timeline:

 

Married	8/31/2018
I130 Petition Package Mailed	9/22/2018
NOA1 Received	10/3/2018
Fee Deducted	10/2/2018
NOA2 Received	2/9/2019
NVC Case Created	3/28/2019
AOS and IV Fees Processed	4/1/2019
Sumbitted DS and I-864	4/26/2019
Interview Confirmation	6/13/2019
Interview - Issued 221G	7/24/2019
CEAC Created - AP	7/24/2019
221G Documents Submitted	7/29/2019
Documents Returned and Passport Submitted	8/5/2019
CEAC Updated - AP	8/7/2019
CEAC Updated - AP	8/16/2019
CEAC Updated - Ready	8/29/2019
CEAC Updated - AP	8/30/2019
CEAC Updated - Issued	9/3/2019
Visa In-Hand	9/6/2019

 

My suggestion for those who may be in a similar situation: the US citizen should also go to the interview! I believe if I was there, she would not have been given the 221G. Who knows though - I have heard that in India almost everyone is given the 221G letter. Also, during the DS260 stage, I provided ONLY what was asked - so no chat logs, etc. This was a mistake. My thinking was that since they are not asking for proof of a bona fida marriage besides certificate, I do not need to provide photos, logs, etc. as it may look overly suspicious. I figured my wife can just show this at the interview. I think this was a big mistake. If additional proof was provided, it may have been seen before the interview. 

 

All in all, my wife got her visa and I will be going to get her soon =). Thank you to everyone on this site and best of luck to everyone else! 

 

 

 

So your spouse has only one Interview right?? NO second Interview??

[NikLR 13,227]

2 hours ago, YasArr said:

So if not submitted at i130 stage so I should do that NVC stage? Is that possible. Will they accept that as they haven't request??

Yes you can do it at the NVC stage but that doesn't mean the CO has to look at those items.  They don't have to look at anything brought to interview either.  But it's better to submit at NVC than to try to bring to interview, and better to bring to interview than not at all.