mizuha

Hello all, I am in my first year of OPT. I visited my home country and applied to renew my F-1 visa as it was close to being expired. On April 1, 2024, I applied via document drop-off because I qualified for an interview waiver. On April 4, I received an email saying my application had been refused under 221(g). And I was asked for the following documents: - CV/Resume, including list of publications and references - Detailed study/research plan and its practical application - Advisor/mentor’s CV/resume - University admission letter/employment offer letter - Source of funding for research or degree I submitted these documents online on April 5. My passport was not returned to me. However, since I had a valid F-1 visa, my DSO advised me to see if I could get my passport back and try to travel on my old visa. I submitted the request for temporary passport withdrawal. However, I didn't receive my passport on time and my F-1 expired. Eventually, though, my temporary passport withdrawal request was processed and I did get back my passport, and in it, my old visa had been "cancelled without prejudice" and I had a pink 221(g) slip. Anyway, now I am kind of stuck in my home country until 221(g) is cleared. For five weeks, I haven't received any information from the embassy. My OPT expires in 2 months and I have to be in the US to extend it. The following things may have contributed to me being out in AP: 1. I work in TAL field. 2. I am engaged to a US citizen and added him as an emergency contact on my application. I have a job offer from a different country. How long should I wait before accepting the other offer and leaving the US for the time being? It's very stressful because I didn't expect this outcome so I wasn't well prepared. And there isn't much data on 221(g) for F-1 applicants on OPT.

Did your wife ever get her visa? I'm in a very similar situation that I went back to my home country to renew my F-1 visa. I am in my first year of OPT, working in a TAL field. Have been waiting for about 5 weeks now. I am not married to a US citizen but in my application I added my fiance who is a US citizen as an emergency contact, which I thought was okay but in hindsight, maybe not.