Hello Sajhaites,

I am going to Nepal after 8 yrs for h1b stamping. I work as a contractor in one of the fortune 500 companies. I worked almost three years on OPT and now on H1B. This is my first time stamping and as well as the first time to go nepal after i came here in the United States. So my question is:

How can i avoid getting 221g Administrative processing from Ktm consulate?

Sharing your H1B experiences and the docs needed would be highly appreciated.


Smart a$$ commenters, please put it back to your a$$.


Thanks,

Sirus_Me

I believe receiving 221g is mainly due to PIMS verification. Here's a link to MurthyDotCom that explains how PIMS verification works:

http://www.murthy.com/news/n_pimsvu.html

You could email US embassy (Kathmandu) for PIMS verification before you go for your stamping. During my stamping process, they said they could only do the verification 5 business days prior to your interview date not earlier than that . I ended up not doing but I did not receive any 221g. Also, I read somewhere (can't remember) that it also depends upon part 4 (Processing Information) section of your I-129 petition. It states which entity should be notified if the petition is approved. Mine had Consulate checked.

Hope this info helps. Good Luck.

When I went for h1b I didn't get 221g but when my wife applied for h4 she did get 221g so I think its random

If h1b approved date is < than 6 months or a year the chances of PMIS verification is more.The reason may be visa centre don't have time to think of uploading I-797 approval electronically.If embassy request they upload within 2-3 business days.

Administrative processing can be for number of reasons.One of them is PMIS.Others could be common name verification,employer verification etc.

I am on same boat. And I have been pushing back my travel plan because of this.

I think this has lot to do with your employer. If u are with desi employer chances are high that will get it. And other thing is layer like employer-vendor-client. All this started after uscis issue employee-employer memo.

Now, how to avoid it not sure. But if have all prover document to establish employee- employer relation, then they will eventually give u visa.

It doesn't matter whether u r with desi employer or with fortune companies in case of PMIS(Petitioner Management Information System),which records info like I-129 ,I-797 ,LCA etc.

For employee-employer relationship carry client letter and letter from ur employer.

Thank you all for your gracious replies.

@bhabisiye: How can i email them to do verification if i don't know if i will get PIMS verification or not?? Also how do i know that my I-129 petition has checked as "consulate" or not?

@edipre: Yeap that's what i heard it too.i got it approved this april and i'm going on december so i should be OK right.  Btw, i saw your post saying that you were stuck on Ktm. Did u return to US or not? I will be carrying probably my consultant letter, prime vendor letter and client letter. Do you think that's enough?



@meraj: Employee-Employer relationship was for granting h1b visa but i think they cancelled that one since it was not practical. Since my h1b is already approved, i don't think i will need to show any employee-employer relationship. My consultancy has one prime-vendor, that's it.

All others having similiar experiences, please shed some :).

Thanks

Sirus_Me

Seems lot of people think that employee employer relation is not major reson behind 221G. But in fact it is main reson behind it. They are giving 221G, and it means administrative processing. They will request uscis to review H1B approval again through this administrative processing. And some time uscis even cancel approved H1B. I dont want you to scare, but it is fact. Situation in nepal doesn't seems to bad as in india.

Regarding PIMS, yes it is one reason behing 221G. But it can be easily avoided by sending email to consulate with your copy of approved H1B document and requesting them to initiate PIMS verification.

http://www.murthy.com/news/n_h14ind.html

See the link above about murthy law firm analysis for 221G, and they think that it a lot to do with Emp-Empo relation memo. And uscis haven't pull it back yet.

And yes even though, E-E relation is major issue while applying, uscis mentions that it should me maintained through out the validity period
of H1B. If they think you didn't maintain it, they can revoke it. See uscis link below. Well i dont want to scare you, a lot of my friends went and get stampped easily and few got stuck also. So, dont get scared but informed and prepare for worst.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=3d015869c9326210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=6abe6d26d17df110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

Sirus,

I used the consular section email (consktm@state.gov)  from US Embassy website @ KTM. For your second question, you should have a copy of your I-129 petition (when it was filed) with you, don't you? If not then you could ask your lawyer or whoever filed your petition.