Section 221(g) Applied for F41 Family Visa Petition !!

[Achilus 0]

Hello Freinds,

To give you brief background :

Last month my cousin Brother and his family went to a US Embassy in India after Visa Interview Call for the Family Based Immigration Petition F41( i.e. Merried

Brother of US Citizen ) .

To the biggest surprize of everyone, Each Member of the Family including kids were rigourously questioned about their respective bond / rapport / emotional

Bonding with the US Citizen Brother ( who resides in US and Had Petitioned many years back ) and his family / kids and after that a Statement was handed over to

Applicant Brother stating that Section 221(g) of Immigration and Naturalization Act is applied and in that paper tons of documents were requested to provide by US Embassy

e.g.

Invitation Letter i.e. From Petitioner / Sponsering Organization

Research Related Papers i.e. Past , Present and Planned Research Related Papers / Details from the Main Beneficiary

Position i.e. What is the current Designation and Job Prfile of Main Beneficiary

Statement Of Purpose i.e. Detailed Purpose of Visit to US

Itinary i.e. Detailed Itinary of US Visit - Places , Organizations and Persons to Visit and Their Respective Contact Details

Funding : Name of Persons / Organizations who would be funding the US Trip

Travellers : List of all Family Members / Colleauges who would be accompanying main beneficiary

Past Travel Details i.e. Last Ten Year's Travel Details Except US

At the least I have never heard this kind of most absured, most ir-relevant and absolute Non-applicable section 221 (g) EVER applied to a F4-1

Family Based Visa Beneficiary i.e. How on this earth US Embassy can EVER Ask these kind of Documents from a Family Based Visa Applicant

? An Immigrant is neither making a ' Trip ' to US nor he is on any Business Purpose while he immigrates to US !!

Was any one in the same boat ? Can a Good Lawyer challenge the very applicabiliy of section 221(g) to an Applicant with Family who intends

to migrate permenantly to the US to re-unite with his US Citizen brother (who is Highly Successfull Professional and the Applicant him self is very

well - settled in India ) ?

By Asking such kind of Documents, in my opinion, US Embassy seems to be mssing the very defnition of Immigration / Family Re-Union for which

F4-1 Category ( Married Brother of US Citizen ) was devised and under which the US Citizen Brother had Petitioned for his Brother and Family ?

Pl. share your thoughts / shed some light for the path forward on this issue.

Your time and inputs are highly appreciated.

Many Thanks in Advance,

Regards,

- Achilus

[DeW_DrOpS 21]

Heard first time abt such an incident....Immigrant visas do not require all this....Its a family unification process...they just want to check the relationship between beneficiary n petitioner.....

which US Embassy were they interviewed.....Mumbai or New Delhi??!?

[Achilus 0]

Heard first time abt such an incident....Immigrant visas do not require all this....Its a family unification process...they just want to check the relationship between beneficiary n petitioner.....

which US Embassy were they interviewed.....Mumbai or New Delhi??!?

Hi Mayank,

Thanks for the quick feedback.

They were interviewed at Mumbai Embassy.

To give further input , This same cousin who were asked to provide all these documents under section 221(g) after interview for family based petition to immigrate to US , had in past i.e. in 1998 and in 2003 had got visitor visa for the US and at the time of those Visa Interviews for Visit to USA , he had told to US Embassy Interviewer of that time - that " He don't have any intention to settle down in the US as He has very well established business in India and the purpose of the visit is only to see / meet his Brother and some other close relatives " - as an attempt to convince US Embassy interviewer of that time that, He and His Family would definitely come back after a short visit and they did got visitor visa both the time and have made a short visit of about a month each time to US and have come back to India well before the duration of Visitor visa both the time ; There was no violation of any of the terms of Visitor visa granted at those 2 times.

Not sure this answer ( that he don't have any intention to settle down in the US ) during those 2 visa interview back in 1998 and 2003 could have any impact on this type of absurd application

of Section 221(g) ...but, now that it is already applied , it is very very difficult to find a path forward out of this !

Thanks,

Regards,

Achilus

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

That is very odd. Are you sure they didn't just hand him a form sheet, with all those things printed on it, but only wanted one or two things (such as the invitation letter from the USC brother, ie stating he still wants the visa to be issued)?

[aleful 1,905]

Hi Mayank,

Thanks for the quick feedback.

They were interviewed at Mumbai Embassy.

To give further input , This same cousin who were asked to provide all these documents under section 221(g) after interview for family based petition to immigrate to US , had in past i.e. in 1998 and in 2003 had got visitor visa for the US and at the time of those Visa Interviews for Visit to USA , he had told to US Embassy Interviewer of that time - that " He don't have any intention to settle down in the US as He has very well established business in India and the purpose of the visit is only to see / meet his Brother and some other close relatives " - as an attempt to convince US Embassy interviewer of that time that, He and His Family would definitely come back after a short visit and they did got visitor visa both the time and have made a short visit of about a month each time to US and have come back to India well before the duration of Visitor visa both the time ; There was no violation of any of the terms of Visitor visa granted at those 2 times.

Not sure this answer ( that he don't have any intention to settle down in the US ) during those 2 visa interview back in 1998 and 2003 could have any impact on this type of absurd application

of Section 221(g) ...but, now that it is already applied , it is very very difficult to find a path forward out of this !

Thanks,

Regards,

Achilus

Now it makes more sense, I believe they are requesiting evidence of the trips. Are you sure they are requesting all of that or those are examples of what to send? immigration wants proof that he didn't overstay his trips. proof of what he did in each month that he was here.

Especially 2003, because if he would have overstayed his trip, staying ilegally in the country for over a year and left, then he would have incurred in a 10 year ban, and there is no waiver for siblings, so he wouldn't be elegible for the visa.

of course they are being nasty, but that's what they do.

[sp1991 28]

strange case....i haven't heard that anyone get 221(g) in f4 category (Mumbai ) although there are many cases like h1b and f1 category who got 221(g)

i think they were more concerned if ur cousin overstayed in 2003 or not." illegally "

i dnt know that much abt 221(g) , senior members can tell what went wrong with ur cousin..

and what is the priority date or ur cousin's petition ?

[milimelo 4,502]

What's the professional background of petitioner and beneficiary? If it's highly specialized field, that's why they're asking about it.

[Achilus 0]

What's the professional background of petitioner and beneficiary? If it's highly specialized field, that's why they're asking about it.

Petitioner is Medical Professional - M.D.Internal Medicine - in US ;

and Beneficiary is Chemistry Graduate From India and managing Chemical Manufacturing Business in India and The Chemicals they manufacture / sell is just day to day Preservatives

and cosmetics and other consumer / packaging industry related raw ingredients - nothing like restricted / banned Chemicals - neither in India nor in US and they export across the world.

so, although well-educated and qualified , I don't think that Highly Specialized Category is applicable here..

Thanks,

Rgds,

- Rupen

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Not sure this answer ( that he don't have any intention to settle down in the US ) during those 2 visa interview back in 1998 and 2003 could have any impact on this type of absurd application

of Section 221(g) ...but, now that it is already applied , it is very very difficult to find a path forward out of this !

"Intent" applies only to the most recent admission to the United States, and only if the intending immigrant is still in the United States. The issue vanishes if the alien leaves the United States without overstaying, and without attempting to adjust status.

Section 221(g) is a catch-all. That section of the INA only says that a consular officer can't issue a visa if they believe the applicant isn't eligible or hasn't satisfied the statutory requirements for the visa. Apparently, the consular officer believes there might be a reason to deny hiding in the evidence they requested. Exactly what that reason is escapes me. Those sound like the kind of evidence they might request if someone were applying for an employment based visa.