Your fiancee, spouse or family member in the US, must sponsor or petition for you. He or she then files a the appropriate form with the US Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS). After USCIS approves the petition, they send it to an office in the US called the National Visa Center (NVC).

The NVC will send your fiancee, spouse or family member a package of forms to complete, including an affidavit of support requireing your family member to demonstrate that he or she can afford to sponsor you. It may also include a visa application, DS-230(1).

Once this has been done, you will be required to interview at the US Consulate in Bangkok. There is where most cases are denied or encounter arbitrary rulings. The consulate denies many visas under a provision called INA 221(g)(2).

INA 221(g) states that "No visa or other documentation shall be issued to an alien if (1) it appears to the consular officer, from statements in the application, or in the papers submitted therewith, that such alien is ineligible to receive a visa or such other documentation under section 212, or any other provision of law, (2) the application fails to comply with the provisions of this Act, or the regulations issued thereunder, or (3) the consular officer knows or has reason to believe that such alien is ineligible to receive a visa or such documentation under section 212, or any other provision of the law. Provided that a visa or other documentation may be issued to an alien who is within the purview of section 212(a)(4), if such alien is otherwise entitled to receive a visa or other documentation, upon receipt of notice by the consular officer from the Attorney General of the giving of a bond or undertaking providing indemnity as in the case of aliens admitted under section 213: Provided further, that a visa may be issued to an alien defined in section 101(a)(15)(B) or (F), if such alien is otherwise entitled to receive a visa, upon receipt of a notice by the consular officer from the Attorney General of the giving of a bond with sufficient surety in such sum and containing such conditions as the consular officer shall prescribe, to insure that at the expiration of the time for which such alien has been admitted by the Attorney General, as provided in section 214(a), or upon failure to maintain the status under which he was admitted, or to maintain any status subsequently acquired under section 248 or the Act, such alien will depart from the United States."

221(g) Visa Denials

221(g) is a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act and it simply means the consular officer is not satisfied with the quality or quantity of the documents you have submitted to prove your relationship. The officer might consider your evidence to be lacking in substance or honesty to prove that you have a bona fide relationship with the person that wants to sponsor you.

221(g) Visa Denial Final or Not

In some instances, we will be able to prove up your case to the consular officer and ultimately get the visa. This will depend on the facts of your case.

If you were given a "blue sheet" then quite simply it means a denial with the opportunity to submit more evidence. Once you provide the additional evidence requested, your case may be approved.

If you were given a 221(g) denial that saids: "Your petition has been returned to the USCIS Service Center for review and possible revocation," then your case may no longer be at the Consulate. Your loved one in the US will have to prove up your relationship by providing more evidence of the bona fideness in your case.

Visa Denied, Now What

Gather all your evidence and speak to a competent and qualified immigration lawyer.

If your loved one convinced USCIS Service Centerthat your relationship is genuine, USCIS will approve your petition again and will go through NVC the same way as before. Eventually, you will get to interview again at the US Consulate in Bangkok.

The consulates are not supposed to deny a case based on evidence that USCIS considered when it approved your petition. When the consulate returned your petition to USCIS, it explained to USCIS the reasons. If USCIS is not persuaded by the consulat's reasons, it can re-approve your petition and the consulate is not allowed to send it back again for the same reason. However, it is very important that you present a good case to the USCIS Service Center to proved your relatioship. If you and your loved one do not put on a good case, teh consulate's denial will be final.

You can present your case to the USCIS Service Center early in the form of a new petition whic includes answers to the consulat's denial. Other times, you must wait. This is why you consult with a competent immigration lawyer who can analyse your case and tell you what is the best way to proceed.

How We Can Help!

We have been assisting clients in Bangkok for over two years on visa denials cases. There are many reasons the consulates may deny your case and with a qualified attorney on your side, you may be able to persuade the consular officer the first time around that you have a genuine relationship with your loved one.

We write motions arguing your facts under the INA  and assemble your evidence in the best way to prove your case to show the legal or logical faults in the consular officer's denial.

Contact us in Bangkok!

Bangkok, Thailand +66 (0)8 4724 3192

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