221(g) Refusal

The proceeding article is written in an effort to provide insight into the issuance of visa denials pursuant to section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of the USA.

U.S. Citizens who are in an ongoing relationship with a foreign born fiance(e) or spouse will be required to submit a petition for visa benefits in order to hope to ultimately be granted United States Immigration benefits. Bearing this in mind, the mere act of submitting a visa petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is simply one aspect of the American visa process as most foreign born family members must undergo consular processing at an American Embassy, Consulate, or Mission outside of the USA.

After the US Citizenship and Immigration Service finishes an adjudication of an American Immigration petition, if the petition is approved, the file will be sent to the US State Department's National Visa Center (NVC). In a way, the National Visa Center is something akin to a clearinghouse for United States visa applications and the documentation which is attached thereto. In K-1 visa cases (the technical term for a United States fiancee visa), NVC processing is comparatively fast. At one time, this was also the case in U.S. Marriage visa matters where the bi-national couple was seeking a K-3 spouse visa, but at one point during the year 2010 the National Visa Center began administratively closing many K-3 visa applications thereby compelling many bi-national married couples to seek Immigrant travel documents for foreign husbands and/ or wives commonly referred to as either the CR-1 visa or the IR-1 visa depending upon the elapsed time period since the date of the underlying marriage. In any case, after NVC processing is complete the US visa application will be directed to a United States Mission abroad for the visa interview.

The visa interview process is different at each Post abroad. However, certain aspects of consular processing remain unchanged as certain aspects of the process are derived solely from applicable United States immigration law. The 221(g) is a visa denial, although it is sometimes referred to as a refusal. In any case, those issued a 221(g) are generally not granted a visa until further documentation is presented to the Consulate or some other deficiency is remedied. In some cases, a 221(g) refusal may be issued simultaneously with a finding that an alien is legally inadmissible to the United States of America. Under circumstances such as this, the only method of overcoming the finding of inadmissibility would be through utilization of an I-601 waiver. However, not all grounds of inadmissibility can be waived. Therefore, those who believe that they may be inadmissible are well advised to contact an American attorney for further information in an effort to efficiently and effectively process an application for visa benefits. Taking into consideration the caseload of the various Consular Posts around the globe, a 221(G) refusal may be remedied quite fast or it could take a great deal of time before a finalized decision is made in a pending case.


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Benjamin Hart is an attorney from the USA handling American Immigration matters in Asia. Contact: 1-877-231-7533, +66 (0)2-266-3698, info@integrity-legal.com. See further: 221g or CR-1 visa.