As you know with the recent Trump H1B, Other visas Travel Ban, many are seeking H4 Visa Emergency Appointments and getting stamping. One of our users (anonymous for privacy) had a unique situation, where they had to submit proof of relationship. The user was kind enough to share their experience for everyone benefit. Thanks a lot to the user for taking time to share the same with the community.
It is an important takeaway for newly married ones to retain some of the proof of relationship like WhatsApp, Call history, etc., as you may be asked at US Visa interview.
Background for H4 Stamping
- Recently married couple arranged marriage.
- Original H4 appointment was cancelled twice by the US consulate.
- Applied for H4 visa under Emergency Appointment option in India
Overall Timeline for H4 Visa Stamping in India
- First, I scheduled regular visa appointment at Mumbai consulate for February 23rd and 24th 2021
- Later, I requested Emergency Appointment on Aug 24th 2020
- Submitted for EA using Medical Reason
- I submitted Medical certificate, marriage certificate and I-797 approve notice.
- Received Emergency Appointment Approval came on September 3rd 2020
- I scheduled for Biometrics at Hyderabad VAC on Sept 6th 2020 and H4 Visa interview at Mumbai Consulate General on Sept 8th 2020.
- Important Note: I was not allowed to schedule visa interview at Hyderabad because of my regular visa appointment was scheduled at Mumbai (Feb 24th 2021). Hence my visa appointment was by default selected as Mumbai consulate.
Biometrics : Completed Biometrics at Hyderabad without any issues.
Note – Hotel Stay in Mumbai for Visa Interview: Unfortunately, there was no quarantine rule. I straightaway went to hotel on the previous day of my interview. I will never ever ask candidates to book room at “Embassy suites”. It a hotel chain under FabHotels group. It was a disaster for me on the day I went to check in. In fact, do not go to FabHotels. They are just money makers and don’t even care for your safety and respond to buy you.
H4 Visa Interview Experience in Mumbai – 221g
I went to at Mumbai consulate to attend interview on Sep 8th.
The process was pretty standard, you can check previous 20 H4 – EA US Visa Stamping Experiences to get an idea. Below were the questions
H4 Visa Interview Questions
- In which city your husband live ?
- In which company does your husband work ?
- After two questions, visa officer went inside after taking my passport and asked me to sit.
- Before Visa officer asked me for interview again, he took interview for two more people.
- When did you get marry ?
- Have been to any other country before ?
- Visa officer again went inside and asked me to sit on the chair for some time.
- How did your family and your husband family get introduced?
- I answered as “Through relatives” and this question was asked 4 times repeatedly.
- They also checked my marriage certificate as well.
After this question, Visa officer handed over green slip to me with custom text on it (see below). Visa officer also told me ” You MUST submit WhatsApp and Facebook Chat / Call logs. Also, normal Voice Call Logs”.
Visa officer returned the passport and asked us to submit all the documents at any VAC
221g Response – Relationship Proof Documents Checklist
After I came out, we collected necessary documents and submitted below docs on the same day at the VAC. All the documents below were submitted as physical copies at Mumbai VAC center on the same day.
- WhatsApp / Facebook chat and call logs of 3 months. ( put in 5 screenshots per page and compiled about 4 pages )
- Gmail proof of communication with my spouse was also submitted
- Marriage certificate
- Marriage card
- 3 Marriage photos (including 1 family group photo )
- Bus tickets having both names ( Husband and wife ) on the tickets
- Money Transfer from US Receipt – Remitly transaction receipt ( had wife name as recipient )
- I-797 approval copy
- H1B visa copy of spouse
- My Original Passport
All documents were submitted after review with an attorney and I submitted everything I can to show our relationship status was genuine. At that time, I did not want to miss anything and take a chance to missing out. Hence, I submitted above docs.
H4 Visa Approval : Received H4 visa approval 7 days after submission of documents.
Disclaimer: This is my H4 visa stamping experience and has nothing to do with US consulate process or anything. I will not ask anyone to do or follow the same thing what I have done…but just sharing my experience for everyone’s information.
Did you get similar 221g for proof of relationship ? What did you submit ? Share your thoughts in comments.
Hi, I am an Indian citizen currently residing in Mumbai, India. my wife is on H1B in Boston. we have been married for over 5 years now. spouse is in Boston since 2016. i need to apply for H4 but the earliest appointment dates that I have got are in Feb 2021. I want to start staying with my wife in Boston as early as possible. I also currently have a b1b2. can i expedite my h4 visa. if yes, how ?
You mention you submitted a medical certificate. What certificate was that ? Thanks.
From some of the experiences i’ve seen online, it seems like some people who applied in EA, Dropbox and got 221g got, embassy processed the 221G, however 221g, for people who got 221g before March 2020, processing hasn’t started.
Is it a fair statement? or is 221g getting processed for everyone? or no-one?
I feel part of the story is missing from the original user.. no one else usually experiences this so there might be something about this whole marriage thing which brought suspicion to visa officer.
out of context but if a person gets married to US citizen, they scrutinize everything, even though it’s personal space 🙂
We attended H4 EA at Delhi on 9/11. Got 221g yellow slip. Requested documents related to previous work experience and old salary slips. My wife had a H1 earlier.
While seeing a 221g to prove relationship is something never heard before, i am surprised to see a response and approval for 221g within 7 days.
Can we expect a quicker response on 221g cases if it is an ‘Expedite Appointment’ ? or the slip color matters ?
We got ‘Yellow’ and this blog post has ‘Blue’ (i believe).
Kalyan,
I have seen at least few users get this now. Maybe they are questioning it due to the visa slots restrictions, we do not know,.
Well, if they asked to submit documents, then they may process it faster… But no guarantee though.
The color of the slip may or may not matter as it is not consistent…What they ask in it matters.
It was green color slip…
Hi Kalyan
How soon did your wife get the response ? My wife is in the same boat.
Hi Nishith – We are yet to submit documents, waiting to get clarification from consulate on what exact docs to submit.
Did you guys already submit docs ?
you should’ve reached out to an attorney to kick their ass. If the marriage certificate is not a valid document that means they don’t trust our government.
Pavan,
I guess, when you are in India and trying to get back to US, you want the fastest way to get visa…maybe, if they denied it…then, what you said could have been tried…
Frankly, there is so much of fraudulent documents with certificates these days, they are starting to question…could be some have tried to create fake marriage certificates to go to US….
really sad, the Visa Officer/ consulate are trying to get into the personal space now
SO,
It is sad, but could be that someone abused the system and now they are trying to question everything…hopefully they do not this in future once the regular visa operations resume.