Visa Denials 214(b) and 221(g)

US Visa Denied under INA Section 214(b)

Section 214(b) is part of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). It states:

Every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer, at the time of application for admission, that he is entitled to a nonimmigrant status…

To qualify for a non-immigrant Tourist Visa or Student Visa, an applicant must meet certain requirements, particularly that the prospective visitor or student possess a residence abroad he/she has no intention of abandoning. Applicants prove the existence of such residence by demonstrating that they have ties abroad that would compel them to leave the U.S. at the end of the temporary stay. The law places this burden of proof on the applicant, that’s YOU.

Most cases are decided after a brief interview and review of whatever evidence of ties an applicant presents, and consulate officers only spend a minimal amount of time reviewing the file before the interview, and in some instances, none at all.

What constitutes “strong ties”

Strong ties differ from country to country, city to city, individual to individual. Some examples of ties can be a job, a house, a family, a bank account. “Ties” are the various aspects of your life that bind you to your country of residence: your possessions, employment, social and family relationships.

As each person’s situation is different, consular officers look at each application individually and consider professional, social, cultural and other factors. In cases of younger applicants who may not have had an opportunity to form many ties, consular officers may look at the applicants specific intentions, family situations, and long-range plans and prospects within his or her country of residence.

Visa denial under Section 214(b)

Applicants refused visas under section 214(b) may reapply for a visa. When they do, they will have to show further evidence of their ties or how their circumstances have changed since the time of the original application. It may help to answer the following questions before reapplying: (1) Did I explain my situation accurately? (2) Did the consular officer overlook something? (3) Is there any additional information I can present to establish my residence and strong ties abroad?

Visa fee refund

The visa processing fee is nonrefundable regardless of whether a visa is issued. You are not barred from reapplying as often as you like, just be aware that the application fee applies each time and there’s no guarantee that it will be approved.

US Visa Denied under Section 221(g)

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 to the US citizen petitioner. The officer might consider your evidence to be lacking in substance or honesty to prove that you have a bona fide relationship. This may happen at the interview where the officer discovers an issue or red flag that the applicant was unable to satisfactorily overcome. Cases issued 221(g) or blue sheet have a limited amount of time to submit additional evidence before the case is sent to USCIS with the recommendation for revocation of the I-129F approval.

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 221(g) denial with this verbiage: “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 and possibly on its way back to USCIS for revocation.

The consulates are not supposed to deny a case based on evidence that USCIS considered when it approved the I-129F petition, as the consulate is not empowered to deny or revoke the approved I-129F. However, they may recommend to USCIS that the evidence submited and the personal interview illustrated strong discrepancy to indicate a possible sham marriage or fraud entered into to circumvent US Immigration Law. If USCIS is convinced then it will revoke the fiance petition I-129F, otherwise it might return it to the consulate for a second interview. Please note that USCIS will not return the case to the consulate without compelling evidence from the American petitioner requesting this reconsideration.

Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act renders ineligible to file a petition for immigrant status under any petitioner who has been convicted of a “specified offense against a minor” involving any of the following:

An offense (unless committed by a parent or guardian) involving kidnapping.
An offense (unless committed by a parent or guardian) involving false imprisonment.
Solicitation to engage in sexual conduct.
Use in a sexual performance.
Solicitation to practice prostitution.
Video voyeurism as described in section 1801 of title 18, United States Code.
Possession, production, or distribution of child pornography.
Criminal sexual conduct involving a minor, or the use of the Internet to facilitate or attempt such conduct.
Any conduct that by its nature is a sex offense against a minor.

Consular officers are obligated to determine the criminal record of the petitioner as a precondition of issuing a K visa or family-based immigrant visa. If there is an offense against a minor, the government will seek further information from the petitioner as well as require his or her fingerprinting in the U.S. before deciding whether the bar will apply.

A waiver is possible under the Adam Walsh Act only if the petitioner is able to convince the government that the petitioner poses no threat to the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the petition. A negative decision on the waiver is not appealable.

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Criminal History May Bar Foreign Nationals from Entering the U.S.

Foreign nationals with one or more criminal convictions in their past are typically ineligible to receive an immigrant visa to enter the U.S. (non-immigrants are likewise barred, although the bar is not quite as broad as it is for immigrant visas).
There are some exceptions to the bar.

The offense is not a crime of “moral turpitude” (a very slippery concept that some courts have equated with a fundamental “baseness”, “depravity” or “vileness”, but for which no clear definition exists). The offense was “purely political.” The foreign national has (1) committed only one crime involving moral turpitude at any time; AND (2) “was not sentenced to a term of imprisonment in excess of six months (regardless of the extent to which the sentence was ultimately executed) AND (3) the conviction carries a maximum possible sentence of one year or less.

Drug traffickers are ineligible for a visa, even if there has been no conviction, as long as the consular or immigration officer knows or has reason to believe that the visa applicant has been involved in trafficking.

A person coming to the U.S. to engage in prostitution, or who has engaged in prostitution within ten years of their application for entry, is inadmissible, even if there was no criminal conviction.

An amnesty or parole does not remove the crime from calculation of the bar. Such crimes are treated for U.S. immigration purposes exactly as though the conviction remained in place.

Similarly, a “deferred adjudication” whereby the record of the offense is expunged from the defendant’s record is nonetheless regarded as a conviction under U.S. immigration law.

If the foreign national has admitted to the crime, even if there was no conviction, he or she will be barred from receiving a visa (this can even occur during the medical exam preceding the consular interview if the unwitting applicant admits to prior substance abuse or some other crime).

Contact us in Bangkok!

Bangkok, Thailand +66 (0)8 4724 3192

Skype: FrontierLegal

Email: Info@Frontierlegal.com