The dreaded 221(g) letter

Every consular processing attorney worth his salt must be familiar with a 221(g) letter.

No, it’s not a $221 campaign solicitation letter from Donald Trump. Nor is it an esoteric counter-missive to the far-right’s controversial Project 2025 manifesto. And most certainly it isn’t Mike Tyson’s pre-fight weigh-in letter to Don King and the WBC.

It isn’t a random correspondence by any means, though.

It is, in fact, an official-looking, pro-forma letter issued by the US Embassy informing a visa applicant that the visa application — either immigrant or nonimmigrant — is being refused.

Based on Section 221(g) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) which deals with statutory grounds for visa refusals and denials, a 221(g) letter is usually handed out to the visa applicant at the end of the interview.

Being refused, however, is not synonymous with being denied. It only means that a visa cannot be issued at the conclusion of the interview.

It usually contains a list of missing information and/or documentation that the visa applicant will need to supply or submit in order to overcome the refusal decision.

Some of the most commonly lacking or deficient information and/or documentation typically subject of a 221(g) letter are: expired medical report, missing entries or inconsistencies in civil documents, stale affidavit of support, illegible copies of original documents, unsatisfactory evidence of marital or fiancé/fiancée relationship, missing financial documentation, expired job offer letter, expired police clearance, incomplete alien credentials, and other similar deficiencies.

In a worst-case scenario, a 221(g) letter may result in visa denial if the applicant fails to comply with the submission instructions within one year from date of the letter’s issuance.

A 221(g) letter may also result in a process called “administrative processing,” a vague reference to a bureaucratic mechanism through which a consular officer undertakes to obtain additional corroborative or clarificatory information or documentation from sources other than the applicant.

As part of this process, a consular officer may also seek opinions or recommendations from peers or administrative higher-ups before adjudicating a visa application.

Administrative processing is a relatively longer process than a typical 221(g) case owing to the length of time and external resources required for additional vetting, ordinarily spanning a minimum period of 90 days or longer.

The consul, for instance, may contact the US-based employer in an employment-based case to confirm the genuineness of the job offer, or a US spouse may be asked to submit additional evidence to prove the bona fide character of a marital relationship in a family-based application.

If potentially disqualifying circumstances are flagged, a consul may also seek official guidance from the US State Department’s Advisory Opinion Office regarding an applicant’s eligibility for a visa, including the impact of prior misrepresentations, prior criminal convictions, potential national security implications, or dangerous medical conditions.

In extreme cases, a consul may also dispatch a local or overseas staff to conduct a physical or on-site investigation or inspection of a prospective employer’s business or to verify a visa applicant’s employment history, or investigate a dubious family relationship.

In this type of scenario, the process takes longer than usual, with some cases extending to more than six months.

Still, the vast majority of 221(g) cases result in visa approval, with a few weeks’ delay the norm.

Thus, a 221(g) letter in general, with the exception of a few complicated administrative processing cases, is nothing to be afraid of, as long as the visa application is honest and complete in all respects.

A Project 2025 campaign manifesto is more concerning, to say the least.