Check your B1/B2 application before your interview
A B1/B2 is decided in a two to three minute conversation at a window, against a presumption written into the law that you intend to immigrate. This page shows you what that means in practice and where your case currently stands.
Answer five questions and see which grounds look weak. Free, no email.
The grounds, in the authority’s words
- 214(b): you did not overcome the presumption of immigrant intent
Section 214(b), Immigration and Nationality Act
214(b) is not a finding that you lied. It means the officer was not persuaded, on the day, that your life is anchored at home. Because the interview is short and documents are rarely read at the window, what matters is that your answers are specific, consistent and immediate: where you work, what you earn, who depends on you, what you are going back to and when.
- 221(g): administrative processing or a document request
Section 221(g), Immigration and Nationality Act
A 221(g) is not a refusal in the ordinary sense, though it is recorded as one. The sheet you were given says which it is. If it lists documents, send exactly those documents in the way the sheet says, and the case resumes. If it says administrative processing, there is nothing to send and nothing to pay for: the case is with another part of the government and the wait is measured in weeks or months.
The presumption
Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act presumes every applicant is an immigrant until they establish otherwise. The officer is not looking for a reason to refuse. They are waiting for enough to overcome a presumption the law has already made, and they have about three minutes.
Documents are not the point, but contradictions are
Most documents are never read at the window. What is read is the DS-160, while you answer. If your form says one employer and you say another, or it says ten days and you say a month, that is the refusal. We check your answers against your form line by line.
There is no appeal, so the reapplication is the only route
A 214(b) refusal carries no appeal and no administrative review. Anyone selling you an appeal is selling something that does not exist. You may apply again as soon as you have something new, and the work is making sure something is new.
What to have ready
- Employment letter with role, salary, start date and approved leave, carried to the interview
- Payslips and bank statements, carried but not relied on
- Property documents and evidence of dependants
- A clear, short answer to why you are going, who is paying and when you return
- A DS-160 that matches, exactly, what you will say at the window
- Exactly the documents listed on the 221(g) sheet, in the format and to the address it names
- The case number from the sheet on every page
- Nothing else: extra documents delay the case
Review, £29
We read your documents, check every ground, tell you exactly what is thin and what would fix it, and write the cover letter, the sponsor letter and the employer letter from the facts you gave. One re-run included within 30 days.