DS-160 – Have you ever been refused a U.S. Visa Yes / No?
Answer NO if petition was denied by USCIS. Answer if H1B visa denied by US embassy. Get denial reason from form 221g or 214B refusal. H1B petition vs Visa denial.
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A common question asked while filling out the DS 160 form is the question:
Have you ever been refused a U.S. Visa, or been refused admission to the United States, or withdrawn your application for admission at the port of entry?
- You should answer “YES” if your US visa has been denied at the US embassy. Note that receiving a form 221g or DS 5535 will count as refused even if the visa was issued later.
- You have to answer “NO” if the denial was made by USCIS and not the US embassy.
This article will discuss:
H1B Petition vs H1B Visa Denial
People get confused if their H1B petition has been denied earlier. The answer is the difference between an H1B petition and an H1B visa.
Getting an H1B is a two-step process:
- H1B Petition – Filed using form I-129 with USCIS.
- H1B Visa – Filed as a visa stamp application with the US embassy.
The H1B visa stamp can only be applied if you have an approved H1B petition from USCIS.
When USCIS approves your petition, they send form i797 approval notice. This approval notice is required to be shown at the US embassy along with your DS160 form to get a visa stamp.
Note that the H1B petition is applied by a US employer with USCIS whereas the H1B visa application is applied directly by you (H1B employee) at the US embassy.
While filling out DS160, you are applying for a visa stamp in your passport. This is an example of an H1-B visa stamped in your passport.
Visa Approval After First Denial
There are chances that your first visa application was denied but was approved on the second attempt.
You should still answer the DS160 question as “YES” and mention the reason for denial. There is no need to worry if the denial reason was legitimate.
US visa officer has details of all your previous applications and they can see both denial and approval in the past. So, do not worry.
Example 1:
Your H1B petition was approved but your H1B visa was rejected by the US embassy in 2008. You applied for a B1/B2 visa in 2009 and got approval for 10 years.
You visited the USA multiple times using a B1/B2 visa. You are now filling out DS160 to apply for a B1/B2 visa renewal.
As part of the DS-160 form filling, you should answer “YES” to the question “Have you ever refused us a visa”. You should also give details of your H1B visa denial.
Example 2:
Your H1B petition was denied by USCIS in 2008. You applied for a B1/B2 visa in 2009 and got approval for 10 years.
You visited the USA multiple times using a B1/B2 visa. You are now filling out DS160 to apply for a B1/B2 visa renewal.
As part of the DS-160 form filling, you should answer “NO” to the question “Have you ever refused us a visa” as your H1B petition was denied and not a US H1B visa.
i130 Denial
i-130 is an immigrant petition sent to USCIS for a family-based Green card. If your i130 is denied, then it does not mean that your visa has been denied.
Most family-based immigrants file the DS-260 form at the US embassy located outside of the US, after getting their i130 petition approval.
Hence, they can select ‘No’ if only the i130 was denied and not the Green card immigrant visa.
FAQ
If your H1B visa was denied by the US embassy outside the USA, then you need to answer ‘Yes‘ to this DS 160 question. It does not matter if the petition was denied due to Specialty occupation or employer-employee relationship.
If your H1B extension, amendment, or transfer was denied by USCIS, then you need to answer ‘No‘ to this DS 160 question.
If your business or visitor visa has been denied earlier, then you should answer ‘yes’ to DS 160 question and provide details.
B1/B2 visa does not have to go through USCIS petition approval. It can be applied directly at the US embassy.
You should answer “yes” if a US visa has been canceled or revoked earlier due to any reason whatsoever.
Example:
Most US embassies do cancel your existing visa with a “Cancelled without prejudice” stamp if you are applying for renewal.
You should answer “yes” on the DS 160 form and then explain the legitimate reason for visa cancellation. No need to worry if the visa was not revoked due to fraud or misrepresentation.
You should write the real reason behind the cancellation.
Example:
1. If you received form 221g in your H1B/L visa interview and then the visa was canceled, you should write the reason given on form 221g.
2. If your B1/B2 visa was denied with 214B visa refusal, then you should write:
214B refusal
The visa approval depends on the reason behind previous visa denials.
Example:
In most cases where a B1/B2 visa is denied, you should have new proof to support your intention of returning back to your home country to get approval now.
If you try to intentionally hide your previous visa denials from the US embassy, you are asking for trouble yourself.
Your visa application is stored and the visa officer has access to all your prior interviews and DS160 details. They can find out the old denial in a minute.
Giving false information on the DS160 application will affect your current visa application negatively.
Yes, form 221g issuance by the US embassy is considered a refusal.
This refusal is just a legal term as the visa might be undergoing administrative processing and may finally be approved.
But, for filling the DS-160, you should select ‘Yes’ for visa refused as it was technically under ‘refused’ status while it was under review.
It is possible that your visa was finally approved after staying in ‘refused‘ status for some time. There is no need to worry and select ‘Yes’. Your visa will be approved.
