'Have you been following the news?': Redditor shares visa interview experience at Chennai consulate as social media vetting begins

A Redditor shared the experience of his visa interview at India's Chennai consulate as the social media vetting process began on December 15. The process put hundreds of visa applicants in a limbo as the consulates deferred the interview to next year, claiming that the social media vetting process would take time and hence consulates would have to reduce the number of applications per day.

The Redditor said he was one of those whose date was not rescheduled, and his appointment time was around 8.30 am. The question-answer process was done by 9am, the Redditor said, detailing the questions he was asked by the visa officer.


The officer started checking the passport, enquiring about the company where the individual works in the US and for how long. Then the visa officer asked whether all his social media accounts were public. "Have you been following the news?" the visa officer asked and then explained the administrative process involved in social media vetting.

The man was handed a 221g slip and was asked to expect from the consulate office after some time. The man said that his passport was taken by the visa officer and his visa status was showing as 'refused' which he said is likely to be updated to 'approved' after the officers are satisfied with the social media checking. The man also informed that his wife had a similar experience at the Hyderabad consulate at the same time and her status was changed to 'approved' by the evening.

What is 221(g) slip?

The 221(g) slip is a notice given by a US consular office after a visa interview when they cannot approve or deny the visa immediately. And now with the social media vetting being in place, it looks like all applicants will be given this slip as there will be no instant approval or denial of visa requests. In general, the slip means there are some missing documents or there will be some additional checks.

The Redditor also revealed what was written on his 221(g) slip. "Your application requires additional administrative processing. The application will be reconsidered when administrative processing is complete," the slip said.

"Everyone in China was given 221g slip. Beijing asked to keep passport, Shanghai returned passport, Wuhan for some handed a yellow slip saying it will take a few days rather than white slip. No one received a green slip," another user shared the experience from China.