What is 221(g)?
The 221(g) is a section of the US Immigration and Nationality Act, which is used when the embassy or consulate are unable to take immediate action on a visa case. In rare cases, when additional processing is required, the suspense category used in that case is 221(g) while the additional processing takes place. For example, sometimes the applicant has failed to bring in the correct documentation, has incomplete information or in some cases the embassy wants a co sponsor before they will issue the visa or health reasons are all reasons a 221(g) is issued. In the Middle East/African/ Asian countries these applicants are scrutinized and screened more intensely and thus they have to wait out longer security or fraud investigations until all verifications for security or suspected fraud come back cleared.
Source: US Immigration and Nationality Act located on the web at: http://149.101.23.2/graphics/lawsregs/INA.htm
The 221(g) forms vary from consulate/embassy and you can get one or more forms after your interview. They vary in color as well as the way they are written whereas some are brief and some are detailed. In most cases they say to contact the consulate/embassy after 45 days. Be aware that the 45 days means business days (no weekends or holidays) and in some parts of the world the processing times are longer than 45 days. Always, try and check for others that are going through the same consulate and see what the average processing time is for the majority of the applicants.
