I have been wondering about this for a long time now, why cant we get the security clearance for our H1-B Visas while in USA? Why do we have to do this while getting our visas stamped in US consulates(outside USA) .
People from my country (Pakistan or other countries) when they go to US consulate offices outside USA to approve (stamp) H1-B visas, thats when the US government decides whether to do security clearance for the applicant or not.
If the applicant is lucky and he/she doesn't get a false hit (applicant name matches a name in the database of high alert names) then the the process is much faster, but unfortunately if there is a false hit with other matching names in their database than the applicant has to pass through a lengthy security clearance no matter how clean his/her record is. Normally this process effects muslims lot more than people from other religion as muslim names are much more likely to register a false hit then names of applicants from other religion.
I haven't yet gone for this process but few of my friends had to wait quite a lengthy time before they got their security clearance and hence their visa. Here are their names and their waiting periods
Shaukat Ali Khan ---- 3 months and still waiting
Mohammad Yasir Khan--- Got it after 6 months
Mohammad Shafique --- Got it after 3 months
If you are working for a company, what are the chances that the company will hold your position for more than 2-3 months. So going for H1-B visa stamps is a big hassle for muslim people. Its like a sword hanging on top of our head all the time. No body wants to travel abroad fearing that he would have to wait indefinite time before getting his visa stamped.
The simple solution to this problem is to change the timing of the security clearance. Let us apply for our security clearance while in USA, before traveling outside USA to get our visa stamped. Now it takes 1 month or it takes 1 year it does not matter, as we would be working during that time. As soon as we get the security clearance we can let the FBI know(this can also be done in advance) that they can forward the results to the consulate office we are going to go to get our visa stamped.
This change in the way the visa is stamped will help tremendously in easing the tension that we face while waiting for our security clearance and constantly hoping that our employer will hold our job.
The solution which i am proposing does not seem to pose any security risk. What ever FBI is doing to do our security clearance while we are outside USA can be done while we are in USA working. They can take their time in doing their security checks and we don't have to worry about loosing our jobs.
