Updated October 28, 2026

H-1B stamping for consultants: the client letter, the employer relationship and the questions officers ask

If your H-1B employer places you at a client site, expect the stamping officer to check that the job in your petition is real, where you actually work, and how your employer, any vendor and the client fit together. The State Department's guidance tells officers to confirm the facts in the petition during the interview, and to refuse under 221(g) when the worksite has changed without the right petition, or when they believe the petition doesn't fit your job. We found no State Department checklist that requires a "client letter" by name, but USCIS rules let it ask for contracts or work orders showing the position is real. Answer each question truthfully, and know your own petition.

This page explains what officers look at. It isn't advice on how to set up a job or a contract. For questions about your petition, talk to an immigration attorney, or your employer's attorney, before your interview.

What the stamping officer is checking

You can apply for an H-1B visa once USCIS approves your employer's petition, the State Department says. The petition is the base of your case. The Foreign Affairs Manual, the State Department's guidance for consular officers, says an approved petition is prima facie evidence that the classification requirements were met.

It also says three things that shape a consultant's interview:

1. The petition doesn't carry the case alone. Approval "does not relieve the applicant of the burden of establishing visa eligibility."
2. Officers confirm the facts. "You should confirm that the facts in the petition are true during the visa interview."
3. The interview is the first face-to-face check. USCIS deals only with the employer. The manual notes the interview is the first point where a US government representative talks to the worker, and that officers' local knowledge helps them spot exaggeration or misrepresentation.

One thing they're not checking: home ties. The State Department says H-1B applicants, with their spouse and minor children, are excluded from the 214(b) ties requirement.

So the stamping interview isn't a new petition review. It's a check that what's on paper matches the job you actually do.

What the rules say about third-party placements

USCIS decides the petition, under the regulations at 8 CFR 214.2(h). They were updated by a rule effective January 17, 2025. Here's what they say that matters to consultants. Your employer's petition was decided under these rules, and the officer may ask questions that touch the same facts.

A real job offer. A "United States employer" must have "a bona fide job offer" for you to work in the US, which can include remote or off-site work in the US.

A real position on the start date. The employer must show a bona fide specialty occupation position available as of the requested start date. It doesn't have to show specific day-to-day assignments for the whole petition period.

When you're staffed to a client. If you'll be contracted to fill a position inside a third party's organization, "it is the requirements of that third party, and not the petitioner, that are most relevant" to whether the job is a specialty occupation.

Contracts and work orders. USCIS "may request evidence such as contracts, work orders, or other similar evidence between all parties in a contractual relationship showing the bona fide nature of the beneficiary's position."

Site visits. USCIS may verify petition facts through inspections, including visits to the employer's or a third party's facilities and interviews with people there.

This is why consultants get questions that full-time, in-house employees often don't: the officer wants to understand the chain from you to your employer to the client.

Where a client letter fits

Forums argue about whether a client letter is "required." Here is what the pages we read say, and don't say:

• The State Department's H-1B application page lists the basic interview documents: passport, DS-160 confirmation, fee receipt if paid before, a photo only if the upload failed, and your petition receipt number. It adds that "Additional documents may be requested to establish if you are qualified."
• The regulations let USCIS ask for contracts, work orders or similar evidence between the parties.
• The Foreign Affairs Manual mentions a cover letter from your employer about your place of employment, and says a difference from the petition may need "an additional line of inquiry."
• We found no State Department page that names a "client letter" as a required interview document.

In practice, your embassy's instructions and your employer's attorney are the right people to tell you what to carry. If you bring a letter, it has to be genuine and match your petition and your own answers. Never bring a document you can't explain, or one that says something that isn't true. A US embassy FAQ warns that providing false information in a visa application can bring a lifetime ban.

When the worksite has changed

This is one of the clearest rules in the Foreign Affairs Manual for H-1B:

• New geographic area means a new or amended petition. The employer must file one if you're moving to a new geographic area, meaning outside normal commuting distance or the same metropolitan area.
• Some moves don't need one, such as a move within the same area or certain short placements, if nothing else material changes.
• Officers check. If an officer learns your worksite differs from the petition, they should check that your employer took the right steps, and give them a chance to do so.
• If it hasn't been done, the officer "should refuse the visa application under INA 221(g)" until the employer provides a USCIS receipt showing the amended or new petition was filed.

If your client, project or city has changed since your petition was filed, raise it with your employer's attorney before you book an interview. At the window, describe where you actually work. Don't recite the old address.

Questions to practice

From Visaful's question bank, drawn from reported H-1B interviews. For more, see H-1B visa interview questions.

"Will you work in-house or at a client site?"

• Why they ask: the answer decides which facts the officer checks next.
• What a strong answer does: gives your real worksite in one sentence, matching your petition.

"Who is your end client? Show me the end-client letter."

• Why they ask: the officer wants to see the project and role exist.
• What a strong answer does: names the client plainly. If your case involves a letter, you have it ready and know what it says.

"Is there a vendor between your employer and the client?"

• Why they ask: layers of vendors can make it unclear who directs your work.
• What a strong answer does: lays out the chain in order, employer to vendor to client, with no gaps.

"You work for a small consulting firm. Who actually supervises your work?"

• Why they ask: the officer wants to understand the real working relationship.
• What a strong answer does: names who assigns and reviews your work, truthfully, as it is today.

"How long is your project, and what happens when it ends?"

• Why they ask: the job should be real and ongoing, not end next month with nothing after.
• What a strong answer does: gives the real dates and what your employer has told you comes next.

"What is your job title, and what do you do every day?"

• Why they ask: the role has to be a specialty occupation that matches the petition.
• What a strong answer does: describes two or three real tasks in plain words, not buzzwords.

"Your petition lists a worksite in Texas, but you say you work in Ohio. Why?"

• Why they ask: a worksite mismatch can mean the petition doesn't cover the job.
• What a strong answer does: is accurate. If something changed, says so and what your employer has filed.

"What is your annual salary?"

• Why they ask: it has to match the petition and labor condition application.
• What a strong answer does: gives the exact figure.

"Did you pay any money to get this job or H-1B?"

• Why they ask: paying for a job or petition is a known abuse.
• What a strong answer does: answers truthfully and simply.

"Your LinkedIn shows a different job title than your petition. Why?"

• Why they ask: H-1B applicants' public profiles can be compared with the petition.
• What a strong answer does: gives the true reason. Keep your profile accurate.

How 221(g) fits in

Two kinds of 221(g) matter most for consultants, both from the Foreign Affairs Manual:

1. Worksite changes without the needed petition, as above.
2. Doubts about the petition itself. If an officer knows or has reason to believe you're not entitled to the classification in the petition, the officer must refuse under 221(g), tell you they intend to return the petition to USCIS for reconsideration, and explain the relevant facts as far as possible.

A 221(g) isn't a final no. See 221(g) and administrative processing for what the letter means, the one-year rule for documents, and why your status may show "Refused" while your case is open.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.