vicky94    •   03/14/2013 03:22:41 AM

0      1

Hi All,
I have my OFC appointment on 16 Jan 2013 and visa interview on 22 Jan 2013. I have done with my OFC but my visa appointment is going to be scheduled in April.

My doubt is:
1. Whether my DS-160 is still valid? Or do i have to fill it again?
2. Does it create any issues at the consulate because of long gap?
3. What is the maximum gap we can have between OFC and visa interview.

Thank you all.
~Vicky

krish_1    •   03/11/2013 10:44:26 AM

1      6

Hi All,

First of all, thanks to all the people who have been sharing their experiences in this forum. It definitely helped in preparing for the interview. I just finished my L1B Visa interview. The interview was pretty simple and took less than a minute.

Some Key points :
1. Please be calm and do not get nervous while talking.
2. Speak precisely and clearly.
3. Ensure that you highlight your role and responsibilities pretty well.

All the best!

mvv    •   03/09/2013 00:27:20 AM

4      0

Firstly, many thanks to the people who have recorded their experiences, it was very useful for me to prepare.

Mine was a simple interview with 3 Qs
Where do I work?
What does my company do?
What is my specialization?

The VO checked if the skills I mentioned were indeed "specialized" in the system and then stamped the papers saying my visa is approved, the whole process took 1 min and I got back my passport within 3 days.

gaurav    •   03/07/2013 01:19:02 AM

0      0

One of best suggestion - Be confident about ur skills and prepare for your specialized skills. That will decide or reject ur visa.

Other questions like Indian salary, US salary, total experience, client name is also important. prepare well for these questions. Interview will be around these questions only.

Also pleaseeee.... don't get nervous, a infact answer the questions calmly and short. Never start speaking in a go.

buddy25    •   03/07/2013 00:49:57 AM

1      1

I & my spouse/child have attend interview on 06th - Marc and our visas got approved.

Here are the questions asked by VO:

1. Who was your client
A) XYZ
2) what is your Indian Salary?
A) XY Lacks per annum
3) What is your US Salary?
A) XY K USD per annum
4) What is your designation
A) Program Manager.

He started stamping on my petition copies and came to know that he is going to approve my Visa. He did check in the system for 30 secs and finally said your visas are approved and your passport will be delivered in a week.

Regards

apple    •   03/04/2013 13:45:25 PM

5      2

Background: My case was slightly different as I was joining my previous employer to lead a department. I have 10+ years of experience and a master’s degree in management.
I applied for an L1A for myself and L2 for my wife and kid. Since my kid is an infant he was not required to be present for the interview

The Interview:

VO: Who do you work with?
Me: I work with xxx but the petition has been filed by my previous employer yyyy whom I worked with for x years
VO: How much experience do you have?
Me: 10+
VO: Who are you joining?
Me: yyy
VO: Oh yes you told me that before. Sorry.
Me. No problem
VO: What will you be doing for yyy?
Me: (answered in one sentence)
VO: How many direct reports?
Me: 2. Sorry. Actually 1 direct and 1 indirect. I am a functional manager responsible for strategy and while people management is an essential part of my role, working with management on the business strategy is the core.

To my wife:
VO: What is your highest qualification and what do you do?
Wife: answered (works for a tech company)
VO: Are you planning to work as well?
Wife: No

To me:
VO: You and your kid will get your visa in a week’s time.
To my wife:
VO: You will get your visa a little later. It just has to go through administrative processing but nothing to worry about, your visa will follow soon after. Just that it will take a little time (handing over the pink slip) Please sit in the waiting area and somebody will call you for additional details.
VO: (returned two copies of the petition) Give one copy to your HR and another at immigration.
Us: Thank you officer

We waited to be called. My wife gave additional details at another counter. We recd our passport on the 3rd day. My wife’s came in on the 14th day.
Administrative Processing: Though we were happy that we got the visa, the fact that my wife had to go through the administrative processing left a small hiccup. The administrative processing could be due to various reasons but if you have stated all your facts right, you should give it some time and you will receive the stamped passport in time. I had been tracking the visa status of those who were pending and I noticed that most visas got issued within 10-14 days with most of the others being approved in about 21 days. The passport shipment email came in first and the site was updated the next day.

abcdexyz2709    •   02/28/2013 13:08:14 PM

2      2

My L1B Individual was approved today. I waited almost 2 hours at the consulate before finally my turn came.

Below were the questions asked:

Which Company do you work for?
A: XXX PLC
For how many years have you been employed with the firm?
A: X years and XX months to be precise.
What do you do for your company?
A: Explained my current job responsibilities in detail.
Where will you be put up in US?
A: Answered
Where will you be working out of? Your company’s name?
A: Answered
Is that the head office?
A: Yes
For how long will you be in the US?
A: X years
What will you be doing in US?
A: Explained my responsibilities in detail about the project. (She asked me to explain again in simpler terms)
What will be your Annual Salary in US?
A: $XXX
Are you married, single or have any kids?
Do you know that your petition will expire in 2014?
Have you got your rights pamphlet?.
 
Then came the golden words... "Your visa has been approved"

appuchan    •   02/28/2013 08:20:18 AM

11      2

Today L1A Blanket was approved at Chennai Consulate for me, wife and daughter.

OFC was quick yesterday. However the ordeal at Consulate was really painful with having to stand outside for almost 2 hours. Our appointment was scheduled at 9 AM. We reached there at about 8.45 AM and there was already a mile long queue. Had to wait for about 2 hours before they started allowing the 9 AM batch inside. Once inside, the process was fairly quick and came out by about 12 Noon.

I had lost one my my old passports which I had mentioned in my DS-160 and hence I was called in many counters asking for explanations before I was called for interview. I did not have any proof of my old passport nor any FIR or other papers.

Interview was ultra quick, just few questions to me and absolutely nothing for my family. Below listed were the questions and answers. Everything was over in about 3 minutes.

1. Where are you going?
Ans: <City name>

2. Which client?
Ans: <Client name>

3. What are your responsibilities?
Ans: I will be heading the architecture team for the account. Will be responsible for defining overall software architecture across various programs. Client is undergoing a major transformation program. I will be helping them in defining the architecture roadmap, perform technology and vendor selection, and mentoring of the project architecture team.

4. Did you say 'across programs' ?
Ans: Yes.

5. What is your Indian salary?
Ans: 35 lacs per annum

6. Are there any reportees to you?
Ans: Yes. Overall team of about 17 members. 10 of them onsite. 5 direct reportees who are senior architects and consultants with 10+ years experience.

7. Whom do I report to?
I will be reporting to the practice director who heads the client account.

8. Smiled at my family. Then said "Your visa is approved and will get your passports in a few days".

Jeba    •   02/27/2013 15:32:51 PM

2      2

Got the L-1B and L2 approved after the following qns & I think mine is one of the simple interview

1. Which company are you working for.
2. What are you working for the company?
3. Is it a hardware or software job?

The experiences shared in this site was very useful and following are things I learnt from this site:

1. Each case is unique. So do not get nervous by seeing the rejection experiences
2. Rejection experiences are very useful and I used them to remind myself to revisit the documents and preparations and that gave good confidence.

The Key things I noticed based on mine and my colleagues experience is

1. Specialization and clarity in presentation
2. Confidence

During the interview, as we went with Kid, we were given token in "P" category and we did not had to wait in any of the queues.

boomer    •   02/25/2013 16:36:00 PM

3      3

Thanks to all those who have shared their experiences. Was a great help preparing & having a rough idea of what to expect. In the end they were gentle with us. Our interview went as follows:-

How long have you worked for the company?
XX years

What is your new role?
Manager and <title> of yyyy

Moved on to my wife

When were you married?
date XX years ago

Any children?
yes, X

How old are your children?
ages given

Will they be travelling with you?
yes, explained that they were not with us as they have US citizenship.

I am recommending your application for approval. You should receive your passports back within X days.