ravi.chandel    •   02/11/2013 23:25:08 PM

1      1

Hi,
I have applied for L1B blanked visa in November 2012 at chennai consulate. The visa was rejected by VO saying that the visa is not clearly approvable. (221g).

So i applied for individual L1B visa under premium processing. (Company and my Immigration lawyers filled the petition for me) on 20 Dec 2012. I received a RFE (Request for Evidence) on 5 Jan 2013. I replied to the RFE on the 12 Jan 2013. I received the approval from the CIS on 25 jan 2013.

My interview was setup today 12 Fec 2013 at 8.00 am.

The process was very smooth and finished in just 20 mins.

First was security check and then my petition papers, BEP letter, DS 160 and appointment letter were attached together and token was provided to me. I was the second person in the L1 category up for interview.

The interview was very simple

The greetings with VO. Shared the documents with the VO

Q1:- tell me something about your company
Ans :- Since i am data analytics guy, i must have used some technical terms due to nervousness

Q2:- Can you kindly repeat everything in English, its too technical for me

Ans :-- simple language

Q3 :- Where will you work out of in US ?
Ans :- Exact address

Q4 :- Salary in US ?
Ans :- .......

Q5 :- Are you married and is your wife travelling with you ?
Ans :-......

Your visa is approved and gave me a green card with instructions for collecting the passport.
Very Very happy ...after the long long struggle....

All the fellow members who have got rejected in L1 Blanket interview, pls dont panic.
Apply for L1 individual and be confident in the interview..

Best of luck to everyone.....

musicvj    •   02/11/2013 06:23:44 AM

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11-Feb was my L1A visa appointment in CHENNAI and following is my experience.

7-FEB - OFC Appointment
You need to carry only 3 documents.
1. A passport valid for travel to the United States with a validity date at least six months beyond your intended period of stay in the United States.
2. Your DS-160 confirmation page
3. Your appointment confirmation page

Tips:
1. It's enough if you are there right on time or 5 mins before your appointment. Don't go early, I went there 20 minutes before and had to wait on road. Chennai is hot n humid and there is no shelter or shade on road. Lot's of traffic and dust. Or Fix an early morning appointment to avoid the heat.

2. Mobile phone are allowed inside, but they need to be switched off. No bags are allowed inside and no place to secure them

3. Entire process will take only 15 mins or so. You need to goto floor 1, show the above 3 documents, get ur fingerprints and photo taken and you are done for the day. Make sure you get your DS 160 Stamped with a seal here.

11-FEB

1. I arrived right on time and was allowed in right away. They will provide you a token which is applicable till your interview is over.
2. If you don't have a mobile you can walk into security or otherwise you need to be another queue to deposit your mobile and bags and get a token.
3. After security screening, building 1, they will verify your documents. Bundle only necessary documents together.
4. After this, you can goto building 2 and deposit your DD etc.
5. Interview with the consular.

Someone in front of me also had an L1A interview. That went on for about 20 minutes and he got the pink slip. I was next and following questions were asked.

1. Are you working for XXXXXXX
2. How long are you with XXXXX
3. Will you be travelling to XXXXXX.
4. Who is your client?
5. What is your Indian pay and what will be your US pay?

No documents were requested by the consular. A valid case and having a 7 figure Indian salary and 6 figure US salary will help for L1A.

Documents I carried.
1. All educational documents.
2. All work experience documents.
3. 6 months paystubs and 6 months bank statements.
4. Details about members reporting to me and (Name, designation, their education, email, office address, phone)
5. Details about managers I report into (Name, designation, email, office address, phone).
6. Organization chart in India and Organization chart in US.
7. My Resume.

user786    •   02/09/2013 07:05:45 AM

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I have around 10 years work ex in a premier IT services company. and I had a pleasant experience at the US consulate today. The questions to me were as follows :

What is your total experience ?
experience with the current company ?
Salary in India ?
Salary in US ? - I got stuck here because I19S mentions xxxx/week whereas the VO was expecting per annum - I clarified to him and he got convinced...
Detailed questions on the team I would be leading - everything except Team Member names
Supervisor name/details in the US

To my wife questions on my passport detail, are you sure you have been married xx years :) Madam - Ur visa is suspect :) and finally a question o her on my "shoe size" :) - I think the last question was to throw her off because my spouse had all the answers ready !!

My 2 cents - have your facts right and be confident.

ep0001    •   02/07/2013 11:13:50 AM

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Hi All
First of all Thanks for all the support & inputs.
Bellow are the questions i faced in the interview.
To me:
1) how long you have been working for XX?
2) What's your salary in Indian ?
3) what's would be your salary in US?
4) Are you going to your clients' place ?
5) what's your specialization ?
6) what's the special / proprietary aspect of the product?
7) what's your role in this regard?
8) what's your highest degree of qualification?

To my Wife:
1) What's your highest qualification?

That's it he captured the right points , stamped the 129s, kept the passports aside & said "Your visa is approved ..you will receive it at VFS / or by mail...have a nice day"

Tips for the interview:
1) Greet the interviewer
2) Be confident with a charm / stay calm.
3) Look at the officer while answering
4) Practice your answers well especially for ' specialized skill / knowledge'
5) Use Key words that help you highlight your points & help VO to capture & enquire more on the same.
6) carry specialization related document / extracts
7) Never ever fake.

All the best
I hope my post would help someone.
Regards
ep0001

sail1bvisa    •   02/06/2013 09:31:27 AM

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Thank you so much for this forum. I have not prepared any of the interview questions due to hectic work. but the good thing i have done is, i have reached Chennai on 04th Feb morning itself as my interview was on 5th Feb. so i had 1 complete day for preparation. I have gone through this forum and found some questions and i have well prepared for all the questions. i have sit in-front of the mirror and practiced well. i was little bit confident and trust on my God so i thought luck will favour me even there are so many rejections. my interview was going on like below.

1. Where are you going? (Client Location)

Deland, Florida
2. What is your Client?
XXXX which is a fortune 500 company provides kidney care and Dialysis.it has 2 main labouratories in Fortlauradle and Deland. It has 2000 O/ P dialysis centres in US and 24 dialysis centres outside US.

3. What is your previous organisation?
XXXX

4. What are the projects you have handled in your previous organisation
xxx

5. how long have you been with current organisation?
1 yr 7 months

6. What is your specialization?

XXX Medical Equipment XXXX expert.

7. Explain your role in your Project?
I do analyse and design the software which comminicates with the equipments using protocols.

8. Why only you are selected to go to client location?
As I am having more Experience in this domain and hands on Exp compared to the members in my team, client has recommended my name.

9. Why can't you work from offshore?
As I need to analyze and design the software for the equipments which are available only at client location, and the out come results might not be accurate if I design the software using simulators. I need to connet my software to the original equipment for the accurate results.

10. have you been to US?
No.

she was stamping on the 3 forms and i was getting nervous. i thought it was rejection and was trying to be cool bcz i can't do anything at that time.

After that she smiled and said the diamond words ' Your VISA is approved sir' you can collect the passport with in 2 to 3 days.

My suggestions and observations:

,don’t try to tell the lies. Be frank.most importantly be confident. Even you are saying some thing wrong bymistake don’t come back again.try to remember the points whatever you have mentioned in the PRD and PETETION.if you are going to mention any tools, be sure that it will suits the client's requirement what ever you have mentioned.Even the VO doesn't look at you they will observe your manarism. maintain your eye contact.be ready for all the anaswers and get the confidence in first 30 sec to 1 minute such that it will carry through out the interview.be loud and you can say' pardon me or excuse me' if you cannot hear the VO question.

rajivgrover008 (guest)    •   02/06/2013 01:29:31 AM

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Hi All,

First of all i would like to thank you to all those who have shared their experiences here.

My visa interview process was not that straight forward.
Day1 :
There was some name confusion in my DS-160 form so they asked me to re-fill the DS160 form on the finger printing day.I went to near by cyber cafe and updated my DS-160 form with required modifications.
Day2:
The visa officer was not aware that i was asked to re-fill the DS-160 form and due to this he was not able to locate my finger prints etc in the system.He was using the old DS-160 Reference.

After around 5 minutes this confusion got cleared and my interview started.He asked me following questions.

TO me:
Where i am working?
My indian Salary?
MY US salary?
My specialization

To my wife:
how long you have been married?
what is your husband dob.

As per my experience your visa approval decision is already made before you appear for the interview.On the interview day they just complete some formalities.So you need to be only confident rest your case is already decided so dont curse yourself if your visa is rejected.Spend good time on preparing the petition documents so must specify you specialized skill set clearly in your petition document.Thats all what matters.

Best of luck :)

jigneshmms    •   02/06/2013 00:48:51 AM

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Hello All,

Firslty let me thank this forum for preparing for the US Consulate Personal Appeareance.

Actually my appointment was scheduled on 31st January 2013, but due to unknown reasons, the US Consulate was closed on that day & the BEP appointments were re-scheduled next day, i.e. 1st Feb.

Subsequently after many urgent requests & calls, I re-scheduled my flight tickets & accomodation.

When I reached US Consulate on 1st Feb at 11:50 am, surprisingly, there was no rush & the entire process was completed within 15 minutes.

I will come straight to questions:

VO: Which Company are you from?
Me: XXX Limited

VO: You have applied for L1 - A or B Visa?
Me: L1A - Blanket

VO: What is your salary in India?
Me: Rs. XX XX XXX per year

VO: What is your salary in US?
Me: USD XX XXX per year.

After this she gave a dirty look & typed something in her computer. The silience was killing & I could actually feel my heart beats roaring...

She stamped my I-129S Doucments & my Heart was still beating rapidly...

VO: Based on description you have given, your Visa is not Clearly Approvable. Ask your company to file your Visa in different category.
Me: Thank you & left the counter.

Dreams crashed landed.... Especially my wife was very excited about prospects of going to US.

Thanks,

pshailendra    •   02/04/2013 20:50:54 PM

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Hi

It was not my day today. Visa Officer asked me just 1 question and direct rejection.

After I completed my finger prints and other formalities.

 

Me: Good morning

VO: May I have your BEP letter please.

Me: (handed over)

VO: Are you a "Project Lead"

Me: Yes

VO: (After typing something on the computer)

                  You don't fall under this category. (and handed over me the blue form)

Me: May I know the reason please? Also I tried to explain my current roles.

VO: Project Lead doesn't fall under this category. Your HR could have applied in other category.

                   And there are other 12 types of VISA to enter US. Ask your HR to file in correct category.

My background: I am having 10 years of experience. And from 2007 I am working in the product and managing a team of 11 in offshore and 4 in US. But nothing was asked.

subbug    •   02/02/2013 05:13:52 AM

2      1

Dear All

This site is doing excellent job !!! Thanks All for your valuable postings and feedback. After going through this site, I became very confident of the interview as I came to know the set of questions from where I will be asked. I prepared myself and jotted down on the piece of paper if this is the question what should be the answer, of course need to give spontanious answers to add-on questions, even that I planned myself for probable add-on questions. My interview got over within 5 minutes, here are the questions

1. Which companry you are working for?
      I said company name, revenues & group of companies name & revenue, She echoed oh you are part of "xxxx" company.

2. How long you are working?
     I have long service and I told her xx years & xx months.

3. Is it Managerial or Specilized knowledge VISA?

4. How many people are reporting to you in US?
    I said xx,
    Are they reporties only or do they in turn have reporties?

5. What is your Manager designation & who is he reporting to?
         
6. Who is your Manager in US?
     
7. What is your Indian salary?

8. What is your US salary?

9. How long do you stay in US?

10. She repeated my number of years in the company for confirmation........

Now it is time for Golden Words -- I am approving your VISA, you will get Passport by courier & she stamped I129 form & asked to carry these documents while going to US.

I gave straight answers with eye contact and confidence ofcourse with a bit politeness & smiley face, That's it !!! All the Best !!!

singaraju    •   02/01/2013 13:35:04 PM

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Thanks to forum for helping me a lot for preparing in my interview.
The questions which VO have asked me are below.

VO: You are from..........
Me: Co Name Sir
VO: How are long are you working with Co?
Me: 4 years
VO: What is your Project?
Me: Project Name
VO: What is you designation?
Me: Team Manager
VO: How many reportees you have?
Me: 6
VO: What is your highest education?
Me: Graduation
VO: Your Visa being issued
Me: Thank you Sir

You Should

1.Not be tensed
2.Be confident
3.Maintain eye contact
4.Try give answers that match your DS-160 and Petition

And if possible/you belive then visit Chilkur Balaji temple. God's support is also required.