L1, L2 Visa

I had my L1A individual visa interview scheduled for October 12th, 2016 in Mumbai. To prepare for the interview, I went through this forum and read through the experiences that others have gone through to prepare myself better. My interview was scheduled for 10am. However keeping the traffic conditions in mind, I arrived around 9:15am for my interview. One tip for people who decide to bring their cars to the consulate, please keep in mind electronic car keys are not allowed in the Consulate. There are various rickshaw drivers willing to hold on to your keys and mobile phones for a price. However, trusting them with your valuables is entirely at your discretion. In case you can get someone with you, that option works the best.
When I arrived at the consulate there were people who were scheduled for 9am interview, still waiting outside. I went and asked the security guard, if I could join the line even though I have a 10am appointment and was refused. So I waited for the 10am line to be formed. Around 945am, the guard signaled us to form a line. We were let in quickly post that. There is a security check before entering the premises, where you are asked to remove belts, pens, wallets, watches etc. Once that is done, we were asked to wait in the seating area. We waited there for nearly an hour, before we were let in. I believe we were the last batch for the day as I didn’t see anyone enter after 10am batch.

After reaching inside, the first thing I underwent was fingerprint check to authenticate my identity. Once that was done, I joined the line with other visa applicants. Since the line was long, I was able to see most of the visa officers and hear the kind of questions that they were asking. It appeared to me that they were rejecting a lot of visas, almost 1 out of 4 applicants were getting rejected. (This was also confirmed by a colleague of mine who attended a B1 interview next week). I also saw some VO asking questions for about 10-15 mins to some applicants. This really made me nervous. The attendant at the center will direct you to counter were you need to appear for the interview. Finally my number arrived and I went to the window.

VO: Good morning
Me: Good morning Sir, how are you?
VO: Good. Can I have your passport and approved L1 petition?
Me: Sure
VO: You have already been on L1 before?
Me: No sir. This is the first time.
VO: Were you on a student visa before?
Me: Yes sir.
VO: So you came back after your studies were over?
Me: Yes sir.
VO: How long have you been working since coming back to India?
Me: 10+ years
VO: How long with your current company?
Me: 3+ years
VO: Are you a manager here?
Me: No sir, I am an AVP.
VO: Which University did you go to?
Me: Gave the name of my university
VO: Will you have people reporting to you in the new role?
Me: Yes. 2 DRs.
VO: Will you have people reporting to you in India? (I didn’t understand the context of this question)
Me: No sir.
VO: Can you tell me again which university you went to?
Me: Answered again.

After that he returned my L1A petition and kept the passport, but didn’t say if the visa has been approved or rejected. This was unlike other experiences which I had read on this forum. So out of curiosity and eagerness, I asked VO if the visa was approved and he still didn’t respond and just made eye contact and gave a slight tilt of the head. I assumed that this meant that visa was approved, however, the lack of verbal approval did create doubts in my head.

I returned home and started reading some other experiences where applicants were requested additional information after 7-12 days even after their passports were collected and their visa status showed “Administrative Processing”. I immediately logged to check the visa status and saw that my case also showed “Administrative Processing”. I wasn’t sure on what would be the next steps post this, but decided to not think about it and wait for things to happen as there wasn’t anything that I could do. The next day, I got the message that the passport was on the way to the delivery center and visa status showed approved.