L1, L2 Visa

First of all, I would like to thank this site and the users who post their experiences here. It had helped me very much in my preparation and in facing the interview. Now is my turn to post my memorable interview experience and contribute to this awesome site.

I had my L1B Blanket Visa interview in Chennai Consulate on 31st January 2020 at 8:30AM. The Embassy staff will be displaying the time slots in a large bold font on A4 size White paper. The 8:30AM slot was displayed on the paper at 8:35AM and I was allowed into the consulate along with the queue. I did not carry a mobile phone. However, there is a counter to deposit the mobile phones. However, I suggest it is better not to carry mobiles and have unnecessary diversion/anxiety of where to deposit them etc. If you want to carry it mandatorily, then you can carry otherwise avoid it.

After entering the consulate, there will be a security check. After that, there is a person who informs you to arrange your documents in order which is displayed in a paper. For L1B VISA, you need to arrange the docs in the following order:
I129S(First 8 pages) + I797(First page) - 3 sets
DD(Anti fraud fee)
DS-160 Confirmation Page(the one which is stamped at VAC)
Passport(Carry your expired passport also if you've one)

After you've arranged the docs in this order, the person will verify the order and put a rubber band around the documents. Now, you will be guided to a counter where you've to submit the DD(anti fraud fee). You'll get a receipt which will be attached to your documents. After that, I was sent to the Fingerprint counter and got my fingerprints verified.

After this, I was guided to join a queue of 30-40 people. Spent 30 mins or so in the queue. Here you can see the candidates being interviewed by the Visa officers. I tried as much as I can not to hear their conversation. Then, the assistant at the queue asked me to go to counter xx. I waited behind the Yellow line as the Visa officer was interviewing a candidate. My turn came and here were the questions asked:

Me : Good Morning mam.
VO : Good Morning. Documents please.
Me : Sure mam. (I handed over the documents).

VO : Are you applying for L1A or L1B?
Me : I'm applying for L1B mam.

VO : Which company you work for?
Me : Answered the company name

VO : How long you're with this company?
Me : xxx years and xxxx months

VO : Why do you want to go to US?
Me : Explained the reason in 2-3 lines.

VO : What does this tool do?(follow up question from my previous answer)
Me : Explained what the tool does along with the benefit of the tool.

VO : One more follow up question from my previous answer. The question was like why your company has separate requirements/design standards?

Me : I was totally surprised by this question. This was completely unexpected question. I never thought about this during my preparation. I didn't know how to answer this. I had a split second to decide what to answer here. I gathered my thoughts and said, my company is in so and so business and hence separate standards are needed. However, I stumbled in answering this question and thought that maybe my interview is ruined at this point.

Important suggestion here : Try to predict what follow up questions can be asked on the answer that you've given on your specialization/purpose of travel. Ensure that you've all the answers ready for the follow up questions.

VO : Did you apply for an L Visa earlier?
Me : No mam. This is the first time I'm applying for L Visa.

VO : Are you married?
Me : Yes

VO : Do you've kids?
Me : Yes

VO : Are you traveling with your family?
Me : Answered.

VO : Tell me your Indian Salary in Lakhs per annum.
Me : xxx lakhs per annum

VO : What will be your salary in US?
Me : Answered

VO : Which place are you going to in US?
Me : Answered the place and State name.

The officer took a Green colored form and started stamping on my 3 sets of documents. She didn't speak anything while doing this. I was so tensed in my mind and was thinking, is this form for approval or for hold or rejection...many thoughts were going on in my head. After stamping the 3 set of docs, she finally uttered the words "YOUR VISA IS APPROVED". She kept one set and handed over me the 2 sets saying to hand over one set to the HR and one set to carry during the travel to US.

I had put a lot of effort to prepare for this interview. I had prayed to God sincerely seeking his help and blessings to take me through this. I'm very happy that my prayers have been answered. I have received my passport along with VISA stamp couple of days back.

Though I prepared very well and was pretty good in the mock sessions taken by my friends, the importance of the situation got into my head at the final moments and I felt very tight and nervous moments before the actual interview. Honestly, I felt I did not speak as fluently in the interview as I usually speak. However, I believe I performed decently in the interview except for that one unexpected question.

Suggestions:

1)Go through the questions posted by the users.(I went through several pages in this forum and got an essence of how the questions are)

2)Very important : Write down the questions and answers and keep practicing them. If you do not write down, you'll have a different answer to a question each and every time. So, make a note of the answer and improvise it if you want to. But writing the answer is the most important step.

3)Though we put our efforts, luck also plays a important role. However, the luck factor is not under your control. The only thing under our control is the effort we put on preparation and how well we can answer the questions asked by the visa officer. Hence focus on this part which you've control on.
Believe in God and seek his blessings. I believe in One and felt good about the positive outcome. If the outcome was negative, I would have been disappointed for sure but I would have moved on by feeling satisfied with the effort that I have put.

All the best to the Visa aspirants.