L1, L2 Visa

My L1B got approved on July 18th. Everything was smooth. My experience wasn’t much different than most of the other people who shared their experiences.

Stay:
I stayed in The Park. This is very well located for all the VISA aspirants as it is merely 1.2 km from biometrics location & walkable from consulate. Don’t waste money in superior room. Their deluxe room has better facilities than superior room! Make sure to ask for non-smoking room unless you want otherwise. In smoking rooms, you will get the smoke smell. The breakfast buffet is good. Dinner buffet also has good options, but the taste is very much plain & non-spicy.
If you are making hotel arrangement on your own & don’t want to shell out more money, I saw couple of more hotels which are just behind The Park. The two hotels are The Kings Park grand & Hotel Palmgrove.
There are some good restaurants around. Gangotree chats is very famous which is at a couple of km distance. Barbeque nation is about a couple km distance. MacD, KFC is walkable distance. Saw couple of more restaurants. Plus there is always an option of ordering food online.

Attractions:
Must visit VGP marine Kingdome which has underwater tunnel with marine fishes like Sharks & sting rays.

Biometrics on July 13th @ 8:30 am:
Documents to carry:
Passports for all, DS160 confirmation for all & appointment confirmation (only 1 for all). Keep the DS160 confirmation page inside respective passport similar to bookmark.
This was pretty simple, came out within 25 mins. Reached there around 8 am. You can take an auto or book the cab. Generally you will find couple of auto guys always on the road standing between entry & exit gate of The Park hotel. Auto fare is pretty standard (& inflated) – Rs 150 single trip.
Cellphones in switched off mode are allowed. I told security guard that I have cellphone in switched off mode.
There was already a queue on road outside the gate. With L1 blanket & /or family, don’t stand in that queue & directy go to the guard who allows going inside the campus. They will send you in after verifying the time & date on appointment confirmation.
There are people at all the points where one could get confused or multiple paths. So not to worry & follow them. The main queue starts on the stairs itself. The biometrics happens at second floor.
Your details on passport & biometrics get verified letter by letter so make sure everything on DS160 confirmation page is per passport.
At the second checkpoint after entering the second floor, one barcode label gets pasted at backside of the passport. It has your passport number, both biometric & consular appointment details (date & Time) etc… make sure that all info is correct & it is pasted properly. In case of multiple people like dependents, make sure that the barcodes aren’t swapped.
In case of dependents usually kids & wife will be sent to one counter & you will be sent to another counter.
At counter, they will ask to read the consent, then they will verify again everything on DS160 is per passport. After that they take your photo followed by fingerprints. Once done, they will ask to stay present for the interview which is scheduled at xxx time & At xxx date. They stamp your DS160.
While exiting the building, one more person will make sure that DS160 & then only send you out.
There are plenty of autos standing outside the gate to come back OR even you can book a cab,
Finding parking for own car is difficult there. So opt auto/cab option as much as possible.

Visa interview on July 18th, 2022 @11:30 am

Documents required:
Total time taken: 35 minutes. 10 minutes wasted because of payment guy was on break.
Passports for all, stamped DS160 confirmation for only primary applicant, I129-S all 8 pages (2 sets), I797 only 1 page (2 sets) + Visa fraud detection fees receipt you will get in the consulate after payment of the fees. These are compulsory documents asked by interviewer.
Remaining all other supporting documents in back-up
Reached there by 11:00 am. Was a long queue mostly for F1 standing on footpath. 11:00 am F1 people werent’ yet let in. Again here, we let in after confirming our date & time slot. Here security just asked whether carrying any electronics.
After entering first building, multiple F1 people in queue. There is a desk on left side once you enter the hallway of first building. Usually, a person will be there. But during my time, after preparing my documents, she left for some time. So, if no one is there wait for some time to get the documents arranged.
Again, at all points of confusion or where there are multiple paths emerge, there will be someone to guide you. Just tell everyone that you are L1 Blanket & by-pass all the queues!

Document arrangement:
Need to fold DS160 confirmation for primary applicant int center on the longer edge. Need to fold 129-S & I-797 only 1 page together in half along vertical line. Do it for both the sets. Keep folded DS160 on top such that barcode in top side, then 2 folded sets of I129-S & I-797 back-to-back each other such that the place for stamp faces upwards & then all passports (sequence doesn’t matter for passports). All of this will be in a rubber band. This all the docs arrangement you have to do.
After this we moved to next building again by-passing a huge queue & landed in the hallway where interviews were going on. They will ask to sit for a while until your turn comes to pay the visa fees. Saw 3 F1 rejections & couple of F1 & L1 approvals.
At visa fees counter, make a payment by card cash or DD. I didn’t carry cash/DD. Paid by card. There is one ATM in first building where you can withdraw cash. Once fees are paid, he will get you two receipts. One will be stapled to your documents & other will be handed over ot you. If paid by card, you need to sign the receipt. Not worry here as well, as he will guide you.
After that I was immediately sent to window #25, where this famous American bald guy was interviewing & I got relaxed. Adjacent to our windows were famous scrutinizing lady & that Latin American guy who is famous for rejections!

Conversation with VO:
He was observing us since we were in a queue.
Greeted with each other. He was reading something form I129 & something on computer.
VO: Which company?
I: XXX
VO: What are your products?
I: We make XXXX products & supply to XXX companies. (VO seems confused here as I used technical jargons what attorney was mentioned). In simpler words, we make machines which make xxxx.
VO: ahh! I liked that simpler answer very much & started laughing. So, you make machines which make XXX. Then who makes the machines to make your machines? We all started laughing…& then he said it is kind of a chicken & egg story, isn’t it?
I: Yes
By this time, he had stamped both I129-S.
VO: So, are going for few months?
I: Yes. (I’m going to perform some experiments to qualify ur products & not a relocation case)
VO: Let me know if I’m right. So, you will be on India payroll, with stay & transportation provided by company & plus you will get daily allowances (per diem)
I: Yes
By this time, our passports were in the bin & I was happy as hell!!! 😊
VO: Where you will be staying:
I: XXX
Then he asked to scan 4 fingers of left hand.
To my wife scan 4 fingers of right hand & parallelly asked what she will be doing there. She answered it.
VO: Conratualtions1 your visa is approved. Have a wonderful stay in US.
We: Thank you!

Passport status:
On the day of interview i.e. July 18th, 2022 @ 10 pm: Status: No status
Jul 19th, 2022 @ 7 am: Status: Administrative processing
July 19th, 2022 @ 6 pm: Status: Issued
July 20th, 2022 @ 7 am: Status: Issued
July 20th, 2022 @ 8 am: Received SMS from Bluedart that shipment will be delivered today.
July 20th, 2022 @ 11 am: Passports delivered (delivery location: Bangalore & were shipped from Chennai around 5 p on July 19th itself)

Few other things to note:
I wore just formals & no blazer for interview. I felt, the blazer is not really required. Formals are enough. Though, if not wearing blazer & looking at other people in blazer, if you feel nervous, then wear the blazer. Do, all that what you could to boost your confidence!
Biometrics, you can even go in causal. It is just for your photo & fingerprints.
Answer all questions confidently & keep them limited to 2-3 sentences. There is word document online which has summed up all these questions pretty nicely. Write down you answers there & read them & the petition support letters provided by your attorney for your case. This really helps & you don’t end up in confusion.
My attorney told, mainly the chanaces of rejections are if your compensation is not that good OR not enough experience in existing company. So, at time you need to be thoroughly prepared for technical. He told; my case is strong & I may not expect anything on technical side of it. & Same happened.
From Park hotel to consulate entrance is ~400 meters walk. For that also, auto guys will tell you that the gate has moved back, you can’t walk with kid. Auto guys charge heftily. 150 per trip. They will even mention I’ll wait for you. Once Visa approved you give me whatever your wish but they expect atelast Rs 500 for round trip + waiting charge. So, if you with your kid could manage to walk for 400 m, avoid taking auto. There are plenty of autos waiting at consulate. So, don’t get into the deal of auto guy waiting over there. Confirm the fare before you get into an auto.
Park hotel considers late check-out upto 1 pm. Post 1 pm, they charge half a day rent. Since my appointment was at 11:30, we requested them for late checkout.
Ola, Uber & auto everything works fine in Chennai. So, no issues for roaming around.
Apologies for a long answer but tried to provide all logistics & other details as they maybe helpful & I haven’t seen many posting them. Since most of the Visa experience is same as other, thought to concentrate more on this side as well.

Feel free to reply/connect if anymore details are needed Or sharing your inputs.