L1, L2 Visa

1st of all big thanks to everyone who shared their experiences here, my visa was approved today and here I am paying back to this community by sharing my experience. Hope this helps someone like me in future.

My visa documentation for L1B - blanket petition was completed on April 30th 2020 and before I could book an appointment at Chennai consulate, official announcement stating all consulate offices to be shutdown due to COVID restrictions. To make things worse Trump presidential proclamation for ban of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas in May and then extended in June until Dec 2019. The injunction from Chamber of Commerce (CoC) and Technet org in October came as a partial relief. My company was listed in CoC, hence this relief, however embassies in India still were in closed status.
Came mid-Jan 2021, and there was official announcement on USICS twitter account that US consulates in India will start resuming operations. I saw OFC and consular appointment slots in November 2021 and nothing earlier. With a heavy heart, I proceeded to book them. By mid Feb when checked again, there were dates for March and I rescheduled them.

March 4th ( Chennai VAC ): Biometrics went pretty fine. Had to carry DS-160, Appointment confirmation letter and passport. Ensure your name in passport and DS160 matches exactly ( this includes even a minor space) I had a "space" missing and had to get it corrected at the last moment.
March 5th ( Chennai Consulate) : 0830 appointment slot, reached the location at 8:00 am when they started sending candidates for 0830 slots inside the building
After reaching the VO counter, this is what happened:

VO:
Me:

VO: Good morning
Me: Good morning officer, hope you are having a good day!

VO: Please hand over your Documents and passport
Me: Handed over passport and I-129S copies

VO:Have u been granted L1 visa previously?
Me: No, this is the 1dt time I am applying forL1

VO:What is name of the company you are working? What is the name of the company you are applying in US
Me: YYYY in India. YYYY in US, which is the parent company of ZZZ

VO: What is your designation?
Me: ZZZZ

VO: Do you have your birth certificate ?
Me: No, I dont have it currently , but I have it in my car in the parking area downstairs.

VO:Can you show me your previous paspport?
Me: Provided the old passport

VO: What is your salary in US
Me: YYYY USD plus bonus plus stocks

VO: Can you provide some details of your specialisation
Me: Explained about 4 tools that was build within my department and explained in simple terms. Did give VO any eye contact , was very casually and confidently speaking everything. I had prepared a full 2 pager for this question for the past 1 year : ) When I completed the detail of the 4th tool, she asked me to stop

VO continued to type something on her computer for sometime, some more time. Asked me to sanitize my hand, I did the same
She continued typing again, got up from her chair, continued typing, asked me to sanitize my hand, I did the same once again

She asked me to place my left hand four fingers on the scanner, continued typing for some more time.
She then took the 3 copies of I-129S and took the stamp , adjusted the stamping pad, stamped all 3 copies. From where I stood, I slowly peeked in where she stamped and I saw
the words "Approved" she added the date of visa expiry on the section where she stamped. She kept 1 copy, gave me 2 copies , told the golden words ----- Your visa is approved, here are the 2 copies, give 1 to your HR and one copy show at port of entry when u reach US. You will be informed when your passports will be ready for pickup and handed over the green slip of acknowledgement.

Me: Thank you officer, have a great weekend!

**** **** **** **** ***

My takeaways and learnings from this visa experience:

- Prepare for the best and worst. Put additional full efforts to keep your documentations and job related info ready
-Speak confidently, dont confuse, Speak in layman terms, but ensure your role and job dont highlight anything generic in nature. Specialized knowledge means it should be special. Dont talk about tools or skillsets that are generic which VO can relate to. Best thing to do is talk about company internal tools u work on, those will never be generic
-I had a 3 pager document that i prepared for my job duties and specialty tools, I used to read this for a full week prior to my interview to ensure I am confident and dont fumble when i speak
- 3 Key questions
1) What is your job duties and responsibilities? ( I had this ready, but VO never asked me this )
2) What is your specialisation ?
3) Why cannot it be done from India ? ( I had this ready, but VO never asked me this )