L1, L2 Visa

Hi All,

I got my L1B approved on Thursday. Thanks to immihelp.com and the people who posted their experience both good and bad. The questions were no different. Here is how it all went...

VO: Hello Sir!
I: Good morning sir! How are you doing?

VO: I am fine, thank you. How are you doing?
I: I am doing good, thank you.

He took my documents and asked to scan my thumb.
VO: Who is your client
I: ZZZ

Guess he knew about the client so he didn't ask me about the client or their business.

VO: What will you doing there?
I: I will be doing the development activities for a new product that is going to be launched by my client soon. The development activities includes development of code, testing...

He stopped me in between and asked..
VO: What kind of product?
I: I just told a line about the product that goes inline with the business of my client.

He stopped me again and asked
VO: What are your specialized skills?
I: I told about my skills.

VO: How much experience you have with current client?
I: X years and y months.

VO: and your total experience?
I: X years and y months.

VO: Did you work perviously in someother company with same skills?
I: Yes

VO: Which company?
I: YYY

VO: Your visa is approved.
I: Thank you sir
VO: Thanks

I would like to thank a guy who posted on March 08, 2010 at 06:10:56 PM. I couldn't get the name as signature says Need Privacy. I dont know if all will be looking to old posts but I request you all to check it. It was very useful for me.

Here is my experience/observation.

When I went for interview the atmosphere made me nervous. While standing in queue(Chennai consulate hasn't got token system) I found in 3 counters taking interview for L1B (others for B1, language counter etc). Of those 1st guy's record was going like - rejection, approved, 3 rejections. 2nd - approved, rejection, approved. 3rd - a guy was there for almost 20 mins and finally rejected. This was the situation when it was my turn next. I guess this can make lot of people nervous :). Finally I went to the guy who rejected 3 visas and he approved mine.

So the conclusion is dont worry about others result. Dont get nervous. If possible learn from others mistakes if you can hear them. It is not only luck. Infact I never consider myself lucky. So you can create your luck. Here is what you can do...

Remember L1B is for transfer to your company in US (not for client place) based on ur SPECIALIZED skills as in US there is no one available with skills that you possess. So you must highlight it. Knowing or working in tools is not a specialized skill as it can be learned. A guy was rejected infront of me. Requirement analysis or client interaction, offshore co-ordination is again not a speciallised skills as it can be done by business analyst or managers or it can be done from offshore. Another guy who explained this for 2o mins was rejected saying that inform your HR to apply under different category.

Here is what you can do...

When they ask about your duties at offshore and onsite never give same answer for both. If both are same then you can very well do it at offshore. Emphasize that you will be doing development at onsite like I will be developing the code, testing and deploying the application and in offshore you may tell that something like I do maintenance activities and defect fixing or minor enhancements or secondary level support etc. Avoid telling that you will be doing maintenance or support work as this can also be done at offshore.

When they ask about speciallized skills then tell about your basic skillset and highlight them. Do not give stress to other things like offshore co-ordination/ client interaction/ documentation as these are not specialized skill. Also avoid telling that you will be working on tools. If needed then only tell about your certifications or your knowledge on client business but keep it at low profile. You can tell about some technical achievement.

Prepare all your answers couple of days before as they will not be asking anything apart from what people have been posting. Stand in front of a mirror and practice answering. This will improve your confidence a lot. People normally make mistake as they dont practice and try to improvise. While improvising people might tell something that may lead to rejection. I felt that when the guy who explained for 20 mins and got rejected.

Be confident, no matter what happens to others. It all depends on the 5-10 mins that you spend there. Take it very seriously if your future depends on it. Prepare your answers well and avoid improvising unless required. Create your luck. Wishing you all the best.