L1, L2 Visa

Special Thanks to all the members for sharing their experiences over here and which was of great help.

Time to share my experience on this Forum. And this is my first experience on obtaining US Visa.

I had my OFC interview on Oct 13th, 2016 @ 02:00 PM. And the entire process took about less than 30 mins. Documents which needs to be carried for this process

1. DS - 160 final confirmation page.
2. Interview Appointment Letter
3. Passport

They clicked photo & took Bio-metrics once after validating the above mentioned Documents.

Visa Interview was on 14th Oct., 2016 @ 9:30 AM. But i managed to reach the embassy around 8:30AM and luckily i was allowed to enter before my scheduled time. Mandatory documents required for this process,

1. DS - 160 FInal confirmation page which was taken to OFC centre.
2. Interview Appointment letter.
3. Passport.
3. I -129S - 3 Copies (Please check if you are carrying the latest template of this form else your VISA might be put on Hold or Rejected)
4. I -797 - 3 Copies
5. DD for the Fraud protection Fee (500$). [Note: You can pay through Credit Card as well and i paid through my AMEX but to be on a safer side i carried the total amount in CASH as well.]
6. G - 028 & Support statement Documents
7. Your CV, work experience letter.

After all document/Fingerprint Validations we will be put through the final interview process,

VO: Good Morning, Please pass your passport & Documents
Me: Good Morning, Handed over the Documents

VO: What VISA type are you applying for ?
Me: YYYY

VO: Which company do you work for ?
Me: YYYY

VO: What do you do ? (This question was bit tricky and i tried to explain him my Roles & Responsibilities)
Me: YYYY

VO: Why do you want to go to US ?
Me: YYYY

VO: Where would you stay in US ?
Me: YYYY

VO: Will you work at client place or Parent Company ? (Since my VISA is L1B i need to work only for my parent company)
Me: YYYY

VO: Am not clear on what you would do in US, are you gonna work at client place or what will be you exact role in US ?
Me: YYYY

VO: What's you experience with the current company ?
Me: YYYY

VO: Within 3 years, how did you become SME for the Modules you mentioned ?
Me: YYYY

VO: Did you develop these Modules from Scratch ?
Me: YYYY

VO: If you have not developed how can you say that you are SME for these Modules ? (Again this is a tricky question, never lose you confidence and be bold & polite to explain him the fact)
Me: YYYY

VO: why do you want to go to US & not your collegues ?
Me: YYYY

VO: How many of them in your company is aware of these Modules ?
Me: YYYY

VO: Globablly ?
Me: YYYY

VO: Am afraid that i cannot approve this application, as am not clear on your roles in US.
Me: YYYY

[He was talking to his Senior officer for about 3-4 Mins and came back again and continued with questions]

VO: Do you work for Any clients ?
Me: YYYY

VO: When you say End Users, are you referring to cleint ?
Me: YYYY

VO: How many clients you would work for ? (Again this is a tricky question, when you apply for L1B be careful when you talk about clients)
Me: YYYY

VO: Can you name the clients which you would work for ?
Me: YYYY

[Again he was talking to his Senior officer for about 3-4 Mins and came back again and continued with questions]

VO: You said you will work for Parent company & you are talking about clients ? (Again this is a tricky question, need to reassure that you will work only for parent company & not client)
Me: YYYY

VO: Where would you stay in US ?
Me: YYYY

VO: What would be you package in US ?
Me: YYYY

VO: How long are you planning to stay in US ?
Me: YYYY

[Please be careful when you reply for the above questions, as it will be cross verified against your I-129S form]

[Again he was talking to his Senior officer for about 3-4 Mins and came back again and continued with questions]

VO: *Started going through all the documents line by line right in front of him*
Me: *Nail biting Moment*

[After few Mins, he opened the I-129S form and stamped as "APPROVED" in all the 3 copies of I-129S]

VO: Your "VISA is Approved" [Finally the Golden words].
Me: Thanks.

Overall the entire interview lasted for 20-25 Mins. And most of the questions which i was asked were not the ones i prepared.

Couple of things which i noticed personally,

1. L1 A/B Visa Rejection rate was too high, only one in 6 were being offered VISA's but this was not the case with H1B & other VISA's and they were getting it with ease.
2. Please check if you are carrying the latest template of I-129S form as it was changed in the month of September, 2016.
3. Be polite & Confident on what you explain and your VO officer intention is not to humiliate you but to check if you are really eligible enough to get through this VISA.
4. Always answer in a definite way and don't give him any assumptions.
5. Go through the I-129S form clearly.
6. Apart from this there are some questions which will be out of Syllabus and we should be prepared to answer them as well.

Thanks everyone, And all the very Best !

Regards,
Jerard