L1, L2 Visa

First of all a big thanks to creators of Immihelp and the contributors to the experience page. All experiences shared helped me to understand every bit of the entire L1 Visa Process. Couldn't have been more confident and comfortable without this site. My L1B(Blanket) was approved on 10th February 2014 at Chennai US Consulate.
 
My Case:
My firm is an international bank, they are moving me from Singapore to US. Have been working for them in Singapore for last 2 years.
I was obviously curious whether to apply from Singapore or Chennai. But I followed my HR's recommendation and flew to Chennai. I had also read quite a lot of negative stories about applying from Singapore Consulate.

Here is the Complete process I went through.

1. My HR couriered me 3 copies of I129S form and other documents.
2. I completed and submitted DS160 for myself and my wife, while the courier packet was in transit.
3. Created a profile on http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/
4. Filled in all the details and at the payment option, chose the NEFT transfer option. When you chose this option you will get a bank account number starting with “TIER **** *”. This account number has last digits as your UID which you can see on right top corner of your profile page at http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/. Just initiate an NEFT transfer to that account number starting with “TIER **** *” and within 2-3 hours you will get receipt number on your email from ustraveldocs. On the payment page, there is a receipt number field, this field will be populated automatically once your fees is received by them. Keep checking your email or login to ustraveldocs and see if the receipt number is populated.
5. Once payment is done, you can schedule an appointment. First you will be asked to select a date for personal interview. Then you will be asked to select a date for OFC. So if you select 07:30 am -20th February for your personal interview, then for OFC appointment it will show only dates before 20th February. Please note OFC is always done before the personal interview. If you have dependent(s) with you add them in dependents section in ustraveldocs profile, before selecting date and finalizing your appointment.
6. For L1, you need to pay Visa Fraud Prevention Fees. This needs to be paid at the Consulate by a DD. I read people paying by Corporate Cards. But since I wasn’t sure about my cards, I preferred DD. First check the current USD rate on the ustraveldocs site and then make a DD of equivalent INR. In my case, the rate was 1 USD=65 INR, so I made a DD of INR 32500 which is 500 USD. I simply went to Citibank branch at Annasalai and asked them to make a DD worth 32500 INR addressing “US CONSULATE GENERAL CHENNAI”
7. Once you have all the documents with you, Appointment confirmation and DD for Visa Fraud Prevention Fees, you are set to GO !!

Friday, 7th February 2014
I reached Chennai in the morning and checked into Hotel Aruna near Nungumbakkam, Sterling Road. The hotel is little expensive, but had necessary things around. The hotel was kind of equidistant from Citibank branch where I made my DD, OFC center and the US consulate. After the check in, I headed to Citibank branch and made a DD for Visa Fraud and Prevention Fees. If you don’t know to speak Tamil, that means anywhere you go in autorickshaw you will be charged Rs. 100-150 per ride, even if it just takes 5 mins. Charging without meter is illegal in Chennai, but I didn’t know Tamil to argue with them. 12:00 noon I was back to Hotel with the DD.

Sunday, 9th February 2014
13:30 was my appointment for OFC. Just another Rickshaw guy took me for a ride worth Rs 150 and I reached OFC at 12:45. There was a queue barred by a security guard and a board which read “01:00 pm appointment”. I simply joined the queue and after 5 mins the queue started moving. The guard was releasing people in bunches of 5-6 every 5 mins. At 13:10 all 13:00 appointment people were in. The guard changed the board to “01:30 pm appointment”. At 13:30 I was allowed to go in. Another queue got formed just inside the gate to verify appointment confirmations and passports. Once verified, you are allowed inside and then happens a security check. They verify passport and appointment confirmation again and put sticker on your passport with barcode. Inside are many small counters similar to railway reservation counters. You will be asked to sit on the chairs in front of one of the counters. Officers at OFC are mostly Indians. They will scan your sticker on the passport, Take fingerprints, stamp the DS160 confirmation copy and take your photo. Stamped DS160 copy is important for your interview. Me and my wife were asked to go to different counters.,

Monday, 10th February 2014
09:30 was my appointment for interview. Another rickshaw ride and I was at the consulate gate by 08:45. There was a queue at around 100ft away from the main gate of US consulate. Very tight security and the entire place had barricades all around. The only way to enter is to join the queue. Once your turn comes, consulate personal will verify your appointment on a tablet device and direct you to go to main entrance. Here at the main entrance you are frisked by a security. No mobiles or bags are allowed, wallets are allowed. If you have them you will not be allowed to enter. I would recommend simply take all your documents in a transparent folder, you can use multiple folders to keep your documents organized well. After the frisk, you are again checked by security and your folders will be x-ray scanned. Once done you will be directed to next building internally. The moment I entered this place my heart started racing, as I could hear random interview question in very chaotic manner. I was then greeted by an Indian official who helped to bunch 3 sets of my documents. Then he asked us to go to a counter where a lady officer verified our fingerprints. Then the same guy asked me to submit the DD for Visa Fraud and prevention fees. After DD was submitted I was asked to inside. The moment I entered inside, the chaotic interview noses were more clear and I could hear every single question being asked. I was about to sit on the chair to wait for my turn and my token was displayed on the screen. I went to the counter where already 2 guys were lined up. The first guy was getting his Visa approved and the officer was stamping his I129 forms. Second guy was from a consultancy firm, the VO asked plain questions to start with, but when he was asked by VO about his specialization, the answer he gave sounded more or less like onsite coordination. And his application got rejected. Finally my turn came. The VO was a very sweet lady officer.

Me : Good Morning mam, How are you ?
VO : Good Morning ! I am fine, Thank you.

VO : Can I have your documents pleas?
Me : Sure. (Handed over the documents)

VO : So which company you work for ?
Me : XYZ, Singapore.

VO : Oh, so you work in Singapore, then why did you apply in Chennai ?
Me : Since mine is a fresh passport, my HR advised to get it done from Home Country.
VO : I see.

VO : How long you have been working for them ?
Me : 2 years and a month.

VO : Which team do you work for ?
Me : ABC

VO : Is it going to be a long term project ?
Me : Yes.

VO : What is your highest qualification ?
Me : Bachelors in Computer Engineering.

VO : What is going to be you salary in the US ?
Me : XYZ

To my Wife
VO : Mam, what is your highest qualification ?
Wife : XYZ.

VO : (Stamping 3 copies of my document, which I secretly looked at had a word “Approved”) I am approving your Visa. Please hand over one copy to your HR and carry one copy with you when you will travel to US.
Me : Thanks a lot mam !!

Submitting the DD to getting approved stamp on I129 was a flat 2 minute process and I am not exaggerating.
I was surprised that I wasn’t grilled on specialization question as I read in other shared experiences. I think it depends on VO’s methodology to interview people, genuineness of your case and last but not the least, the firm you work for.

1. Attire doesn’t matter. Out of the 2 guys in front of me. The one who got his visa approved was in very casual jeans and a collared t-shirt. And the next guy from a consultancy firm was wearing a suit, but he was rejected. It’s not the attire, but the genuineness you have and the confidence with which you present your case. Wear what you are comfortable in. A regular office wear is fine.
2. For L1B understand the meaning of word specialization very carefully. When you are asked about specialization, don’t answer your entire career and your project lifecycle. This will draw unnecessary attention to things which mismatch with the VISA category. Avoid naming common programming languages or databases, try to talk about your knowledge on internal system, frameworks, dataflow or reporting frameworks etc. Prepare your specialization skill answer in advance and don’t mug it up. Just prepare the pointers which will help you speak at the time of interview.
3. Be specific and confident.
4. As many of us do, ask someone else to take your mock interview. While doing this also prepare set of question from this forum and give it to them. Ask the person who is helping you to ask questions in random order every time. If you get used to with a sequence and suddenly if the sequence changes, you might get blank. This happened to me when my wife helped me with mock interviews. I did fine 3-4 times, but the moment she changed the sequence I started taking time to answer questions and sometimes got blank. We practiced this 3-4 times more and I was fine after that.

Hope this helps future applicants and I would like wish them all the best !!