L1, L2 Visa

First of all thanks to all the people who took the burden to post their interview experiences which is immensely useful for people like us who are going to have their interviews. Going thru the experiences in this forum really helps to prepare for all kind of possiblities.

I had my L1A Blanket interview on 5th Sept. The biometric part at OFC on 4th Sept is pretty simple as lots of others have already written so I am
not elaborating. One suggestion - don't reach before more than 30 minutes unless you love to stand in queue under Chennai sun.

My interview was at 10:30 AM on 5th. I reached at 10 AM and joined the queue. Was not carrying anything apart from docs and a small water bottle which I had planned to just throw before the check point.

Entered the enclosed area after around 45 min I guess. There will be 2-3 rounds of doc check (just passport, DS160 and app confirmation), just
comply with the officials patiently. During this phase they will stick a slip on top of your passport with your token number. The token number
might say L1B even if you are applying L1A - so don't get worried about that,

After that I have entered the waiting lounge and sat keeping an eye on the board. Then an official asked who are all here for L1 blanket please
come and stand in a queue for DD collection. There were just 4/5 applicants. I got a little concerned noticing that the other guys are like quite senior to me and look middle-aged (came with family). I was thinking whether I will be able to convince VO about my eligibility of L1A. They asked to make a bunch of three copies of the petition (I-129 and I-797), DD and passport and then we had to submit that in one counter. As soon as that was finished, I returned to the waiting lounge and withing 5 minutes I saw my token number flashing on screen!

So I had felt a few butterflies fluttering in my stomach when I joined the queue but controlled myself. The guy before me was a B1 applicant and
he got it approved. When my turn came I went there, passed the documents.

VO - How are you doing?
Me - bla bla

VO - which company you are working for?
Me - answered

VO - which location you would be working in?
Me- answered

VO - who will be your client?
Me- I will not be working for a client project. I am a business development professional. I will be relationship manager for one of the
large automotive account and I will also grow the automotive business by acquiring new clients.
 
VO - hmm... sales and business development.. so you are a manager? how many people will report to you?
Me - approx 60 but I have 3 Project Managers reporting for me others will be in their team

VO - what would be your salary?

Now that was the tricky part. My onsite salary is still under negotiation. The petition was filed almost a month back and it contains the initial salary offered by HR which is a little low for managerial standard. I knew this one will come and I have to convince the VO so I have prepared.

Me - Well my salary is XX thousand dollars which is the fixed component. As I will be in sales profile, I will carry target and earn incentives. I will earn a minimum of XY thousand dollars as incentive so that will make my yearly pay as YYYY thousand dollars.

VO - so how long you are going to stay in the US?
Me - I want to be in the US for three years as of now.

VO - <started stamping> murmured something in low voice which I missed... later I felt he told something like I am approving your visa. Then he told I am keeping one petition copy with me, give one copy back to your office and one for your journey. Good luck.

Me- Thanks, have a nice day.

I would like to give only one suggestion. Be very positive, always think you are eligible for the category you have applied for. I have seen a lot of concern about visa issuance is based on VO's mood etc. but believe me VO is not there to deny your request rather they want to allow you to go. They only check your eligibility and if you can explain that well there is no reason they will reject your visa. Go thru this forum and get a thorough understanding, prepare well and exude confidence when you face the VO - I am sure you will crack it.

P.S. - My visa status was showing as "Administrative Processing" for the rest of the day and I was scared what went wrong. By night it was updated to "Issued".