L1, L2 Visa

Dear all,

My B1 was rejected in Oct 2016 under 214(b).

I have applied for L1-B Blanket and it got rejected in July 2017, No slips were given, but “Not clearly approvable” was stamped on my I-129 and the embassy mentioned that “No problem with your skills, ask you company HR to apply under a different category of L1, as blanket has some strict rules”.

Now, It seems it is becoming a bit difficult for our attorneys to prove my specialized skills as I am from Business Development and not from any technical background.

Just a quick background, I have overall 6 yrs. of experience in Business Development/ Sales. My experience in my current company is from last 4 yrs. Last month I got promoted to Business Development Manager. Currently 2 people are reporting to me in India. Earlier to my promotion also 2 people were reporting to me for 1 yr.

Now, my company says L1A individual is the right category.

Should I re-apply under L1-B Individual or L1-A Individual?

Regards,
Bhagyashree

Hi,

My employer filed L1A Individual petion on 3 months back but it is still pending with USCIS. Just wanted to check if anyone know about the actual processing times to get the response. Also, just wanted to check if anyone is in waiting mode like me.

Visa was approved with no slip given by VO, daughter and myself got VISA after 3 days , but wife case is still shown as 'Admin Processing' with the date of interview.

When tracked passport via email today, it says 'There is no status update available for the passport number submitted.'

When checked passport tracking online , it says your passport is still with embessy/Consulate.

Interview Date : 29-dec-2017

Anyone having same issue? How long to wait to get passport back? Please help

Hello,

I would like to share my experience of L1B Blanket visa. But before that I would like to thanks all the other folks who had posted their experiences which have benefitted me a lot in preparing for my interview.

I am a Testing professional and was working in a medical device R&D MNC company in India. I had my OFC on 3rd Jan and Interview on 4th Jan. I had applied for myself under L1B blanket. My wife and son (1year old) under L2. All of went through the visa process together.

OFC appointment 3rd Jan - 2.45pm:
- We went to the OFC centre 15 minutes in advance (no need to go in early). We were carrying baby food in a bag and hence we were allowed to take our bag inside. Mobile phones, tabs and laptops are not allowed.
- We stood in the queue for about 5 mins and were asked to move in. Applicants' photo and fingerprints were taken and DS-160 were verified against the passports. For my son, we had taken a photo as per the specs, his photo was scanned and uploaded to the system. No fingerprints were captured for him.
- We were out in 15 mins.

Visa Interview - 4th Jan 8.45am
- We were there by 8.20 and were allowed inside by 8.35 since we had a small child.
- At the entrance, the VFS clerk will ask you the category you are applying under and according gives a checklist card. As per the checklist, you are supposed to arrange your documents for submission.
- Checklist - Original passport, DS-160, 3 copies of your L1 petition and DD (ignore this if you are paying by credit card).
- After arranging your documents, you will be asked to move to a counter to submit the DD and collect the receipt for it.
- Next counter is to verify your fingerprints.
- Next, you will be asked to move to appear in front of the visa officer.

VO greeted us and we responded. He bought two mins from us to complete the previous applicants information on his system. Then he started his queries to me:

1. Which visa you are applying for?
Ans: L1B Blanket
2. Which company?
Ans: Answered my company name.
3. How long you will working in US?
Ans: 3 years
4. Whats your US Salary?
Ans: Answered
5. Whats your specialized skills?
Ans: Answered briefly only to the point with confidence. He kept typing something on his system while I answer.

He said Thank you and asked if he can talk to my wife.
1. Hello madam, how long have you been married?
Ans: Answered.
2. How old is the child?
Ans: 13 months
3. Only one child?
Ans: Yes

Took some time to type and check my details on system. Golden words: CONGRATULATIONS, your visas are approved. Wish you best of luck and hope you enjoy your stay in the United States.

Tips I followed"
Had gone through my petition 4-5 times, Confident, answer to the point and always wear a smile on your face.

Hello,

Sharing my experience of L1A blanket visa. I am Technical architect and was working in India as a lead. I never had anyone directly reporting to me in system but since we are client company, we have vendor resources. So I showed them as my dotted reports. My company is US based company and we do lot of outsourcing so company name itself helped me a lot.

VO greeted me and I responded

Q1 : So you are from _______(my company name)
Q2 : Which visa are you applying L1 A or L1B.
Q3 : Are you functional manager? (explained my role in short)
Q4 : In US who will you report to?
Q5 : What will be your salary

Took 5 mins to look at my records and docs and golden word. Congratulations, your visa is approved.
 
Tips I followed :
1: My answers were to the point ad not very elaborative
2: Confidence was key

Though it was for manager visa, I was in formal shirt and pants. No suit.

Good luck Guys. Hopefully everyone gets approved.

OFC Date : 28-dec-2017 - 2:30 pm
Tip : Reach before 15 minutes of the apointment time. Else, you have to wait in line. One person allows to enter the main biomatrics centre as per apointment time. Only finger print and photographs are taken there. If you have kid below 18 years, you need to carry a photograph which they scan .No biomatrics are taken for kids. You will be out in 15 minutes max from OFC centre.

Consular Interview : 29-dec-2017 - 9:30 am
There will be a big line queue , a person shuffles the queues based on the apointment time. We reached half an hour before and waited. we were allowed at 9:30 .

1 . One person will scan the stickers pasted on passport on OFC apointment date.
2. Security check
3. There will be a small room, where one guy will provide a information card which instructs documents to be arranged in specific order.
4. They will check the ordered documents and let pass by - then you have to move to another building.
5. First Counter: They will collect the l1b anti fraud + Visa fees which is 5000 dollar.
6. Second counter : They check the passport and mark something - not sure about exactly
7. Third Counter : They will verify the fingerprint
8. Final Interview Queue : This is a single queue and all types of visa applicants are waiting. A guy helps sending the applicants to right visa officer based on visa type.

For me: when I reached the counter The visa officer greeted me with Good Morning
Me: Good Morning Sir , How are you today?
V.O : So you are from YYYY company ( I was wearing company tag and it is a renowned US company)
Me: Yes Sir, I am.
V.O: So, Only one Kid? - Looking at my kid
Me: yes Sir.
V.O : So where are you going to US
Me: Answered ( Place, State)
V.O : Do you know your salary in US?
Me: Yes, it is YYYY X dollars
V.O : How long you have been with this company?
Me: Answred
V.O: Are you going to work from Same company?
Me: Yes, But I will work for a client.
V.O : Who is Your Client?
Me: Answered.
V.O : How long you have been working in this product?
Me: Answered
V.O : And what is your specialisation?
Me: Answered(2 sentences)
V.O: Typing ..Ok I am approving your visa. Have a nice day. He stamped on my petition and said - Though I will need to keep your passport and one petition. Here are your copies.

He handed me over two copies of petition, stamped approved and valid till. No questions asked to wife or kid. I greeated him a good day and ran :P

It was a overall good experience , Though I was tensed too much reading stories of high l1b Blanket rejection

Attire: I wore formals - white checked Shirt, formal trousure - No watch ,clean shaved, black belt and shoes. Spouse wore normal indian churidhar.
Documents : Carried all supporting Doc - Company letter, Salary cert, marriage photos, degree documents, marriage cert. But Nothing was verified.

When on the Queue I saw people with all sort of attire, from jeans to new fashionalbles - So I believe, thats not a factor when issuing or rejecting. You need to practice well and be confident, and believe in the God, be honest in answering the questions and it will be yours before you can even realise. We were out in 15 minutes, with smile in face. Now waiting for my passport to be collected.

I went through L1B along with L2 (my dependants) visa processing in Dec 2017.

OFC at Hyderabad : 3rd Dec 2017
Visa interview at Chennai : 7th Dec 2017

Tips about OFC :
Be there just half an hour before the appointment time as they will allow only 30 mins earlier to your appointment time.

Docs to carry :
1. Original passport
2. DS160 confirmation
3. Appointment confirmation
3. Carry one Photo for kids (Note : Do check for US visa photo specifications)

Note :
They do not allow cell phones or electronic equipments inside the embassy.

Visa interview :
Kindly reach just 15 mins prior to your appointment time. They allow you inside as per your appointment time. There is no point coming early as you will end up waiting until your appointment time.

Docs to carry:
1. DS160 confirmation (Note : Same copy which was verified and stamped at OFC)
2. Appointment confirmation
3. Original passport copies
4. Three original copies of I-129S
5. Three copies of First page of I-797
6. DD (Demand draft in favour of U.S Consulate General , Chennai Payable at Chennai)
Note : DD amount is 500$ . The DD should be in INR . To check $ rate check US consular website.
7. 1 photo for kids as per US consulate photo specification.

Note :
Take all originals with you although they will not ask any other doc other than mentioned above.

Process:
They shall take your finger prints again and DD before the visa interview.

Visa interview:

1. Which company are you working for?

2. How long are you working in this company?

3. What is the salary they have offered?

4. Where are you going (City & State)?

5. How long are you planning to stay in US?

6. Tell me about specialised knowledge?

Note :
Keep the answer short and up to point. However to me it looks like your case mainly depends on your documents (which is your company , salary etc) Questions asked at interview hardly matters.

The consulate officer retained our Passport and other docs (I-129s etc) and handed 221g (Administrative processing) with no additional docs required.

One of the dependent L2 visa issued on 12th Dec 2017 while rest of us (L1B and other dependants) still on administrative processing until 26th Jan 2017.
Visa status updated to issued on 27th Dec 2017.

Hello everyone,

I had applied for my L2 EAD. Today i got an RFE and realized that i mentioned wrong category in form. It should be a18 but i mentioned C18. Do anyone know what should be done now? Please advise.

Hi Guys,

I have existing B1 Visa, through which i have travelled for a period of 21 days in the month of October 2017.

Now my company is asked me to go from L1 B.

Will my previous travel and visa put me into some questions from VO.

Thank you.

Regards,
Kumar

Does anyone know what are current processing times for L1 B individual (regular processing) for California Service center.

Has anyone got approval recently from California Service Center?