L1, L2 Visa

Got L1B approved in Chennai 18-Dec-2017. My interview was scheduled at 09.30 AM.
Following questions asked,
 
Who is your employer?
What is your employer doing?
Which location are you going to work?
What is salary in US, Is it Indian payroll or US payroll?
What is your experience with current employer?
What is your designation?
What are you going to work there?
What kind of product is this?
What is your highest qualification?

 
VISA officer says, your VISA is approved.

Hi All,

Got L1A individual approved on 15th Dec. There is very less chance for L1A individual rejection, if you have the petition approved from USCIS.
Questions:
1. What type of visa you have applied for?
2. Which company are you working for?
3. How long have you been with this company?
4. What is the highest qualification?
5. What is the salary in US?
6. Which client are you going to work for?
7. How long is the stay in US?
8. How long have you been married for?
9. What is the age of the kid?

Then he said your visa is approved. Even if the salary is less for L1 visa, your company's name plays a major role in approval. This is just my observation.

Tips:
1. You need not wait anywhere if you have a kid with you ;) You can just walk in for biometrics and for interview also, you will be called first. Waiting time will be very less :)
2. Don't go for the interview early. Just 30 mins advance is more than enough. You will be called in only during your time slot. You will have to wait in long queue if you reach early.
3. Be cool when you answer the VO.
4. Carry all the required documents.

I wish everyone good luck. This is a dream for many people and prayers for everyone!

Thanks :)

Dear all,

Need an urgent help!!

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 DS-160 and the embassy mentioned that “No problem with your skills, ask you company HR to apply under a different category of L1”.

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. Earlier to my promotion also 2 people were reporting to me for 1 yr.

My company has already started the process of applying under L1-A Individual. Let me know if this decision is correct?

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

Thanks in Advance,
NI

Thanks for sharing the experiences on this forum. That helped a lot in preparing for the interview. My interview happened on 11 Dec (L1A - Managerial - Blanket) and got approved.

Feel free to reach out to me for any questions. Would be happy to help.

Be true to what the facts are. That helps a lot as you don't need to memorize the answers.

1. How long you have been with your company?
2. Which category of visa are you applying for? L1A Blanket or Individual?
3. Whom are you going to report to?
4. Who is he reporting to?
5. What's your US Salary?
6. What’s the # of reportees at onshore?
7. What are their designations?
8. Do you have any indirect reportees?
9. How many projects are you going to manage?
(I said I will manage 1 project which is xx million USD per annum in size).
10.To my spouse: How long you two have been married?
11. Where is the client office?

NOTE:
1. The consulate asked to write down Name & Contact# behind the DDs.
2. Hand over just the I-797 & I-129S (3 sets) along with the passports to the interviewer.
3. No cellphone/wallet/bag/watch is allowed inside the consulate. So, plan accordingly.
4. Folks going along with kids can reach 30 mins before the interview slot. Once in the consulate, it's 10 mins to finish the interview & get out.

Hi
I attended my l1a interview on 4 December and the VO approved my visa and stamped my petition papers. He took my passport and told me I would receive it within 3-5 days. No slips were given . It has been 7 working and 9 calendar days but I have not received my passport yet . Online status says administrative processing . I had to cancel my tickets because I do not know how long it will take .
Note - I was changing my valid l1b visa to l1a.
Any idea how long this process takes ?

 

HI guys,

I would like to share my L1B blanket and L1B individual visa experience.

I applied for L1B blanket visa in April'17 with family and my visa got rejected as "Not clearly approvable".

Questions asked:

-Which visa you applied.
-Company
-Salary
-Designation
-Experience in current company
-Duration of stay
-Location
-My specialization-- I explained clearly
-My role--- I explained this clearly.
-Why only me and not others.
-Why US? -- VO was not satisfied with the answer I gave.

The only negetive point was I told VO that I work as a Global Technical Analyst for my product.
The response VO gave was if you work for a global TAC team then you can go to any part of the world but why only US.
I tried to convince him with my answers but VO was not satisfied and rejected my visa application.

I said Thank you and came back.
Felt very sad as I was preparing from almost 3-4 months.

I then discussed with my manager and applied for L1B individual.

I documented all the activities I did in the last 2.5 years.
-Trainings I took.
-Trainings I gave
-Knowledge management documents I created.
-Method of procedures for various activities.
-Root cause analysis documents.
-Process change documents.
-Certifications I completed.

After submitting my petition to USCIS I got RFE within a week for explaining some questions.

I again explained the duties in details and again within a week my petition got approved.

I attended L1B visa interview in August'17 with family.
My daugher was crying as she was feeling sleepy.

Questions asked.

-Petitioner
-Location
-Salary
-Years in current company.

And my visa was approved.

Please make sure you prepare a strong petition describing your job responsibilities.

Make sure you prepare for all the questions and be confifdent.

All the VO's are very nice. Please greet them as soon as your turn comes.
If you are lucky you many not get many questions.

Below are my thoughts:

L1B individual petition rejection rates are around 35%.
L1B Blanket denials are more than 50%

For L1B individual once the petition is approved there are 99% of approval.

Regards,
PD

Interview:
1. Whats your designation?
2. Where are you going?
3. Who is your petitioner?
4. how many Direct Reportees?
5. how many Indirect Reportees?
6. Manager's Designation?
7. Managers's boss Designation?
8. Are you going to work at client location?
Yes and client name

L2

Interview
1. Highest Qualification?
2. How long are you married?
3. Whats your name of your Kid?
4. How old is she?

"We will have your passport"

General advice
- Prefer to stay nearby consulate as there are lot of hotel nearby. The VAC is located at 2kms from consulate.
- Try to take an early day schedule for interview

Process

Day 1: VAC/Biometric/OFC appointment
- Only the appointment confirmation page (both OFC & counsellor), DS-160 confirmation page & passport is required for biometrics.
- Cellphones are allowed inside premises, but it should be switched off.
- Reach 15-20 mins before your appointment time. Directly approach security guard at the time.
- One has to for 30 mins or so inside the premises.
- Figure prints & photo will be taken. They will stick a label on the passport & put marks/checks on DS-160 confirmation page (which must be carried for interview next day).
  
Day 2: Interview
- Only documents are allowed inside consulate premises. Better keep all documents in any document folder and carry it. I read on some forum that umbrellas are also allowed but I am unsure about it since it went on a sunny day.
- There is only one official queue which starts after barricades guarded by security. The guy shouts for the time & ask people to join the queue.
- Once you are in queue the process is very smooth & well organised. Including interview, everything will be completed in an hour.
- There are washrooms & drinking water inside the premises.

- Arranging the documents (only L1B)
After security check inside the consulate premises, a person helps to organize the forms (triplets) in specific order. Then the documents are bundled with passport & fees DD ($500). Nothing else will be asked or required but for convince carry the documents important for you.

- Interview
There a big hall inside main building where biometric are cross checked, fee is submitted & interview windows are present. People are asked to follow the queue and they are quidded on each step

- Interview questions
Officer: What’s your designation?
Me: Precise designation

Officer: Where are you going?
Me: Company headquarters at xyz

Officer: What they chose you?
Me: While giving the answer the visa officer interrupted in-between my answer & asked next question

Officer: What’s the purpose?
Me: bring up of new product in a sentence

Officer: What the product
Me: precise name of product

Office: Is it used for xyz?
Me: Yes, and explained a sentence. The office was looking was 2-3 keyword from my petition which would have been flashed on his screen.

Mine interview hardly lasted for 5 mins. The company's reputation is a factor in L1B petition (Applicants from my company easily gets B or L visas). Most of the time visa officers are convinced just by company's name so they don't ask much questions. In my case the officer was aware of company, the product & its usages.

- Another interview's question (heard while in queue)
- another person probably for L1
Where are you going?
1-2 more questions.
Have you visited Saudi Arabia before?
Why you visited?
How long have you stayed?

- another person probably for L1
What company do you work for?
Have you applied for H1 earlier?
Was it rejected or approved?
Have you visited US before? Where do you work?
What's you US salary?
Have you work in xyz company before?
What will be you working on?
 

 

Did any L1B Individual Documents got approved recently???

Hi,

1. What is the salary range they are expecting for L1B blanket visas for those who have 7+ years of experience? Should it be in 6 digits irrespective of their experience?

2. For L1B, I believe it is ok to work in client location when our work is managed, payroll, day-to-day activity tasks scheduled by our parent company and when we report to our parent company employee in client location. Please correct me if wrong.

Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks.