L1, L2 Visa

Hi,

My B1 Visa was rejected in Oct 2016.

There were normal questionnaire during the interview but in the end VC rejected it saying that it doesn’t meet our visa requirements and gave 214 (b) Slip.

Now, my employer is planning to file L1 B Individual petition this month, but I have few questons before I apply for L1B Individual Visa.

1. Is there any criteria for L1B Individual, I have total expereince of 3.2 years in Business development with the current employer. (My Overall expereince is 5.2 years in Business development)
2. Is it too early to apply for L1B Individual visa?
3. Are the chances of getting the visa approved more after USCIS approves the petition.?
4. We are applying through premium processing, Will that help in getting it approved at the VC?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Nikhil

I am glad to share my experience since the forum experiences gave me valuable information for my Visa interview to clear. Thank you all.

OFC on May 4th, 2017:
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We have appointment at 2:00 PM and I reached along with my Wife and Kid at 1:30 PM. They allowed me in by verifying the Passports.

After going inside, they asked me appointment letter and DS 160 forms of all three applicants.
Then asked us to go to one more check point and they have sticked some DS 160 Form number with Bar Code and gave Tokens and requested to go the Queue.

My turn came and went to the counter and they asked my Full Name & Date of Birth and then scan my four fingers & thumb of left hand and Right hand.
Since my kid is less then 14 years of age, they asked passport Photograph and took the photo of it and we left the place in less than 30 minutes.

Visa Consulate on May 5th, 2017:
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We reached there at 9:00 AM though it was scheduled at 9:30 AM. They allowed us in by duing some security check of my passports at two places.

There was one more security check where they asked us to give everything and they do full scan using metal detector. No mobiles, Digital watches and electronics or bags allowed.

Entered the final office after two more checks.

Since I have baby with me they asked me to go to Counter 16 directly skipping the Queue. They scanned the passport details and asked us to go to the Counter 19.

Here they took scan of Left hand and Right hand four fingers scan for my wife and me. They just asked my baby to show.

Then some officer requested to go to a queue with Passport and I-797 petition approved. I gave passports to my baby to hold and I was about to take the I-797 document from my file.

Another officer, asked me to go to Counter 25 and my baby is not giving the passports to me.

VO: Hi, why is she not giving?
Me: She wants to give it to you Sir.

VO: Allow her and baby place the passports here, thank you.
Me: She placed.

Me: Good Morning Sir, my wife greeted Good Morning Sir, fortunately, My Baby said good Morning Sir.
VO: Good Morning, I appreciate that, pointing to my baby.

VO: How old is she?
Me: 3 years 10 Months

VO: Are you working for YYYY ?
Me: Yes Sir, I am working for YYYY X.

VO: What is your role?
Me: Prinicipal consultant here and Delivery Manager there.

VO: How long have you been working here?
Me: 3 Years 9 Months

VO: Where are you going?
Me: Plano, Texas. Head Quarters.

VO: What will be your Salary?
Me: 120000$ Per Annum + 12000 Bonus

VO: Thank you Gentleman. Your Visa approved.
Me: I was expecting some more questions and realized he said Visa approved.
    My wife said me said thank you so much Sir. My baby also said thank you sir.
VO: Have a happy Stay in US, pointing to my Baby.

We came out by 9:24 AM. Its good time. Be cool and calm. Listen his questions carefully. Wear Formals and no need ro go in blazer or tie.

It was wonderful experience. Thanks to my baby. she was the one gave fisrt impression and greeted him well. during this time I made myslef relaxed.

Once again, thanks to all the members who posted their experiences and helped me to get through the interview.

Hope my experience will be helpful.

All the best.

Thanks,
Sivakumar P

Individual petitions are worth once it is approved so that you can attend the consulate interviews without much tension. As heard generally, since the petition is already approved by USICS, there will not be too many questions from the consulate and the success rate is very high and the rejections are slim.

My L1-B blanket petition was initially rejected and the went for an individual petition. USCIS has issued RFE and finally it got approved. A well drafted petition also sometimes results in RFE and it should be taken positively because you are getting a second chance to give more evidence and prove your vital role.

Although I was super tensed, the interview was pretty short. I was asked with only one question and a follow up question to clarify the acronym. They just asked for I-797B and confirmed visa approval.

When you practice, go through every single question and see the interview result was. Yes, there are some cases where you cannot make out why a rejection occurred. However, I have found out that if you are moving to a client site, the rejection rate is high unless you are controlled by your parent company. The intention of L-1 petition is for intro-company transfer alone. So, if you are moving to a client location, be sure to convey that you are not working under the client but from your parent company in US. There will be the repeated questions in blanket petitions regarding your client, team size etc. You should have an idea about the team that you are going to join in US.

Good luck everyone!

I had my L1A Blanket visa interview in Chennai on 3rd May.

My visa was rejected and VO told me to apply in another visa category. But I didn't receive any blue slip or form and also he gave my passport back. He just keptone of the three copies of the forms and gave back the two copies of forms an my passport.

Now my company is asking me apply in L1B Blanket.

Any idea on what it is, as I see many guys here have recieved some type of slip once the visa was rejected?

Hi All,

I was given 221g blue form stating it is clearly not approvable and gave back my passport and two copies of my petition. I then came and checked visa it is in the admin processing. and also checked my passport status, it shows it is still with the US/embassy

Did anyone come across this?

Firstly thanks to this forum and all people who shared their valuable feedbacks.

Below is list of questions I faced.

1. Which Visa you are applying for L1A or L1B?
2. What is total experience with current employer?
3. Which location you are applying for?
4. Tell me about your specialization skill
5. What kind ZZZ? here YYYY is the work VO picked form explaination of que 4.
6. Tell me practical application of your product
7. You will be working for your parent company or client?
8. Have you developed this product?
9. What is duration of your stay?

Till first 3 questions he was typing on for his computer. Later he got relaxed and facing me asked 4-7 question.
before last 2 question he got busy in system for 5 seconds. Then he told me "I am approving your visa". VO stamped petition and handed over 2 to me and asked to carry one when I am travelling and one for HR.

My personal opinion:
1. One should be confident.
2. Get prepared for all details of your skill.
3. Very important - Look in to eyes of officer while answering. This is going to contribute for your win.

One more important thing to share
I experienced interview as rapid-fire type questions.
VO questioned me, I answered quickly, his next question was more quickly, I was still quick, he was more and more quick.
Maintain your pace.

My Thanks to this portal again.

Hi All,

I had my L1B Blanket visa interview on 1st May'17. My interview timing was 10.30 AM. I reached the Consulate at 7:15 AM & was waiting till 9:30 AM till I was allowed to enter the consulate.

After the initial payment activity I was asked to attain counter no 32 for the interview. Before my interview was started, VO looked to be pretty rude. However the interview started as below:

Me : Good morning Mam
VO : Good Morning. Please give me your papers.

VO: Which company you are working with?
Me: xxxx

VO: How long you are working here?
Me : For the past 4 yrs 4 months

VO: What will be your designation?
Me: I mentioned my designation

VO: What will be your salary?
Me: I mentioned my salary

VO: In US where will you stay?
Me : I mentioned the details as per my I129-S form

Till this it was going fine. However after this initial discussion, the VO asked me

VO: For which client you will be working for in US ?
Me: As I applied for L1B visa, I clearly mentioned that I will be working for my parent company only

VO: After looking at the computer screen for few seconds, she asked with a very frustrated face why do they need this tool?
Me : I mentioned this tool will help my parent company to do their business efficiently & serve the client better.

VO: So this tool will be used by some client?
Me: No, this tool will be used by my host company only

VO: Yea, but for some client right?
Me: No, my host company will be using this tool, not any client.

VO: You didn't get my question.
Me: Mam this tool will assist my host company to serve their client.

VO: What is the name of the client?
Me: I am not aware of any client name.

VO started typing & then said you visa is not clearly approvable. Please talk to your HR.

With the very initial expression of the VO, I felt it was not going correctly. However I am completely clueless why the VO constantly emphasizing on client whereas I clearly mentioned that the tool will only be used by my parent company. Mentioning client is the main reason of maximum L1B visa rejection.
What is my mistake? Was the interview timing not correct or is it that the VO pre decided to not consider my visa application from the beginning.
Note: I was well dressed in formals.
Please suggest.

Just sharing my experience..

I travel to outside US almost once a month. I have a L1 visa. In my last entry, CBP officer used L2 as class of admission. To correct it, I went to the closest port of entry (list available in the CBP website) with my previous I-94 showing L1, my current one, my passport showing my visa and the I129. It took them 10 minutes to fix.

Always remember to check your stamp and to verify the information they used at POE even if tired after a long trip.

Finally after long wait of 9+ years in IT industry, today I got my L1A Individual visa approved by US consulate.
Thanks to this forum and contributors for sharing experience which helped me to prepare to my best.

Biometric was done on 1st of May in BKC (Trade Tower) 03:30 PM with sun talking from sky.
PAI was scheduled on 2nd of May in BKC (US COnsulate) 10 AM. I reached venue around 8.30 AM... but looking a rush I was surprised. one moment I thought I am going for some walk-in drive...waited for 3 hours under bright sunlight. finally, entered at 11.45 AM and then security check. interview started around 12.20 PM and went for 3-4 minutes.

VO : Hello
Me : Hello, Good Afternoon, How are you?

VO : Smiled and replied. How long you are working with xxxxx?
Me : Answered

VO : How many people you will supervise?
Me : Answered

VO : What are designation of your reportees?
Me : Answered

VO : What is your Salary?
Me : Answered

VO : Whats is your current designation?
Me : Answered

Then, VO started typing something on his computer. I got tensed due to obvious reason.
After long wait of 2 minutes. Golden word comes.

Your VISA is Approved.

That's all I wanted to share. Thanks and best luck...

Hi All,

Would like to share my experience on this forum. It’s been a long wait for my visa.
In August 2016 my L1B (Blanket) was rejected and the VO gave me 221g in return. After which I was devastated since my US assigned was already delayed by 2 years.

After the L1B rejection, my company decided to file L1- Individual petition. I had to wait for couple of month for the individual process to start. In December 2016 the company filed my L1-individual premium processing, another shocker by means of RFE in the beginning of Jan-2017. It put me in a difficult situation and I started seeking help to respond to the RFE, but I had face the difficult time again. I did not get any help on answering the RFE, I then started introspecting how best I can convince the USCIS.
After 2 months of rigorous thoughtfulness on answering each and every question of the RFE, the attorney filed my response on the last day of the expiry date (30th March 2017). USCIS was very quick to respond and I heard back from them on the 12th Day of filling response and the answer was on my side this time – Petition Approved.

I then took an appointed for visa stamping on 1st May 2017.
During the interview,

VO: Which company you work for?
Me: ZZZ

VO: What is this organization into?
Me: Software development, Services and support

VO: How many years in this org?
Me: XX years.

VO: Showed thumps up.
Me: Thanks, have a good day!

The interview was pretty straightforward.