L1, L2 Visa

Hi Friends

Need your help and guidance. I am having valid L1A individual petition valid until Feb 2023. Due to Covid restrictions i didnt get a slot for VISA stamping.

1) Want to know what happens if i dont get a visa slot at all for next four months. Do i have to file extension with my valid visa petition or it will be a new petition again?
2) Is there visa interview happening for L1A individual?

Please help

Hi,

I am not sharing any experience instead I am seeking help to resolve following queries.

1. Once I complete DS-160 form, for how long time is it valid?
2. Is US consulate chennai open?
3. I have observed multiple experiences shared on this website who had attended the L1/L2 visa interview in Dec'21 & Jan'22, but no one had share any evidence of such event. Parden me to ask for an evidence, but my immigration team is saying that US consulate Chennai is not open yet. Can anyone please share an evidence that he/she had really attended(will attend) the interview in Dec'21 & Jan-Feb'22.

Kindly help me on this queries.

Thanks.

Thanks to all who have shared the experiences which was helped me a lot to prepare
We have L1 B blanket + 2 Dependent L2 visa interview at Chennai consulate
Biometric scheduled at 8:30 AM and we reached there at 8:15AM, process was very smooth we carried the passport & photos of my daughter as below 14 years kids not mandatory to be present there.
On next day Visa interview at 10:30 AM,
- We reached at 10:15AM security person checked the appointment confirmation and allowed to enter
- After security check we reached inside where we (L1 blanket applicants) were asked to skip the line and directly proceed to interview hall and sit.
- After 2 min there lady attendant asked me to go and pay $500 visa fraud protection fees and come back (my wife still sitting there). I paid the fees by DD
- After paying fees I had to wait for 5 min and then asked to go and stand near to window where interview was on going and proceed once finishes earlier one

Me and wife to VO - Good morning sir
VO - Very good morning and place your right hand 4 fingers on machine (I have confirmed with my right hand 4 fingers)
VO to my wife - Place your left hand 4 fingers on machine and press hard ... press harder to break the machine and he asked to my wife -Did you break the machine?
VO to my wife - Do you have US visa
Wife - No
VO - oh this is your first time
Wife - Yes officer
These simple conversation between my wife and VO gave me a time to relax and adjusting the environment to get more confidence
VO to Me - Are you working in ABC
Me - Yes
VO - Do you have US visa?
Me - Yes B1/B2
VO - Highest education
Me - answered
VO - applying for which VISA?
Me- L1B blanket
VO - How long you have been working with ABC?
me - X years (VO said very good)
VO - Total experience
Me - XV years
VO - What is your Designation
Me - Answered current and in US both
VO - Work location in US
Me - Answered (Petitioner's office)
VO - Salary
Me - Answered (>100K)
VO- Which US visa do you have
me - B1/B2
VO - What is your specialization?
Me- answered in 2-3 sentences

VO then looking at screen and typing on screen and finally said your visa is approved and will get passport at your delivery location.

Has anyone recently entered the US as L2 Spouse with the updated i94 that allows work authorization ? USCIS website was last updated in November, so wondering if anything has changed since then.

We hold the following visa and its current status:
L1/L2 - Applied for extension/renewal in June 2021. Currently with USCIS.
L2 EAD : Expiry date Feb 2022
i94: Expiry date Feb 2022.
EAD Category Code : A18 ( Based on being an L2 spouse of an L1 nonimmigrant )

Once we receive our L1/L2 renewal/extension ( hopefully before our i94 expires) , I am planning to apply for L2 EAD renewal immediately.
As per the new rule about L2 EAD 180 days auto extension, can I continue to work with the L2 EAD receipt notice and get 180 days extension?

What if it gets delayed and get our L1/L2 extension after our i94 expiry date , Can I still be able to get the 180 days auto extension with the L2 EAD receipt when filed?

Attended L1B Blanket Visa Interview in Chennai on 6th Jan.

I was allowed to enter around 45 mins before my appointment time. At the front, they have a board that says which time slot they are allowing now.

When I entered they asked to arrange 2 sets of my I129+I797, DS160, and My Passport.
He took everything and put a rubber band around it and gave it back to me. I did not bring DD. I paid by card (BTW I also had cash with me just in case the card did not work. Also make sure you have enabled international transactions on your card else it won't go through). I also saw one ATM inside which I think you can use to withdraw cash.

After that, I was directly asked to go inside.
After a while, my turn came and the visa officer asked me for my documents. He returned my copy of the MRV receipt (which they attach to your DS-160 after paying the Fraud detection fee) and then scanned my passport.

He directly asked me if I am going to work for Nutanix. To which, I answered yes.
He asked about the Job location.
He asked about my salary.
Asked my highest education -> I said Bachelor of Technology and he asked In? to which I replied Computer Science and Engineering.
He asked how long I have been working with Nutanix and then asked me my total experience.

At last, he asked me what is my specialization to which I started replying but in middle, he started replying to someone else inside so I got confused and stopped talking. (Maybe I should have kept talking here.)
He looked at me since I stopped and then asked me to repeat myself.
I replied in 2-3 sentences about my specialization.

He typed something for 20-30 seconds on his computer and said my Visa is approved and returned me one set of stamped I129s.

Hope this helps.

Hello,

Apologies if this is the wrong forum to ask a question. I kept seeing VAC appointment availability but have been struggling to find a consular interviews in January/February. Yesterday I saw an opening in October 2022 and booked it. Are my only options now to go for an emergency request, cancel the appointment or wait till October'22?
Even with the new announcement L1 Blanket does not seem to be exempted from an in person interview, any ideas if more interviews might be available in January or February and if the system will allow me to reschedule?

Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks,

Hi All,

I am holding a L1B Individual visa, my petition was approved on Sept 2020 and was valid till only Nov 2022 because it took almost 9-10 months to get it approved through normal processing with RFE. I got my Visa approved in Jan 2021 with validity till Nov 2022. Since then I am trying to travel but because of these Covid situations my travel plan is not finalized yet and every time it is being postponed, because my client want me to travel only once their offices are opened.
I am being little spectacle because of this current Covid situation, if I did not get a chance to travel to US till Nov 2022, will it be possible to file for extension for my L1B if yes when?
Somewhere I heard I need to be in US to file L1B extension. If someone please answer this that would be a great help.

Thanks,
Kapil

Hello, Everyone!

Mine is a question rather than an experience. Please pardon me if this is not the right forum to ask.

My company is planning to send me to the US on L1B Visa (mostly probably blanket). While I am excited to go to the US, I am a little skeptical about the current Covid situation and the availability of Visa slots. I am hearing that the latest available slot is somewhere in Sept/Oct 2022. Is that true? Can some one here please help me check this and is there any way that I can check this myself? (my processing is not yet started and I currently do not have an account in cgifederal)

I'm sorry if my question is too naive, I am new to all of these and hence struggling a bit. Also, this information is helpful to me because I have another offer in India which is pretty decent. I'm just afraid to lose it waiting for US Visa considering the current situation.

Thanks in advance!!

Hi, my wife was the primary applicant for L1A blanket. Me and our 6 year old daughter accompanied her for the interview on 16th December.

- Our appointment was at 10 am, we reached at 9:45 and were allowed to enter straight in.
- After security check, we went to a desk where we arranged our documents.(They asked for only 2 sets of I129, I797)
- We then went straight into the interview building, we were asked to skip all queues (Not sure it was because of L1A blanket visa or our daughter)
- After waiting for 5 mins, my wife went and paid the 500$ fee
- After another 2 mins we were asked to stand in front of a counter for the interview
- Below is how the conversation went, it was a lady officer and she was very cheerful and smiling. We were confident but a little nervous.

VO - Hi, good morning
Wife: Good morning
VO: (Looking at my daughters mask) Oh nice, there are cars on your mask. So cute!

We all had a nice laugh

VO: Please hand over your documents
VO: (After a min) Please handover passports of your family as well
VO: Which visa are you applying for?
Wife: L1A
VO: Have you travelled on an L or H visa before?
Wife: Yes, on an H1 before
VO: have you been in India for a period of 12 months after that?
Wife: Yes, I came back in 2014
VO: Which city are you travelling to
Wife: NYC
VO: What will be your designation
Wife: Manager - Product Development
VO: How many people do you manage?
Wife: I am a functional manager so I will manage multiple teams but they don't report directly into me.
VO: Got it, and what is the budget for the project?
Wife: 5M USD

(After this answer the VO was convinced, and I knew she will approve it)

VO: How old are you? (to my daughter)
Daughter: 6
VO: So thats like grade 1?
Wife: Yes, she is in Sr Kg now
VO: And sir you work in XYZ? (to me)
Me: Yes
VO: Great your visas are approved, safe travels!
Wife: Thanks Officer, have a good day

We entered the consulate at 9:45 and exited at 10:15!

We were confident of getting the visa, but we never thought it would be this smooth!

Thanks a lot to people in the forum for helping us.