L1, L2 Visa

First of all I would like to thank this forum and its members who wrote their experiences. This was the main source of information for me.

OFC:
I had my OFC appointment on 13-Apr-2015. 2:00 PM. I reached OFC office by 1.30 and the process was very smooth. You need to carry your DS160 confirmation and Passport. You can take your mobile along with you for OFC and they will ask you switch it off while entering into the Biometric Hall.

Visa Interview:
My visa interview was on 15-Apr-2015 8 AM IST. I was there by 7.30 and went in by 7.40. Please do not carry your mobile, any extra luggage (not even a water bottle). They will ask you to deposit in a locker and come back. It might waste your time. There were few security checks. If you have the DD, Please be careful while security checks. They are just throwing the documents in a tray and putting it in a scanner. We may miss it during this check.

Interview:
Me: Greeted the Vo. Good Morning Sir…
VO: Good Morning
VO: Got the I129 and passport… He opened the I29 and read the purpose of the trip and then he typed something in his computer
Then he stamped all three I129 copies and returned two copies back to me.. While stamping he asked “Have you ever been in any visas??” I said “No Sir.. This is the first time”. That’s it.

Suggestions:
1. Please read this forum thoroughly
2. Wearing your company Id card might help you.
3. Do not carry your mobile, luggage to Visa Interview
4. Do not use a word Client, testing, development for L1B Visa
5. Give a strong reason for the purpose of your trip
6. Make sure you have three sets of documents – your I129

Wish you all the best..!!!

Had an appointment in the first slot. It is better to not bring your mobile as now a days they are not keeping it in the consulate. You have to keep it in a store outside and they will charge you Rs. 10.

Here is the conversation happened
VO : So, you are applying for H1b for the first time ?
Ans: Sir, I am applying for L1A Individual
VO : oh, I am sorry I did not look at your petition.
VO : Do you have any end client?
Ans: Yes, YYYY
VO : In which place are you going?
Ans: YYYY
VO : Are you married?Do you have kid?
Ans: YYYY
VO : Did you have any purpose or was it business travel(looking at my business visa)
Ans: it was business travel
VO : He showed a pamphlet and asked are you aware of all your rights during the stay in US.
Ans: Sir, I have the pamphlet(given from counter 1) , I will go thru.
VO : Your visa is approved, you will get it in 2 days(He kept the passport).

Please Help !!! I have been asked to work on my L1B (Blanket, I guess) visa processing. I am from Testing (IT) background. I am working in the project for more than 4 years now. Any tips on this please?

We appeared for our L1-B and L2 visas before the consulate on 15/04/2014. We had our biometrics with the OFC at 8.00 am and visa interview at 10.30 am. just reached 15 minutes before for both the appointments and getting in was convenient without any hassles of waiting outside in the long ques.

I am not a software engineer applying for L1-B visa. I am an Internal Auditor applying for US visa under specialized knowledge category. So all my answers are tailored accordingly to the questions.

About the interview questions -

1. Greeted each other

2. How long have you been working for your company?

3. What will you be doing for your company in the US?

To my wife:

1. Are you currently working with YYYY company?

2. Will be also joining back in the same company in the US?

3. Is it a wise decision to quit your job?

Your Visas are approved.

Overall the experience was good and by god's grace and proper preparation we were able to get through the interview. All the best to everyone.

1)How long have been working with YYYY ?
Answered.
2) Who is your client ?
Answered YYY.
3) What are you going to do for your client YYY?
Answered.
4) How long will be staying in US?
Answered.

VO replied - I am sorry that your visa is not clearly approvable. Please check with your HR and reapply in the correct visa category.

i have got the US visa in Feb 2018, But I have not travelled yet. Need to understand that; is there any time line witin which I should travel to keep my US Visa active. Please suggest.

I think L1B visa approval depends a lot on your employer as well. Mine is a US based i-bank. I read somewhere that no of H1 visas applied by big india IT companies are in a range of 4-5k per annum - whereas firms operating in financial/consulting/other sectors were approx. 3-400 each. Totally justified given much bigger client base IT industry has - but the rejection rate also increases with increase in no of applicants in this industry. My guess is similar stats would hold true for L1 as well.
Coming to interview, only question asked was what will be my role in US - to which I replied in 2 lines. Rest of the time we were just chatting about weather in Chennai. No questions asked to my wife.
Don't worry about your attire etc - I wore denim and shirt so wearing a suit is not mandatory. I reached 5 mins before my appointment and was out within an hour.

Who is your employer?
From how long you are working with this company?
Who is the client?
Which location you would be working?
Who is your supervisor?
How many people are working in your project at onsite from your company?
What will you do after project completion?

Sorry we cant approve your visa, please apply in other category.

What company are you from?
What visa are you applying for?
What is the location that you will go to?
What is the salary?

"your visa is approved"

If possible, don't carry your cell to the Chennai consulate. There is a long line just to deposit it outside the embassy. you will have to stand in the line again to collect it. complete waste of time.

This could probably be the last thing I could do by contributing to this forum. Thanks one & all who shared their interview experiences & suggestions in this forum. It was really helpful. Me, my spouse & My child had L1B & L2 VISAs approved.

My experience at Chennai consulate:

We got priority sticker attached on our passport, as we have child (Thank you Daughter ?) & the entire process completed in less than 20 min!

We had our OFC & interview on the same day – OFC at 8 AM & Interview at 10:30 AM. My kid’s photo is not as per the requirement, hence the OFC executive asked us to get a new one as per US VISA specification. Due to this reason we got late, reached the consulate in the last minute & this turned out to be a boon for us ? ?.No queue, no waiting under the typical sweltering Chennai morning. We were rushed into the consulate in couple of minutes after our docs were checked (Passport, Appointment letter, DS-160). Once we entered. We were frisked by the security & the folders we carried were scanned (we carried some cash, ATM card with & baby food, which they allowed inside). This entire process took less than 10 minutes.

Once the scanning is done, we moved to next building for interview. Same docs were checked again by the staff & there we got lucky with the Priority sticker (smiley sticker). The staff were extremely courteous & helped every candidate with arranging documents and guiding them to respective counters for next process. We had our finger prints checked once again here. Post which the staff bundled I129, I797 and our passports asked me to write my name & passport number behind the DD & was asked to submit it at respective counter.

Final & the most important phase – Interview Experience: There was a big line for the interview & we bypassed the line due to the priority sticker. There was a lady before us who applied for Visit VISA, the officer had questioned her for some time & approved the VISA. I carefully heard him to get a hang of his accent.

Interview:

We greeted the officer & the VO greeted us back, asked for docs.

VO: Are you going to work at client location?
Me: I will be joining my company office & will be working from my company office.
VO: So no client?
Me: Yes.
VO: No client, Sir?
Me: Yes Sir.
VO: No Client. Say it Sir (with a smile).
Me: Yes Sir. No client (got worried a bit then)
VO: How long have you been working with your current organization:
VO: What is your specialization?
Me: Answered for around 2 – 3 lineS. VO heard it patiently & maintained eye to eye contact during this point.
VO: What is the purpose of your travel?
Me: abbabbabbb…
VO: Where are you going to work at US:
Me: Answered the address of work office.
VO: What is the duration of your assignment?
Me: the duration was mentioned differently is I129 to what was entered in DS160. I had decided to answer based on which document he refers to. He was checking in system while I was answering (Assumed he was checking my DS160). Hence answered as per what was mentioned in DS160.
VO: What is the salary you will be getting in dollars?
Me: Answered as per I129.

There were no questions asked to my wife.

Finally the most awaited words: Sir, I am approving your VISA. Have a safe trip & safe stay in US. He took our passports & one copy of I129, I797 and returned two copies of stamped I129 to us, asked us to carry one copy at the time of travel. We thanked the officer twice & stepped out.

The entire process completed in 20 min & the overall experience at VFS was fantastic.

As we didn’t carry our phone, we were supposed to call our cab driver from nearby STD booth. The booth was closed for the day & the nearby Autowalas were fighting amongst each other as to who will give me the phone to call the cab driver. I had to acknowledge their offer as there was no other option & did tip them nicely.

Suggestion:
• It is better to hire a cab for hourly package to avoid that last minute tensions.
• Don’t reach the consulate very early. Reaching very early means waiting that much time under sun. it is convenient to reach 10- 15 minutes before the appointment time. The security will open the slot 15 minutes before the appointment slot & will finish security checks very quickly. Once you enter VISA interview building, you will even find people from previous slots waiting for interview, so apparently no difference on appointment slots at the time of interview.