L1, L2 Visa

Hello Everyone,

Firstly, a huge thanks to the forum members for their help and support all thru thus far, which has helped me to prepare and finally have my L1A individual visa approved.
Here is my detailed experience on the VAC and the interview process - I went solo.

17 Feb, 2021 - VAC appointment:
- Reached the VAC center about 30 minutes prior with all my documents. Documents included were the appointment confirmation page, DS, 160, Original & a copy of i797, stamping packes.
- I was sent inside the building 15 minutes prior to the appointment time.
- Though mobile phones can be carried in switch off mode, once cannot carry their smart watch even if it is turned off. I had to take a locker in the ground floor and deposited it along with my watch, wallet etc., as i thought of making use of what i pay (INR 50) :P
- The VAC officer in the counter greeted me and took my passport, DS 160, appointment confirmation letter.
- After verification, she asked me for my i797 and i produced it - After verification, I was sent inside the other room where the biometrics are collected.
- I was called immediately to my allocated counter as there was no much rush when I went there.
- First it started with the fingerprint - Due to the COVID-19 guidelines, they asked me to wipe the scanner once before the fingerprint scan was done - This was done and once completed, I wiped the scanner again for others safety, sanitized my hand and took the photograph.
- The entire process took about 5 minutes and I was outside in less than 20 minutes.

18 Feb, 2021: Consular Interview AKA D-Day:
- My appointment was at 8 AM and I reached there by 7:20 AM. Usually everyone suggests to be there almost on time to avoid the wait but I took a cue from my previous B1 interview and went there a bit earlier. The advantage was to stay relaxed and see people and kids who would make some adorable things which may soothe one's mind. This also gives you an opportunity to go thru your documents for one last time in peace.
- We were called to the entrance by around 7:50 AM and due to the COVID-19 safety measures, the queue seemed like huge since social distancing was in place but there were hardly 15-20 people.
- Without much adieu, finished the security check and we were made to wait in the hall, again with a socially distanced manner. After about 2-3 minutes of waiting, the people were asked to proceed towards the main entrance.
- Again there was a queue but we were made to stand in a socially distanced manner in the ramp and in hardly about 10 minutes entered the main building.
- I seemed like the only one for an L1A or work related visa. All the others seemed like visiting parents or spouses or business people - I was the fourth in the line inside the embassy and the queue manager from a distance, gestured me to come in the front and I was wondering if he was calling me and gestured if it was me and he reconfirmed.
- Once i started to walk front, he gestured me to a counter in the side and this moment made me nervous because the person returning had a green/ blueish green notice in his hand - I was wondering if it was a 221g and cursed that guy for sending me to a counter which I was nervous about - LOL, I was wrong (I will be told at the end). Reached the counter and here is how it went:

Me: Good Morning Officer.
VO: Very good morning sir (with a nice smile)
VO: Can i have your passport please?
Me: Sure officer (And slipped my passport inside the counter).
VO scanned the passport
VO: So, you are here for a L1A?
Me: Yes officer
<VO starts typing in the keyboard>
VO: You work for ABC? I'm curious what does ABC stand for?
Me: Told the expansion
VO: Ah ok (we both had a bit of laughter).
VO: Are you travelling solo?
Me: Yes officer, i'm travelling solo.
VO: (After looking at my B1) So you have travelled to the US before - Where did you go?
Me: Answered
VO: And where are you travelling to the US now?
Me: Answered (same location)
VO: Ah ok, same location.
VO: What is your designation? I see you are a manager - ZZZ. Let me guess: YYYY stands for xxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx
Me: (With a smile and a sense of friendly notion) - No exactly, it is xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx. You are almost right.
<We had a crack of laughter, VO Continues typing with a smile again and her smile disappears>
VO: I am getting some issue on my system. Please wait for few minutes and I will be back.
Me: Sure officer (With a confident thumbs up gesture).
<VO left the counter and was talking to someone and checking on their system - this was a nervous period for me as i was not sure of what was happening>
VO: Sorry about that.
Me: Not a problem officer (Again with a smile behind the mask and a thumbs up gesture).
<VO continues to type and save something and finally it was all good and her smile returned>
VO: What is your salary in the US?
Me: 1ZZZ00 dollars
VO: What is your intended duration of the stay.
Me: 3 years
VO: Ok, please place your left palm on the scanner (The moment i had a sigh of relief).
Me: Sure (Officer finished scanning).
VO: Your visa is approved and passed over the green notice stating that the visa was approved.
Me: Thank you officer - Have a good day.
VO: You too, have a nice day.

I came outside the main building, took a breath of fresh air and that feel of - Yaaay, I got my Visa made me a bit emotional.

19 & 20 Feb, 2021 - Administrative Processing.
21 Feb, 2021 - Issued
23 Feb, 2021 - Received the passport

You can read more about my journey at https://www.immihelp.com/forum/usa-l1-l2-visa/723593-l1-a-individual-premium-processing-need-help-on-queries

I have my interview next week with family. My son is about 5 years old. What additional documents do I need for him ? Do I need to carry a photograph for him? If yes? What are the specs ?

I am assuming for me and my spouse, photograph will be taken during the biometric appointment. Kindly help.

Thank you

Thanks all who helped me here.

03-March-2021 BioMetrics (Hyderabad): Done in 15 mins, went with Wife and 5 years old kid
Make sure you carry kids photo graph below 14 years

04-March-2021 PA(Hyderabad): My PA is @ 11 AM but they allowed me inside at 10 AM, same attended with wife and kid.

VO: Good Morning.
Me: We all greeted her back, and my kid made comment "I cannot see" and see came forward to see my kid.

VO: Can you show bar code stick to passport for scan from glass.
Me: Did all Passports.

VO: What type of Visa.
Me: Answered L1BI extension.

VO: What is your role?
Me: Answered.

VO: Salary?
Me: Answered US Salary.

VO: So working for End customer?
Me: Answered yes.

VO: Turned towards my wife, how long have you been married ?
Wife: Answered.

VO: To my kid, how old are you?
Kid: Answered.

VO: Show me your I797?
Me: Showed from Glass, may be due to covid they are not touching nay docs, just showing from glass, sticking to it and she just ready as a formality not more than 10 seconds.

VO: Show me your Employment confirmation letter?
Me: Did same as above

VO: Show me CoC.
Me : Dis same as above.

VO: When you are planning to travel?
Me: Answered..

Vo: Left finger prints for me and wife

VO: Drop you passports in box infront of her and she collected from other end

VO: Will let you guys know when your Passports are ready to pickup.
We are greeted her and left place.

04 March 2 PM: Admin process
04 March 7 PM Issued for mine alone
05 March: Issued for dependents
08 March: Ready to pickup

Dear All
Any recent experience for L1A individual, please guide n share ur experience

Hi all,

I have a visa appointment at Delhi next week for L 1 A individual (manager ) next week. I have letter from National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and also a letter for national interest exception letter. I will also have my family members with me for L 2

1) what to expect in the interview

2) have their been rejections in recent past ?

3) any other suggestions ?

I have L1A and family has L2A visa stamped on the passport until Dec 2021.
Our Petition Expiry Date (PED) on VISA is May 2019.
We all got an extension approved in 2019, which is expiring in June 2021. (L1 for me and L2 for family)

Due to some family emergency, my family needs to travel to India.

My question is - Do they need to go for VISA stamping? Or they can re-enter into US using existing VISA and copy of my approval notice?

1st of all big thanks to everyone who shared their experiences here, my visa was approved today and here I am paying back to this community by sharing my experience. Hope this helps someone like me in future.

My visa documentation for L1B - blanket petition was completed on April 30th 2020 and before I could book an appointment at Chennai consulate, official announcement stating all consulate offices to be shutdown due to COVID restrictions. To make things worse Trump presidential proclamation for ban of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas in May and then extended in June until Dec 2019. The injunction from Chamber of Commerce (CoC) and Technet org in October came as a partial relief. My company was listed in CoC, hence this relief, however embassies in India still were in closed status.
Came mid-Jan 2021, and there was official announcement on USICS twitter account that US consulates in India will start resuming operations. I saw OFC and consular appointment slots in November 2021 and nothing earlier. With a heavy heart, I proceeded to book them. By mid Feb when checked again, there were dates for March and I rescheduled them.

March 4th ( Chennai VAC ): Biometrics went pretty fine. Had to carry DS-160, Appointment confirmation letter and passport. Ensure your name in passport and DS160 matches exactly ( this includes even a minor space) I had a "space" missing and had to get it corrected at the last moment.
March 5th ( Chennai Consulate) : 0830 appointment slot, reached the location at 8:00 am when they started sending candidates for 0830 slots inside the building
After reaching the VO counter, this is what happened:

VO:
Me:

VO: Good morning
Me: Good morning officer, hope you are having a good day!

VO: Please hand over your Documents and passport
Me: Handed over passport and I-129S copies

VO:Have u been granted L1 visa previously?
Me: No, this is the 1dt time I am applying forL1

VO:What is name of the company you are working? What is the name of the company you are applying in US
Me: YYYY in India. YYYY in US, which is the parent company of ZZZ

VO: What is your designation?
Me: ZZZZ

VO: Do you have your birth certificate ?
Me: No, I dont have it currently , but I have it in my car in the parking area downstairs.

VO:Can you show me your previous paspport?
Me: Provided the old passport

VO: What is your salary in US
Me: YYYY USD plus bonus plus stocks

VO: Can you provide some details of your specialisation
Me: Explained about 4 tools that was build within my department and explained in simple terms. Did give VO any eye contact , was very casually and confidently speaking everything. I had prepared a full 2 pager for this question for the past 1 year : ) When I completed the detail of the 4th tool, she asked me to stop

VO continued to type something on her computer for sometime, some more time. Asked me to sanitize my hand, I did the same
She continued typing again, got up from her chair, continued typing, asked me to sanitize my hand, I did the same once again

She asked me to place my left hand four fingers on the scanner, continued typing for some more time.
She then took the 3 copies of I-129S and took the stamp , adjusted the stamping pad, stamped all 3 copies. From where I stood, I slowly peeked in where she stamped and I saw
the words "Approved" she added the date of visa expiry on the section where she stamped. She kept 1 copy, gave me 2 copies , told the golden words ----- Your visa is approved, here are the 2 copies, give 1 to your HR and one copy show at port of entry when u reach US. You will be informed when your passports will be ready for pickup and handed over the green slip of acknowledgement.

Me: Thank you officer, have a great weekend!

**** **** **** **** ***

My takeaways and learnings from this visa experience:

- Prepare for the best and worst. Put additional full efforts to keep your documentations and job related info ready
-Speak confidently, dont confuse, Speak in layman terms, but ensure your role and job dont highlight anything generic in nature. Specialized knowledge means it should be special. Dont talk about tools or skillsets that are generic which VO can relate to. Best thing to do is talk about company internal tools u work on, those will never be generic
-I had a 3 pager document that i prepared for my job duties and specialty tools, I used to read this for a full week prior to my interview to ensure I am confident and dont fumble when i speak
- 3 Key questions
1) What is your job duties and responsibilities? ( I had this ready, but VO never asked me this )
2) What is your specialisation ?
3) Why cannot it be done from India ? ( I had this ready, but VO never asked me this )

Hi All,
I have attended the visa interview on 26th Feb -2021 for L1 b individual premium. The interview went well and visa officer just asked general questions like who is ur employer, where will u stay in us ?, What is designation? etc.. and then the visa officer asked to kept my passport in the passport box after interview completed.
It's been 2 working days since my visa interview finished so I tracked my passport status in the U.S non immigrant portal where my application id showing as 'Refused'. Below are the total comments mentioned in the US portall.
"

A U.S. consular officer has adjudicated and refused your visa application. Please follow any instructions provided by the consular officer. If you were informed by the consular officer that your case was refused for administrative processing, your case will remain refused while undergoing such processing. You will receive another adjudication once such processing is complete. Please be advised that the processing time varies and that you will be contacted if additional information is needed. For more information, please visit TRAVEL.STATE.GOV or the website for the Embassy or Consulate at which you made your visa application.
For more information, please visit U.S. Consulate General"

If anyone has faced this type of situation then please let me know what are the next steps?

Hello All,

I am looking for scheduling appointment for my L1B application. My company had filed the blanket petition for L1B in Mid 2019. I have few questions

1. Are the L1B applications and interviews scheduled in Mumbai Consulate as well now? Earlier it was only Chennai.
2. Do I need to fill DS-160 to check the appointment schedule? Or is there a way where I can see available slots before?
3. Can we schedule an appointment for interview about 4-5 months later?
4. After Trump regime and Biden in office now, overall how is the rejection rate for L1B?

Would appreciate if I get the answers.

Thanks,

GSM

Hello All,

We are in a difficult situation and need your help! Me and my spouse are L-1B and L2 visa holder currently in the US.

Can someone please help answer the below questions:
1. What is the Grace period for L-1B and L2 visa
2. If L-1B visa holder loses the job, until when can L2 EAD holder can continue to work?

Thank you in advance for your time!