L1, L2 Visa

Hello All,

Firstly thanks to all the contributors on this forum which has immensely helped me in having many questions answered. Wanted to share my experience with all of you as way of Paying it Forward :)

L-1A Blanket rejected in Nov'2019 (thankfully if I think about it now). It was a very depressing experience since I had prepared really well for the interview and was confident of securing the Visa, but the VO thought otherwise.

My firm then filed my Individual petition under Premium processing in Dec'19 to which I received RFE in Jan'20. Now started another round of digging documents and preparing a very solid support letter. My attorney firm filed response to RFE in Feb'20. I received approval to my petition in Mar'20 and then started the long wait due to COVID.

Finally, after months of waiting I secured an appointment in month of Mar'21 at Chennai, which was cancelled by USCIS in 1st week of Jan'21. This further stressed me out since the next available slot was in Nov'21. But things changed around mid of Jan when I found slots in Feb'21 in Mumbai and rushed to block them.

Biometrics on 31st Jan in Mumbai - This went through very smooth and without any hassles.

Interview date: 09th Feb in Mumbai - The Finale!!

Timing was at 8.30am for which I reached the Consulate at 8.20am. On entering the center, was asked to keep I -797, Passport, Offer Letter etc in order. I waited with along with many others equally looking forward to complete the interview. I could see many approvals and candidates leaving the center with happy faces which got me calm and confident...I was called in for my turn.

Me: Good Morning Sir!
VO: Good Morning, How are you doing today? Could you give me your passport?
Me: Doing good Sir, hope you're doing well too.

The VO started pulling up my info and spent about a min reading through it.

VO: Where were you in June?
Me: Last year?
VO: Yes
Me: I was in India
VO: Which visa are you applying for?
Me: L-1A Multinational Manager
VO: What is your designation at the US firm?
Me: Answered
VO: Which office would be you working at?
Me: NYC
VO: What is your compensation there?
Me: Answered
VO: Could you give me your I- 797?
Me: I gave him the bunch which contained the CoC letter, Offer letter.

He read through just the I-797 and then started typing again and then said:

VO: Could you place your left hand on the scanner?
VO: Your Visa is approved, thank you and have a nice day.
Me: Thank You Sir! You have a good day!!

This felt unreal since it got over in under 5 mins while I was expecting the VO to ask multiple more questions as during my Blanket interview.

I received an SMS on 10th Feb that my passport has been processed and ready for pick up.

Few suggestions based on my experience:

1) Carry all documents along, such as offer letter, CoC letter (if your firm can provide), educational certificates, pay slips.
2) Read through your petition documents and answer exactly as mentioned in them.
3) Suit up for the event, it helps.

I thank all the contributors on this firm for their valuable suggestions and wish all Best of Luck for their interview. Do write back on this forum about your experiences for others to read and gain information.

Hello,

Today morning at Hyderabad,INDIA US Counsalate I had my L1A-Individual interview and everything went well too. The VO took my passport along with the US Chamber of Commerce letter. When I checked the status of my case in and found the below message as a pop-up. I am little worried as I don't understand this by seeing the status.

U.S. Department of State
NONIMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATION
Refused
Application ID or Case Number:
Case Created: 08-Feb-2021
Case Last Updated: 09-Feb-2021

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 Hyderabad.

Can someone help in this regard to clarify ?

I need your urgent advice on the below scenario.
Just want to give you a background on my case, my spouse is the primary visa holder L1, I am on dependent visa L2.
I arrived at US on Dec 30,2016 and got an I94 valid till Oct 31, 2017 and my visa was valid till May 30,2019.
But my passport got expired on Oct 31, 2017 which has the same date as my I94. I renewed my passport but missed to renew my I94 then which we
left with a gap more than 180 days.
Mean time without noticing this i travelled on vacation to India on June 2 ,2018 and was back to US on June 25,2018. I was issued a new I94 at POE, which is valid till June 30,2021. I dint realize the gap in I94 from ( Nov 1,2017 till June 2,2018 ) until a couple of weeks back now.
It was complete mistake on innocence.
My spouse’s office filled extension last year and it is approved. where as my extension is still pending with USCIS.

Though my current I94 is valid till june 30, 2021, but the gap in my previous I94 and the present I94 is the one which bothers me , is it something I have to get it rectified or since i am back in status now , this should not be a issue. what are the options I have here .

Thank you for this forum for sharing the Visa experience which helped to prepare for interview. So here I am sharing my experience.

So for the first time when I tried to book slots in Jan 20th, I was getting dates in November and on the same day Biden was taking oath for president. I just thought for myself as I am already getting slots so late and what more worse could happen? So thought to wait for few more weeks and root for Biden to change in Immigration due to Covid-19.

It worked! I got appointment on March 8 but I wanted to finish VISA process quickly so was checking earlier dates once in 2 to 3 days and rescheduled interviews to Feb 19 and then again Feb 8.

There are only limited slots getting open like 1 or 2 and not more than that and also be careful about over checking the website as it will block you after few attempts and will be unblocked only after 2 or 3 days!

So my Bio metric was on 02/07/2020 and Visa interview was on 02/08/2020

Question asked
1. What type of Visa are you applying for?
2. Have you traveled to US before?
3. Do you have any other US Visa?
4. Are you applying for first time to L1B?
5. Which city you will be moving to?
6. Can you tell me about your specialisation ? And question related to my specialisation.

Interview went for 10 to 15 mins and my visa was approved!

Based on the experience what I understood is, Interviewer really want to understand what exact work you have done or specialised knowledge you have acquired in the past and how’s it relevant in new team. If you have really done some good work then you will have experience to share and relate it to new team. Don’t tell anything which is very generic in your field as it not specialised skill and I don’t think interviewer will interested in it.

Hope my experience helps and Best of luck!

Thank you to the forum n the content, super helpful. It’s a ASK ME ANYTHING POST, feel free to ask me questions about the interview.

L1A blanket APPROVED on Feb 8@ Chennai

Profile
4.5 years work ex with current firm and overall 7.5 yrs work ex in industry

Interview questions

I forgot to greet him when I headed to counter but held composure

1. So your petitioner is abc ?
A: Yes

2. What is your office location ?
A: I said Mumbai
VO: in US ?
A: xyz

3. What is your designation ?
A: XYZ program manager

4.Which product/program will you be developing in the US ?
A: Smart device
VO: it’s already in the market ?
A: No it will start once I move to US
VO: So it’s like a abc device of xyz company ?
A: That’s correct

5. How many people in the team you manage?
A: 10
VO: all direct reports ?
A: Yes

VO: I hope you know the CDC guidelines for traveling and your VISA is approved

Some tips:
1. Prepare well to build confidence and look at immihelp interview experiences to get the feel of it.
2. Listen to the question carefully and give crisp responses
3. Respond with details only when asked
4. I was apprehensive if my US credit card (VISA) would work as I didn’t initimate the bank but it worked fine (I guess the amount was 500 only didn’t cause any issue)

Hi All,
My L1 individual petition was approved in Dec-20. I proceeded to book an interview in Delhi. Biometric was done on 5-Feb and interview is on 19-Feb. Experiences posted here suggest that they are considering visas for companies who are exempt from the presidential proclamation. I think my company isn't. Should I reschedule me interview to after 31-Mar?

Hello All,
 I wanted to share my experience
This forum had been wonderful and has helped me a lot.
My L1A blanket got rejected in Jan 2020 , Applied for Individual and got RFE and approved in June , got my appointment in Mumbai on the 4th and 5th
4th was the fingerprinting, simple process
5th feb 2021 was my Visa interview I was there with my Wife
This is how it went
ME / Wife : GM how are you doing ?
VO : Very well thank you , How about you ?
Me/Wife : Doing great
VO : Where do you work ?
Me : Answered xxx company
VO : What is your total experience
ME: XX years
VO : What is your designation ?
Me : Answered YYYY
VO: what is your qualification
Me : MBA
VO : Have you been to the US before ?
ME : Yes
VO : when was that
ME : last year in Feb for a week on B1
VO : to my wife : How long have you been Married
Wife : XX years
VO: do you have kids?
Wife : yes two and she mentioned their names and age
VO : what is your qualification
Wife : Answered
VO : took some time typing and said your Visa is approved .

Note: When I thought the interview would be easy I was grilled the first time and got rejected and this time I had prepared like creasy for this interview , but my questions was simple ,
So just be your self and do your best. Thank you all

Hello All,

Anyone who is taking an appointment in the month of Feb/March (while the PP is in effect) will most probably have a carry a letter to proof that your Company was a part of one of the Organizations which were plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the PP and hence your Company is exempted of the PP.

Below is what US Embassy Website mentions about it:
H-1B, H-2B, and L-1 Applications: Applicants must be prepared to demonstrate that a U.S. employer/petitioner is a named plaintiff or member of any of the named plaintiff associations. Applicants may provide evidence directly to the consular officer at the time of visa interview. Applicants may provide to a consular officer a letter issued by one of the named plaintiffs to the applicant’s petitioner attesting that the petitioner is a member in good standing of one of the named plaintiff associations. Consular officers will take steps to independently verify that the petitioner or sponsor is indeed a member of one of the plaintiff associations. Once the consular officers is able to confirm membership, they will be able to process the application to conclusion without regard to PP 10052.

Now, my questions is where do i arrange this letter from? My law-firm doesn't have much idea about it. Is this something I need to get internally from my Company?

Has anyone here been able to attain this letter from there Company? It would be of great help if someone who has attained this can give me some ideas on how to get it. I can try and follow the same path within my company that you guys followed to get hold of this letter/doc.

Hey community,
I had appeared for L1B individual visa interview on Jan 25th in Mumbai. General questions were asked about role, specialization, location, salary, why cant it be done from India, etc. At the end of the interview, I was handed a 221G notice, without any clarification.
But on 28th, the case status changed to "Issued". They were likely

This post is just a "Ask me Anything" for anyone interested to engage. I know there is very little information out there amidst visa bans, and I think I can help out from my experience. This forum has been very helpful, so want to return the favor and be available for any questions. Looking forward to helping out. All the best everyone!

Hello,

My wife and I work for the same company and we want to try for our individual visa separately.
The Officer might ask questions around your spouse and why she is not accompanying you.
Is it acceptable to say she would be trying for individual visa? I am not sure how this is taken.
Any help here is appreciated.

Thanks