L1, L2 Visa

I must thank this website for giving so much of information on L1 visa stamping. I have been regularly visiting this forum since my husband's visa was initiated. It's my turn now to share my experience. I always thought if our visa gets approved then I will definetly write here so that somebody could also be helped. It got approved in Feb 2014.
Tips:
1. For OFC, be there max 15-20 mins before. There is no use even if u go early, you will only be unnecesarrily tensed.
2. No need to take any tensn, stay calm & cool and just smile when you are answering.
3. Regarding clothing- there is no write or wrong dress. You should just wear neatly. Thats it. In city like chennai, whatever you will wear, after getting inside the consulate it will be so crowded that you will start sweating...so dont worry on clothing.

Our consulate interview was @11am. My 2 year old baby was with us. we went inside after all the security check. It was so crowded. As soon we entered my baby started crying and she became so crancky. It was very difficult to manage her at that time.Then security officers saw us and accelerate our process. We were asked to wait for 5-7 mins and it was our turn. My husband & I were fully sweating. I was carrying my baby. The interviewer was a lady, she saw my baby & said, oh she looks so pretty in her pink dress. And started talking to us. She also mentioned that I wanted to accelerate your process & get out of here as it is disturbing your baby. They are very concerned especially for kids.....
That was it... She asked a few question from my husband
which company?
Which client?
which state you are travelling? etc

then to me:
how long i have been married?
wats my baby's age?
my highest qualification?

And then she said the golden words... its approved. have a nice stay.

We were so happy and exited happily.

I have been an avid user of this forum for past few weeks. It's my turn now to share the experience.

I have 9 years of total work exp, 7 yrs with the current company. Visited US earlier on L1-B Visa and B1 Visa.

My OFC was scheduled @ 9 AM in Chennai. Reached there at 8.15 with my spouse and 2 kids. They allowed to go in at 8.30. Fingerprints and photos were done in 15 minutes. So, we were done before 9 AM (ha!)

My Consulate appointment was @ 11 AM. Called our cab back and went to Woodlands for some breakfast. Reached Chennai consulate @ 10.30. It was very hot and a loooong queue. I don't understand why people come so early when they have scheduled the appointments. Anyway, I had 2 kids (1 infant), security officer immediately spotted and pushed us ahead of line. We were sent straight in the building.

After security checks, I waited for my wife and kids and then we went together in the Visa lobby. Got the token, a person was standing there assisting to organize the documents. He created a set of documents that were to be reviewed for Visa Fee payment. I followed his instructions and went to counter #14 for DD deposit. He gave me a receipt back. After that we were told to wait for our token to be flashed on the screen in the area where Visa interviews were happening. This whole process took 10-12 minutes.

Finally, we met the Visa Officer.

He greeted us, started chit chatting with my 6 year old daughter and then asked following questions:

VO - Which company do you work for?
Me - ZZZ

VO - How many years you working with the current company?
Me - 7 years

VO - What would you be doing in US?
Me - I will be working there as a program manager.

VO - Whom would you report to?
Me - Senior Program Director

VO - Whom does he (above) report to?
Me - General Manager - North American Professional Services

VO - Who will be reporting to you sir?
Me - 4 direct project managers, technical architects, business analysts, programmer analysts.

VO - What is your India salary?
Me - Answered

VO - What will be your US salary?
Me - Answered

VO - Location in US?
Me - Kansas City

VO - Then he asked again, I'm sorry who would YOU be reporting to sir, a Project director?
Me - I said no, Sr Program Director.

VO - It was easy, he started stamping the papers and put them aside.

I knew my Visa was approved but was waiting to hear from him.

He was not saying anything, there was a silence for about 3 minutes, he was working on his computer. I was still a bit tensed.

Finally, he said, your Visa is approved, gave me 2 copies of petition and kept 1 with him

No questions to dependents other than the chit chat he did with my daughter.

We thanked him and came out happily.

Regarding the clothing, I read different opinions in this forum. Just want to mention here that it hardly matters. A formal shirt and trousers are more than sufficient in a city like Chennai. I saw one wearing suit and a tie and he got rejected. I wore a white shirt with black trousers. We left hotel at 7.30 AM and by the time I reached consulate at 11, I was not looking pretty at all due to the humid weather in Chennai and all the fuss you need to go through before reaching the interview counter.

Thanks

Best of luck to you all!

First of all, thanks to this forum for the details on the visa process and consulate experience. was very helpful.

I had my Blanket L1A interview in Chennai. Below are the Qs from CO:

1. Hi. How are you?
2. You work for?
3. What is your designation?
4. What is your annual Indian salary?
5. How much will you get in US per year?
6. Who is your customer?
7. How many reportees in US (Direct)?
8. What are their designations and roles?
9. Will they manage teams and you will manage them?
10. Who will you report to? What does he do and his designation?
11. How long are you planning to travel?
12. Is this your wife?
13. How long are you married?
14. What does she do?

Ok, i am approving your visa. Please give 1 copy of your approved petiton to HR and keep one copy while travelling.

Interview went on for 4-5 minutes with a quick barrage of questions and answers.

Key observations:
OFC was scheduled for morning. It takes 10 minutes to complete the formalities. Please do not go more than 15 minutes before your apppointment time, as you have to wait outside in chennai heat.

US consulate has a heavy rush of people coming hours before their interview. It is really sad to see such long lines in scorching heat, waiting for a visa. We saw heavy police guard trying to make sure people don't spill out of the main road. Inside the consulate is a different story as the queues keep moving quickly and the process gets over within an hour. For us, we had biometrics, DD submission, document verification and then interview in less than 30 minutes

Also, we saw multiple rejections (L1B, B1) while we were waiting for our turn. Somehow, most experiences on this forum are of people, who got their visa approved. Others, it would be great, if you can post your experiences as well, to help understand what went wrong. All of us are paying huge amounts from our companies for these visas. If the case is weak and liable to be rejected, we might as well save the non-refundable fees and a rejection on our application.

Thanks to each one of you who has posted your experience. It has been very helpful to me. I have been an active visitor to this forum for last 4-6 weeks.

I have about 17yrs experience, have been US earlier on H1 and L1A.

Now coming to my experience. My OFC was scheduled in Hyderabad on 18th. I went for OFC alongwith spouse and child. Hyderabad center was fairly well managed and we finished the biometrics & photo in about 15mins.

We then travelled to Chennai on 20th evening for visa appointment. We decided to keep our kids at one of our friend's place. Both my wife and I went in to Chennai consulate at about 945am for 10am appointment. To our surprise we saw tons of people standing in line outside the consulate even though their appointments were scheduled for later in the day. It took us about 1.5hrs wait in the scorching Chennai heat before we were allowed into the gates. My suggestion, don't take your kids if you don't have to. I saw lot of parents struggling with young kids and kids were dehydrated, irritated, etc.

Anyway once we went in, it took us about another 10mins or so for pre-appointment document checks and fee payment. Just as we were settling down in some cool air waiting for our appointment, we saw our number flash on the screen. I went in confidently with my spouse.

I was asked about 3-4 questions.

a. Who is your current company- XYZ
b. Are you going to work at client site - No
c. where is your office in US - XYZ
d. how many people report to you - XYZ

I could see that after the 1st question, VO had started stamping my documents and he was asking other questions more to keep some conversation going. Finally after about 2 mins of interaction, he approved our visa. He did not ask my spouse any question.

Key points to note
a. Be confident about you and your job.
b. Dress smartly and appropriate to the weather. Some folks come in overly dressed with suit, tie, etc...In Chennai summer and the given the 2 hr waiting outside the consulate, trust me, you will feel very tired and sweaty when you go in front of VO
c. Do go over some of the questions posted by others on this forum.
d. If you are qualified for the visa category, chances of rejection are very minimal
e. Maintain a conversation style with the VO and be relaxed. Don't get tensed. This is not rocket science.

good luck to all

Hello All,
Thank You for the information shared here.

Im about to fill the application for L1B visa. Me and the manager who is hiring me are trying to create a very strong case, since Im not a technology professional.
Do you have any tips on creating a very strong petition?

Thank You

Hi,

need your help

My wife will be attending interview for her L1B Blanket visa at Chennai. I'm also planning to apply for L2 visa so that if approved I can accompany her as she will be on her assignment for more than 6 months.

Presently I am working with a company as a Manager and will be resigning from my job.

Please help me so that I can get L2 visa. I was going through the questions likely to be asked but a bit confused.

what type of questions will be asked and what will be the answers to them? like am going to resign from my job? what I'll do there? am I going to work or study there? who will fund my expenses ( in case of my wife company will take care of her expenses). why I want to have L2 visa? what I'll do the whole day, when my wife will be at her work? or any other questions not known to me.
Please suggest, how I should answer these possible questions, without getting rejected. Please help.
we are not going to attend the interview together. Can I apply for L-2 at Mumbai?

Thanks in advance.
Regards

Ashutosh

hi all

my L1A blanket visa got approved today morning at the Chennai consulate.
I was in the first slot and everything was smooth. I have extensively followed this forum and read past experiences and was prepared accordingly.

the officer asked me just 1 question -
" many people come for managerial role, but whether you will have any specific managerial role there?"
ans - I said, yes, I am going to work for xyx client as a program manager handling their new account and will have team of project managers, test managers and release associates with me.

in the same question, he also asked so you will be working as relationship manager- I said NO, the person whom I report is the relationship manager, handling multiple client and my association will be mainly with xyz client.

he also asked question to my husband (L2) - regular ones - "so you will be resigning" and whats your profile sir.

and that's it, he said "I am satisfied and I will approve your visa for 3 years :)"

Hi

I had my interview on 20-Mar for the L1A Blanket category. The VO asked very few questions and looked as though he was predetermined with his decision based on the profile

Me: Good Morning
VO: Blank stare

VO: Show me your documents
Me: Gave him my passport and the petition papers

VO: Can i see your org chart
Me: Gave it to him

VO: Whats your indian salary
Me:10L per annum

VO: Who is your client
Me: ZZZ

Silence for about 5 minutes

He stamps on the petition papers and says "This isnt the right category to apply for, ask your HR to apply for the right visa".

My colleague who went for the interview with a similar profile also had the same category of questions and the same outcome.

All the best to others who are applying.

Hi .

thanks for immihelp.

First of all its a great site for someone who is planning to take a L1 Visa in the near future. I started having a look at the site one week before the interview seriously and it gives an excellent idea about the whole process from various standpoints. I had my OFC at 9AM today and i/V at 11. OFC does not take more than 20 minutes and interview process in my case was done in 1 hour.

Please do not get to the centers more than 15 minutes ahead of your scheduled time. Process is very swift. It took me a little more time to get payment done as my first 2 credit card payment for fraud fee did not go through. Best to being cash or DD.

I am not part of IT industry in a direct manner but come from a semiconductor background.

Total exp : 7 years
Present Company : 5 years (US based MNC, product based)
Current CTC : 20+
US Salary : 120K+
B1 Visa ( 5 visits before)

There were only 2 questions to me.

1. What does your company do ?
2. What is your specialized knowledge. ?

VO started stamping papers post them while I was looking. The actual interview got over in under a minute. I read that married coupled get more preference, I dont think that part matters.

Good luck to all.

Hi,

Would need help from members in reviewing my profile for L1A Blanket and provide feedback.
Motive: Moving to US payroll
Designation: Engagement Manager
Current Visa Holding: L1B/B1
Indian Salary: 25L+
New US Salary: 140K+
Experience: 7 years (4 years with current firm)
Subrodinate: 9 Direct in 2 projects
US Trips: 5 on B1 (2-3 weeks) and on L1B (2 weeks)

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.