L1, L2 Visa

Hi, My employer has filed the petition on 06/06, with Premium mode. When i check the status online, it shows as "•At this time USCIS cannot provide you with information ". What does it mean?
Applicants of one number before and after my case number has some valid status. Please suggest. Thanks

I have followed this forum right since the day i was nominated for US travel. The processes & procedures for L1B visa has been explained in detail here and i will not touch them.

I took advice from 6 colleagues of mine, 5 of whom traveled on L1B and one who got rejected. What i felt is each of them had their own story to tell purely based on their experience. Each of them believed what happened to them is the magic formula to get L1B stamped while the 6th guy who got a rejection clearly understood why. So i will narrate my story here, and the conclusions i have arrived - purely based on my experience. I have segregated this post into 3 parts. My preparation, experience and learning’s (what I think is true)

Once you finish reading, you will understand why the 1st step - filling DS-160 after doing enough homework could well be the best thing you could do. The 2 important fields in my opinion are "Duties you will be performing" and US salary. One of my colleague who is currently in US had his BEP letter thoroughly verified which made him think "Duties you will be performing" is a not so important factor and i was told i can just fill it up without much thought. He said BEP letter is the most important factor. I put in double the effort for my BEP letter which in retrospect was time wasted. But i did fill it after consulting a lot of people as well us going through this forum and understanding what exactly L1B is. Also i asked my immigration team in the company to validate my US salary. Next thing i did is prepare why my skill is specialized and consulted each of my experienced colleagues. I prepared my own case based on their inputs and finally had a meeting with my immigration consultant in the company who rubbished whatever i had prepared. He told me what exactly they are looking for and gave me a clarity of thought. I had prepared "my knowledge will save a lot of money for my client" and the immigration consultant explained the consulate's point of view and said they would give a rats **** to such statements. In short you should explain what your role will be, why the specialized knowledge you possess is not easily available in the market and how will it will benefit US

Coming to my experience, the interview turned out be very simple. The officer was very friendly. Just 5 questions:
1. Are you also from YYYY company?
I said Yes. I am not sure who else from my company was present. Also the company i work for is not one of the biggies. (Makes me feel the company you work for is a factor - if the company has a good reputation in the consulate that might help. Some companies accused of visa frauds might just hurt your chances)

2. Who is your client?
A leading US bank. (Again i felt this is an important factor.My logic being if the role is not specialized then these reputed US firms would have hired locals to get it done. They wouldn't be trying to save a penny here and a penny there.)

3. What is your experience with your company?
2 years and 11 months. I joined fresh out of college in 2010 July. I was told they prefer people with over 5 years of experience and a handsome Indian salary. I had neither. Another wise man said you should have appeared after completing 3 years. It did sow seeds of doubt in my mind. But i am here to tell my tale. Also i found lot of young guys getting though. I am stressing on this because i thought i would be denied visa simply on the basis of my experience and salary which is not under my control.

4. What is your Indian and US salary?
My Indian salary is slightly above market avg for a services company and my experience , but nevertheless not one which would raise eyebrows. Also the average package of most Tier 1 & 2 engineering colleges easily betters my salary after almost 3 years of experience. But i feel US salary could be a catch. My logic for this is simple. The consulate is basically trying to see if we are eating up the opportunity if a US national. So if you are going there for cheap, then probably its perceived to be body-shopping. If you are earning well in US then the company is probably not making profit out of cheap labour. Again its just what i feel. And yes my US salary is good enough.

After this he started stamping my forms and i thought based on my salary and experience the visa got rejected. The reason being the killer question about specialization never came. But he said your visa is approved. I also wanted to ask on what basis he approved mine, but held-back :-) I have gone through the stamp over 100 times just to make sure it is approved and not rejected.

Following are my tips:
1. From where i sat i probably saw over 70 people getting interviewed. I can hardly remember 5-6 getting their visas rejected. All rejections where L1B of course. People who were confident and smart got through. People who dressed up smart and spoke like dump got rejected. Its probably good to wear a nice shirt. The interviewer cannot see your bottom.
2. Important to have a good case for your specialization. There was this guy working in the telecommunications industry who made a good case for himself. I was sure he would get through. He then mentioned something about Java AND .Net. The next line from the consulate officer "Based on what you told me your visa cannot be approved". Guys, Java and .Net are forbidden words(technologies) in the L1 world. If you are working in java/.net or any other common programming languages and your manager asks you to apply for L1B feel free to ask him "What are you smoking?". If the consulate officer approved your visa after you mentioned java/.net please ask him "What did you just smoke sir?" Both the manager and officer smoked quality stuff before taking their decisions. Also be alert. The guy mentioned in (2) who dressed smart was asked for his BEP letter. The guy responds "My BEP letter?". I thought what a dumbo he is and the consulate officer agreed.
3. Do not mention requirements gathering, training, support, maintenance etc if you are applying for L1B in the Ds160 form. You have B1 for the 1st 2 and forget about travelling to US for support and maintenance. My colleague mentioned the 1st 2 in his DS160 and got rejected.
4. I only prepared for one question in detail and put in a lot of effort to construct my case for specialization. In the end as it has been throughout my life i was not asked the question to which's answer has directly resulted in folks getting their visa's approved/rejected. As i mentioned in the beginning the extra bit of homework before filling up my duties in DS160 helped. Make sure that you are clear about your specialization. Expertise in a commercially available s/w is not specialization. A good DS160 could pave way for an easy tension free interview.

Thanks for everyone, who is helping and adding exercise in this forum, it’s really helpful.
VISA is divided into 2 parts. 1) Biometrics(OFC) 2) Personal Interview.

I have my 1) Biometrics at Hyderabad center :- It’s is very simple, they will take your PHOTO & finger prints.
Procedure – at Gate you need to show your App. letter & Passport, next at entry door, your Passport,DS-160, next will be token issuing counter, you need to show your Passport,DS-160, they will stick a sticker on your Passport with a number, next security checks, last finger prints counter( Left hand 4-fingers,right hand 4-fingers and left, right thump together)

2) Personal Interview – at Chennai :- here 4 steps.
At entry door, they will check your App. letter & Passport and put a sticker with number, that is your ref number thought out the process.

a) Documents verification & putting in order: Indian officer- they will ask you, DS-160,passport,I797,I129,DD and they will check and put a rubber band and give to you.
b) Finger Prints Check : (US officer)Right and 4 finger prints check they will do.
c) DD Submission: (India Officer) you need to submit your DD, they will take & give you receipt.(pls write your Name & passport number back side of DD)
d) Finial Personal Interview: (US officer, will be very friendly) I am from one of top leading US bank, VISA Process is easy for me, Just 3 questions- where are you going? What is India salary?
What project you are going to work? What is your Designation? To my wife – love or arranged marriage?

Dear All,

First of all a sincere big thanks to everyone who have posted in the forum. Only because of your help I was able to to clear the L1B interview on my second attempt today on 14th June 2013.

I got L1B rejected last year in Jan 2012. My company asked me to apply for L1B category again and this time I was able to make it count.

Coming straight to the interview questions -

Me: Good afternoon officer, how are you doing today?
VO: Good afternoon, am fine how abt you.
Me: I am good sir. Thank you
VO : What is the name of your client?
Me: YYYY

He couldn't hear it properly, asks to spell it out for him twice.
Me: YYYY

VO: Your indian salary
Me: YYYY

VO: Your US salary
Me: YYYY

VO: I will not ask your experience with the client, experience with your company, services of your company. Give me crisp in 3 line what is your specialized skills. Remember only your skills not your company not your client.
Me: I have got expertise in YYYY which does ZZZ. (VO interrupting again and asks few more questions)

VO: Did you develop this tool?
Me: Yes I developed this tool. (confidently).

VO: Did you develop this tool? (Again)
Me: Yes I developed this tool using YYYY technology. (Make sure YYYY technology is not java, .NET, SAP, any database etc). It has to be niche and unheard of.

VO was taking some time, searching something on this monitor. After a while he stamped one I129-s form and wrapped it with the passport in a rubber band. This was the time I realize my passport is likely approved.

VO finally said those magic words that your visa is approved and provided me two I129-s forms for the HR reference.

Summary
-------------
1) Good communication in English does help the matter. Must accept I was a touch nervous but my specialized skill superimposed it.
2) Quite depends on the VO's mood. My VO was not interested in initiating a conversation and came straight to the specialized skills. All answers should not exceed 3 lines, VO will anyways interfere to judge the knowledge. I see other VO's making candidate comfortable with them.
3) Specialized skill should be niche and very very rare in the market. Ideally one should have developed the specialized tool/product.
4) There are n types of people with n types of skills come to give the interview, there is no point distracting oneself looking at the other candidates.
5) This forum is enough to understand the psychology of specialized skills. One should do complete research of the skill as rare before preparing BEP and DS-160.
6) One should practice well and do good homework on the probable questions listed on this forum.

Hope this helps!

Again, thanks to everyone. I have a reason to smile and pat my back today :)

Thanks & Regards,
Abhishek

Hello Everyone,
                     I had my L1B visa interview on 3rd July 2013 in chennai. It went very well but little exhausting. I am from Hyderabad,so I had my OFC in Hyderabad on 24th may 2013. OFC was a very easy process. Just took 10 mins for me to come out of OFC center. I had 3 mistakes at OFC:

1) I carried all my documents with me. You do not need to carry all your documents, you only need confirmation letter, DS-160, your passport.
2) I carried a bag with me, bags are not allowed inside, so just take your papers with you while going to OFC.
3) This is actually not a mistake, but I dint know that phones are allowed at the OFC center, you can take your phone but not other devices like pen drive.

SO, There is nothing to say about OFC, better to go in formal dress, since they click your pic.

On July 3rd 2013 I had my Visa interview. I had done my preparations but I know that I should not be over-prepared, its just about keeping yourself calm and composed. My time was at 9:30, I went around 9:00 am but was a huge rush, somehow I got inside the center. It took 3 hours of wait to finally reach the Consular. But after that it was a cake walk. He did not ask me any questions related to my work or my company or specialization. The only questions he asked me were related to business visa, I had gone to US last year on a business Visa and I had stayed there for more than 4 weeks. But he was happy to give me L1 visa without any issues. It looked as if it was pre-decided, this is what I have been reading in this forum and its true. Your petition should be good, your company's reputation should be good and you luck should be good. Just be calm and composed, do not answer more that expected, keep that smile, it makes you look less tensed.

Hi,

Recently i upgraded my case to premium. when i cheked the status from the USCIS blog its something like below. This is remining same for the last four days.

At this time USCIS cannot provide you with information for your case. Please contact the NCSC 1 (800) 375-5283 for additional information.

Anyone have an idea about this. Like what will be my next staus of this.

Thanks

First of all, thanks folks for all your tips & suggestions..this indeed helps

Visa experience below for L1A stamping. Spent 3 hours in total at the US consulate (right from standing in the queue till I was out on the street)

Questions from VO were simple & clear. After the good afternoon exchanges, it was quickfire 2-3 mins, transcript below:

1. So, you work for XYZ Company?
a. Yes

2. How many years?
a. Completed 9 years last month

3. What is your salary in US?
a. Answered precisely

4. What is your salary in India?
a. Answered precisely

5. What is your designation in India?
a. Answered

6. What will be your role?
a. Explained in detail (VO interrupted & clarified if it’s an internal role or with a client & whether I will be based out of client or own premises)

Visa was approved. No questions asked to my wife at all.

My other observations:
• Suits & Ties are not required, esp. in Chennai heat
• Be confident & answer politely, maintaining eye contact with VO
• No harm asking again if the question is ambiguous or you do not understand it
• They do check your past international travels & US/other country visa stampings on your passport
• Did not seem pre-decided as a lot of folks say
• Little bit of luck is required as there was another VO (next queue) who was arbitrarily rejecting visas
• VO deliberately interrupts while you are explaining the role to break flow & disrupt memorized answers & looks for genuine answers
• Don't arrive too early as you will not be allowed to enter. The heat will take its toll on you - arrive 15 mins before time & no earlier. Know couple of folks from my company who went 2 hrs ahead of time, waited, sweated, heard deliberately what was being spoken on counters, got nervous & faltered. Don't let this happen to you!

Good luck unto you!
God bless

I & my family did my interview on 23rd May. The interviwer asked me only 3 questions
1. where I am heading to
2. what would be my role
3. How many years with present company

She checked the ds-169, petition and the bep letter from company

No questions asked to my wife. the overall process took 5 minutes. They gave priority in the line due to our little kids.

Tips:
-Do not go earlier than 15-20 minutes before your appointment
-Carry photograph if your kid is too small to pose for the photo

if the category is individual, the interview would be more of a second check.. So chances are more.
Good Luck!

Hello Friends,

Need a clarification from you guys. As metioned in the subject , Is L1 - Intarcompany Transfer and L1 - Individual Specilaized are same?

Is there a category called L1- Indiviual Speciliazed.

Please do the needful.

Thanks
Shankar

My L1 extension rejected in April 2013 and I-94 is valid till June . Any other alternative after this to continue in US??