L1, L2 Visa

Hi Everyone,
I have attended L1B Individual Visa interview on 7th Feb and everything went very smooth.
My appointment was at 8:45 AM and I was out from consular by 9:30 AM.
Generic questions asked
1) what you would be doing there?
2) what is your US package?
3) Have you ever applied for same Visa before?

Thats it, and she finally said "Your Visa is Approved" :)
My Application status changed to "Issued" on 10th Feb and received passport on 11th Feb.

All the best to all new aspirants.

L2 application received date is July 10 2019 through texas center. Still no approval The site showed they were processing L2 applications from June 2019 and now the date is moved back to March 2019. Processing time showing 9 to 11.5 months. L2 ead Received date is Oct 2019 california center , no update on that as well. Has anyone received approval from June application yet from texas center?

Hello Guys.

This forum is great and provides very valuable insights on Visa processing.
I have attended L1B individual Visa interview on 7th Feb 2020 and here is my experience.

Before I attending an interview , I have gone through all experiences shared in this forum and got a fair idea of how it would be.
If your petition is approved and doesn’t have any prior issues ..it is a pretty simple process

I attended an interview along with my wife and went like this
As soon as I entered at counted I greeted him ‘ Good Morning officer’ with a smile

VO: Which company are you working for
Me : xxxx
VO : How long have you been working for?
Me : given an answer
VO: What would be your salary in US ?
Me : $xxx
VO : Will you be working from your company central office or client location
Me : I will be working from the central office
And last question to my wife – how long you guys have been married? she has given an answer

VO : Everything looks good and I am approving your visas and you will be getting your passports within 3 business days.

What I learned from the whole process is –
• Be prepared on your specialization – I would say 360 analysis
• Be calm & confident
• Make eye contact with a smile while you are answering
• Lastly, your appearance also matters (the first impression is the best impression )

All the Best Guys 😊

I didn't find much experiences of extension approval on this forum. I hope this help.

I had my visa interview in Chennai on 10th February 2020. Here are the questions asked:

VO: Good morning.
Me: Good morning officer. (...hands over the documents)

VO: (...after 2 minutes on his computer) So ABC is your petitioner?
Me: Yes, ABC.

VO: Are you going to a client site or your petitioner?
Me: I'll be working from ABCs office in [insert location here].

VO: What's your designation?
Me: Answered.

VO: What's your specialization?
Me: Answered in 2 lines and was interrupted by the VO to explain a few terms to him, which I did. (Stumbled a bit answering this question)

VO: What's your experience with the petitioner?
Me: X years and Y months.

VO: What's your US salary per annum?
Me: $ YYYY per annum.

VO: (...stamped the documents and asks another question 2 minutes after stamping the documents) Have you ever studied in US?
Me: Answered.

VO: Congratulations. Your visa is approved. You know the drill. Give one to your HR and keep one for yourself for when you enter US.
Me: Thank you so much officer. Have a great day.

Happy to help with any questions, fellow users. And all the best for your visa interview!

Thanks a lot for this forum, it is of great help.

Sharing my experience of L1A blanket interview, skipping all generic stuff , checklist & restricted items.

I had my Biometric appointment on 9th Feb & consulate interview on 10th Feb.

Biometric was pretty straight forward, best is to reach just 15 mins before otherwise need to wait on road, Once inside it will take 15-20 mins max to finish the biometric appointment.

For Visa interview also try to reach just 15 mins before the appointment so that you can join the queue in the front, otherwise you will be asked wait on main road footpath where there is no shelter.

You will be allowed inside consulate building post security check, also try to arrange the documents in advance in the order for L1 as mentioned on appointment confirmation sheet, it will save time, there is team from VAC to help but they’ll ask you to arrange documents first & they will review.
Post the document arrangement you will be asked to go main consulate building, for L visa fraud detection fees need to paid first before appearing for consulate interview.

Regarding fraud detection fees, better to pay by DD, I saw some credit cards payments were declined & applicants were asked to pay cash, do carry alternate cards in case of credit card payment. Also do check DD for correctness one applicant had typo or something on DD which guy at payment desk didn't accept.

Post fraud detection fees payment next you will be asked to go interview queue , here one person from VAC will ask people to go to particular window number, seems like some of the VOs are specialized or assigned category of visa ,e.g all B1 business applications were sent to a window..

I attended interview with family ( Wife & Kid)

QA went like this..

VO : Did you had L1 visa before ?

ME : No

VO : Who is petitioner ?

ME : stated my company name

VO : How long are you working with this company ?

ME : Answered ( 10+ years)

VO : Why you want to go on L1 ?

ME : responded with my role details

VO : What are metrics for project ?

ME : responded with parameters considered for delivery of project

VO : How long was your stay in US before ?

ME : responded with earlier H1 stay details & last 3 years visit on B1 - Business

VO : To my wife, When did you get married ?

 responded with date

VO : To my wife, Did you visit US before ?

 responded with data on H4 stay

Post this I saw VO put approved stamp on petetion copies, I thought it is all done, then comes the twist VO asked how long was your stay in USA last year ? I responded with data that I stayed in Aug for 3 weeks & in Jan for 4 weeks , then all of sudden VO said he is approving L1 A visa but will cancel my B1 business to prevent misuse. I was quite surprised didn't know how to respond , before I say anything VO handed over two copies of petitions asked submit one copy to my company HR & another to have with me to show at port of entry.

Please let me know possible reasons for B1 cancellation also will it have any impact on my future visas..all my B1 visits for exclusively for business meetings.

Thanks

Hi I am going to Ottawa for L1B stamping on 25th Feb from New Jersey, any body travelling the same date from New Jersey.

Dear Friends,

I am going to attend my visa interview for L1B Individual category this week, I remember paying the Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $500 during my last interview i.e. L1B Blanket which was rejected. I believe this Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee of $500 is already paid by my petitioner when they filed a petition with USCIS.

Can someone who has attended L1B Individual visa interview please confirm, if I should be paying $500 this time around?

Appreciate any responses!

Thanks.

These are the questions asked,

VO: Good morning, can i have you documents?
Me: Handed over the documents.

VO: How long have you been working for company abc
Me: Answered

VO: what is your designation
Me: Answered

VO: What will you be doing in US
Me: explained

Vo: how long have you been working for company xyz?
Me: XYZ? I work for company abc

Vo: Yeah but xyz is one of your clients right?
Me: Yes, but we develope the SW for abc company and there is
a different team who handles client.

Vo: what is your specialization?
Me: explained in layman's terms

Vo: how long have you been married?
Me: Answered

Vo (to my wife): do you work mam
Wife: yes, i work in *** sector

Vo (to my wife): do you intend to work in US
Wife: yes, once my EAD approves i will star looking.

Vo(to me now): what is favourite colour?
Me: Blue

Vo: (smiles) you are not gonna get it. Here is the green colour.
Please carry both the copies of 129S while entering us. Good luck.

Me: Thank you officer.

First of all, I would like to thank this site and the users who post their experiences here. It had helped me very much in my preparation and in facing the interview. Now is my turn to post my memorable interview experience and contribute to this awesome site.

I had my L1B Blanket Visa interview in Chennai Consulate on 31st January 2020 at 8:30AM. The Embassy staff will be displaying the time slots in a large bold font on A4 size White paper. The 8:30AM slot was displayed on the paper at 8:35AM and I was allowed into the consulate along with the queue. I did not carry a mobile phone. However, there is a counter to deposit the mobile phones. However, I suggest it is better not to carry mobiles and have unnecessary diversion/anxiety of where to deposit them etc. If you want to carry it mandatorily, then you can carry otherwise avoid it.

After entering the consulate, there will be a security check. After that, there is a person who informs you to arrange your documents in order which is displayed in a paper. For L1B VISA, you need to arrange the docs in the following order:
I129S(First 8 pages) + I797(First page) - 3 sets
DD(Anti fraud fee)
DS-160 Confirmation Page(the one which is stamped at VAC)
Passport(Carry your expired passport also if you've one)

After you've arranged the docs in this order, the person will verify the order and put a rubber band around the documents. Now, you will be guided to a counter where you've to submit the DD(anti fraud fee). You'll get a receipt which will be attached to your documents. After that, I was sent to the Fingerprint counter and got my fingerprints verified.

After this, I was guided to join a queue of 30-40 people. Spent 30 mins or so in the queue. Here you can see the candidates being interviewed by the Visa officers. I tried as much as I can not to hear their conversation. Then, the assistant at the queue asked me to go to counter xx. I waited behind the Yellow line as the Visa officer was interviewing a candidate. My turn came and here were the questions asked:

Me : Good Morning mam.
VO : Good Morning. Documents please.
Me : Sure mam. (I handed over the documents).

VO : Are you applying for L1A or L1B?
Me : I'm applying for L1B mam.

VO : Which company you work for?
Me : Answered the company name

VO : How long you're with this company?
Me : xxx years and xxxx months

VO : Why do you want to go to US?
Me : Explained the reason in 2-3 lines.

VO : What does this tool do?(follow up question from my previous answer)
Me : Explained what the tool does along with the benefit of the tool.

VO : One more follow up question from my previous answer. The question was like why your company has separate requirements/design standards?

Me : I was totally surprised by this question. This was completely unexpected question. I never thought about this during my preparation. I didn't know how to answer this. I had a split second to decide what to answer here. I gathered my thoughts and said, my company is in so and so business and hence separate standards are needed. However, I stumbled in answering this question and thought that maybe my interview is ruined at this point.

Important suggestion here : Try to predict what follow up questions can be asked on the answer that you've given on your specialization/purpose of travel. Ensure that you've all the answers ready for the follow up questions.

VO : Did you apply for an L Visa earlier?
Me : No mam. This is the first time I'm applying for L Visa.

VO : Are you married?
Me : Yes

VO : Do you've kids?
Me : Yes

VO : Are you traveling with your family?
Me : Answered.

VO : Tell me your Indian Salary in Lakhs per annum.
Me : xxx lakhs per annum

VO : What will be your salary in US?
Me : Answered

VO : Which place are you going to in US?
Me : Answered the place and State name.

The officer took a Green colored form and started stamping on my 3 sets of documents. She didn't speak anything while doing this. I was so tensed in my mind and was thinking, is this form for approval or for hold or rejection...many thoughts were going on in my head. After stamping the 3 set of docs, she finally uttered the words "YOUR VISA IS APPROVED". She kept one set and handed over me the 2 sets saying to hand over one set to the HR and one set to carry during the travel to US.

I had put a lot of effort to prepare for this interview. I had prayed to God sincerely seeking his help and blessings to take me through this. I'm very happy that my prayers have been answered. I have received my passport along with VISA stamp couple of days back.

Though I prepared very well and was pretty good in the mock sessions taken by my friends, the importance of the situation got into my head at the final moments and I felt very tight and nervous moments before the actual interview. Honestly, I felt I did not speak as fluently in the interview as I usually speak. However, I believe I performed decently in the interview except for that one unexpected question.

Suggestions:

1)Go through the questions posted by the users.(I went through several pages in this forum and got an essence of how the questions are)

2)Very important : Write down the questions and answers and keep practicing them. If you do not write down, you'll have a different answer to a question each and every time. So, make a note of the answer and improvise it if you want to. But writing the answer is the most important step.

3)Though we put our efforts, luck also plays a important role. However, the luck factor is not under your control. The only thing under our control is the effort we put on preparation and how well we can answer the questions asked by the visa officer. Hence focus on this part which you've control on.
Believe in God and seek his blessings. I believe in One and felt good about the positive outcome. If the outcome was negative, I would have been disappointed for sure but I would have moved on by feeling satisfied with the effort that I have put.

All the best to the Visa aspirants.

Attending a Visa interview along with wife and Kids. Would it increase the chances of a VO to be convinced and approve it. My thought would be marginally YES.