L1, L2 Visa

My L1A got denied today and below were the questions asked..btw I worked for top IT company in INDIA

VO: How long you have been working for company

Me : 1year 6 months

VO: What is your onsite team count
ME: 10

VO : all are individual contributors:
Me: Yes

VO: Your visa is not approved , you don't have much experience in present company. ask your compnay to apply for suitable visa

Not sure .if this was the reason..I have nearly 14 years of experience and 8 years in management..

Seems Luck plays major role here..as nothing went wrong in interview..I was confident , smiling and had an eye contact with officer

Excellent forum this is ! I already been to US twice on L1B and this is the 3rd time I went for L1B blanket. This time it is for renewal of the same class of Visa for me & family (wife & 2.5 yrs son).

As always I visited this forum about a week ago and looked for some approved & other cases to know the current trend, questions, process followed and things I should be taking care of.

Here's my experience:
Schedule time was 19th Jun at 11 am. We reached there at 10:45am. As soon as got the ticket after showing our appointment letter, we were asked to get into the building. In the building normal after checking of bags, folders we got in.

1. Document verification
2. Finger printing for me & wife only
3. INto different building, DD submission
4. finally interview with visa officer

My son was getting little cranky and was making noise. We were trying hard to keep him silent and my token number was displyed for interview. Visa officer seems to be cool and he was patiently waiting for us to take care of kid and come to counter.

Interview

me: Good Moring sir
vo: Good morning, how are you?

me: pretty good. how about you?
VO: good

VO: so how much is you salary ?
me: you mean in India?

Vo: yes (typing something)
me: I do not work here sir. I am currently working in USA

Vo: oh ! how much you earn there?
me: xx,xxx per annum

vo: how long you have been with this company? (typing something)
me: 9 yrs

vo: 9 yrs ! don't you get bored? you don't want to change?
me: I just laughed and did not reply to that question

vo: oh ! generally I am kind of person who like to switch jobs (and he smiled and was still typing something)

my son is still making some noise at the window and my wife was taking care of him...

vo: so , who is your client?
me: xxx

vo: what do you do for them? (this time, he left everything and came closer to the window )
me: I work as xxx for this company and implement xxx tool for client xxxx (my son was really disturbing us..)

vo: to my wife, Mam, you can take ur son to that chair and play with him while i talk to your husband

vo: so what are your specialized skills? (this time he came more closer and was constantly looking into my eyes)
me: it is my company's proprietary tool xxx that I implement .. bla bla..

then he started typing something and there was silence. I was simply standing..

vo: while working on computer.. don't worry everything is alright.
me: OK..

vo: turned to me .. adn said .. sir, you visa is approved, you will recieve your passport in 7 days. And these are your documents to keep with you.
me: Thankyou and good day ahead..

Then, from the window, Vo waved my son and was giving flying kisses to him.. my son also responded the same and vo was very happy seeing that.. :-)


I felt specialized skills is the question when VO ask, they try to read the face, eyes to figure out if we are not confident or lying.
Due to my son all were trying to help us and no one put us pressure on us to keep him silent etc. I felt that part good and we were calm and was trying to handle him in our regular ways.

So guys, lot of it depends on documentation, skills you are going for, experience, previous history and yes LUCK.

Hope this helps. All the best !

Hi Friends,

Thanks for all the interview qns. Very helpful.

I appeared for L1A blanket visa interview.

The VO was very cordial. His questions were
1. how long you are with the company?
2. how big is your onsite team?name of the direct reportees
3. is it the first time are yuo going for a PM role?
4.is the projejct internal or client based?

done and the visa is approved

Frens,
I had my L1B interview done last week and here is what I went thru.

After regular process of DD, fingerprint, etc, I went to the VO. Questions asked are as follows -

1. How long are you with the current organization?
2. What is the purpose of your visit ? (Explained in 4 lines and I kept it short)
3. What are your skills ? (Named 3 skills and explained one of them in 3-4 lines. He stopped me and asked the next q)
4. What is your US Salary going to be?

He said you will get your passport in next 5 days.
My observation, just be calm and take it as a friendly discussion.

My wife, 5 yr son and I all applied for L1B and L2 visas together from chennai.

For the Visa interview at 8am I reached at 7.30am. There was a queue for the 7.45am interviews already. By 7.45am we were asked to join the queue.

I was carrying a laptop bag and my wife had her handbag ... both of these had to be deposited at a separate counter. Best to avoid carrying anything except a folder with all the relevant documents. Cell phones are also NOT allowed !!!

One in you'll need to queue up in 4 different lines :

1) First where all the documents will be verified and the passports will be handed back if everything is in order and you'll be asked to proceed to the next.
2) Second where the fingerprints will be taken.
3) Third in another adjacent building to deposit the $500 demand draft ( for L1B )
4) Fourth and final - Interview. If it goes well the passport will be kept back and you'll be informed that the passport will be sent to you within the next 7 days.

Questions asked to me :

1) How many years have you worked with ZZZ
2) What specialized skills do you have ?
3) What is your India salary ?
4) For how long do you plan to work in the US ?
5) Who are here with you today ?

Questions to my wife :

1) Where and what did you study ?
2) Are you working ?
3) Will you quit your job ?

The whole process lasted less than 5 minutes and the VO was quite friendly.

If the documents are all in place and you have a genuine case, long service, good salary and qualifications then there is no reason to be rejected.

For L1B ( specialized skill ) be very specific on why your skills are specialized and the company need to bring you from India to the US. Knowledge of proprietary processes / tools / technologies are very helpful. Giving a generic answer could lead to quick rejection !!! Happened to one of the applicants ahead of us ... when asked for specialized skills he stated taking about Oracle and Data Warehousing in general terms and not specific to his company ... this person was rejected !!!

The VO approved our case and told us that the passport would be couriered to Mumbai withing 7 days ... they actually arrived in 5 days !!!

Questions asked at Chennai Visa office

To Wife:-
Mother in laws name
Father in laws name
Husband DOB
Have you been to US before

To Husband:-
Have you been to US before
What is your Indian salary
Will you be working for client or parent company

All went well and Visa was approved. Since it was inter company transfer it went well.

I am a avid reader of this forum since last year or so as I was planning to file L1B. This forum really helped for my preparation. So below is my experience of interview.

I have an exp of almost 6 yrs in current organization which is a US based MNC and almost 9 years overall. Dressed in formals nothing extraordinary.

This how the interview went:

VO: Which company do you work for ?
Me: xxx

VO: Since how long?
Me: xx years and xx months

VO: what is your specialized skill ?
Me: I specialize on xx skill.

VO: Since how long you have been working on it?
Me: xx years and xx months.

And then VO told me: " Your visa has been approved and you will get your passport."

That is it. I was done in 2 mins.

Takes :

1. The time since reaching to embassy and the by the time your interview happens its more than an hour so. So just try to gather yourself before interview and stay calm. I know it is difficult but try to do it.

2. Longer stay in current organization definitely has an edge.

3. Continue to make eye contact with VO since they look at you off and on while you answer and they making entry into computer.

4. Make sure you speak in the mike that is there else they won't be ble to listen you properly.

5. Don't rush into answer. Its beneficial if you talk at your own pace and clear concise answer. Clear answers to first few questions would be really important.

6. Complete your answer in few lines unless they ask you elaborate.

Rest all leave it to God..

My L1A Blanket is rejected on Jan 4,The questions asked were

1.which company
2.Client
3.Team size,team size in IND and US
4.Reporting manager and his designation
5.Roles and responsibilities


Later my company applied for L1A individual in march end which got RFE on Apr 10.
I replied to RFE on may 03 and petition was approved on May 10.

I had interview for L1A individual visa on 25-06-2012,10:00am,which was approved.The questions asked were

1.Blanket/Individual
2.Which company and Program i work on

My Experiences:

1.Visa approval is Gods grace and 100% preparation.
2.RFE is not a bottle neck if you are a genuine.Try to answer RFE accurately with the requested information they asked for.
Take your time and frame the answers as required.Take a second opinion might be your friend or wife.
3.This forum is very helpful.try to read all the experiences.
4.Dressing does not matter,but your attitude and gesture matters a lot.
5.Definately eye contact is must.


some of the points i gathered from this forum are

- Carry Company Id card if required
- Please go through the petition documents, support letters, online form carefully before interview
- Try to answer first 3 questions
- Answer responsibilities perfectly
- Relax no matter what happens around you
- Listen to the question carefully and answer to the point confidently
- Consulate name on the dd should be correct
- Carry cash as much as possible
- Do not lean on the slab, if the interviewer voice is not audible ask again to repeat the question
- Dress well(tie will be more than usual) for L1A blazers preferable
- Minimum 7 onsite sub ordinates and 10 offshore subordinates
- make sure you know the roles and responsibilities of a manager well before you go in for this kind of visa
- team structure in US
- Listen question carefully .might ask 2 questions together so better remember both the questions answer both
- don’t speak too much technical words
- Don’t be tense and don’t start talking fast ,though he looks in hurry he will give u time as you want
- Even you do mistakes, say sorry and continue
- Think from the perspective that this moment is crucial and you have to give your best for that 5 min
- Show presence of mind and think fast while answering the questions
- answer in short don’t be over smart in giving more details unless they ask you to explain
- Answer the questions in first two lines and then continue with the background that justifies your answer
- Maintain body language well (don’t bend and answer thinking like VO might be unable to hear your voice, mikes and speakers are in place). don’t over hear other conversation(body language matters a lot)
- Prepare your answers – try it out at home and speak it out aloud. Interact with the interviewer and be confident in your answers. Prepare only one answer for each question. Prepare Very short and meaning full answer. Be clear and crisp in answering
- All paper work in place-please check as many times as possible
- Your Indian role vs. US role –must include hiring, firing, appraisal etc
- Speak with the speech audible to a person at two arms length distance and not audible to someone at 7 to 10 arm distance
- if needed ask him to rephrase his question
- if you feel interview is not going the way it should be ,start from beginning explaining the salient points of your case
- Prepare well and answer to the point; make sure that BEP and I129 are correct
- don’t use extra word or don’t try to explain them.try to close your answer in 10sec

Hi,

Someone please help me in this case?

Last year I went through L1 B Blanket and its refused , VO said that come with diff category of visa. Tried for H1B this time, but petition not filed and CAP quota filled.

Can I apply for L1 B again & how about the chances for second time L1B interview.
If Yes, Please post Q&A

Thanks,
Babu K

I got my L1A approved today at chennai consulate.

Earlier i appeared in Feb 2012 and Visa got refused under 221g- not clearly approvable under blanket category.

This time it was cakewalk.. Officer just asked me two questions..

1. Which Client?
2. How many people report to you at onsite?

Before i could complete he informed that my Visa is approved.

Thanks
Madhu
Chennai