L1, L2 Visa

Hi,
This site is very helpful for all those who prepare for visa interview (especially L1)

But most of them get failed in one imp question - "What is your skill?"
for this, those who cleared have just replied "blah blah.." :)

Kindly let me know, what kind of reply can get us thro...

like should we say the tools which we specified in petition documents or ??????? KINDLY HELP.

First of all thanks for everyone sharing ur experiences.It helped me a lot.After completing the usual procedures am made to sit in the chair before the counters.From the previous shared blogs,many have mentioned about the fat lady who was there to only reject the visas.I was praying God not to go to the counter where the fat lady is.But my fate, am asked to stand before that old lady's counter. Before me 2 people were standing.One got rejected and other one got approved.I just prayed God and was maintaining a pleasant smile throughout.

I had my chance to go
me: Hello mam,Good Morning.How are you?
VO: Good Morning.Give me ur docs.
Me: Yes mam.(I gave the documents)
VO: place ur right hand thumb
Me: did the same
VO: checked my docs.So u r getting xxxxx salary PerAnnum
Me: yes mam.
VO: Who is ur client?
Me: told
VO: What you will be working in U.s?
Me: I will be implementing the integration module for the project A and B.i continued.. Said its the crucial piece and i need to work with my onsite team to complete the integration and so and so.
Vo: So what u will be doing in this integration module?
Me: explained her abt the module in a single line.
VO: How long u have been working in this project?
Me: More than a year and have been working in this technology for more than 3 years
VO: Finally typed something in the system
Signed the I129s docs and uttered the three words..Your visa approved. And will get it to my mailing address.
Me: Thanks a lot mam! Have a nice day

Please be confident and cool. Never mind whatever happens around. Give a pleasant smile. thats it. And give ur answers confidently.The VO just wants to know whether we are answering them truly and we need to prove that we are really required to work on the project.
Good luck every one.

Hi,
Thanks for all of you sharing your experiences.

Here is my experience.Hope no one faced this kind of experience.

As usual i completed all my procedures and reached visa interview hall.Finally my turn came.
Me:Good Morning,mam
VO:Good Morning (with beautiful smile)
VO:Going through the BEP,and started speaking So u r specialist in xxxx area. She concluded herself that i am SME in xxxx area because of many certifications in that area.
Me: Yes mam...blah ...blah....

VO:Whats are you going to do in U.S
Me:blah..blah..blah...

vo:Can i have your certifications?
ME: I gave my all my original domain certifications.

VO: gone through ot....told...Good

After this i really wonderd with her next question.I never ever expected such questions.

VO: You are cerified professional in YYYY X area..why your employer is offering such low salary?

Me:Bit shock. and managed my answer ...Apart from salary my employer is provoding other benefits like ........blah..blah..

VO:Can i have your Payslip
ME: Showed my latest payslips.

VO:How long with this client?
ME:38 months

VO:Can i have your project details?
ME:I gave my Resume and support letter.

VO:Its unbelievable....At this stage,i can not approve you L1B visa,request youy employer for H1B.good luck.

Finally she gave blue slip and my passport back.
I dont know what she understood and why she spoke like that.

If anyone have idea about this please help me.

Still i didt recover from that shock.


My observations:

Your salary should be= Total years of experience x 1.5 lakhs.

You should get atleast one promotion for every two yeras.

If you are not meeting that criteria most of the chances are there for rejecting your visa

Today me and wife went for L1 blanket and L2 visa.

Me:Good Morning
VO:Good Morning
VO to my wife: How long you have been married
My Wife: Xyr Y Months
VO to my wife:How did u got married
My Wife: Arranged marriage
VO to my wife:How did u meet ur husband
My Wife: ------

VO:Why are you going to US
Me: To work on xyz proj
VO: Whats your skillset?
Me: Ans mentioned majorly exp in Insurance domain.
VO:How long in Insurance domain?
Me:Ans
VO:Why are you choosen from your company for this proj
Me: Answered
VO:What do you in that proj
ME: Answered
VO: I want to know what you do not your team.
Me:Answered same thing slowly she was happy
VO:How long you have been working for this company
ME: X Years
VO: Where did u work before that?
Me: ans
VO:Where did u do your schooling?
ME:(Thinking why is she asking such Q)ans
VO:Tell me about your educational qualification
Me: Ans

Then came the golden words

Few Tips:

Be confident and calm
Dont carry any electroic items else you have to stand in a long queue to deposit the same in a locker
Especially females should not carry their big purse with loads of cosmetics and useless items
Prepare one folder and keep all the documents inside it in an arranged manner

I attended L1 B interview last week and got rejected...Probably Paid the price for not preparing and taking the interview lightly...I was under the thought that they will never reject visas from companies as big as mine...utter bullshit

VO:GM sir,
Me:GM
VO :place ur index finger of ur left hand
I did
VO:Who is ur client?
Me :told him
Vo:wat do u do for them?
Me :explained abt my project...Its a dev project and i told i will be doing the dev there
VO :HOw long r u with YYYY company
Me:told him
VO:What did u do in YYY company(previous company)
Me:told him


VO :I cannot approve your visa bcos of lack of specialization
He handed me the blue sheet
Me :Didnt respond

American fellas are mostly fools!!!

Hi today my L1b approved at chennai cons..


Same set of questions

Me:GM, hru?
VO: good, Hru?
Me: good, thank you.

VO: how long u r wiht xxx comp
Me: 2 and half years
VO: why u r going to US?
Me: explained the project details
VO: who is your client
ME: yyyy
VO: how long u r working in this project
ME: 1 yr
VO: how long in this technology
me: 4and half years
VO: will u be working from your client site?
ME: s but i would be reporting to my xxx comp manager.
VO: is this an existing system u r going to upgrade?
Me. yes, it is an existing system.
VO: your visa is approved u will get your passport in 4 days.
Me. thank u,
VO. NP have a great day.
Me. u 2

I have a few tips for guys who faced rejection earlier and re appearing now.

If you were rejected based on Specialized knowledge grounds, tell that you have worked on the same project / domain and emphasize that you have gained the required specialization. Thats it!!!

Hi,

I appeared for L1B interview and it went well. There are quite a few kep things to be kept in mind.

I find lot of answers with comments for specialized knowledge as blah blah... This will no way help people who are going to appear. Hence I thought I will write the answer in detail.

When you get the question on specialized knowledge. Explain your domain and some module that you designed and developed at offshore. Tell that you have the complete knowledge on that and you developed that module and how it helped the client's business.

Also, there are some myths surrounding the Visa counter and the officer. Believe me, keep your mind cool, and just think that its you who is going to answer whom so ever is the officer. Make your answers clear and to the point and do not allow room for more questions.

First I will write the interaction that I had with the VO and then go for other questions that I had prepared for. Believe firmly that preparation is more important than anything else and hardwork never fails.

Me: Very good morning madam
(Greet with a positive note and always have a smile in your face EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE NERVOUS :-))

VO: Good morning (Then she asked me and my wife for finger prints)

VO: Whom do you work for?
Me: Told my company name.

VO: Who is your client?
Me: Told my client name.

VO: How many years have you been with your current employer and the project?
Me: Answered accordingly.

VO: Which is your previous company?
Me: Told my previous company.

VO: What is your specialized knowledge?
Me: For this, as mentioned earlier, I had explained about the module that I developed. Do not start telling about the product, directly talk about your module, since VO might ask, 'I want to know what you are doing and not what company does for client?'. Also do not tell, generic IT activities like coding, testing, etc. Also do not tell about tools and framework specific to your company. You will not get your visa if you tell tools and IT activities.

VO: How many people are there in your project here?
Me: There are 5 people here.

VO: Why you should travel? Why not them?
Me: For this I quoted my experience in the project and also my knowledge on arch and design. I also emphasized on the module knowledge.

VO: Can I have your original marriage certificates?
Me: Here it is.

VO: Your visas are approved.
Me: Thanks madam, have a nice day.


Thats it!!!

Now lets analyze the possible questions where the VO might corner us. I will also include the ones above with best convincing answer that you can give.

1. Whom do you work for?
This is certainly your parent company and not your client. Know the annual revenue of your company. Might be useful if asked.

2. Who is your client?
Tell your client.

3. What does your client do?
Know about what your clients do and tell that in 1 - 3 sentences. Know the revenue of your client. Might be useful.

4. What is your specialized knowledge?
Refer to answer given above.

5. How many years have you been in the current project?
Refer to answer given above.

6. Which is your previous company?
Refer to answer given above.

7. How many people are working in your project here?
Tell 5 - 8 which is an ideal number.

8. Are you the only person with the above skills?
For this do not tell YES. No one is going to believe that you are the only person on the earth with the skills. Tell that 'No, there are a very few people with these skills, among them I am the most experienced and my employer has selected me.' Put the blame on your company that they selected you.

9. Why have you been selected and not those people?
Refer to answer above.

10. How many people are working at onsite?
Tell any number between 3 - 7. Since your onsite manager in L1A need to have minimum of 3 - 7 people under him.

11. When there are 3 people why are you travelling?
Tell that you only have the knowledge on the mentioned module of the product as you designed and developed it and no one else has that knowledge.

12. Where will you be staying in the US?
Be aware that without SSN you cannot lease an apartment in US. Tell that you will lease an apartment once you get your SSN. Tell that your manager will arrange for a studio room for you and your spouse to stay.

13. Where will you work from at onsite?
Tell that you will work from your client location, but will be supervised by your company manager who is working from the same location and site.

14. How long will you stay there?
Tell one year.

15. Then why is your petition applied for 3 years?
Tell that after an year, you are eligible for vacation and you will come back and go again to US.

16. What is your salary in US?
Tell your salary in K's. If it is 50000$, just tell 50K. No need to tell 50K$ since they know it will be paid only in $.

17. What is your indian salary?
Tell your indian salary in Ks again. Suppose it is 8 laks. Tell 800K and it is obvious that it is rupees.

Possible L2 question.

1. When was your marriage held?
2. Which city are you travelling with your husband?
3. What is your husband DOB?
4. How many people attended your marriage?
5. Was it Love or Arranged?
6. What is your husband's salary?
7. Suppose you get this question 'You seem to work and what is your plan to join him?'
The answer can be 'I will be taking a break and joining my husband.'
8. Do you intend to work there?
Tell NO. Later you can decide once u travel there. No probs on that.

The reason I wrote all possible question is that, be prepared to face the worst and make up your mind. It will be easy when you face the real situation. Here are a few tips. (Some for earlier posts, just repeated to make this post complete)

During preparation:
1. Prepare seriously and think it is your job interview or something like that.
2. Try to talk about your product modules that you developed and never talk about any tools or IT activities.
3. Read this forum and analyze the case studies why a person got visa or got rejected. Case studies really help.
4. You need to be active at the time of interview and presence of mind is the key.
5. Have mock interviews with friends colleagues etc, it really shows you your faults.
6. Have clear answers for all possible tricky questions.

Do and Don't in the Consulate
1. Do not talk with anyone, even with your spouse.
2. Be positive and have a smiling face.
3. Do not show you are nervous even when you are so.

At the time of interview
1. Greet the officer with a positive note.
2. Try to be logical and answer to the point effectively.
3. Keep an eye to eye contact with the officer.

I had my visa interview last week. My wife was also appearing along with me for her L2. Initially the VO started going through the petition and then she scanned my BEP letter. To our surprise the officer started asking questions to my wife.

* When did you get married?
* How did you guys meet?
* How many people attended the wedding?

Then the officer turned to me and asked
* What is your current role in the project?
* Who is your client
* What kind of designs are you going to do?

After some minutes of silence, she started marking something on the petition and finally she said "Both of your visas have been approved and you will be receiving your passports within a week"

My advice - Don't be tensed..just chill. Answer precisely and always have the positive approach.

My L1 A Visa got reject in 2008 May, now again I am going to apply and my PA is on April 12. I want to be cautious this time. Experts please help me with the key point i would need to consider during my interview.