L1, L2 Visa

Hi,

Thanks to this wonderful site, I picked up a lot of information. My L1 blanket got approved on 7th April 2010.

The interview went like this,
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Me: Good morning
VO: Good Morning. May I have your documents please?
Me: Sure. I have my photographs (I pulled them out of my top pocket).
VO: I don't need any.
Me: Sure. No problem.
VO: Please place your left hand middle finger on the scanner.
I did as advised.
VO: Who is your client?
Me: YYYY
VO: What?
Me: The blah blah
VO: What do you do for the client?
Me: I clearly explained what I do and how I use my company's methodology (spl. knowledge) to arrive at the deliverables. I made sure it was coherent with what was writte in the petition (learnt from the experience there, more on this later).
VO: What degree do you have?
Me: Bachelor of Engineering in Information Science and Engineering.
VO: The system cannot fetch the petition details due to some problem but as soon as it's up I'll approve your visa and you will get the passport in a week's time.
Me: Thank you.

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These are the points I took care of:

(i) Please READ the petition and understand what is written about your role in the petition. The fat lady was interviewing some other poor guy and when asked about what he does, he started with "I am a software engineer and explained what he does". Immediately she asked for his petition and cross verified and what he said did not match what was in the petition, hence rejected.

(ii) Be confident. Trust me, this is the most important thing there. Just before I went to the counter, I had prepared for the worst. Max to Max, they might reject my visa and my life is not dependent on it. Nor does it say I am a bad resource, most of us have this fear of rejection and trying to take failures personally. Avoid that.

(iii) Look into the visa officer's eyes when you answer any question. It takes a lot of courage to do it but it has its rewards, the biggest being the VO knows you have it in you and it will remove any doubt that the VO might have about your case being genuine.

(iv) Be precise and conscise. The guy in front of me almost messed it up. His visa approved and he was so tensed that he started handing some more documents. The VO got a little angry and said "I told you that your visa is approved, if you want me to change my mind, keep handing me documents". Never try to do anything extra. Answer to the point and be clear. Please please do not put on a fake accent, rest assured, you'll be sc***ed. I saw this happening in front of me. Do not stammer, it might show your lack of confidence.

(v) If you have been to the US of A before, do memorize for how many months in each year. The guy in front of me was asked this question. Also, he was asked to justify his role against the qualification he had. He was a BA and his degree was an MSc. So, if you have a case like that think of a solid answer two days in advance.

(vi) Be polite and nice even if the VO intimidates you. They'll try all kind of tactics to break you, be calm and composed.

(vii) Be clean. I sport a stubble and someone at my company had told me that it is risky (in terms of visa approval) to sport one. But, I went ahead made sure that I was ok with it and dressed neatly and made sure that my stubble looked good on me. So, yes, irrespective of what you wear or how you look, try to be ok with it. It comes out very clearly in your body language.

(viii) Finally, please try and avoid the slightly over-weight lady at Chennai. I am not saying she does not approve the visas but she would ask a lot of questions. I do understand that they are trying to make sure that the right person is going to their country, but that can be done in a much better way than she does.

All the best to everyone and hopefully this write up will help you guys :).

Hi All,

I have attended the L1 Blanket visa interview on 5th of march at hyd consulate and got the visa. Prior to that my B1 visa got rejected twise at chennai consulate. I was a bit afraid this time but the initerview was smooth.

My suggestions to all visa seekers is if you apply through CMMI level 5 companies your success rate will be high. Below are the questions asked to me.

VO: which company you work for ?
ME: ZZZ
VO: how long you been working for the company ?
ME: 3 years 5 months
VO: why are you going to USA ?
ME: I am required there to implement my companies xxx methodology on yyy project.
VO: For how long you been working on this proj?
ME: this is a new proj but i worked on the similar concepts earlier for different customers.

VO: said the golden words

my suggestion is dont be panic. If you desperate to go to US , apply though big organizations. go through this link before you go to visa. success is yours.

Thanks for all the people who posted their experience in this site.

Thanks

Hi Friends,

First of all I am thankful to immhelp.com.
My Exp as follows:

Me: Good morning Sir!!
VO: Very goodmorning, How r u?
Me: I am fine thanks, How r u?
VO: after 2 sec..mhh.. I am fine, thanks.
   and he was looking some docs.
and started asking questions:
* What is your designation?
Me: xyz engineer.
VO: What you will do in US?
Me: Explained in 1 line only.
VO: Are you married?
Me: No Single.
VO: What's your total exp?
Me: 6 Years.
VO: Whats your specialized knowledge?
Me: Explained in 2 lines, including my client exp.
VO: Sounds good!! Ur visa got approved, will send you the pp soon.
Me: Thanks sir, thanks a lot.
VO: Smiled and no problem!!

As per my knowledge, if we can prove ourself with proper exp, client details, specialized knowledge for L1Blanket, thats enough!!

Regards
SR.

Hi All,

Today morning I attended my L1B Interview at Chennai Consulate.It got approved finally.

Please find below the questions asked during the interview:

1. Whom do you work for?
2. What do you do for your Organization?
3. What is your Specialization?
4. What about your Indian Salary?
5. How many yrs of Exp do you have in your Organization?
6. Exp Prior to that?
7. Where is your husband and What is he?

My Suggestions here is :
Be Bold. Try to give more detailed information for the questions.Be cool and don't get tense. Be specific, confident and clear in your answers.

Best of Luck!

Thanks a lot for sharing all ur experiences.This helped us a lot.

I was scheduled at 9.45 AM and reached 9.25 AM
Questions:
Client Name
Purpose of the Travel
Offshore Roles
Why specific in your team
Indian Salary
Previous Company name

well peopel I have to appear for my L1B interview and I don know what exactly shd be spoken abt the specialized skills, as properity tools also r not conviencing enf. PPL whose L1B is cleared are requested to share the exact answer thy gave while their interview. This side of the country there were 10 rejections in a day !!!! :-(

i had my interview today
got inside the fat lady counter
1. how many years of experience?
2. what is your specilization?

and gave me bule slip and asked me to come with different visa..

All,

I would have hardly imagined that I would end up in spending most of my last week time in a valuable site like this and thanking it profusely.

I got into the consulate on time and avoided any hassles. Waited for 30 minutes before I was called into the main visa lobby. Got into the queue and saw few rejections that were happing in front of me. I was called then:

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Me: Hi, Good Morning!
VO: Good Morning, can I have the documents please?
Me: Sure, here it is!
VO: Can you please put your right index finger on the scanner please
Me: Sure (I did so)
VO: Who is your client?
Me: Morgan Stanley
VO: Can you explain your project
Me: blah, blah ( I started explaining)
VO: stop (prompted me to stop)
Me: I did so
VO: (Started referring my passport) So, you initially travelled on H1B?
Me: No, I did not. I had H1B earlier, however due to my project requirement my work location got moved to Toronto. So, I worked from Canada and did not use this H1B.Also, when I went to US on a business trip from Canada I was given B1 Visa, however my existing H1B was cancelled.
VO: Where did they cancel the visa?
Me: In Toronto Consulate
VO: Did you work for the same client in Toronto?
Me: Yes
VO: Oh ok. So, why did your employer not applying H1B for you again
Me: This time I am going on a specialized skill.
VO: Ok, can you explain your specialized skill?
Me: blah, blah ( I started explaining elaborately)
VO: (prompted me to stop) You are giving me a very broad picture, can you explain your role shortly?
Me: I explain my specialized skill crisply in three sentences. (He was listening very very carefully on what I was saying and was making eye-to-eye contact to assess my confidence)
VO: (He got fully satisfied on what I explained) Ok, your visa is approved. You will get your passport in a week time.
Me: Thank you.
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Few suggestions:

Do not get scared by the rejections of other people. Visa approvals purely depends on how well/bad you do.

Dress elegantly. It matters a lot.

Cheers and all the best.

Hi Friends,
I first of all Thank immihelp.com and their forum for providing/sharing the rare details about the visa interview.
Am attening the US Visa Interview for the first time in L1-B Blanket Category....
I was bit nervous and also well prepared before getting the Interview schedule...mine was scheduled on Apr 1st 2010 11:00 AM IST..i went to US Consulate at around 10:30AM..(my kind adivce to all of you is that dont go 30-60 mins before your schedule time...i guess you know about the Chennai heta and humidity...so my suggestion is that have a tea or cooldring in the shop near Consulate and take rest over there if you go early...just goto the counter 5-10 min before the schedule time...you can bypass the long Q which is standing under the hot sun...they will very well allow you to enter the consulate if your time is between 5-10 min...
After you enter the Consulate..there will be a formality and also strict check of your body and also your belongings...(please dont carry any bags/mobile phone/electronic items/even keys..)just go with your folder and needed docs...

First, in the first counter which is facing gimini bridge.. they will just ask your interview call letter and you passport..they will check whether they match...

Second, a through check of your body and belongings..

Thirds, there will be a lot of counters..please dont be scared those are not the real interview counters..be cool...they will ask for your docs and passport...they will scan ur passport under UV light and ask you to put your all 10 fingers for scaning..first put left hand 4 fingers , then right hand 4 fingers and finally both left and right thumb...after that they will arrabge you the docs...dont rearrange the order..they will ask you to goto cash counter to pay the Visa fee..

Fourth, the associates working there will guide you to goto next building where you have to pay the Visa Fee..after paying your fee.. they will give the recipt for the the payment..

Fifth, you reach the real battle feild!!!!...there will be alot of ppl sitting in front of the VIsa Interview Counters...and some staning for thier interview turn in the Q.
the onyl distrubance is the language Q, there will be alot of noise around and you will be distructed and dejected by the ppl who gets rejected...so be confidant and learn from thier mistakes if you can hear them....

My advice is that before standing in the Q for your turn...relax for some few mins by sitting in the chairs kept in front of the counters...after relaxing free your mind dont memorize anything keep your mind blank...any how those Vo's are going to ask only from 5~6 standard interview questions...

after you think that you are confidant enough to face the VO, go and stand in the Q...

be confidanr, keep smiling with 100% concentaration on your surroundings and particu;arly in the counters...

My Interview in particular took less than a min for about 40~50 seconds...
i was unluck that day that the indian associates working there intrupted while my interview was going on...that made VO irritated and i too got irritated...

Me: Good Morning Sir with a Great Smile:-))
Vo: No reaction, he was little bit tensed and tired on the early morning...

Vo: He know about my company and asked whether you are from YYYY Company??
Me: Yes Sir
Vo: said Okayy.... and saw the papers and BEP letter some 10 secs and typed something in the system..

VO: What are you going to do in US?
Me: i said am going to do software coding, analysis, design, testing and implementation of the YYYY project into Prod by using my comapny's specialized framework and tools..
Vo: okayy...

Vo: Whats your specialized knowledge?
Me: I said my company's specialzed framework and specialized tool

Vo: He saw my face for few seconds and typed something again by seeing the monitor..and started to write something in the I129 papers.. i was happy and i thought that its approved...
but finally he said

Vo: Right now am not able to approve your application...thanks

Thats it...he gave me 221g Blue form in that he marked your blanket L1 is not clearly approvable...
and also in the I129 he marked Approved as : Specialized Knowledge
but wrote in the Denied(Give Reason:) column as NCA

Till date am not sure and clear why he rejected my application...only god knows i guess....
if am not elidgible for Specialized Knowledge categogy why he needs to mark the Approved as: Specialized Knowledge...

If anyone know the reason..Please post your answers....

Thanks everyone..please reply if anyone know the reason...