L1, L2 Visa

Thanks to all for posting their experiences which really helped me.

Me : Good afternoon Sir. How are you
Officer : Good..how are you.

Officer : So you have applied for L2 visa
Me : Yes sir

Officer : Where is your spouse working
Me : Redmond

Officer : when did he leave to US
mE : told the exact

Officer : will you be travelling alone with your kid to join your husband.
Me : Yes with a smiling face

Officer : what is the DOB of your kid
Me : I replied.

Officer : Ok, your visa is approved, have a safe and plesant trip

First of all I thank the contributers of this website for giving useful and valuable information.I had an interview on June 22nd morning 9:15.I reached the consulate by 8:15 . I was made to stand in queue for entering the consulate.The security officer checked my passport and interview letter.I was asked to move inside.There was a long queue for prescreening.I was allocated counter no.4 for prescreening.There was a polite indian lady at the pre screening counter.she took my original I 797 petition, Passport,DS156 and 157
   I was asked to move to the next building.There was a visa lobby in that building ... I was waiting to get my folder frm pre screening section. After 45 min i got my folder. Immediately i went for the finger printing counter (no.8). Again there was a very friendly american lady in that counter.She took my finger prints...
Then there came a Indian lady who asked to stand in queue at counter no.4.There was a cool male Visa officer in that counter.But suddenly that lady asked me to go to counter no.2
Again there was a very polite and friendly American lady in the counter.she asked me to pass on my folder

V.O : What is the purpose of ur trip
Me : To work for a project named YYYY X
V.O : Explain ur project
Me : Blah .... blah ,,,,,, blah
V.O : what is the strength of ur current employer
Me : YYYY in India and XX in the US
V.O : How long u hav been working in this company
Me : For abt 3 yrs
V.O : what is ur petition type ... is it a blanket or individual
me : Individual
V.O : Instead of sending others ... why ur company sends u to the US
Me : Im involved in this project for last 1 yr...so i know design architecture of this proj
V.O : What is ur qualification
me : Engineering degree in electronics and comm engg
V.O : what are the software that u know ???
Me : Blah .... blah ,,,,,, blah
V.O : what are the software that are used in ur project
Me : Blah .... blah ,,,,,, blah
V.O : what u were doing here and what u will be doing in the US
Me : designed a software and will implement it in the US

she was typing something in the computer...

V.O : Your Visa has been approved go and pay the fees at counter no.1 ...have a safe trip
Me : Thanx .... have a great day


My observation is that just keep ur cool and trust in GOD.Even if u stammer 2 or 3 words never mind.... Make sure that u tell the truth to the visa officer since they can ask for any documents ...Take necessary documents with u and have confidence....this will help to get visa , as L1 visa is very much easier compared to others

Hi,
Did any body come through such a situation. I have blocked my date on July 03. on June 22 I was abt to submit my papers in my Company Travel Desk to my surprise my appiontment shows June 21.
My travel desk says they dint change the appointment and neither I did , can this happen with VFS , If so whom to contact.

Thanks
DA

This site is one of the best site I visited giving lot information and confidence .my sincere thanks to the people who have posted their experiences

I am BE (Mechanical) from madras university and I have been in current company from past 2 years mine is L1B blanket petition

My petition field my company on 11th may with two days my petition got approved and appointment got fixed I got that in 30th October than its proponed 16th June 2.00pm

I went to consulate around 1.30 pm on that day along with my family (wife and a kid)
1.50 pm they allowed us inside after general checking we went inside I stand in one line where all the required docs verified and returned unnecessary docs to me

Than we entered visa processing area I paid fee 23000/- L1B Blanket at counter no 1
From there we went counter no 8 to give finger prints they have taken my finger prints and my wife they have not any finger prints from son (who as just 2.5 years old)

From there we went Interview counter no 2

Before eight number got rejected from that counter

Finally my turn came

Visa Officer: good after noon are you coming from BEP Company
Me: wished her and told yes
VO: tell about your company business?
Me: I explained briefly
VO: how long you working there?
Me: nearly2 years
VO: Where you’re recruited by your company
Me: Hyderabad
VO: who your client what they will do?
Me: I explained
VO: where you’re going in US?
Me: I told
VO: do your company had facilitated there
Me: yes
VO: How long have been married?
Me: 4years
VO: How many people attended for your marriage?
 Me: I told number
VO: yours visas got approved pay the fee for dependents in counter no 1
Me: Thank you Madam

My observation is all the VO are going according the guide lines given to them
 If very thing is fine they no objection to grant visa

Any way
All the Best to all whom ever attending for visa

All,

This site has been a great source of information and building confidence. First of all my sincere thanks to the moderator and the people who have submitted their valuable experiences.

My case: i have been in the current company for the last 18 months and had 3 business visits to US. Mine is L1B indivisual petition applied on premium processing. I got the approval in 10 days. i went to consulate with my wife and kid.

My experience goes like this: I am basically employed in Bangalore and initially my company sorted appointment in Chennai for September. I thought it is too late and asked my people to take an appointment in Delhi. My appointment is at 9:30 and i reached at 9:15. My serial number was 18 and i thought there would not be much rush. But to my surprise, there are already close to 100 members in the line. Sice i went there with my family(wife and a kid), i was given preference and i got into consulate at 9:45.
Unlike Chennnai, in Delhi consulate, you can carry your brief cases, cell phone and what not :-). its cool. The only tiresome fact is waiting in the queue inside the consulate, there are 5 counters which are dealing with visitor, L1 and H1 cases. Business visas are dealt in a seperate counter.

When my turn came(after hour long waitying), i wished the lady VO with smile and she greeted me back. She asked me the following questions.
1. How long you have been working in the current company?
2. What is your education qualification?
3. Are you goiong on L1?
4. What type of projects are you working on?
5. How long are you been married?
6. Show me your marriage certificate and photos

And she said, your visas have been approved and you will get the visas by courier.

I just want to give some suggestions.
1. Wear formals
2. Dont lean on to the counter. Maintain formal posture
3. Arrange your documents in order and remember the order.
4. Dont get nervous as the VOs are there to help you, and not to deny your chance to enter US.

As long as you have proper documentation, you get the visa.
All the best
Thanks

Hello Friends,
This is one of the best sites i have ever visited.I was going through this site just before my visa interview date and i found it very useful and it helped me very much to get through the Interview.
Coming to the Interview Experience,
My Interview was scheduled at 3:45 pm @chennai consulate.I was there by 2:45 pm and they allowed us into the Building at around 3:00 P.M.

At the Entry Gate they will be checking your Passport and the Appointment Letter.After that once you enter inside there will be a Security Check and once you finish that they will send you to the Pre-Screening Area.

At the Pre-Screening Area, all the documents would be verified and they will give you back a Folder with only necessary documents which would be needed at the Interview.After taking that you need to wait in a Queue.

After that they will take you into another building for Interview.L1B applicants has to pay the DD amount at Counter 1 and after that we have to move to the Biometrics section(where our Index finger prints would be taken) and after that you would be asked to wait in one of the many queues for attending the Interview.

I was standing in the queue waiting for my turn and i observed that all the Visa Officers were very cordial and Polite.After some time my turn has come and i went with a smiling face and submitted the folder given at Prescreening area
Here is the conversation i had

Me : Hello Sir ! How are you (with a smiling face)
Visa Officer (VO):Fine. thank you.How are you
Me : Fine sir.
VO: So yours is a Blanket Pettition
Me : Yes sir.
VO :Is your company not processing H1B for you (with big Smile)
Me: No sir (with a smile)
VO: How long have you been with your Company
Me :1 and Half years
VO: Whos your client
Me: ZZZ
VO: What does it mean ..(full form of our Client name)
Me: I dont know sir.
VO: Do you know what they do
Me: I explained him about my clients company
VO: What is your Responsibilty
Me: I explained him in just 2 lines higlighting my specilized skills
VO: What type of product is yours
Me:I explained him in single sentence about it.
VO:Who developed it
Me: i told it was developed by our company for our client
VO: Who is your onsite Manager
Me: xxxx
VO: Where does he sit
Me: He sits next to me in the client's place
VO: Can i see your Degree certificate
Me: i showed him that.
Then finally he signed on few documents and said
"Ok sir.Go home happily.You will be getting the Visa"
I was very happy and i wished him "Thank you sir.Have a nice Day"..

Friends i observed that the people at consulate are very polite and cordial and felt it would be good if we wish them when we meet them at interview.and above all stay cool and focus on what you say and give simple and specific answers..it would really help you...

Wishing you all the very best.....

regards
Vamsi.

Looks like no one has posted any kind of questions in this L1B area..
Anyways,
My interview was @ 10:00 am today(21/04/2006) @Chennai.
I reached ther by 9:00 and let me in by 9:15.. Normal crowd, no rush a s such. There are people to guide you, always. If u have any doubts, ask them and they will help you.
Finished Security, Pre-Screening of Passport/DS-156/157/I797/I129/Fee Recpts.,VisaIntervu Letter.

Went to the Main Bldg., Sent me to Cntr#8 for Fingerprints and then was tol ld to stand @ Cntr#6 (wo)manned by a nice young lady. There was just a one person being inervu'd and i was nxt!!
The VO was asking lotsa Project/Designation related Questions to the guy. i guess, 'cos he was showing signs of uncertainity and nervousness. Anyways, he answered all the queries eventually, and got the visa.
I was called next, with a nice smile.
Approached the VO and wished each other Good Morning.
VO asked me for the docs-file(this file is given to you @ pre-screening counter).
VO looked thru the docs, checked things on her computer, and in between asked me just 4 Ques's:

How many yrs. are u working in this Company?
What do you do in this company?
What will you be working on in the US branch?
Where will you be working in the US?

I answered all these 'crisply', in just 3-5 words.

Then the VO told me that everything looks fine and to go ahead and pay the fees.
I smiled and wished the VO to Have a Nice Day!!

VO didn't ask for any additional docs, altho' i had taken lotsa other docs wid me.

My observations:
All the VO's are very polite... so atleast reciprocate similarly.
Be confident in what you say and know what you are saying.

If you show some kinda nervousness, then am sure that they will try and find out more on the reason for the nervousness. i.e. if your hiding information, or checking if the Candidate knows y he/she's going to the US. More questions could then be put to you and they might ask you for additional docs. so that they do NOT put any candidate in any kind of trouble out there, basically they are just doing good stuff for us, protecting us by avoiding getting duped, and all.

Anyway,
All the Best to all of you wanting to work 'with a proper Work Visa'.
_________
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is to be used at your risk, as these are just stuff what i have felt.
This Post/information is Definitely NOT to considered as any Legal advise. For Legal advise, Please consult your Attorney/Lawyer.

Hi Friends,

I have a little long story but it may be very helpful to some of the people who are going through the phase I went with.

Initially I was provided with a blanket L1 petition by my company. When scheduling visa appointment, I missed some checkbox to check for my son's appointment so I and my wife got appointment on 18th Nov and my son got it on 2nd Dec. We were very upset with this and tried to call embassy/meed VFS to allow bringing my son with us on 18th Nov, but we were not allowed. So I and my wife went on 18th nov for interview. there were long long queues every where. Finally after struggling 3 hours we gone to VO window. There was a nice VO with smiling face. He gone through all our papers, didn't ask much and finally given us a blue paper saying your degree does not matches with yout future job so we cannot grant you L1 on blanket petition, please get individual petition. With our chin down we came back to home empty hands and cursing our luck.
Finally after 3 month I got my individual petition however my company had filed it with premium processing but it took more than 3 month time for me to get that anyway.
today I went to embassy with my wife and son, every window (security, document collection, VO etc) they asked my about my son, I tried to convince them that my son is minor and going to travel with me, i said that my son had a valid appointment which was lost due to my 221g refusal. people at Chennai Consulate are so great and friendly. They allowed me to bring my son.

The VO officer was very nice person. He was very friendly and after asking few questions like,
Why are you going there, What your company do, Did you already come here,When were you married, what happend to your sons application etc.

Finally he asked us to pay the fee and taken our passports.

I am very happy with the atitude of people at Chennai Consulate and very thankful to them for considering my son's case.

Best of luck to all of you who read this article and I will be glad if it helps.

The process at Chennai was very smooth. The queue outside was very short, and you dont need to go too early. They call people in according to appt time anyways. After checking the basic docs at the VFS counter, they put your papers in a folder and you queue outside the interview area. Docs taken from us: 1) I797 2)Yellow HDFC receipt copy 3) I129 Petition 4) Marr. cert. ( wife was accompanying) 5)Passport 6)DS 156 (both our DS157s were returned to us)

All this took about 20 minutes and we were given token ( paper with your token number on it having 3 parts ). We were told to proceed to next building for finger printing and interview. While waiting for the interview, we got our folder. We waited for about 45 minutes before we were allowed to enter. We sat for a while and then were asked to proceed for finger printing. That went smoothly - no cuts, no delays. The officer was very courteous. no problems. After that first part of the token was taken by an Indian lady, and when our turn came, she made us stand in front of counter 3 in a queue. The visa officer was again very courteous, very young ( must have been a new recruit).He seemed to be the most soft spoken of the lot. Asked only a few of questions :
VO : What will you be doing in the US?
Me: blah blah blah (a few sentences of what i will be doing.)
VO : Show me your original degree certs.
Me: <Handed them over>
VO: <Looks at the certs at an angle to see if they are real>
VO : You don't have children yet?
Me: No, not yet.
VO: <Presses the Enter key quite a few times>
VO : You've been granted a visa, have a safe trip!
Then he took second part of the token and returned all the docs, and the remaining token to us. Told us to pay at counter 1.
Thats it. We paid and were out of there. Total time taken for the whole process - 2 hours.

In my opinion, the VO's are only doing their job, and not necessarily out to get you. If your papers are in order, and you can answer the questions properly, there is no reason to refuse the visa. There were quite a few people that I saw, were refused. But those people were not able to answer the questions clearly. Do not "mug" the answers, that aint gonna help. Be confident, and if you are genuine you will get the visa without hassles.

Also, be sure to get as much documentation to prove the statements that you make. This makes the VO's job easy, and yours too!!
All the best, may the force be with you!
:-)

Hi everybody,
   I am very much thankful to the people who posted their experiences in this. My Experience is...

First time i went with L1B Blanket.

VO : How many years you are working with ZZZ?
me : 1 and 1/2 yrs
VO : What is the project you are going to do in US?
me : i told about the project in detail
VO : Y YYYY decided you to send? i mean what is the specialization you have?
me : i am working in the current system from past 8 months and i am experienced in J2EE... blah blah blah...

She is not at all satisfied with my explanation and she given me 221(g) asking me to get the L1B Individual petition.

i got my Individual petition and again reappeared on 5th Jan 2006.

VO : which client you are going to work?
me : yyy
VO : what are u going to do in US?
me : i told the description of the project.

Before i started telling my answer itself he started typing something in the computer and in middle of my answer he took 221(g) and asked me to come after preparing under the guidence of my supervisor.

i came to know about this site and i prepared myself this time because i dont want to lose it this time and i attended the interview on 19 Jan 2006.

i stood in the queue nearly 2 and 1/2 hrs... and the VO is very cool and i am praying to God that he has to be there in that counter till my turn completes. I dont know whether it is favour or not but he left the counter just before me and new VO came and i am little bit worried. But he given a sigh to come with a smile. i went there with a smile.

me : How r u sir?
VO : Hello fine
VO : How about u?
me : Fine thank you.
VO : Pass the folder please
me : (passed the folder) but still maintaining the smile on my face.
VO : (He saw the folder) with which petition you came to counsulate last time?
me : L1B Individual
VO : L1B Blanket right?(with a smile)
me : (with a smile) first time i came with blanket then asked for Individual so i came with individual and i got 221(g) again.
VO : so this is the third time you are coming
me : yes sir
VO : what happened last time?
me : they asked me "what am i going to do in US?" and i given the project entire description.
VO : for that they refused.
me : they need the answer in a single line.
VO : given a big smile and asked how many years u r working in the current company?
me : 2yrs
VO : which client you are going to work?
me : xxx
VO : what exactly xxx company will do?
me : blah blah blah...
VO : what are you going to do?
me : told about the project in single sentence.
VO : can you see your higher certificate?
me : i passed my MCA certificate to him.
VO : you are MCA graduate?
me : yes sir
VO : with a big smile go and pay the bill in counter 1 and you will receive the passport in 2 to 3 days
me : thank you very much(with a big smile)

friends i went with a smile and keep on smiling till my interview is completed and returned with a smile. the VO is very cool and friendly.

be confident and make the eye contact and please dont loose if u get 221(g). you will get VISA.

so all the best to you all and thanks once again to this site.

Regards,
Ramya