L1, L2 Visa

Firstly I would like to Thank you this forum which really helped me to prepare myself for the L1 A Blanket PAI, My Biometric & PAI was both scheduled at the same day(24th Aug)

There was a gap of 2 hours in the Biometric & PAI so I preferred going back hotel which was just a KM apart from US Consulate.

I went along with my Wife & 2 kids for the Visa Interview, My Company Booked appointment for all , There is no major difference going alone or with family on the outcome , However It makes Queue move faster if you are accompanied with Any toddler.

My Interview was for almost 10 min - Below are the Questions which was asked -
1. VO - which location you are travelling?
        Me - Specific Location
2 VO - Which organization you are working for?
    Me - Replied the Org Name
3. VO - what's your current Job title?
    Me - I mentioned My Designation
4 VO - What you do in this Role?
   Me - Here I described in detail my Roles, Key objectives, Responsibilities & Magnified by sharing the numbers of People ,Geographies, Overall P&L
5 VO - Who is your reporting Manager
   Me - I shortly described his Role , Intent of ths question is to see the difference in your & manager role
6. VO - Which location your manager is based ?
   Me - Mentioned the location

7 VO- How many Direct Reports you have?
    Me - Answered the numbers including overall and then DRs
9 VO- How Many Direct reports in US?
10. VO -How long you are working in the current Organization?
       Me - Tenure of this org, Higher the better
 11 VO - Who is your Client
12 VO- Have you already started working in this project, Since when?
13 VO - How long both of you are married
 14 VO - Question to Kids - How old you are
15 VO - Do you fight with each other?

VO started Stamping my I 129 and then mentioned - your Visa is approved , Have a nice stay in US

My exp with the PAI - Its all about your confidence, Articulation Skill and bit of Luck on that day but that all after you Prepare well before attending PAI.

Good Luck!!

This site was very useful for my preparation. We (I, wife and son) appeared for L1B Blanket visa on 21st August at Chennai Consulate. Our initial appointment was on 8th Aug (for biometrics) and 9th (for visa interview). However, due to the unfortunate demise of Mr. Karunanidhi, our appointments were cancelled and had to reschedule. I could not get consecutive dates and had to travel to Chennai two times (10th August for biometrics and 21st August for Visa Interview).
The interview went on for almost 10 minutes. Most of the time, VO was typing some information. She asked the usual questions like how long are you working for this company, what is your role and responsibilities, highest qualification, salary etc. She also asked some specific questions about the projects I mentioned to her.
She just asked one question to my wife (her education qualification).
In the end, she stamped on the three sets of I129S and returned two copies back to me. I was little confused as she didn't say anything about visa. When I was about to pick up my copies, she said your visa is approved and safe travel!

My company appllied for my L1 A individual visa and it got approved in April 2018 after and RFE. I went for Visa Interview at consulate on 10th May and Visa is sent for “Administrative Processing” under 221(g) INA. The officer handed over a Yellow Form on which she wrote Adiministrative Processesing and handed over the passport back.

Below is the brief description of what happened at the time of Interview:

VO: Good Morning. Which Visa are you applying for?
GG: Good Morning officer. L1 A.

VO: Why do you want to travel US?
GG: I would be travelling to US as most of our Customer base is in US and we xxxxxx.

VO: Can I see you I-797?
GG: Handed over the I-797 approval

VO: Since how long you are working with this company?
GG: 7 Years

VO: Have you previously travelled to US?
GG: Yes I have visited US 3 times.

VO: What will be your salary in US?
GG: My proposed salary at the time of petition was xxooo plus health Insurance, Dental Insurance and other benefits.

VO thoroughly checked all the stamps and previous Visa Stamps.

VO Kept typing for 5 more minutes and handed over a Yellow Slip with the case number and Administrative Processing along with Passport.

VO: I have to forward your Visa for Administrative Processing and we’ll let you know if any additional documents are needed and asked me to leave after handing over the attached Yellow Slip with Passport.

I have not seen any update since 10th May and are not receiving any good answers when I follow up with the consulate over phone or email.

Is there any way we can expedite or even get a good answer as this wait is killing me.

Thanks to this forum for helping me prepare. Here's my experience at Chennai:

L1A Blanket - Functional Manager with no direct reports - was approved at Chennai on 16th Aug

Seeing how there are fewer experiences of L1A approvals and that too for functional managers, here's my take:

Please see the USCIS website for exact definition and expectation for L1A - for Executives or Functional Managers.:
https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/l-1a-intracompany-transferee-executive-or-manager

When applying for L1A-Functional Managers the following will add credibility to your case:
1. Years of experience with the company that is sending you - higher the better. I have 11+ yrs of exp in the company - that definitely seemed to help.
2. US Salary (higher 6 digit figures) makes your case more convincing.
3. When asked about direct reports, which is a guaranteed question for L1A, it is important to mention the fact that your role is that of a 'Functional Manager' (that's the key word) and hence you don't have any direct reports. On this forum I've seen a lot of folks not make that distinction very clear to the interviewer and just say 0 direct reports. When asked about role, I also see a lot of people repeating their designation - but in this case the interviewer is trying to establish which L1A category you belong to - Executive Manager or Functional Manager, so using that terminology to begin your role description would be the right approach.

Can any one help me to understand which one is good
L1A (functional manager with no reportee) vs L1B (specialized skills)?

Can any one help me to understand more about what is Functional Manager? and How it works under L1A?

What are the chances of getting it approved ?

Which one is better L1A (functional Manager with no reportee ) or L1B (with specialized Skills)?

Can any one help me in this?

Hello everyone,

My company had filed the L-1A individual petition in August 2017 after waiting for almost 6 months i got the rfe on my case number for some additional documents. Me and my company submitted the documents (USCIS asked for) on time. than i waited for another 3 months and finally in June 2018 i got approval from USCIS for L-1A individual petition.

I was in USA at that time and completing my masters in California. i came back from USA for stamping and I arranged a interview at chennai consulate and appeared for interview on 7th August 2018. After having long 45 minutes interview, VO told me that they need to verify some papers and can not give the visa right now. He handed over "221g blue slip with no documents required". He also gave my passport back to me. Now, my application status is under administrative processing.

Can any one tell me, it means refusal or approval? whether my file is going back to USCIS or not?

On my blue slip he ticked the line "my application is refused for administrative processing" and gave me the case number.

I am confused now , if anybody has something please help me out.

Thanks

Thanks to Immihelp! for having such a wonderful portal with everything for people like me. Its time for me to contribute to the community.

Our Blanket Visa was denied in Chennai in sometime back in March'2018.

We have applied for Individual petition in USCIS with premium processing and received very few/minor request through RFE. responded to RFE and received Approval from USCIS on July 12th.

Scheduled an interview on 13th August (post 12th Aug Biometric).

Consular was very cool and she was able to spend time on greeting all of us.

Here are the questions asked to us
1. Which place are you traveling?
2. How much is your US Salary going to be?
3. How many people would report to you?
4. What are their roles?
5. What is your highest Qualification?

to my wife
1. How long have you been married?
2. Is that the only kid do you guys have?

Good News came saying ' Your visas are approved and take the little one safe'.

Thanks

Thanks immihelp, this forum is very helpful in the preparation & guidance.
Hi All,
Here is my experience with the L1 Visa
Bio metric
It was scheduled at 8:15 in the morning
I reached the VAC on time
Executive check my appointment confirmation along with my passport & ask me to proceed further
There was spelling mistake in my first name on the appointment confirmation which my organization booked through the agent, I requested them for the correction but executive ask me to proceed. (May be as bar coded sticker with name was ready before I reach VAC)
Next executive again crosscheck my appointment & passport, and pasted bar code on the rear of my Passport
Another executive handed over a coupon to me
The screen over there shows my coupon & counter for the Bio metric

Bio metric Officer: Sir, With which language you are comfortable?

There was a sheet on the counter with many languages on it for the instructions, kind of declaration
Me: I'm comfortable with English, I read all the instruction & ask him to proceed
He took my finger prints & photo
L1 Interview:
It was scheduled at 10:30 in the morning
I reach the US Consulate at 10:00

There was two separate Que for the interview one was for 10:00 and another for 10:15 outside of the US Consulate
When it was time before 15 min, one Que for the 10:30 interview was created and asked to keep ready the passport with bar code done at Bio-metric.
Entry to the consulate premises, security ask not to enter with any electronic.
No electronic is permitted to carry inside, like Battery-operated or electronic devices such as mobile phones, digital diaries, pagers, cameras,audio/video cassettes, compact discs, MP3s, floppy disks, flash drives, memory sticks, Blue Tooth devices, laptop or tablet computers and portable music players
Security checking

At L1 Blanket Help Desk
I prepared 3 sets of I-129S + I-797
Help desk executive crosschecks the 3 sets along with DS-160 confirmation & passport
As L1 Blanket I got privilege to skip the long Que & directly enter the another building
I lined up in the Que there and the security over there allowing set of people to enter into the main building.
After entering, I again lined up in new Que for the Fraud Fee payment, I handed over the DD to Cashier which my organization gave me.
Cashier gave me two payment slips and I again standing in another line to verify my finger prints. Executive over there ask me to sit on the bench as there was no space to stand in the Que for the interview.
Executive told me to line up in the long Que for the Visa interview
As soon as the Que ended & another executive ask me to go to counter 21
One of the candidate in front of me just finished his interview and now its my turn

VO: Good Morning
Me: Good Morning
VO: Can I have your documents please?
Me: Sure, I handed over my 3 sets (I-129S + I-797) along with DS-160 confirmation, 2 payment slips of the fraud fee, & passport to VO
VO return me one payment slip back, saying this is your copy
VO: Which category of Visa you are applying for, L1-A or L1-B?
Me: L1-B
VO: How long you are associated with this Organization?
Me: 4 years
VO: What is you specialization skill?
Me: I answered to this question in just two lines
VO: Are these your specialization?
Me: Here I answer in more detail with the skill sets & its application inline with my organizational standards and how this is specialization.
VO: What will be your designation in US?
Me: YYYY X YYYY X
VO: What will be your US salary?
Me: XX,ZZZ USD includes all my expenses
VO: How long you will be staying in US?
Me: 2 Years
VO: You Visa is approved
VO: Give me a moment as I have to put dates on your documents & you are set to go.
Me: Thank You, have a good day
VO: Thank you
Thank you all who invest time & share your experiences, which helps others to prepare and get acquainted with the visa process & specific requirements, documents.

Hi,

My company filed L1B individual visa on 29 January. I have checked in USCIS, It's showing "Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Receipt Number YYYY X, and sent you the receipt notice that describes how we will process your case". But I am seeing same status from Feb.

Do you any idea what would be the reason.

Please help me out.

Thanks,
Ram