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Hey folks,
I got my L1 blanket visa approved in January 2019 and wanted to give back to the forum since I found a lot of helpful information here.
I work for a product company in a management role and they had filed for an L1A blanket petition for me. The petition was approved and I had scheduled an interview for early Dec. I completed the biometrics in late Nov and had the barcode sticker with "L1B" printed on it stuck to my passport. I was apprehensive about it as mine was an L1A blanket and I checked with the VFS front desk at the biometrics office. They assured me that B meant blanket here and that the consulate would know that mine was an L1A visa application.
The biometrics itself was easy and me and my spouse got it done in 10 minutes.
Reassured, we prepared for our interview day, only to get notified that the interview was cancelled due to the consulate being closed on the day of George bush Sr's funeral ceremony. We were assured that additional slots were being made available and were asked to reschedule at no extra cost. However, we were very disappointed to see that the next available date was one month away. There were no special provisions for people rescheduling because of the above mentioned consulate office closure.
We rescheduled for January and picked a morning slot. We were there 15-20 minutes before and liked the efficiency of the process. We were let in to the building about 5 minutes prior to our appointment time. First, we had to sort our documents (I129, I797) into three sets and we were sent off to the second building. We paid the consular fees (I had taken cash in USD) and then we joined a queue of people waiting before counters for their turn.
We saw a lot of rejections and questioning happening in most counters and we saw people with families leaving the place dejected. Some of the conversations were loud enough to hear without eavesdropping and we came to understand that a lot of L1s were being rejected. Almost all interviews lasted more than 10 minutes. We had a gone with a mindset of there being nothing to lose in the case of a rejection and we were already prepared mentally with roadblocks like the consular office closure when we had originally scheduled. In short, we were prepared for any outcome.
When our turn came, we went to the third counter from the right and the officer was an American male.
(VO): Good morning, please provide your documents.
(Me): Good morning officer, here you are.
(VO): (Opening the document set and keeping it next to him, looks at his computer) So, you work for yyyyy company?
(Me): Yes, that is correct.
(VO): How many years have you been with the company and what is your salary in the US?
(Me): answered
(VO): What is your role in the US, in which office (if it was a client office) and how many reportees do you have?
(Me): explained my role in 2-3 sentences, mentioned the city where I would be working from and that mine is a product company and hence not a client location, that I have no direct reportees and xx indirect reportees
(VO): Are you involved in any sales or contract signatures on behalf of your company?
(Me): No
To my spouse:
(VO): How long have you been married?
(Spouse): answered.
The officer was silent for a minute or two as he typed on his computer. Then he said: "I am approving your visa,BUT I am approving it as an L1B instead of an L1A" and he stamped the I129 form and circled around the L1B option.
I was shocked and was about to ask for the reason for this decision. I decided to stay quiet and we returned back acknowledging that, at the very least, our visas had been approved. Later I found a few similar cases in the forum where an L1A application had resulted in an L1B decision. This is really strange and I am hoping I do not face any issues when it comes to extending the visa. Any inputs would be appreciated.
I got my L1 blanket visa approved in January 2019 and wanted to give back to the forum since I found a lot of helpful information here.
I work for a product company in a management role and they had filed for an L1A blanket petition for me. The petition was approved and I had scheduled an interview for early Dec. I completed the biometrics in late Nov and had the barcode sticker with "L1B" printed on it stuck to my passport. I was apprehensive about it as mine was an L1A blanket and I checked with the VFS front desk at the biometrics office. They assured me that B meant blanket here and that the consulate would know that mine was an L1A visa application.
The biometrics itself was easy and me and my spouse got it done in 10 minutes.
Reassured, we prepared for our interview day, only to get notified that the interview was cancelled due to the consulate being closed on the day of George bush Sr's funeral ceremony. We were assured that additional slots were being made available and were asked to reschedule at no extra cost. However, we were very disappointed to see that the next available date was one month away. There were no special provisions for people rescheduling because of the above mentioned consulate office closure.
We rescheduled for January and picked a morning slot. We were there 15-20 minutes before and liked the efficiency of the process. We were let in to the building about 5 minutes prior to our appointment time. First, we had to sort our documents (I129, I797) into three sets and we were sent off to the second building. We paid the consular fees (I had taken cash in USD) and then we joined a queue of people waiting before counters for their turn.
We saw a lot of rejections and questioning happening in most counters and we saw people with families leaving the place dejected. Some of the conversations were loud enough to hear without eavesdropping and we came to understand that a lot of L1s were being rejected. Almost all interviews lasted more than 10 minutes. We had a gone with a mindset of there being nothing to lose in the case of a rejection and we were already prepared mentally with roadblocks like the consular office closure when we had originally scheduled. In short, we were prepared for any outcome.
When our turn came, we went to the third counter from the right and the officer was an American male.
(VO): Good morning, please provide your documents.
(Me): Good morning officer, here you are.
(VO): (Opening the document set and keeping it next to him, looks at his computer) So, you work for yyyyy company?
(Me): Yes, that is correct.
(VO): How many years have you been with the company and what is your salary in the US?
(Me): answered
(VO): What is your role in the US, in which office (if it was a client office) and how many reportees do you have?
(Me): explained my role in 2-3 sentences, mentioned the city where I would be working from and that mine is a product company and hence not a client location, that I have no direct reportees and xx indirect reportees
(VO): Are you involved in any sales or contract signatures on behalf of your company?
(Me): No
To my spouse:
(VO): How long have you been married?
(Spouse): answered.
The officer was silent for a minute or two as he typed on his computer. Then he said: "I am approving your visa,BUT I am approving it as an L1B instead of an L1A" and he stamped the I129 form and circled around the L1B option.
I was shocked and was about to ask for the reason for this decision. I decided to stay quiet and we returned back acknowledging that, at the very least, our visas had been approved. Later I found a few similar cases in the forum where an L1A application had resulted in an L1B decision. This is really strange and I am hoping I do not face any issues when it comes to extending the visa. Any inputs would be appreciated.
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