L1A Blanket denied - what is the best way forward

[Bharath Kumar]

Dear All,

Let me introduce my self as Bharath & i work as a Senior Manager (Sales) in a multinational Software company. I have total 13.8 years of experience & in current organisation i have close to 6 years of experience. I handle a team of Sales Managers, have more than 100+ indirect reporting to me under various project that i had brought( all are based in India) plus also an individual contributor, as a recognition of my work my senior management moved me to US sales & want me develop business their & in pursuit of this my HR filed L1B Blanket Visa( reasons known to them) in June 2019 & my interview was scheduled in July 2019 end. There were some questions on Technical stuff and i did not answer them convincingly hence VO denied my Visa by giving a blue slip saying i am not suitable for this category of visa & i need to get in touch with my HR team for more information.

My HR changed the attorney & this time they filed L1A Blanked visa( Functional Manager) in October 2019 & my interview was scheduled in December last week.
Role offered in US: Associate Director
Number of Managers reporting: 8 Managers
Indirect reporting shown in petition: 103

I am summarizing the questions (in order) for your reference.

1. Full Name - Answered
2. Type of Visa – Answered
3. How long have you been married? - Answered
4. How old are your children? - answered
5. Where do you work? – answered
6. How long have you been working in this company? - answered
7. What are you roles & responsibility? – Answered
8. VO reconfirmed on the designation part - Answered

She took my passport & went inside for some time, upon returning she resumed with following questions.

1. Again reconfirmed on the designation in US & my responsibilities in US. – Answered
2. Whom do you report to & whom does that person report to? - answered
3. How many years are you planning to stay in US? – answered(3-5 years for this she said the petition is only for 3 years & i said i am fine with 3 years)
4. What is your day to day activities? - Answered
5. After listening to my answer for above question, VO asked me whether I have hiring & firing authority. - Answered
6. How many report to you? - answered
7. What are their designations? - Answered( 2 Senior Managers, 2 Managers, 1 Associate Manager, 2 Senior Business Development executives & 1 BD)
8. I see you were denied L1B visa earlier, why? - Answered( for this i said it was wrong classifications of my roles & responsibilities by my earlier attorney against L1 Blanket visa and i told them that all through my career i was into sales, sales management, team management & administration role.
9. I there any changes in role then & now? – Answered.( i said there is no change in the role then & now i was doing the same)

Then she took all our passports inside & returned after few minutes(10-12 minutes), she started typing for long time then said to us that we cannot accept your petition as you were interviewed & denied Visa for same L1B/A(both) blanket few months back & we cannot consider the same petition again. She gave back all the passports( no slip was given this time) & she asked me to talk to my company HR on this for more information.

I had prepared really well this time & i answered all the question very confidently and was hoping my visa will be approved this time but to my luck it was again denied.

Now my management is also kind of worried as how to move forward & i am also frustrated.


my queries:
1. Is there any mandatory cool-off period that needs to be followed after Visa rejection? if yes, what should be the ideal duration
2. Can USCIS deny visa on this ground saying you cannot apply for Visa on the same blanket? or is there any other reason for my denial
3. will VISA rejection be seen as some black mark by USCIS if i apply again or will it be tougher to get a US Visa if applied again after 2 rejections.

I request forum members to help me here, currently my attorney & management has decided not file VISA for next 6 months. Please advise the best way forward.

regards,
BK

[Libra_14]

You basically need to understand difference between Blanket & Individual petition first. Then understand difference between L1B & L1A. If there is no change in your role/responsibilities, then applying for different visa doesn't make any sense.

https://www.immihelp.com/forum/usa-l1-l2-visa/709407-l1-a-blanket-vs-individual-success-rate

1. Is there any mandatory cool-off period that needs to be followed after Visa rejection? if yes, what should be the ideal duration

No, there is no cool-off period needed for L1 visas.

2. Can USCIS deny visa on this ground saying you cannot apply for Visa on the same blanket? or is there any other reason for my denial

Yes, if they deny blanket once, it means the same blanket you cannot use for further visa. Understand difference between Blanket & Individual petition.

3. will VISA rejection be seen as some black mark by USCIS if i apply again or will it be tougher to get a US Visa if applied again after 2 rejections.

No, I've 1 B1 rejection before 10 years & got the same visa later. Recently my L1 Blanket was rejected & later within 2 months I got approved for same L1 with Individual petition.

[Bharath Kumar]

Thanks Libra_14

Yes, if they deny blanket once, it means the same blanket you cannot use for further visa. Understand difference between Blanket & Individual petition.

.

Is this a rule or is there any clause set by USCIS which says the same blanket cannot be used for further Visa? Can you share the link or the clause so that i can take it up with my attorney & management.

Thanks again for your replies.

[Libra_14]

Thanks Libra_14
Is this a rule or is there any clause set by USCIS which says the same blanket cannot be used for further Visa? Can you share the link or the clause so that i can take it up with my attorney & management.

Thanks again for your replies.

There is no published rule/clause. But check the paper you got when VO denied your blanket visa request, it should say that.

[Amit083]

Hi All,
I thought of answering based upon my knowledge ( I am not attorney and this is not legal advice)

1. I see you were denied L1B visa earlier, why? - Answered( for this i said it was wrong classifications of my roles & responsibilities by my earlier attorney against L1 Blanket visa and i told them that all through my career i was into sales, sales management, team management & administration role.

I think you could have answered differently. Based upon your answer , It seemed that your attorney was responsible for your denial. In fact you should be responsible for denial or acceptance at the time of VO interview. So this might have gone negatively that you are just following HR advice even though they are incorrect.So you could OWNED your L1B got rejection and answer should have been around of lack specialized skill.

1. I there any changes in role then & now? – Answered.( i said there is no change in the role then & now i was doing the same).

This is wrong answer - if there is no is no role change then y will she approve the visa . i understand this is L1 A and not L1B. So I guess you would have owner ur L1B rejection on the ground on lack of specialized skill and now that you are on L1A so you should focus on your current role even if its the same. But your story might have told in such a way that u r suitable for L1A.This time you should have start afresh and no reflection of same roles on earlier L1B denial.


Originally posted by Bharath Kumar View Post
2. Can USCIS deny visa on this ground saying you cannot apply for Visa on the same blanket? or is there any other reason for my denial
Yes, if they deny blanket once, it means the same blanket you cannot use for further visa. Understand difference between Blanket & Individual petition.
I think you are not using same blanket . Earlier it was L1B bt this time it was L1A. but the prob was you have said you have same roles and resp. and applied L1 B and later L1A.

My exp is one has to understand the mindset of VO( it's very very difficult ) but still if your roles and resp is same then she will reject L1A.
Not sure if I am able to articulate what I am trying to say but overall we have to build some true story in such a way that she(VO) can differentiate the visa types. They mostly go with rules and based upon your answer she rejected you.

( Sir - you are a senior executive , and I understand how hard is to accept the L1 B/A rejection )

[salroy2023]

Hi. What happened in this case? My l1a blanket was refused because I don’t have direct reports in usa(they are in Europe and India). My company is planning to apply for l1a individual. Any advice ?