L1 Individual Eligibility After L1B Blanket Rejection

[sunnyshukla]

Hi All,

I have recently received a 221g refusal for L1B Blanket visa on 31st May 2012.

Can I apply for L1B individual category? My company L1 specialist team says I am not eligible for any type of L1 visa till USCIS approves my H1 petition.

Just wanted to revalidate the same to see if there are any individuals who have undergone any such situations.

Although my role is a manager having 7 years of experience , I would still like to go ahead with L1B individual and not L1A individual as I dont have any direct reports at onsite and also I dont carry much project management experience.

Can you please suggest if I am eligible for L1B individual visa after having L1B Blanket rejection last week?
Also it would be great if you can help in knowing the chances of getting L1B individual once USCIS approves the petition.

Thanks
Sunny Shukla

[shervin143]

Yes, you can apply for L1 individual. There are lot of cases where people have got their L1 individual stamped after a L1 blanket rejection.

[sunnyshukla]

thanks Shervin.
My company finally is filing for L1B Individual petition under premium processing. Can you please comment on the time required to get the Visa stamped? I am a manager by designation and promoted recently so I dont have much project management experience. Will my designation effect my L1B individual application as the VO can be confused by my designation and my actual work? Or it is wise to file an L1A individual? What do you recommend?
Where the chances of getting a visa are high ; L1B Individual or L1A Individual?

I can convince my company to file the Visa as per requirement so that I get the same? I may sound kiddish but bottomline is that my client at US wants me ASAP and whether it is L1B or L1A , the client is ready to pay for all costs.

[shervin143]

L1A is for highly skilled mangers and senior management. It will be hard to get L1A. L1 individual can work. You have to wait for the L1 individual petition to get approved. It takes 15 days to get a decision in premium processing. Then it depends on how soon you can schedule the visa interview at a U.S consulate to get the visa stamped. If there are no RFE, you can collect the stamped visa from VFS the immediate next day.

thanks Shervin.
My company finally is filing for L1B Individual petition under premium processing. Can you please comment on the time required to get the Visa stamped? I am a manager by designation and promoted recently so I dont have much project management experience. Will my designation effect my L1B individual application as the VO can be confused by my designation and my actual work? Or it is wise to file an L1A individual? What do you recommend?
Where the chances of getting a visa are high ; L1B Individual or L1A Individual?

I can convince my company to file the Visa as per requirement so that I get the same? I may sound kiddish but bottomline is that my client at US wants me ASAP and whether it is L1B or L1A , the client is ready to pay for all costs.

[sunnyshukla]

Thanks a lot for the information. I am bit naive in this visa stuff. What is RFE and when does one get it? Before visa interview or before USCIS approval of the L1 individual petition.?

[shervin143]

When your employer files a petition with USCIS andif USCIS requires more eveidence (more documents) before they can take a decision on your case, they will send a RFE (Request for evidence) to the employer. Your case will be put on hold until the employer responds back with the requested documents.

Thanks a lot for the information. I am bit naive in this visa stuff. What is RFE and when does one get it? Before visa interview or before USCIS approval of the L1 individual petition.?

[sunnyshukla]

My company after my L1b blanket rejection , filed for a L1B individual pettion under premium processing. Within 10 days it went in RFE stage. I submitted the required docs to certify for Specialized skills . Today I see within 2 days tht my Via petition is denied. I am not sure what they want in Specialized skills category. Anyways, what are the options now available to me now. I am a Manager since 3 months so I dont qualify for L1 A as well. H1 cap is already full. So do I have any other options available ? Please advice.

Thanks
S.Shukla

[raghvi]

My company after my L1b blanket rejection , filed for a L1B individual pettion under premium processing. Within 10 days it went in RFE stage. I submitted the required docs to certify for Specialized skills . Today I see within 2 days tht my Via petition is denied. I am not sure what they want in Specialized skills category. Anyways, what are the options now available to me now. I am a Manager since 3 months so I dont qualify for L1 A as well. H1 cap is already full. So do I have any other options available ? Please advice.

Thanks
S.Shukla

If your L1b and L1 individual have been rejected, you dont have any other option but to wait for H1 to open next year in April 2013 to be able to travel on H1 Oct 2013.

There are no clear cut guidelines as to what constitutes a specialized skill set. One just have to use ones practical knowledge and experience to determine if one has specialized skill set or not. For example, Java is a skill set that thousands of folks have but being able to use Java to develop an ERP tool from scratch is a specialized skill set. Lawyers will not be able to see the difference as its IT lingo and understanding. One has to look around oneself and see how many people can do the same job one is doing with a little bit of training and if the answer is yes then its difficult to say one is having specialized skill set. Its very difficult to accept when ones skill sets are called "ordinary" but the VOs and USCIS seem to follow their own way of collecting metrics and make judgements on specialized skill sets.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[diwakar_reddy]

Applying L1 Individual after L1 Blanket rejection with change in specialized skills

Hi,

My company applying for L1 Individual after L1 Blanket rejection in April. Now my specialization skills are slightly changed. Will there be any problem if i apply for L1 Individual with different specialization skills ?

[Jarlinus]

Guys,

I would like to understand whether L1 Individual can be applied before L1 Blanket. Wherever I see in the thread, the reverse is discussed a lot (L1 Ind application after L1 Blanket rejection).

Please clarify.