filling previous visa information in DS 160 form

[gaganvyas]

Hi,

I will be applying for L1 Blanket from a product company in later this month. I have couple of questions regarding this

1. I have a valid B1 visa and i have visited multiple times in US (6 times) in last 7 years. never exceeded more than 90 days (3-4 weeks in most cases). Will this affect the L1 visa approval.

2. I also got L1 Blanket from my previous employer some years back but never used it. I got it after 2 years of getting B1. While filling DS 160 there is a questin about the previous visa and the last 5 travel to US. I have filled in the travel as actual but not sure which visa to fill in (L1 or B1). It says last visa issues (my last visa was L1 but i travelled only on B1).

Can someone help me with this.. really confused ...

Thanks
Gagan

[rvisak]

Hi,

I will be applying for L1 Blanket from a product company in later this month. I have couple of questions regarding this

1. I have a valid B1 visa and i have visited multiple times in US (6 times) in last 7 years. never exceeded more than 90 days (3-4 weeks in most cases). Will this affect the L1 visa approval.

You might be questioned as to why you traveled so frequently on a B1 and the VO needs to be convinced that you were traveling only on business meetings and not for doing actual work. If the VO feels you violated B1 terms you might very well be denied L1

2. I also got L1 Blanket from my previous employer some years back but never used it. I got it after 2 years of getting B1. While filling DS 160 there is a questin about the previous visa and the last 5 travel to US. I have filled in the travel as actual but not sure which visa to fill in (L1 or B1). It says last visa issues (my last visa was L1 but i travelled only on B1).

You need to mention L1-B as that was the last visa issued. What you can do is in the travel section put some sort of a comment that all these travels were on B1. Call up VFS helpdesk as well for clarification

Can someone help me with this.. really confused ...

Thanks
Gagan

See above

[gaganvyas]

Thanks for the reply.... it was really useful ....

regarding my previous travel ...... I have travelled on business and never exceeded more than 3 months period (in honour to the I94 stamping) ...however, in most of the cases I was there for 3-5 weeks only (only in 2 case i stayed for 60 days and 80 days).... I am also engaged in customer support and trainings, perform proof of concepts and organize boot-camps and road-shows for our product. all my travel was to my headquarter in US for the same company... I have also visited a couple of other countries apart from US for the same purpose ... will it make sense to vo... I am not sure what would he want to listen as answer to this .... will a letter from the company about my previous travel will help ?

another question .... I work for a product company and they have clean history ..... what role company profile profile in getting your L1 approved


will appreciate a response to this

Thanks
GV

[rvisak]

Thanks for the reply.... it was really useful ....

regarding my previous travel ...... I have travelled on business and never exceeded more than 3 months period (in honour to the I94 stamping) ...however, in most of the cases I was there for 3-5 weeks only (only in 2 case i stayed for 60 days and 80 days).... I am also engaged in customer support and trainings, perform proof of concepts and organize boot-camps and road-shows for our product. all my travel was to my headquarter in US for the same company... I have also visited a couple of other countries apart from US for the same purpose ... will it make sense to vo... I am not sure what would he want to listen as answer to this .... will a letter from the company about my previous travel will help ?

another question .... I work for a product company and they have clean history ..... what role company profile profile in getting your L1 approved


will appreciate a response to this

Thanks
GV

On a B1 visa you are not allowed to work. B1 visa is meant for attending conferences, client presentations/negotiations etc. It is not meant for working in other words you cannot perform some duties on a B1 while the client/customer is paying your company for the duties performed. Whether or not you violated the terms of a B1 , only you know - in my understanding, if you are conducting trainings on a B1 for which your company is charging the attendees, it is a violation of B1. Again, this is strictly based on my understanding of your profile and not legal advice.

Either ways what the VO wants to know is the truth and that is what you should stick to.