bighit

Hi all - I have been following the posts here religiously and big thanks to all the contributors for sharing your experiences and advice.
My company is preparing L1B visa application for me to work in our HQ based in NYC under L1B blanket petition, specialised knowledge category. Our attorney's initial feedback is that he gets that I have specialised knowledge but he is concerned that the US visa officer may not think it's specialised enough. We have now given him plenty more info to prove it's specialised and that my equivalent skillset is not available in the US due to years do experience.
My question is, has anybody been rejected under similar circumstances and what sort of questions do they ask in the interview to test your 'specialised knowledge'
Thank you!

ian-mstm

Yes - I'm sure someone has... but it's a fairly low number when compared to the number of people who are not rejected.


To my knowledge, there are no such questions. The onus is on the applicant to prove their specialized knowledge... not on the government to disprove it. If you have the requisite knowledge and experience to back it up, there likely won't be an issue.

Ian

bighit

Thank you Ian. I think so too.
I work for a well reputed organisation and have enough evidence to prove my worth and knowledge to the authorities, and why I am being relocated to NYC. I am not sure if the attorney is being overly cautious or is just managing our expectations. Anyway, I am optimistic I will get it. Just hope the visa officer is not in a foul mood
Thanks again Ian

Vimto

The best advice is, know your new job inside and out, be prepared to demonstrate that your application is not bogus, that's why the stipulation of a minimum of 1 years employment with your current employer is there, you have proved yourself to be invaluable and they need you to improve their US knowledge base through your expertise hence the intercompany transfer.
If a company has a blanket petition it means that you are not the first overseas transfer they are making and generally they and their immigration lawyers know the rules of the 'game' and so it should be a breeze, unless you yourself have done something stupid in your past that may raise a red flag with immigration.

Hotscot

And if your knowledge is genuinely specialised be prepared to explain exactly why in a succinct manner.

bighit

Thank you. I have been employed with the company for 5 years, and it's my experience and success with one of our proprietary products here in the UK is what they want to replicate in the US.
And I am an extremely law abiding citizen, I haven't done anything stupid whatsoever. Thank you for your response mate

bighit

Great, thank you. I practice it every say

SmallShinyAnt

I'm going through this at the moment. Be aware that 50% of L1B petitions have been asked for additional evidence this year and right enough I am one of them. Half the battle is convincing a layman that something you do is specialist. I am hoping my next 15 day countdown starts on Monday. Best of luck.

bighit

Hey! Have you been asked for more evidence after the interview or before by your attorney? Does your company have blanket petition too.
Good luck to you too. Hope it all goes well

SmallShinyAnt

The RFE('Request for Evidence' i think) has come after submitting my paper work to the USCIS for the first time. It was on premium processing so I found out after 15days. The attorney now submits the extra stuff and I get to wait for another 15days to find out the outcome. No blanket visa L1B that i'm aware of, sorry i'm not sure how they work with Specialist skill access.

The Interview is after they have checked out and are happy with your specialised skills. For the interview I have been told that i just need to be able to articulate what my role is, why its special and that they only need the answers to there questions, so just answer what they ask.

bighit

Awesome. Good luck man.
Blanket petition means my company doesn't have to file for individual petition at the USCIS. I can apply directly at the embassy and will be subjected to same interview drill as you. I am sure it ll go well for both of us.

SmallShinyAnt

In that case, with your experience in your work you should be fine. Best of luck and let us know how the experience goes for you.

bighit

Thank you my friend. Fingers crossed!

Lucybell33

We were also worried and asked our company's attorney about this - their response was that they submit blanket L1B applications pretty much daily and have never had one rejected! We had no problems - the interview was a breeze. Good luck!

bighit

That's very reassuring. Thank you. I am waiting to receive the final version of my application from the US. Post which, I ll contact the embassy to schedule an appointment. Can't wait!!