what is l1a and l1b visa

There are two types of L1 visas – the L1A

and L1B visa. The L1A visa allows employees in managerial or executive roles to work for up to seven years in the U.S. The L1B lets employees with specialized knowledge work in the U.S. for up to five years.

Full Answer

What is the difference between L1a and L1b?

There are two types of L1 visas: L1A, and an L1B. If you’re a manager, executive, or business owner, an L1A visa can grant you a stay for as long as 7 years. If you’re an employee with specialized skills and knowledge, an L1B visa grants you a stay for as long as 5 years.

Do the L-1 visa benefits apply to your business?

However, like with many other temporary work visas, it has its advantages and disadvantages that may help or hinder your case. Read on to find out how the L-1 visa benefits apply to your business. The L-1 visa is broken down into two subcategories: the L-1A for managers and executives, and the L-1B for employees with specialized knowledge.

How long can you stay on an L1b visa?

If you’re a manager, executive, or business owner, an L1A visa can grant you a stay for as long as 7 years. If you’re an employee with specialized skills and knowledge, an L1B visa grants you a stay for as long as 5 years.

Is L1 visa a temporary or permanent resident?

However, the L1 visa is a non-immigrant visa and is temporary. The total L1 visa duration is anywhere from 5 to 7 years depending on whether you apply for an L1A visa or L1B visa.

Who is eligible for L1A visa?

The employee has been employed as an executive or manager for one continuous year in the three years preceding the filing of the petition; and. The intended U.S. office will support an executive or managerial position within one year of the approval of the petition.

Is L1B or H-1B better?

H1B has stringent requirements while L1 Visa is more suitable for multinationals and is less time consuming than H1B visas. Also, L-1 and H-1B have ˜dual intent in that visa holders in both categories can aim for green card while staying as a nonimmigrant in the United States.

Is L1B visa eligible for green card?

The L1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa, so it is temporary in nature and does not directly lead to a green card. In order to go from L1B visa to green card, you will have to switch to an immigrant visa classification, which we will discuss below.

What is L1B visa for USA?

The L-1B nonimmigrant classification enables a U.S. employer to transfer a professional employee with specialized knowledge relating to the organization's interests from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States.

When can L1A get green card?

If you are in the US on an L1 visa then you must apply within 2 years of entry to qualify for an EB1C Green Card. The requirements for employment based immigration (permanent residence) under the EB1C immigrant scheme are similar to the requirements for the L1A Executive and Manager visa category.

Is L1B visa easy to get?

However, despite all of these benefits, the L-1 is not the easiest work visa to obtain. This is because the USCIS is becoming stricter with who qualifies as a manager, executive, or employee with specialized knowledge.

How long is L1B visa valid?

How long is an L1B visa valid for? An L1B visa will be initially granted for 3 years, if you are a specialized employee transferring to an existing U.S office. If you are opening a new office in the US, the L1B visa will be granted for a period of 1 year.

How much does an L1B visa cost?

L-1 visa filing fee: $460 This applies whether the application is for an L-1A worker in a managerial or executive position or an L-1B specialized knowledge worker. Filing form I-129 incurs a charge of $460 for the employer, which is to be paid at the same time as the form and supporting documentation are submitted.

Can an L1B spouse work?

Spouses and Dependents Can Work If you are in the U.S. on L-1 status, you will be able to bring your spouse and children along with you through the L2 visa. Also, if they qualify for Employment Authorization Documents, they will be able to work in the U.S. as well.

Is L1B visa good?

L1B Visa Benefits Foreign employees and sponsoring employers gain the following benefits from an L-1B visa. Visa holder may work, live, and travel legally within the U.S. Dependents of visa holder may accompany him or her to the U.S. L-1B visa holder may be able to apply for permanent residency.

How long does L1B visa take?

Basically, it can take somewhere between three and four months to get a response regarding your L1B visa application. If the employer files an individual petition, then the processing time might be longer than if the employer would file a blanket petition.

Does L1B qualify for EB1?

L1B Eligibility for Permanent Residency. L1A visa holders may file for a Green Card in the EB1 category. They can avoid completing the Permanent Labor Certification and often receive their Green Card within 1 year. L1B visa holders may apply for permanent residency but must also apply for labor certification.

Is L1 visa considered permanent resident?

The L1 visa is a dual intent visa, which means that visa holders are not precluded from seeking residency in the United States. Hence, holders of L1 visas and their dependents may apply for permanent residency in the United States without putting their current visas in jeopardy.

Can I apply for H1B while on L1B?

You can apply for a change of status (CoS) from L-1 to H1B from within the US, without the need to return to your home country. However the USCIS process for converting from L-1B to H-1B status is not always straight-forward, particularly given the uncertain nature of the H-1B application process.

What is an L1B visa?

L1B visas are for employees who hold positions that require special skills and knowledge.

How to apply for a L1A visa?

To apply for an L1A visa, you must meet the following requirements: 1 Have a transfer offer from your employer 2 File form DS-160 3 Your employer must file from I-129 4 Submit an application fee along with supporting documentation

Can I apply for a Green Card after my L1 Visa Expires?

An L1 visa does not require you to return to your home country after your term has ended. You may apply for a green card on the basis of employment.

How many L-1 visas are approved each year?

On the other hand, there are no limits to how many L-1 visas are approved each year. This means that your petition will not be rejected due to the fact that there are no more available visas.

How long does it take to get an extension for an L-1 visa?

However, unfortunately, L-1 holders are only granted one extension after their initial three years. After that, they must either transfer their status or apply for a new L-1 visa.

How many employees can you have on an L-1?

revenue of at least $25 million or have a minimum of 1,000 employees working in the U.S. An L-1 blanket petition allows employers to file a single petition for multiple employees, ...

How long can you work on an L-1A?

Even though the L-1A allows for holders to work for up to seven years, this limit cannot be exceeded for any reason. For other visas, such as the H-1B or J-1, an extension can be acquired past the usual maximum. There are even some visas like the O-1 and E-2 that allow for unlimited extensions.

What is the most difficult part of obtaining an H-1B visa?

One of the most difficult aspects of acquiring an H-1B, J-1, or TN visa is finding an entity that is willing to sponsor you for the visa. If you are a qualified L-1 applicant, then you are already employed with a U.S. company that will sponsor you.

Is L-1 visa easy to obtain?

Even though the L-1 can be relatively easy to obtain, those same advantages can be considered disadvantages if you are not already employed.

Can an L-1 be sent to a new office?

New Offices. Another equally important L-1 benefit is the fact that, if a multinational employer does not currently have an office or branch in the U.S., an L-1 holder can be sent in order to establish a new one. While there are. While there are different limitations attached to this process, it is extremely advantageous to be able ...

What is L1B status?

The L1B is often used as a back-up plan for employers who are unable to secure H-1B visas for employees in the U.S. As long as the employer fits the multinational definition for L1 purposes, the employer may transfer an individual not selected for the H-1B lottery (subject to immigration policies of the foreign entity’s country of domicile) for the customary one year period, which then allows the employer to transfer the employee back in L1B status. As the definition of specialized knowledge may be applied broadly, any employee with sufficient experience at any given company may be argued to qualify for a grant of L1B status.

When was the L1 visa created?

The L1 visa category, created by Congress in 1970, is specifically intended for individuals customarily employed abroad by a company with a qualifying relationship to the U.S. company wishing to obtain the L1 visa for employees.

How to contact L1 visa?

If you have any questions about the L1 visa, or if you need help applying for an L1 visa, feel free to call us at +1-818-741-1117. You may also request a fee consultation by clicking this link.

What is the advantage of L1A?

A significant advantage of the L1A category is that it allows for easy transition to permanent residence sponsorship through the EB-1C category, allowing the employer to waive the typical labor certification process associated with employment based green cards.

Can a multinational company get an L1 visa?

The L1 visa is limited exclusively to employees of multinational companies, and may not be used unless the following conditions apply: The U.S. company wishing to acquire the L1 visa must have an affiliated relationship with the foreign company currently employing the candidate in question;

Should employers evaluate L1B candidates?

Employers should carefully evaluate their potential L1B candidates to assess whether the level of specialized knowledge held by that employee is truly specialized in that it would be more efficient to transfer the employee than to hire a U.S. worker.

What is L1B visa?

L1B Visa is that you can bring your family to the USA.

How long does it take to get a green card with H1-B?

This Visa is more abused than H1-B as H1-B sponsored candidate had to wait at least 10 to 12 years on an average to get their Green Card if they got lucky on the contrary L1-A Visa candidate can get their Green card with in an year.

Can I file for I-140 with EB-1?

This visa category also provision to file for Green Card in EB-1 category which does not requires to file for a labor certification and hence one can directly file for I-140. EB-1 category by definition meant to be applicable for specially highly educated people in their fields such as Phd or scientists.

Can my spouse work on a L1A visa?

Your spouse can work if you go to the USA on L1A Visa.

What is an L1 visa?

The L1 visa allows a foreign company to transfer certain employees to work for an affiliated US company.

What is the difference between L1A and L1B?

The L1 visa category is broken into 2 subcategories: L1A and L1B. The L1A visa is issued if you will be working in the US as a manager or executive. The L1B visa is issued if you will be working in the US as a specialized knowledge worker. The total L1 visa duration depends on whether you are applying under the L1A category or the L1B category.

How long is an L1 visa good for?

Typically, an L1 visa is initially granted for a 3-year period with 2-year extensions available (2 extensions available for L1A and 1 extension available for L1B).

What determines the duration of an L1 visa?

Another factor that determines the L1 visa duration (from a procedural standpoint), is whether you will be applying for an L1 visa as a new office or as an existing office.

What is the job of a L1 beneficiary?

The L1 visa beneficiary must work for the US company as a manager, executive, or specialized knowledge worker.

How long can I stay in the US with an L1 visa?

In this guide, I will discuss the L1 visa duration and how to potentially extend your stay in the US beyond the 5 and 7-year maximum time limits.

How to change status from L1 to non-immigrant?

To change status from L1 to another non-immigrant status, you must file your petition to change status while you are in current, valid L1 status.

How long can an L-1 visa be extended?

An L-1 visa extension can be granted in two-year increments at a time up to the maximum duration for each visa category. The L-1A visa for managers and executives has a maximum period of stay of seven years while the L-1B visa for workers with specialized knowledge has one for five years.

What is an L-1B blanket petition?

An L-1 blanket petition is used by large companies to pre-qualify L-1 employees for a transfer. The benefit of an L-1 blanket petition is once it’s approved, the company is able to transfer employees rather quickly without the need to file separate petitions. L-1B blanket visa extensions may be added on indefinitely.

What is the difference between a regular and blanket L visa?

The regular extension requires an application and approval for each individual beneficiary. On the other hand, the blanket visa extension is for employers that hire a significant number of intra-company transfer employees, allowing them to file one petition for many workers rather than just one.

How many employees are required to apply for L-1 extension?

To qualify for an L-1 blanket extension petition, the U.S. company must have at least 1,000 employees, must have obtained L-1 visas for at least 10 employees in the past year and have combined sales of at least $25 million.

What is a letter from a foreign qualifying employer?

Letter from foreign qualifying employer detailing the beneficiary’s dates of employment, responsibilities, and salary in the previous 3 years of employment

Do I need to file an I-539 with my I-129?

If you are applying for an L-1 visa extension and you wish for your L2 spouse and/or dependents to have their visas extended as well, your employer must file an I-539 form along with your I-129.

Is it important to file paperwork for an L-1 extension?

Because it is so important to file the appropriate paperwork for an L-1 visa extension, it is always highly recommended to work alongside a qualified immigration attorney to be sure you are making the right decisions for your L-1 visa extension.