L1 to H1B Change of Status The Only Guide You Need Herman Legal Group

If you suspect that there may be unique challenges to your ability to qualify for a visa, it’s best to consult an immigration attorney for advice. Retaining an attorney is especially crucial for individuals who have been previously denied entry, convicted of a crime, or who face immediate deportation. L1B visas are for employees who hold positions that require special skills and knowledge.
As a result, being a specialized knowledge specialist is an essential requirement for the L1B. Perhaps the biggest drawback of the L-1B is the five-year maximum stay period allowed to visa holders. Fortunately, you can still apply for a change of visa status before your current L-1B status expires. Another core restriction is that the visa holder must only work for the petitioning employer — this means you can’t work at a part-time job or switch to a new employer while on L-1 status. Similar to the L-1A visa, the L-1B visa is used for intracompany transfers of foreign employees with specialized knowledge relating to the interests of the business.
Has control over the supervisors and lower level employees of the organization or the division which the manager heads. l1b visa requirements can then be extended for another two years, which brings the maximum amount of time a transferee is permitted to work in the U.S. on an L1B visa to five years. This fee is in addition to the a) Base Processing Fee, b) Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee, c) American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 fee , as well as d) the premium processing fee, if applicable. An executive coming to work for a U.S. office that has been in operation for at least one year may also qualify for a Green Card as a priority worker (EB1-C). Meaning people who oversee production or a function instead of personnel. The specialized knowledge subcategory aims to facilitate transfer of high level technical staff.
The L1 visa is valid from 3 months to five years depending on areciprocity schedule. The United States law requires visa fees and validities based on the country’s treatment to United States Citizens. This means that the validity of your L1 visa depends on your country of origin’s reciprocity with the United States.
Initially granted for 3 years, a Blanket L petition is a quicker, less expensive and more efficient route for transferring overseas workers to the U.S. For example, with an approved Blanket L petition, employees abroad transferring to the U.S. can apply for an L-1 visa directly at a U.S. This avoids the need for the U.S. employer to file an individual L petition in the U.S. which can take weeks or months to be adjudicated. The L-1 visa is a non-immigrant work visa enabling U.S. companies to transfer employees from overseas subsidiaries to the U.S. There are two types of L-1 visas—an L-1A visa available to managers or executives, and an L-1B visa which is for workers with “specialized knowledge” of the company’s products, services, and ways of doing business.