L1 visa to Green Card Requirements, Process, Processing Time

We understand that these matters can be critical to the future of everyone involved. Qualified individuals wishing to enter the United States to work may seek a non-immigrant employment visa. There are many different non-immigrant visas, however, and determining which of them is suited to your situation can be challenging. difference between l1a and l1b can help you understand your options and the impact that each of them might have on your needs and goals.
L-1B is a nonimmigrant visa for foreigners transferred by their current employer to manage a branch of the company located in the U.S. The applicant must 1) be working for a qualified organization, 2) in an occupation that requires specialized knowledge. Be seeking to enter the United States to render services in a specialized knowledge capacity to a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations. Be seeking to enter the United States to provide service in anexecutiveormanagerial capacityfor a branch of the same employer or one of its qualifying organizations. A specialized knowledge employee must have an advanced level of expertise in their organization’s processes and procedures or special knowledge of the organization, which is not readily available in the United States labor market.
Means the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods and/or services by a qualifying organization and does not include the mere presence of an agent or office of the qualifying organization in the United States and abroad. The memorandum emphasizes that the employee stationed primarily offsite must be applying specialized knowledge of the petitioning organization’s own services or products. The employee’s knowledge of the third party’s systems may be considered in addition to – but not as a substitute for – his or her knowledge of the petitioning organization’s services or products. Employees that have worked in a “specialized knowledge” role at your foreign entity for at least one year within the past three years usually qualify to come to the U.S. on the L-1B visa.
With an L-1B visa, certain employees of multinational corporations are able to transfer to offices within the United States from offices abroad. The first step in applying for this type of non-immigrant visa is for the employer to file a Form I-129, Petition for Non-Immigrant Worker with U.S. For companies that need to make a number of intracompany transfers from abroad, USCIS offers the option of filing a blanket petition, which serves to expedite the process. When USCIS approves the employer’s petition, the employer must then apply for the L-1B visa with the U.S.
Dependents of L-1 visa holders can also get permission to work within the U.S. while on L-2 visas. Employees with specialized knowledge should be understood to be a small percentage of employees. An employee with specialized knowledge has more skills or knowledge than an ordinary employee. This doesn’t require extraordinary skills, just skills that are above what is held by the average employee in the field. Looking at each piece together, it’s understood that specialized knowledge doesn’t have to be unique knowledge.
The blanket petition approval notice identifies the organizations in­cluded in the petition and states the petition’s validity period. (The approved petition has an initial validity of three years and may be extended indefinitely thereafter if the qualifying organizations have complied with all appropriate regulations). The USCIS guarantees that within fifteen calendar days of re­ceipt, the employer will receive either an approval notice, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence or a notice of investigation for fraud or misrepresentation.
This knowledge must specifically relate to the business of his or her employer. There’s no limit on the number of L-1B visas given out annually and no minimum wage requirements. No need to spend hours finding a lawyer, post a job and get custom quotes from experienced lawyers instantly. The employer has the financial ability to remunerate the employee and begin doing business in the United States. Excellent team and services.Always responded to my concerns whenever i wrote to them. & willingness to answer even the smallest of questions, I was able to focus more of my time & energy on my mom, & was able to be by her side during her last final week.
If you’re looking for information about the L-1A visa instead, clickhere. While other visas such as the H-1B allow you to be employed with any U.S. employer, the company sponsoring you for an L-1 visa must be a multinational company that either has or is planning to have a branch, subsidiary, or office in the U.S. The L-1 visa, however, only requires you to be a manager, executive, or specialized employee in a multinational company in order to be qualified. If you reenter the U.S. with both a valid L-1B status and I-512, advance parole document, you will be eligible to re-enter either as a parolee or L-1B nonimmigrant. The fact that you have obtained advance parole doesn’t mean you must use it. So, it is your prerogative to choose which status to be readmitted on.
The worst-case scenario depends on the waiting time for your priority date. Fortunately, the L-1B visa is considered by the USCIS to be a “dual intent” visa, which means that you are able to seek permanent resident status while on L-1B status. This is in contrast to other work visas such as the J-1 or TN. However, for the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on the process of going from an L1B visa to a green card. If you are interested in pursuing an L-1B visa for yourself or an employee, contact us immediately.
Have a U.S. work force of at least 1,000 employees.In order to qualify under the blanket petitioning process, the employee having specialized knowledge must also be a professional. The individuals to be transferred must meet the definition of “executive”, “manager” or “specialized knowledge”, both during the qualifying period of employment abroad and as to the assignment to be undertaken in the U.S. The memorandum removes from consideration several restrictive interpretations that have plagued L-1B decisions over the past few decades.