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I'd never heard of an L1B visa so here is one of the top DDG search results. "An L-1 visa is a visa document used to enter the United States for the purpose of

I'd never heard of an L1B visa so here is one of the top DDG search results. "An L-1 visa is a visa document used to enter the United States for the purpose of work in L-1 status. It is a non-immigrant visa, and is valid for a relatively short amount of time, from three months to five years, based on a reciprocity schedule. With extensions, the maximum stay is seven years. L-1 visas are available to employees of an international company with offices in both the United States and abroad. The visa allows such foreign workers to relocate to the corporation's US office after having worked abroad for the company for at least one continuous year within the previous three prior to admission in the US...." Really it sounds like this is a Visa for a US company to temporarily bring in someone from outside the country, a person who is already an employee of the company.

noisy_boy 6y ago
The typical approach to handle the temporary aspect is to arrive via L1B and apply for H1B which doesn't have the maximum stay restrictions. Employee friendly companies tend to help with application. The other visa in a similar category is L1A but the employee needs to be of managerial grade. However, the green card approval process is quicker (subject to various factors including country of origin etc). All this from some various discussions I've been in so I may be not be entirely accurate.
- refurb 6y ago
  H1B which doesn't have the maximum stay restrictions H1B is valid for a maximum of 6 years. Then you need to leave for a set period of time.
  - noisy_boy 6y ago
    I stand corrected. To add, usually the H1B holders begin the green card process as soon as possible (with the help of their company). Technically, at least 365 days prior to the day in which the six-year limit was reached and then H1B visa may be extended in one-year increments.
mtmail 6y ago
Many L1B holders I know started their greencard (permanent residency) process within the first year and their companies supported that.
DVassallo 6y ago
It’s explicitly a dual-intent visa, which means that it can be turned into a permanent resident visa, just like H1B. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_intent https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_intent I’m the person in the tweet, and now a permanent resident and soon US citizen.
nogabebop23 6y ago
5-7 years is an eternity for tech jobs though, and nothing stops them from converting to another visa at some point if th emove is truly permanent. I know people who have worked on free trade visas for decades that are far less stable than the L1B too.
pheug 6y ago
The spirit of the legislation may have been that L1B is for a temporary stay, but in practice today it's one of the major paths for high skilled foreign workers to permanently immigrate into the US, since H1B got extremely crowded lately. AFAIK most big tech companies wouldn't even try to bring anyone from overseas on H1B anymore - too much hassle, too little chance. Instead they'd offer people to work for a year in Canada or Europe and then import them on L1. Advantages: it's not subject to quotas and lottery like H1B, and (a plus from employer perspective:) ties the person to the employer, so they ain't job hopping anywhere for a while.

noisy_boy 6y ago

The typical approach to handle the temporary aspect is to arrive via L1B and apply for H1B which doesn't have the maximum stay restrictions. Employee friendly companies tend to help with application. The other visa in a similar category is L1A but the employee needs to be of managerial grade. However, the green card approval process is quicker (subject to various factors including country of origin etc). All this from some various discussions I've been in so I may be not be entirely accurate.

refurb 6y ago
H1B which doesn't have the maximum stay restrictions H1B is valid for a maximum of 6 years. Then you need to leave for a set period of time.
- noisy_boy 6y ago
  I stand corrected. To add, usually the H1B holders begin the green card process as soon as possible (with the help of their company). Technically, at least 365 days prior to the day in which the six-year limit was reached and then H1B visa may be extended in one-year increments.

mtmail 6y ago

Many L1B holders I know started their greencard (permanent residency) process within the first year and their companies supported that.

DVassallo 6y ago

It’s explicitly a dual-intent visa, which means that it can be turned into a permanent resident visa, just like H1B. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_intent https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_intent I’m the person in the tweet, and now a permanent resident and soon US citizen.

nogabebop23 6y ago

5-7 years is an eternity for tech jobs though, and nothing stops them from converting to another visa at some point if th emove is truly permanent. I know people who have worked on free trade visas for decades that are far less stable than the L1B too.

pheug 6y ago

The spirit of the legislation may have been that L1B is for a temporary stay, but in practice today it's one of the major paths for high skilled foreign workers to permanently immigrate into the US, since H1B got extremely crowded lately. AFAIK most big tech companies wouldn't even try to bring anyone from overseas on H1B anymore - too much hassle, too little chance. Instead they'd offer people to work for a year in Canada or Europe and then import them on L1. Advantages: it's not subject to quotas and lottery like H1B, and (a plus from employer perspective:) ties the person to the employer, so they ain't job hopping anywhere for a while.