Using The L-1 Visa To Enter The USA

The US L1 Visa was initiated way back in early 1970’s to facilitate entry of non US workers into the country; and carry out tasks allocated to them by their foreign employers. The recipient of the permit can continue working in the gainful employment for organizations which nominated them for relocation. Until now, i.e. right from time of initiation of this category, millions of personnel have applied for and have been granted permissions, and millions of them have stayed in the country to the extent of tenure of permit; and have carried out tasks allocated to them.

The tenure of this non-immigrant entry permit relies on the kind of permit applied for, i.e. if in case the petitioning organization wishes to send in its personnel working at managerial or executive level, it must apply for and obtain L-1A permit; and in case the organization wishes to relocate its key specialists, it needs to apply for and obtain L-1B permit. The maximum tenure of the L-1A permit is 7 years, and L-1B permit is 5 years.  The initial grant tenure of the permit can vary from 1 year to 3 years and subsequent renewals are up to 2 years per instance.

The L 1 Visa has certain requirements that must be duly met by both the applicants, i.e. the foreign employers, and the recipients, i.e. the foreign employees. These include following:

• Employers

• It is very important for the foreign employers to evidence that they are having at least one office outside the US and are having a bonafide relation with their US based counterpart, in other words, the foreign company must be either a parent organization; an associate; a division of the US based entity; or
• In case, the company is intending to open its first office in the country, it must show that it has sufficient space; and a valid address and reason for establishing an office in country;
• The employees being relocated as managers, executives of specialist professionals have been working with the company at a foreign location for at least last 12 months, this period must precede the date of petition for L1 visa. Furthermore, the employers are also required to substantiate that the relocated employees would carry out work in the designated and nominated capacity only; and that the employees would only work at the designated locations of company;
• The personnel would depart from the country after the expiry of tenure of allowed stay period, i.e. in case the extension is not granted then immediately after expiry of permitted period, or in case the extension is granted, after the maximum permissible period, i.e. 7 years L-1A or 5 years L-1B.

• Employees 

o Personnel being shifted also need to present certain papers and also appear for a personal interview at consulate in case the L 1 Visa To Enter The USA is being sought from a foreign country. The personnel must present following evidences+-:

             Documents substantiating their foreign employment for 12 out of the last 36 months like:

                • Employment records;
                • Salary slips;
                • Payroll records; and
                • IT returns that depicting employment in petitioning company, etc.

This arrangement offers greater flexibility to the companies intending to open a new office in the country, like they can get clearance for their key personnel on the submission of their intent that they would make the new office operational within one year of the foreign personnel shifting to the country.

Using The US L1 Visa To Enter The USA is quite a convenient task. The companies seeking relocation of personnel critical to the company’s performance in the country, and the personnel receiving entry permits must fulfill certain requirements. The tenure of this non-immigrant entry permit relies on the kind of permit applied for.

Abhinav Outsourcings Pvt. Ltd. is one of the major players in field of Immigration consultancy in India since 1994. US Immigration has been our stronghold since our inception and we carry with us a glorious past of success, and intentions of offering best services to the people shifting to the USA.

US L-1 visa interview questions

Interview for L1 Visa at US consulate is the last step in the application process. As it is widely known that this arrangement facilitates entry of those the alien personnel who do not intend to permanently settle down in the country but only perform tasks allotted to them by their overseas employers, who are in an authorized legal relationship with a US based organization either as a parent undertaking; associates; division; or an agency or vise a versa, the request for this entry permit is initiated by employers. This entry arrangement is extended to the people under following categories:

• L1A for personnel currently working as managers or executives, and are being shifted to the US in      the same capacity; and
• L1B for personnel holding specialized knowledge about process or products, and their functions are    indispensible for company both in overseas location and US base.

The application process for this arrangement is usually done on case-by-case basis, but in certain cases like L-1 blanket petitions, the companies fulfilling certain criteria in terms of turnover; employment provided to local American national; and number of years spent doing business in the USA, can also opt for a blanket petition through which they can nominate multiple employees as per their convenience and timing without filing separate applications every time they intend to shift an employee to their office in the United States of America.

Nevertheless, the application is always a two step process in which the first request is always filed by the employers by filing petition I-129. Once the sanction on the petition has been received, the next step can be initiated at the employees’ end. The employees to be shifted to a company’s office in the USA must present a standard non-immigrant visa application request at the local consulate (in employees’ area). After the submission of the petition I-129, the processing period can usually take between 3 to 5 months, and an Interview For L1 Visa is conducted during this process.

Most of the times, meetings with visa officers at the consulate can end in expected rejections, i.e. which were not anticipated as per the employers’ and employees’ status, but the visa officer was not convinced about the claims and verbal substantiations made by the applicants, and thus he or she rejected the request. That means that personal meeting with VOs do make a sense and Questions Asked In Interviews For L1 Visa hold a great importance. Many a times, it has been noticed that even after being genuine, applicants put themselves in trouble by becoming nervous and ending making inappropriate utterances which ultimately land them is trouble and the outcome is failure on the table.

Remember, you must be sure to do certain things positively on the day you have been invited to meet the immigration officer at the US consulate. The VOs who would meet you only intend to ascertain two things through their L1 Visa Interview Questions that:

• You have furnished correct information and non of the documents are falsified; and
• Your intention of going to the United States is only to fulfill the role and purpose for which your employer is shifting you to that country, and that you would immediately depart from that country once your objective of shifting is fulfilled or you have lived to extent of validity of visa.

Before going to meet immigration officers, you must convince yourself that you are not going for an interrogation round, and officers going to meet you are not there to grill you about a crime that you may have committed by placing your request for moving to this country through the non-immigrant arrangement.

The immigration officers or VOs at US embassies only intend to ascertain certain important facts through their US L1 Visa Interview Questions. The application process for this arrangement is usually done on individual basis, but in certain cases the companies fulfilling certain criteria can also file for an obtain blanket approvals.

Abhinav is one of the highly reckoned US Visa Immigration specialists. Established with an objective of providing flawless and smooth immigration visa services to migration aspirants, Abhinav has gone miles in improvising on its own achievements.

Comparison of L1 and H1B Visa – Advantages

If anyone is planning for migration, or employed by the MNC but fails to get the permit than L1 and H1 are the best non-immigrant visas. These are temporary visas that help the foreign workers to get a permit in order to carry out their company in the U.S.. It requires a minimum requirement of having theoretical as well as technical knowledge in the related field of occupation.

The basic difference between the L1 and H1 visa is that L1 is an intra-company transferee visa that allows the foreign workers of US  to operate the enterprise that is U.S based, whereas H-1B is a visa for temporary workers provided for the special occupation.  These visas are created to avoid delay in business work and ensure a fast service.

Here are a few advantages of L1 and H1B visa:

•    Any citizen of the country is allowed to get a worker citizenship under this visa.
•    It requires the petition but does not have any control over the ownership of a precise country               providing some criteria to meet the qualifying organization.
•    The minors, unmarried or spouse aged below 21 years can go together with the L1 visa holder.
•    No labor certification is required for the L1 visa.
•    The dual intent is allowed in the L1 visa.

       Comparison between the L1 and H1 Visa: 

•    Education: In H1B the individual must hold a bachelor's degree or work experience in the                     particular field of occupation whereas for the L1 there is no such requirement of specific degree         or experience.
•    Eligibility for employment: US L1 visas are qualified only for the multinational companies and are           meant for the intra-company, and in case the company fails to meet the requirement then the visa         has no validity. The H1 visa holds the validation for a specific organization or US based company       in order to meet their requirements.
•    Duration to stay by holding the Visa: The L1 visa provides a validation to stay for a maximum of         7 years, of which the first 5 years are listed as L1B professional visa and if extended 2 years it            comes under the head of L1B visa. For the H1 visa the time frame is six years however on the              requirement the maximum duration to stay in US can be extended as per the requirement for it the      individual is required to contact an immigration consultant.
•    Limitations related to annual validity: The best factor is that the L1 has no limitation bounded by        the government and it can be issued every year, whereas no such facility is provided in the H1B          visa because of the visas that are allotted earlier.

Select the best visa as per your requirement seeing the best opportunities that can meet your requirement for temporary migration.

Both visas are equally important, although both carries different  features, advantages as well as disadvantages. One can apply for these visas for temporary stay in respect of the multinational company requirement.

Possessing the pros and consequences the L1 and H1B visas are temporary work visas. And such visas can be held with the help of the visa providing companies or agents. These visas help to complete the requirements of the individual who deals with the multinational companies.

The H1 and L1 visa has few dissimilarities, and one can get in touch with the visa agent or consultant who gives a complete guidance in relation to the visa required as per the profession hold by the candidate.

L1 Visa For Managers L1- A Visa Requirements

US L1 A Visa is an entry arrangement designed to serve those non immigrants who are entering the country to perform the jobs and duties at the managerial or executive levels assigned to them by their overseas employers; who may be a parent concern; an associate; or a division of a US based organization. The arrangement also facilitates entry of the people who are entering the country to establish a new office in the country.

Moving to USA has always meant passing through a complex maze of multiple rules because the statutes of this country have always been regarded as a tough nut to crack. Quite often, several people have been heard quoting that high handedness of USCIS is sometimes too hard to bear. But quite contrary to common notion, USCIS has relaxed some of immigration laws that cater to specific categories of immigrants, and aim at easing off some burden off the shoulders of immigrants.

The US L1-A Visa is filed for by the employers intending to send their employees to the country. To be able to file the petition, they must meet certain deemed vital criteria, i.e.   They must have a legal commercial business in the country which must satisfy certain predefined criteria; either the company must be either a parent organization; an associate; a division of a US based organization or visa-versa, or the company intends to establish a new office in the country. In order to prove this, they must submit papers that substantiate commercial relationships:
• Large corporate may submit a statement by the company’s authorized management, like chairman, company secretary, etc. along with papers declare parent undertakings and its affiliates;
• Smaller organization may furnish documents that disclose details of ownership, financial standings and control;
• Organization intending to setup a new business address in the US must supply details and papers that evidence its position in its home office and its plans and details of setting up of new office in the country;

Besides this, the companies must also prove that the employees being shifted to work as Managers On L1 A Visa are already working in same capacity in the company for past 12 months; and they would be disposing duties at the same level while working in the US office. Functions at managerial ranks usually refer to following work:

• The capability of the personnel to regulate and manage the functions of other professional workers and the company, or its parts,
• Capability of managing a vital operation of the company at a high level, without needing direct intervention of others.
In this case, the organizations must provide required documentary evidence of employment of such people in the overseas location; and the plans of using services of such people at locations within the US.

The companies intending to setup their first offices in the US, and shifting their management personnel as Managers Through US L-1 Visa Must Satisfy Requirements Of L1-A Requirements by providing due proofs of their plans to establish new commercial base in the US. They need to furnish listed documents:
• Documents that prove that organization has procured enough space to establish a new office that          would be able to suffice the needs of company’s business;
• The employee is working with the company at managerial rank since last 12 months; and
• The planned U.S. business address would be able to afford work at managerial ranks within 12            months of sanctioning of the petition.

Besides satisfying other procedural requirements, the organizations must also satisfy USCIS that the personnel would depart from the country after expiry of validity of the entry arrangement.

L1 Visa for Managers L1-A Visa Requirements describes the preconditions that all organizations intending to send their personnel to the US for performing tasks at managerial level. They must have a legal commercial business in the country which must satisfy certain predefined criteria, i.e. has an designated relationship with a US based corporation.

Abhinav Outsourcings Pvt. Ltd. is a highly reckoned Immigration Consultant and has been providing reliable services for US visa since 1994. 

General Requirements For L-1 Visa

L – 1 Visa is one solution for those, who want to go and work for their employers in the US without actually seeking immigration through employment or skills migration schemes. The status of recipient of this permit does not change; and the permit holder can reside in the country and travel within the US; and to the shores of his or her country to perform important duties in their base offices, i.e. the permit holders can divide the work in US and foreign office as per their convenience.

This non migrant entry permission system also enables the recipients of permit to bring along their families to the USA, including spouses and dependent children younger than 21 years, through L - 2 permits. The dependents residing in the country of original residence must move their separate requests for L – 2 permit through the US consulates, while the dependents already residing in the country on other arrangements must move a petition via I – 539 for adjustment of status.

However, to obtain L – 1 Visa Certain Requirements should be fulfilled both by the companies intending to shift their employees to the US; and the employees being shifted to the US. The qualification parameters can be broadly categorized as generic and specific. The foreign companies   planning to relocate their personnel, working on critical positions on executive and managerial levels; or having specialist skills in handling certain vital functions and processes of the companies, must substantiate that they have bonafide and designated relationships with their US counterparts, i.e.
The foreign company already having offices in United States of America and willing to shift employees:

• Must be either a parent organization; an associate; or a division of the US based organization and vis-a-versa; and
• Can  only send those employees who are in full time regular employment of the foreign company for at least 12 months in previous 3 years immediately preceding the date of submission of application for L – 1 permit; and
• Must be able substantiate that
    o It would carry out continuous business or supplying goods; and rendering services in local US             markets; and
     o It would continue to work in the country to the extent of validity of permit granted to its                       relocated employees.

Similarly, an organization not yet having any office in the country but intending to establish one, and sending its main personnel there must substantiate that:

• They have either rented or procured suitable premises to establish and house the new business office in the US, i.e. the company must prove that space arranged by them has enough space to handle operations effectively. To evidence this, the company must present their business blueprints, promotional material, and other vital material that elaborates the nature  and size of proposed business; and
• The office referred to in the petition would be fully functional within 12 months of shifting of recipient of permit, i.e. the office would be hiring some additional workers and the business would be in a position to require posting of alien personnel at managerial or executive level. The substantiation would also form the basis of request for renewal of the L – 1 tenure; and

One common stipulation that must be successfully met with by the foreign company under the General Requirements For L-1 Visa is that the foreign company must prove that employees being shifted to the country on managerial, executive or specialist levels would be carrying out tasks of similar nature and intensity in the US.

The permit holders in this category must compulsorily work only for the employer shifting them to the US and depart from country after the expiry of residence period.
Summary
There are several General Requirements For L-1 Visa which must be fulfilled by the foreign companies shifting personnel; and employees being shifted, alike. This non migrant entry permission system also enables the recipients of permit to bring their families, including spouses and dependent children under 21 years, along on the basis of L - 2 permits.

A brief on Abhinav US L1 Visa Consultants

Access of Visa on time completely depends upon the Acts prevailed by the countries where we want to immigrate. There are some countries which permit VISA to the strangers easily. Though, it may take a long time to get VISA from other countries. There are separate rules and regulations for individual country for granting VISA and hence only reliable consultants can assist us in this matter.

In this age of advance technology, we are fortunate enough in having such professional consultants in getting VISA easily. These trusted and well famed professionals have already spread their wings all over the world. These professionals possess vast knowledge in easy access of VISA.  The aspirants, who want to take immigration, always face difficulties in the application procedure. Such complicated procedure can be avoided with proper guidance of Abhinav US L1 Visa Consultants. The professionals will carry every legal matter in a simple way.

The team of such VISA consultants possesses expert knowledge so that they assist more people in lesser time. They are fully focused on providing dedicated service to all the customers. Let us have a look over the services that can be availed from this reputed consultant.

• Pre-evaluation process:  According to this process the eligibility of every aspirant of immigration is checked thoroughly. The certificate of age proof, educational certificates, present financial situation and other legal matters are also examined. The experts go through the details of profile of every client so that they will never face any further problem in getting a VISA
• Service in permit consultation: The professional team focuses on the practical situation of every customer in getting VISA. They never try to maintain a fixed plan or advice for every client. They provide solution after understanding the exact need of the customers. Accordingly, they provide suggestions to the clients.  
• Effective service in proper documentation: In most of the cases cancellation of VISA mainly occurs due to submission of incomplete data. Here the necessity of professionals is largely felt as they take care of this matter in diligently. Before submission of any document for VISA, the experts carefully go through every detail as submitted by the client. 
• Help in proper business plan: For availing VISA easily, proper business plan must be implemented within the business. Abhinav US L1 Visa Consultants are a great help in availing well supportive business plans. 
• Great help in post landing: After landing on a new land it can be a difficult task to adjust with the new place and people. The professionals will provide you a large help when you will step into a new place. These professionals will provide excellent help in airport pick up, introduction with real estate agents so that you can buy a nice apartment, etc.

From the above services it is clear that the professionals have vast knowledge in this regard. Once you get in touch with this immigration and VISA consultant, you can be free from any worry. One can visit the website of the professionals and will avail more information relating to immigration. The professionals also update the summary of current Acts and regulations of different countries on immigration. Hence, before applying for VISA, we can go through such norms and can place documents accordingly.

The author here in this content targeted to offer some info about one of the leading US L1 Visa Consultants- Abhinav