H1 and L1 Visa
Certain instances occur wherein businesses operating in the US would have to bring in certain people from other countries in order to aid in their procedures or to help solve problems. For such occasions, one may use either an H1 or L1 visa. Knowing the actual purpose of each and their difference would be of great help in choosing the one that’s just right for your needs.
H1 Visa
This non-immigrant visa is under America’s Immigration and Nationality Act which allows employers in the US to hire and bring in workers from abroad, although only temporarily. H1 visa is commonly used by people who have specialized skills and qualifications needed badly by US businesses. Some examples are those professionals in the fields of education, architecture, engineering, law, health and medicine, social and physical sciences and math.
H1 visa entitles an individual three years to work and stay in the US. This may be extended to six years under certain circumstances like when one files for a labor certification application or is approved by an immigrant petition. Limited may be the time that H1 visa offers, but on the bright side, you’re not required to continue on the job that the visa was originally obtained for. This visa was the popular choice for a long time, but this changed in 2003 and ever since there had been a gradual decrease in H1 cap. Businesses started considering the other options that they think are more beneficial for their purposes.
L1 Visa
One of these other options, of course, is the L1 visa. The intra-company transferee or L1 visa was created in 1970 by the American Congress. It was formed for the purpose of giving a chance for large international businesses to bring in assets or employees from overseas into America and aid in their business needs. This visa allows the foreigner to have a permanent position and stay in America for as long as he likes. It has the subcategories L1A for managerial level employees, and L1B, which is for workers with specialized knowledge necessary for the success of business processes.
Both the H1 and the L1 visa are, by nature, non-immigrant, but they differ in the requirements needed before either can be awarded. A worker applying for an L1 visa needs to have at least a year of service to the company within the previous three years. For an L1 visa, however, a worker must have a degree. To be awarded with an L1 visa, one must specialize in a certain field and should already be a bachelor degree course graduate or a higher educational attainment.
Business operations, both here and abroad could benefit a lot from either H1 or L1 visa. The trick is in choosing the one that’s just right for your needs.