Working & Living US Long Term & Visas

MarkJD

Hi All,

(Apologies in advance for wall of text)

Im looking to get some advice and experiences of those that have gone through Visas that have been granted through a company that allows them to live and work in the US (H1-B, L1-B, L1-A etc) Iv been given some solid advice along the way from Silja and other members in my random postings in some other threads. I will try be to the point and keep it as short as possible.

As a side note I do have a consultation this Monday coming with a US Attorney Lawyer to run through everything and my options but I would appreciate any tips / advice on what to do from those that have gone through similar.

I am 27 and I am currently working for a large IT multinational. I have worked for them since August 2010. I am currently employed as an internal product specialist, specializing on their enterprise product portfolio and services ranging from Servers, Networking, Storage and all associated solution services and software that goes along with it. I have had it as part of my career development for over 18 months to travel and live in the US focusing on the enterprise products that they develop in the HQ in Roundrock Texas. I traveled to Austin in April 2013 to visit the location to ensure it was somewhere i would like to live and to meet with different managers based there.

There are positions that I am qualified for that have opened up in Roundrock, Texas that I have applied for. From initial conversations with managers and HR within the company while there is a desire to have me over in the US to work there, there are currently OPEX constraints (restrictions on spend outside critical business needs) within the company that will potentially not cover the visa, legal and relocation costs to complete this move.

I am due to be married in June 2014 this year. She has a Higher Diploma in Social Care and will complete her BA Psychology degree in May 2014 but throughout this process I have initially been looking at the L1-B visa as it would be imperative that she would be able to seek work / apply for her own working Green card while in the US under my L1-B. From my understanding of the L1-B would cover this and i would be qualified under being a specialist on the companies products? On the fee front from my understanding I should be able to pay for any legal and visa fees so the cost does not fall on the companies lap?

Basically im trying to make it so that the company just has to stamp whatever form to state they are happy to sponsor me to live and work in the US under that visa.. Is this possible or is there going to be some cost or tax somewhere along the line that they might have to incur? Given the company is a big machine im waiting to get answers etc but they can be very slow coming back especially with the time difference.

Thanks for reading and apologies for the long post but I wanted to outline everything so if anyone is in a position to offer sound advice I would appreciate it.

Ponster

Everything seems perfect for you except for one thing. The L1 visa must be applied for by the company and not you. It is not your visa but one that the company loans to you for the duration of your contract. This is the type of information that your company should already know and should be telling you. You'll need a way perhaps for your company to tell you the costs involved and have some system that you reimburse them but that type of thing is always tricky IMO when we're talking about a large multinational company.


> I have initially been looking at the L1-B visa as it would be imperative that she would be able to seek work / apply for her own working Green card while in the US under my L1-B. From my understanding of the L1-B would cover this and i would be qualified under being a specialist on the companies products?

No problem with seeking work. You or her wouldn't be eligible for a greencard for many years though.

MarkJD

Thanks for the response. I initially thought the same about being unable to apply / process for that Visa on my own but the Lawyer had quickly menitoned it was possible but maybe was referring to another Visa. Ill push back internally for more accurate information.

Ye sorry meant a working visa and not a green card directly. I understand you have to be working 5 years before you can apply for that?

Jonny_D

Ponster wrote: »

> I have initially been looking at the L1-B visa as it would be imperative that she would be able to seek work / apply for her own working Green card while in the US under my L1-B. From my understanding of the L1-B would cover this and i would be qualified under being a specialist on the companies products?

No problem with seeking work. You or her wouldn't be eligible for a greencard for many years though.

Unless you are currently a manager? If so it's pretty quick.

lonestargirl

MarkJD wrote: »

Ye sorry meant a working visa and not a green card directly. I understand you have to be working 5 years before you can apply for that?

Green card application is again sponsored by your company not applied for by you. They can apply right away however depending on your category there could be a 5 year wait before your application becomes current.

MarkJD

Jonny_D wrote: »

Unless you are currently a manager? If so it's pretty quick.

No not a manager unfortunately. Does anyone have a rough idea of what total visa costs would be Inc legal fees?

cena

MarkJD wrote: »

No not a manager unfortunately. Does anyone have a rough idea of what total visa costs would be Inc legal fees?

Rough guess more then 5000 euro

ProudDUB

$5,000 to $10,000. A big chunk of that is legal fees, as most companies would pay immigration attorneys to process the paperwork. That amount would be lower if the company has their own in house legal department with experience in getting visas for over seas workers. Unfortunately, it is not a quick or simple process. There is a lot more to it than simply giving the company who wants to hire you a few forms to stamp.

daycent

MarkJD wrote: »

Hi All,

(Apologies in advance for wall of text)

Im looking to get some advice and experiences of those that have gone through Visas that have been granted through a company that allows them to live and work in the US (H1-B, L1-B, L1-A etc) Iv been given some solid advice along the way from Silja and other members in my random postings in some other threads. I will try be to the point and keep it as short as possible.

As a side note I do have a consultation this Monday coming with a US Attorney Lawyer to run through everything and my options but I would appreciate any tips / advice on what to do from those that have gone through similar.

I am 27 and I am currently working for a large IT multinational. I have worked for them since August 2010. I am currently employed as an internal product specialist, specializing on their enterprise product portfolio and services ranging from Servers, Networking, Storage and all associated solution services and software that goes along with it. I have had it as part of my career development for over 18 months to travel and live in the US focusing on the enterprise products that they develop in the HQ in Roundrock Texas. I traveled to Austin in April 2013 to visit the location to ensure it was somewhere i would like to live and to meet with different managers based there.

There are positions that I am qualified for that have opened up in Roundrock, Texas that I have applied for. From initial conversations with managers and HR within the company while there is a desire to have me over in the US to work there, there are currently OPEX constraints (restrictions on spend outside critical business needs) within the company that will potentially not cover the visa, legal and relocation costs to complete this move.

I am due to be married in June 2014 this year. She has a Higher Diploma in Social Care and will complete her BA Psychology degree in May 2014 but throughout this process I have initially been looking at the L1-B visa as it would be imperative that she would be able to seek work / apply for her own working Green card while in the US under my L1-B. From my understanding of the L1-B would cover this and i would be qualified under being a specialist on the companies products? On the fee front from my understanding I should be able to pay for any legal and visa fees so the cost does not fall on the companies lap?

Basically im trying to make it so that the company just has to stamp whatever form to state they are happy to sponsor me to live and work in the US under that visa.. Is this possible or is there going to be some cost or tax somewhere along the line that they might have to incur? Given the company is a big machine im waiting to get answers etc but they can be very slow coming back especially with the time difference.

Thanks for reading and apologies for the long post but I wanted to outline everything so if anyone is in a position to offer sound advice I would appreciate it.

I came over to Silicon Valley with my wife on an L1B a year ago. I also work for a big multinational tech company. I worked for a year and a half with them in Ireland before the chance to move came up. It came about due to one of my colleagues (we basically worked together in a team of two) asking our manager if it would be a possibility. She confirmed it probably would be, and I said I may be willing to go also, as I would basically be the only person in that department outside of the US.

We were given the option of California or Massachusetts, we chose California obviously! (I'm not sure if I would have gone if it would have been Massachusetts...). The company engaged a lawyer to deal with the whole process, and it was quite straightforward. Our employer paid for everything, and also gave us a lump sum for relocation expenses (with a repayment agreement if we left the company). The L1B is a "specialised knowledge" visa, but it's pretty easy to qualify for. I wasn't a typical case (i.e. not a software engineer) but it was still approved quite easily. It helps if your company do this kind of thing a lot, which mine do. I think they had some kind of blanket pre-qualification thing..... (sorry... memory is hazy... busy year!)

We had to go to the US embassy in Dublin for visa approval. Slightly daunting but it was very simple and straightforward. You just go up to a counter (like you are renewing your passport or something) and are asked a few simple questions about education, salary etc (nothing tricky!) and that's it. Visa is initially valid for 3 years, and can be extended to 5 I believe.

The L1B is definitely the way to go if possible. It's a 'dual intent' visa unlike a H1B which means any time spent on it counts towards citizenship. And also your spouse can work freely on it as you say. NOTE: Your spouse would need to get an EAD (employment authorization document) to actually allow her to work. These can take up to 3 months to be approved, meaning she can't work until then. Definitely worth being aware of.

We like it so much here that we have started the Green Card process. Again being sorted out by (and funded by) the company. This will probably take about 2 years to be approved in my case, at a rough guess.

Best of luck with it and fell free to PM if you have any specific questions.

MarkJD

cena wrote: »

Rough guess more then 5000 euro

ProudDUB wrote: »

$5,000 to $10,000. A big chunk of that is legal fees, as most companies would pay immigration attorneys to process the paperwork. That amount would be lower if the company has their own in house legal department with experience in getting visas for over seas workers. Unfortunately, it is not a quick or simple process. There is a lot more to it than simply giving the company who wants to hire you a few forms to stamp.

Thanks guys i figure as much... Just seems like this is probably not going to happen.. Trouble with massive companies I guess... even if i was willing to give them every cent of the cost of the process just seems like there is way more to it!

MarkJD

daycent wrote: »

I came over to Silicon Valley with my wife on an L1B a year ago. I also work for a big multinational tech company. I worked for a year and a half with them in Ireland before the chance to move came up. It came about due to one of my colleagues (we basically worked together in a team of two) asking our manager if it would be a possibility. She confirmed it probably would be, and I said I may be willing to go also, as I would basically be the only person in that department outside of the US.

We were given the option of California or Massachusetts, we chose California obviously! (I'm not sure if I would have gone if it would have been Massachusetts...). The company engaged a lawyer to deal with the whole process, and it was quite straightforward. Our employer paid for everything, and also gave us a lump sum for relocation expenses (with a repayment agreement if we left the company). The L1B is a "specialised knowledge" visa, but it's pretty easy to qualify for. I wasn't a typical case (i.e. not a software engineer) but it was still approved quite easily. It helps if your company do this kind of thing a lot, which mine do. I think they had some kind of blanket pre-qualification thing..... (sorry... memory is hazy... busy year!)

We had to go to the US embassy in Dublin for visa approval. Slightly daunting but it was very simple and straightforward. You just go up to a counter (like you are renewing your passport or something) and are asked a few simple questions about education, salary etc (nothing tricky!) and that's it. Visa is initially valid for 3 years, and can be extended to 5 I believe.

The L1B is definitely the way to go if possible. It's a 'dual intent' visa unlike a H1B which means any time spent on it counts towards citizenship. And also your spouse can work freely on it as you say. NOTE: Your spouse would need to get an EAD (employment authorization document) to actually allow her to work. These can take up to 3 months to be approved, meaning she can't work until then. Definitely worth being aware of.

We like it so much here that we have started the Green Card process. Again being sorted out by (and funded by) the company. This will probably take about 2 years to be approved in my case, at a rough guess.

Best of luck with it and fell free to PM if you have any specific questions.

Thanks very much pretty much the sort of reply i was looking for. Glad to hear it went well for you. Seems im up against a stumbling block for now with the company. Guess ill see how things go with this immigration lawyer and see if there is any way around the process! thanks

daycent

You're welcome. Hopefully you can figure something out. Maybe if you could broach the idea of a repayment agreement?

It might help if you could figure out who (if anyone) deals with that sort of stuff in HR?

(I'm sure you've probably thought of all that already ;-))

lonestargirl

daycent wrote: »

You're welcome. Hopefully you can figure something out. Maybe if you could broach the idea of a repayment agreement?

Paying for the visa or associated fees yourself is prohibited. They are supposed to want/need you enough to take care of that.

daycent

lonestargirl wrote: »

Paying for the visa or associated fees yourself is prohibited. They are supposed to want/need you enough to take care of that.

Yeah I know. I meant more in terms of a repayment agreement if you leave the company before an agreed period, after the granting of a Green Card (like 2 years or something). That might make it a bit more appealing to them....

Ewa24

Hi,

I am currently on a 12 month intern work visa and i know theres a minimum of 32 hours per week but does anyone know what the maximum hours you can work is? CIEE does not seem to have any information on their website about it. My current employer wants to know so that everything is legal but I can't find an answer any where.

MarkJD

lonestargirl wrote: »

Paying for the visa or associated fees yourself is prohibited. They are supposed to want/need you enough to take care of that.

Odd that this lawyer would say it was possible...Will keep you guys posted anyways at least my experience might be beneficial to others

Jonny_D

daycent wrote: »

The L1B is definitely the way to go if possible. It's a 'dual intent' visa unlike a H1B which means any time spent on it counts towards citizenship.

Do you have a link to any official info on this?
I've heard conflicting things on whether this is true.

spideog7

daycent wrote: »

We were given the option of California or Massachusetts, we chose California obviously! (I'm not sure if I would have gone if it would have been Massachusetts...).

I dunno what's obvious about that I'd probably rather Massachusetts than California to be fair

daycent wrote: »

The L1B is definitely the way to go if possible. It's a 'dual intent' visa unlike a H1B which means any time spent on it counts towards citizenship. And also your spouse can work freely on it as you say. NOTE: Your spouse would need to get an EAD (employment authorization document) to actually allow her to work. These can take up to 3 months to be approved, meaning she can't work until then. Definitely worth being aware of.

H1B is also a dual intent visa.

OP my understanding is that it is illegal for you to pay for these visa processes. I suppose you could voluntarily take a big pay cut but in general there are minimum salary requirements for the visa, depending on your job description and the location. Those are available at www.flcdatacenter.com