US Immigration Lawyers L1 Visa vs H1B Comparison
In this blog, our US Immigration Lawyers in the UK compare two US nonimmigrant Work Visas; the L1 Visa and the H1B Visa.
It can be challenging to determine whether the L1 Visa or H1B Visa is the most suitable type of US visa for your circumstances. Our experienced Immigration Solicitors provide legal assistance for US immigration and advice on US visa options and the application process.
Talk to US Visa Lawyers in London for US immigration legal advice and help with US visa applications. Appointments are available for phone, Zoom or Team meetings and at our offices in London.
L1 Visa or H1B Visa
There are similarities and clear overlaps between the L1 and H1B visas. They are both popular nonimmigrant Work Visas, but in essence, the L1 Visa may be the best option if you are transferring your employment to a US company, while the H1B Visa may be the preferred route if you have a new job in the States.
The L1 Visa
The L1 Visa is an intra-company transfer visa. It enables multinational companies to transfer existing employees to work in the US. However, the USCIS rules don’t give multinational companies carte blanche to transfer all their non-US-based employees into the States as the L1 Visa is limited to employees working in a managerial or executive capacity or who have specialist knowledge.
Some employers and employees assume that the L1 Visa is the preserve of companies such as Amazon, top accountancy firms or global banks. That isn’t the case. An employer can be an SME company in the UK looking to expand into the US and use the L1 Visa to enable a UK-based executive to transfer to the US to develop the US branch of the UK parent company.
The L1 Visa has two categories:
- L1A:for those employed in a managerial and executive capacity
- L1B: for those with specialized knowledge
Working out whether you best fit within category A or B can be a challenge but it is worth looking at both options carefully as one allows you to stay in the US for longer.
The H1B Visa
The H1B Visa allows US companies to employ non-US nationals in specialist jobs that cannot be filled by US citizens. The visa isn't limited to specific specialist jobs or fields but successful applicants normally work in jobs such as accounting, business, education, engineering, health and medicine, mathematics or social sciences.
As the H1B Visa is a flexible Work Visa the US government places a cap on the number issued each year. Applicants are chosen randomly by lottery selection with an initial lottery for 20,000 specialist qualification H1B Visas. If you are not chosen for one of the 20,000 visas you can go into the general lottery where there are a further 65,000 H1B Visas available. It is worth mentioning that:
- Employees working for a listed organization don’t need to go into the lottery as their employment doesn’t count towards the H1B Visa annual cap. The listed organizations are institutions of higher education, higher education nonprofits, and nonprofit or governmental research organizations
- If you are a citizen of Chile or Singapore different rules and caps apply as you can apply for a different type of H1B Visa
The general eligibility criteria for the H1B Visa are:
- A job in a speciality occupation from a US employer
- A bachelor’s degree or higher qualification in an area the speciality occupation job relates to. You may still qualify for an H1B Visa if you can show that on-the-job training or previous work experience is the equivalent of a qualification
- A licence if the profession requires you to hold a licence under local, federal or State law
- An employee relationship as you must be contracted as an employee rather than working freelance
- No labor disputes– as the USCIS rules state that an H1B Visa won't be offered to a job applicant at a US company where there are labor disputes
L1 Visa vs H1B comparison
When comparing the L1 Visa and the H1B Visa there are ten key differences:
- The employee – with an L1 Visa you must be an existing employee of a multinational company to qualify, even if the US branch or subsidiary is a start-up and the established parent company is in Europe or the Far East. With the H1B Visa, you can be a new employee provided you are being recruited to do a specialist job and your qualifications or experience match the job you have been recruited to fill. The L1 Visa rules require an employee to have worked for the multinational company for at least a continuous year within three years immediately before the L1 Visa application and US entry
- The employer – your employer for an L1 Visa application must be a multinational company with a branch or subsidiary in the US or opening a new branch in the US. With an H1B Visa, the employer can be solely based in the States
- Sponsorship – with the L1 Visa your sponsor is the parent company of the multinational. That company may not be US-based. With the H1B Visa, your sponsor will be a US company employing you in the specialist field of employment
- Annual visa limit – the L1 Visa has no limit or annual cap. In contrast, the H1B Visa has an annual cap and a lottery system for visa allocation if the number of applicants exceeds the cap
- Labor certification – the H1B Visa application process requires employers to demonstrate that they have tried to recruit from within the US but have been unable to fill the specialist jobs that qualify for an H1B Visa. With the L1 Visa, there is no labor certification requirement
- Qualification - with the L1 Visa you do not need to prove that you have specific qualifications to secure the visa provided you can show that you are an executive, manager or work in a specialist field and meet the criteria for length of employment. With the H1B Visa, applicants must normally have a bachelor’s degree or higher (or the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree)
- Salary – there are salary rules for the H1B Visa but not for the L1 Visa. The H1B Visa rules say that an employer must pay the current or prevailing wage for similar employees to avoid Work Visa holders being recruited at a lower wage than US employees. With the L1 Visa, the employer can set the wage without reference to USCIS rules
- Length of stay – visa length is different for the H1B Visa and the two L1 Visa categories. With the H1B Visa, an employee can stay in the US for up to six years as the initial visa length is three years but it can be extended to a total of six years. With the L1A visa, you can stay for up to a total of seven years but with an L1B Visa the maximum stay is five years
- Flexibility of employment – with the L1 Visa you either need to be an executive, manager or work in a specialist field whilst the scope of the H1B Visa is wider
- Changing employment – the holder of an L1 Visa cannot change their employer whilst on this type of Work Visa. The holder of an H1B Visa can change employer and remain on their Work Visa if their new employer complies with the USCIS rules and files an H1B Visa transfer petition
Many US Work Visa applicants could potentially apply for an H1B Visa or one of the two categories of L1 Visa. What may appeal to you about the H1B Visa has to be carefully considered against the ease of securing an L1 Visa or the longer length of the L1A Visa. Our H1B Visa and L1 Visa Lawyers in London can guide you through the different Work Visas and provide you with the best US immigration legal advice you need to help you compare US Work Visas and make your visa application.
Speak to a US Immigration Lawyer UK for US immigration advice. Contact OTS Solicitors to arrange a phone, Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Cisco WebEx consultation or to make an appointment at our offices in London.
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