Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

Hi All,

I'm a British expat living and working in the US on an L1 visa. My Green Card application is in process, but may not be complete before my current L1 expires. The company I work for is asking me to pay the costs to renew the L1 if that becomes necessary.

Does anyone know if that is legal? I would have thought the sponsoring company should be responsible for the costs. If it's not, are you able to point me to any official documentation which states this?

Many thanks

Re: Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

Your company are legally responsible for the petition of the L1 and its extension. They must therefore pay the application and legal fees.

However......Im not sure as to if it is illegal to recoup said costs from you after the fact, maybe with monthly deductions from your paycheck. Someone else will be able to tell you if that is the case.

Re: Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

Any authority you can cite for this? Note that this is an L1 petition, not an H1.
The company may be liable for partial fees such as the anti fraud fee as per INA 214.

Re: Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

All the information I have leads me to believe that the applicant pays. If the company applied to bring you over, they pay. If you apply yourself, you pay. This only applies to who pays the government agencies, though. It isn't going to be illegal for the company to request you to reimburse them, though they can't require it as a condition of the visa, because by applying for the visa they are basically saying your visa is necessary for them to do business. They can't have your visa canceled on the grounds that you didn't reimburse them.

Re: Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

I thought it was only H that had those rules, sounds like you negotiating position is iffy.

Re: Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

It is not a question if it is legal or not. The very fact your company is quibbling about paying the renewal costs should be a big red flag to you.

You say you are on the way to getting a green card which I assume is on the back of your L1 and not too far away in the future. If you want to stay in the USA then do the math and suck up the costs.

You know what to do when your green cards are approved....

Good luck

Re: Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

With a H1 at least, the company can ask you to pay the premium processing and the legal fees, but the petition is on the company.

Either way, if the company is asking, they're in shaky ground and it's never a good sign of stability.

Re: Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

Sorry OP. I got my H and L mixed up. Disregard my comments I was wrong :)

Re: Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

Thanks for all the advice.

There has been lots of changes in senior management since I took the position, and to say I don't always see eye to eye with the new regime would be an understatement. I fully recognise that being asked to pay for my extension isn't a good omen. I will do as @digbydog suggested; keep my head down, and rethink my position when the Green Card comes through.

Thanks again.

Re: Can my company insist I pay for my own L1?
 

I have seen Numerous L1s, and have NEVER heard of a company asking someone to pay for any part of this...the company has transferred you for a reason surely? so they must be prepared for the cost?

Are you paying for the GC which is by far the more expensive process....if not why are the haggling over a few hundred bucks??

What GC category and stage are you in? as it sounds like they may start to rethink that soon.......goodluck!