farjojo71

Hi. Has anyone ever applied for a L1B visa when living in Canada? If so, how did you go about getting it? My husband who is a British citizen with Canadian PR works for an oil field company in Alberta. He has the chance of working in Texas for about a month but his company are hesitant to send him as they said it can take 3 months for them to get the L1B visa for him as opposed to a Canadian citizen who can apply for the visa at POE.

Thanks in advance

farjojo71

...Or could he go to the states using his 1-94 as he will be back in Canada within the 90 days limit on the VWP? He will not be paid by a US employer and will be staying in a hotel paid for by the Canadian employer.

christmasoompa

Sorry, I've just moved your thread from the Canada forum, didn't realise you'd posted here too! This is the right place for your question so I'll delete the duplicate.

Good luck.

farjojo71

Thanks, wasn't sure where to put it

ian-mstm

What, exactly, will he be doing in Texas? He can attend meetings and conduct some business and stuff on the VWP - but he can't actually work.

Ian

S Folinsky

Does the employer use immigration counsel? If not, there are several on the border in Washington State and also near Buffalo, New York.

They might also be able to advise on a suitable time frame.

S Folinsky

OP provides very little in the way of facts. I have no idea if the B-1 in lieu of H-1b would apply here. That is a situation where a B-1 does, in fact, allows for "work" in the US.

A good immigration attorney versed in border issues and business might be able to work out a solution. I can envision several possibilities, but I don't know enough to make conclusions either way.

scrubbedexpat099

The Canadians I came across just entered as visitors.

crg

The process for a UK citizen who is a PR of Canada is the same as the process for a UK citizen who is not. The 90 days doesn't matter unless the activities in the US are authorized.

AndFinally

I renewed my L1A in Canada. I can't comment on time scales for an L1B but the hardest part was getting an appointment. We used premium processing and from petition to appointment it took around 4 weeks if memory serves.

Steve_

What is the "work"? If it's just training, meeting, delivering, taking order kind of stuff he can go as a visitor.

Anyway, yes the employer is correct, USCIS will have to approve it before he can apply for a visa in Calgary, which will take around 3 months. Whereas a Canadian can enter while USCIS process it. Essentially the office in Texas would have to file an I-129 for him and wait for approval, whereas if he were Canadian he could show up at the POE with the I-129.

Given that he'll only be there for a month, he won't become resident for tax purposes and I doubt they would put him on the Texas payroll (nor are they required to) so it really does boil down to the nature of the work.

Obviously apply for Canadian citizenship as soon as you can, but that doesn't help now.