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On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Old Jan 16th 2018, 6:51 pm
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Default On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

TL;DR: I'm here on an L1-B and potentially want to move to another company. My reading around this indicates I have no choice but to transfer to an H1B, and even then if I'm successful I can't do anything with it until October 2018. Is this correct? Is there any way to speed this up?

Longer version for those with time on their hands (and who may have more creative proposals!)

My company was bought out in 2016. At the time I was resident in the UK; a number of senior members had already jumped ship to a new start-up and I was angling for a position with them in London.
By the end of 2016 I had met my eventual girlfriend in New York and used the integration work of the new company to get a move over to the US where we now rent an apartment together.

I found out mid-2017 that the new start-up really wanted to hire me to run their European IT setup, but obviously now I was out of the running, so I put it all out of my mind.
It now transpires that they still really want me, even if it's in the US. The company is in a different city but they are willing to work on a time-share basis where part of my week is in the office with the rest at home, with WFH benefits for when I'm not needed for weeks at a time.

Suffice it to say, this is incredibly attractive to me. They've already said that they would have no problem coming up with a hiring package that would pay off the outstanding money that I'd owe to my existing company to repay the relocation fees (if I leave within a year I have to repay a pro-rated amount of what they gave me to move).

The snag that I see here is that they need me now, and a switch to an H1B means I'm still unable to do anything for them until October.

I also don't think it'd be plausible for me to quit my current job and my existing L1-B, get employed by their UK arm and work in the US on secondment for such a length of time that it would take to pick up a new L1-B or H1B, right?

Are we pretty much screwed here or am I missing a trick?
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Old Jan 16th 2018, 7:12 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Is your girlfriend a USC? Are you guys ready for marriage? Becoming a US PR via marriage will give you open opportunity to work for any employer. Might take several months to get the EAD in hand, but it would be sooner than October.

Rene
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Old Jan 16th 2018, 7:19 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Originally Posted by Noorah101
Is your girlfriend a USC? Are you guys ready for marriage? Becoming a US PR via marriage will give you open opportunity to work for any employer. Might take several months to get the EAD in hand, but it would be sooner than October.

Rene
Not to mention that marriage should remove the ‘lottery’ problem of the H-1B.
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Old Jan 16th 2018, 7:41 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

She is a USC ... I'd planned to wait another year or so before getting into that though (!)
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Old Jan 16th 2018, 7:50 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

You can't switch but you can apply for a H-1B. Hurry up and start the ball rolling on that so you can get it in for the April 1 date.
If are not successful in the lottery for H-1B, then go back to Europe for a year and then transfer in on a L-1A or B. Any time spent in the US during that year would get added to make up the full 365 days working for the company.

I had a similar scenario in applying for H-1B that was unsuccessful then waiting it out in London for a year. It took me 18 months to complete the 365 days () and then the transfer fell through.
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Old Jan 16th 2018, 8:02 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Originally Posted by Orangepants
You can't switch but you can apply for a H-1B. Hurry up and start the ball rolling on that so you can get it in for the April 1 date.
If are not successful in the lottery for H-1B, then go back to Europe for a year and then transfer in on a L-1A or B. Any time spent in the US during that year would get added to make up the full 365 days working for the company.

I had a similar scenario in applying for H-1B that was unsuccessful then waiting it out in London for a year. It took me 18 months to complete the 365 days () and then the transfer fell through.

Ouch!
The problem with that is that we've literally just spent months and thousands of dollars renting an apartment and buying furniture and so on. There's absolutely no way that I could leave my girlfriend here to keep this place on her own whilst I waited it out back at home.

I'll see if the company has come up with any ingenious ideas when I talk to them.
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Old Jan 16th 2018, 8:14 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Originally Posted by MorsePacific
Ouch!
The problem with that is that we've literally just spent months and thousands of dollars renting an apartment and buying furniture and so on. There's absolutely no way that I could leave my girlfriend here to keep this place on her own whilst I waited it out back at home.

I'll see if the company has come up with any ingenious ideas when I talk to them.
I had no option but to leave my boyfriend in the house that we had just designed, built, furnished and even got the dog, as he was not a USC and a H-4 just wouldn't have cut it as I had to work. That's why it took me so long to accumulate the 365 days plus I didn't know about the US presence caveat til I was 6 months into the London assignment. I had 2 sets of expenses!
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Old Jan 16th 2018, 8:43 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Originally Posted by Orangepants
I had no option but to leave my boyfriend in the house that we had just designed, built, furnished and even got the dog, as he was not a USC and a H-4 just wouldn't have cut it as I had to work. That's why it took me so long to accumulate the 365 days plus I didn't know about the US presence caveat til I was 6 months into the London assignment. I had 2 sets of expenses!

They're going to give this 'little problem' over to HR to figure out. I won't be hearing back until early February anyway, so that gives them a few weeks to get creative within the confines of the law and the company's available options. We do have a UK base, so it's not inconceivable that we could try and do several long secondments to the US with trips home in between, as I'll be needed to do stuff in London anyway.
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Old Jan 16th 2018, 10:30 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Originally Posted by MorsePacific

They're going to give this 'little problem' over to HR to figure out..
O-1 ?
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Old Jan 17th 2018, 8:46 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Originally Posted by steveq
O-1 ?
I'm not a movie star unfortunately, so that seems to rule me out.
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Old Jan 17th 2018, 8:50 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Neither am I. Never the less I came on an O-1. Unless you are not exceptionally talented at what you do ?
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Old Jan 17th 2018, 10:25 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Originally Posted by MorsePacific
I'm not a movie star unfortunately, so that seems to rule me out.
O-1 is not just for movie stars.

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Old Jan 19th 2018, 7:31 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

I was being a little glib I'll admit

From USCIS:

The O-1 nonimmigrant visa is for the individual who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements.
The only potential qualifier I can see would be this:

A high salary or other remuneration for services as evidenced by contracts or other reliable evidence
But I'm not sure. I'm good at what I do, and the reason this is happening is that I used to work for the guy who's trying to employ me; he knows how I work, what I can do, and that I would get the job done. But whilst I may be an exceptionally good fit in this role, in this company, I don't know if that qualifies me overall.
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Old Jan 19th 2018, 7:48 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Originally Posted by MorsePacific
But I'm not sure. I'm good at what I do,
Go back to my very first postings on here, and I think I said the same as you. Get a GOOD immigration attorney - and I can recommend the ones that we worked with very much - and I think you may be amazed at how amazing they can make you.

Steve
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Old Jan 19th 2018, 9:23 pm
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Default Re: On an L1-B, another company wants me ...

Originally Posted by steveq
Go back to my very first postings on here, and I think I said the same as you. Get a GOOD immigration attorney - and I can recommend the ones that we worked with very much - and I think you may be amazed at how amazing they can make you.

Steve
It's all in the written word. A spider takes a single strand and weaves a complex web. So can an attorney with a word document.
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