jopottie

Hello all!
Well I have not been on here for some time but hope some of you helpful chaps can help me out with something!
I've now been working here on an L1-A for 6 months and need to start thinking about our visa renewal.
I talked with my lawyer last week who provided a summary of what I needed to submit in order for the application to be processed. It didn't seem like a lot, just a few updates to the business plan, financial info, staff info etc. etc. I felt pretty happy about everything until I got the bill......this is more than we paid initially for the L1A! There seems to be a lot less work involved in the renewal and I am a little shocked as to why the cost is so high.
Does anyone have any experience of this? Should the cost for the renewal be more than obtaining the actual visa in the first place? If there are any L1-A people out there who have any knowledge of this it would be great to hear from you!
Thank you!

notonuksoil

How come you are renewing after only 6 months? First L1a is valid for 3 years then you can renew twice for 2 years each, total 7 years.

jopottie

First L1-A is valid for 12 months and they advise you start the process 6 months into the 12 months.
The renewal is then for 3 years.
Not sure if this has changed to the above recently but this is how it is certainly how it is at the moment.



QUOTE=notonuksoil;10717338]How come you are renewing after only 6 months? First L1a is valid for 3 years then you can renew twice for 2 years each, total 7 years.[/QUOTE]

Ray

Qualified employees entering the United States to establish a new office will be allowed a maximum initial stay of one year. All other qualified employees will be allowed a maximum initial stay of three years. For all L-1A employees, requests for extension of stay may be granted in increments of up to an additional two years, until the employee has reached the maximum limit of seven years.

Michael

I suspect like the E-2 visa, getting the initial visa is not that difficult but extending it can possibly be more problematic. Even though you are on a L-1A visa, I suspect USCIS looks at it similar to an E-2 visa as far as an extension is concerned when establishing a new office.

Flabound oneday

you are doing the right thing going in early...we did (even using PP) and with an RFE didnt get approval until 3 weeks before the original expired.

as to cost, yes ours also cost the same as the original , and the RFE another bundle


America+lawyers= big bills