ryanthelion84

Hi All,

I am wondering if I can seek a bit more information from you all regards to an L1 visa application.

I found a job on my company intranet last week and with it being a life long aspiration to live and work in the US I decided to send over my resume.

I've not heard anything back yet regards the application but I'm hoping to at least be considered, but from a previous enquiry to our global HR department know that my company will support a successful applicant in a work visa application which in the case of an intra-company transfer I know will be an L1 type visa.

My question is really around the success rate of these type of visa's...I know that these do not form part of the yearly quota that H1B's are subject to so I'm intrigued to know how frequently these are approved?

Also I have noted that being a dual intent visa these can also be used to stage a green card application and it's this process I'm hoping someone on here can tell me more about, specifically how you progress from an L1 to a green card application, the cost and whether the same company that assisted in your L1 application have to sponsor you?

Finally I've seen that there is an EAD that allows spouses to work? What is one of these and how does it work!?

Thanks for your help!

Regards,

R Harris

meauxna

hi there

While you are waiting to hear back about your application, do some snooping around this forum for L-1 posts/threads.. there are lots of L-1s posting here! So, valid applications are usually successful (there is a list of problem areas for you to know about ahead of time somewhere in here http://london.usembassy.gov/visas.html .. stuff like your/dependents past criminal history or medical inadmissibility etc)

The application for permanent residency (green card) is a new application that again, your employer would initiate. Many people work into their transfer agreement, a promise from the employer to initiate this within a certain time frame. Length for approval depends on several things, which you'll pick up on as you skim some of those L-1 threads (particularly the many 'L-1 to GC' titled ones).

The EAD = Employment Authorization Document. The L-2 spouse is eligible to apply for work authorization, and when she receives it (about 90 days for the application), she can go get hired at a job and work there. When your L status ends, so does her EAD.

There is also an EAD associated with the green card application.

ryanthelion84

Hi there!

Thanks for your quick response ...I'm already well underway with the snooping but will take a look at the pitfalls you have mentioned.

I'm glad that the sucess rate is high...i just hope the company i work for consider me a viable applicant for the job ive applied for now! The only thing that worries me a little is it's typically a job that an American could fill, so I'm relying on my well written resume and references to stand me out from the rest of the pack!!

An L1 automatically comes with L2's where required does it not?

Thanks,

meauxna

A person who is the spouse/child of an L-1 is automatically eligible to apply for an L-2. They still need to be eligible to receive the visa (ineligibilities list I mentioned above).

The job needs to meet the requirements for the L-1 in the first place. Info on L-1s from London here: http://london.usembassy.gov/work2.html

ryanthelion84

Thanks again, certainly some bedtime reading for me tonight!

HOWEVER, having taken advice on reading other threads I have been scared half to death by the content of this one which I'm sure has ascended into the forums folklore:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ight=L1&page=4

Now, without turning this into a healthcare related thread I am intrigued to know if through the sheer purpose of this forum there has been some effort in putting a resource together to help potential immigrants understand US healthcare?

I'm talking in terms of the different providers, premiums, excesses, other terms such a co-pay I've heard thrown around but have no idea what it means, typical policy coverage at the various levels and an understanding of what is covered in terms of all the different aspects of what I (working in healthcare IT) would call the patient flow right from doctors appointment to referals, admin costs, medication (standard or otherwise) lab result processing, operations including anesthetics and consumables and even if dental can be thrown into an all encompassing famliy package?

My budget per month for family healthcare/dental for a fully fit and functioning family of 2 non smoking adults and 2 children under 3 is around $400 a month...I'm HOPING this is realistic...

I shall be speaking to friends and family in FL to determine whether they feel this is realistic also.

The other thing of course is that the job for which i am applying encompasses a healthcare benefit. i'm sure the level of these varies from employer to employer but it would also be interesting to see what people on here think of these...do they tend to be minimal in their coverage is it a good thing to have an employee offering such a thing, or is it better to go out and seek your own policy so as to know you are as covered as you can be.

My final question, and forgive me because this reply is becoming a little dragged out is on pregnancy...

I talk about a wife and 2 kids...when actually as I type this it is actually a wife, a 2 and a half year old and one more under construction (18 weeks atm!) now, dependant on how quickly things may, or may not move with this job application this baby, due Jan 20th 2011 could be born here, in the UK, or could be born in the US...thus opening up as far as I can predict a whole can of worms in terms of questioning...I can only assume that by picking up the paintbrush used by posters on the aforementioned thread the picture I will paint in my head is of spiralling costs penalising mankind for the beauty of pro-creation, but I'm hoping someone can enlighten me with something more positive.

Returning home to england to make use of the NHS I can predict (I think i should set up as a clairvoiant! sp?) will spell disaster as I'll end up with a beautiful (i hope) baby with no valid L2 visa and no entry for long term stay into the United States...so the only real choice is the have the baby in the US....thoughts on this of course are also appreciated!

Thanks again.

Ryan Harris

Noorah101

Is that your total all-encompassing budget? Including insurance premium, co-pays, and/or deductables?

Just to give you my own scenario, it's only me and my spouse on my employer's health and dental plan. It's a huge corporation, so we have a decent health and dental plan. For just the two of us, they take $380 out per month for my share of the insurance premium payments. That's close to your $400 budget already, and that's just for the two of us, no kids. On top of the premium payments that come from my paycheck, we have the type of insurance where we use network doctors (pre approved by the insurance company, United HealthCare). Each office visit is $20 (not bad). Prescriptions are around $10 each for the generic brand, more if it's a name brand. There's no deductable for the health care, but there is a limit on the dental coverage, so we had to do my husband's dental work spread over 2 years so it could all be done under insurance. The dental plan is the type where we pay 20% of the bill, insurance pays $80, unless it's a crown, in which they payment is 50/50. Cosmetic dental work is not covered by insurance.

A couple of years ago, my husband ended up going to the emergency room for a kidney stone attack. We only had to pay $100, but the total bill came to $17,000 for 4 hours in the ER (in Los Angeles).

You have good reason to be nervous about the cost of health care for a family of 4.

From what I know, the cost of going through your employer's insurance is WAY less than having your own separate policy. Corporations give big premium discounts, and the employer usually pays a portion of it, as in our case.

The baby will still be able to get an L-2, even born in the UK.

Rene

meauxna

This WILL become a healthcare thread if you persist..

Here's what you need to know to go do your research:
There's no point in making an explanation sheet for a moving target.
If you are xferring as an L-1, I would expect your company to offer and pay a good percentage of decent/good health insurance cover for you. If you're esteemed enough to be transferred/hired in at that level, the job should come with 'good' perks.

Group coverage (the option offered thru your employer) is going to be superior to what is offered to individuals/self-employed.
You need to find out what they offer for the job you're applying for. And then understand that that can change without notice, and will bear no resemblance to what I have, what your neighbor has, or what a family member in FL has.

Don't speak to your family/friends in Florida. Speak with HR or employees at a commensurate level in the city+company where you'll be going.

In the meantime, there are comprehensive thread in the USA forum discussing the topic. If you work in healthcare IT though, your head might explode just from examining the topic. I'm born-American and it paralyzes me. (the topic, not the being born here part)

ryanthelion84

To avoid the being told off my board mods... I am going to open a healthcare post elsewhere on the forum and link it to this one for context...

So purely on the topic of visa's and certain scenarios...

It sounds as though my wife and I could travel home for a 'visit' on our L1/L2 visas for the birth of our next child under the NHS if this proves cheaper and my wife could follow me back to the US once an L2 for our new bundle has been commisioned. Can anyone comment on any experiences of such a scenario for me?

Ta!

meauxna

lol, I didn't mean it that way... (but no one ever 'gets' it when I do!)

I'm just saying, you'll find it is a topic that gets passionate replies and that one portion will overshadow your immigration thread.
It's OK to have two separate threads going on two separate topics.

The question in this one should be posed in the USA forum. When it has been before, the answer is, if you are not resident in the UK, you're not eligible for regular NHS care for free (emergency yes). Giving birth is not usually an emergency.

ryanthelion84

I'm trying my best to be pragmatic and get the most out of the forum and thus far it's proving very useful.

I guess it would be interesting to find out how long you can be out of the country for before your NHS priviledges are deemed 'revoked'?!

That and 'the cost of being pregnant in the US' are probably my next posts! I think I'm going to title that one 'Born in the USA?' LOL!

meauxna

I'd answer:

1 (how long): As soon as you are not resident in the UK. Like, when you move.

2 (how much) That has been done (but people love to share war stories! ) but it's crucial.. if you have health insurance that covers preg/del, and I do not, it could cost you "hundreds" and me "tens of thousands".
If you have health insurance at what I'd expect for an L-1 International Manager, having a baby should be a reasonable prospect (IE not one worth considering returning to the UK for).
If you do not have health insurance, you'll find it can be very expensive to have a baby in the US. People keep doing it every day though..