Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

chas325 We are going tomorrow to collect the passport. How was your entry date stipulated as 15Nov? What date did you provide as tentative day to travel?

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

We said for me as soon as legally we could and idelly for my family Christmas holidays!

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

That's quick! Hope everything goes smoothly with the move

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

chas325 - Bummer! We got 16Nov as latest date for travel. Panicking now...

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

Is that just for the principal visa holder or for the derivatives too? You may have to do an initial trip on your own with everyone else following later on.

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

that’s for everyone. I emailed the embassy as did our attorneys and got the same answer - you can request another travel exemption 30 days before you want to travel -but they cannot guarantee you’d get it at all. We thought about me going and then requesting a new date for my family but if it’s denied or the pandemic gets worse and they can’t come then we’d be in a mess.

your other option is to goto Jamaica for 2 weeks and then direct to Us..... haha

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

Good luck to everyone with the packing! All hands on deck for that I am sure.

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

Thanks. Indeed it is!

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

Thanks Indeed. We need all the luck. Happy packing :)

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

Reading this thread with interest as my husband is in the process of applying for an L1a. I wondered why you were given a latest date for travel? Was this date stipulated by your company or by the Embassy? Just trying to get an understanding of whether an L1a waiver means you have to travel within a shorter timeframe than normal? Thanks

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

stipulated by the embassy, or actually the state department in the Us. There are 2 things in play here - a visa issuance ban and then a travel ban. To get an L1A at the moment you need a national interest exemption which the attorneys can work on to say the job is critical to Us infrastructure, covid response, economic recovery etc. The options are pretty broad.

once you get over that hurdle it’s the travel ban. You apply to travel and they’ll give you a 30 day window if they approve it - you can ask for one again later but they won’t guarantee you’d get it a second time.

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

Thanks for this. So in theory, it might be possible to get the L1A approved and then delay travel until a later date? We still don't know if we'll get the L1A approved via national interest exception yet (lawyers still preparing the application) but if approved, I was a little worried we'd HAVE to travel. We can't yet as we haven't sold our house!! At this stage, it may be that the approval comes in the new year and hopefully then the visa situation will have changed.
Thanks again and good luck with your move!

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

thanks, I know how you feel. Problem is (according to our lawyers) the national interest exemption is to travel at short notice - because the role is important enough to require the exemption; therefore they think the state dept don’t expect people to wait if it’s that important. It’s all a bit unclear!

where are you moving to in the US?

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

Right I see! So we might be best waiting until New Year. It's so hard to make firm plans right now. People keep asking when we go and all I can say is ...sometime next year..

We're hopefully moving to San Jose, California, somewhere near Silicon Valley.

Re: L1A visa approved in the current environment
 

Hi all,

I have been reading your thread with interest as we are on the same L1a visa journey!

We had our 'interview' yesterday in London, and today our DS160 status is showing as Administrative Processing. I thought this would take a week or so like yours did. It does say it can take a couple of weeks to process.... Do you think this is a good sign it is showing as processing? I was expecting it to say refused/denied from reading above.

I am very nervous given it is so close to Christmas so fully expecting something to go wrong!