UK2US08

Hello Everyone,

This comment is in relation to the L1-A visa.

Rather than making a new thread I thought I'd reply to this as it is some what relevant.

I may be given the opportunity to be the first to expand our company into the US. However, there are a couple of points that have me concerned.

1. Requirements are to be within the company for at least 1 year. (I've been there 6 months, understanding that obtaining a visa is a long drawn out process which could take longer than 6 months anyway, could I start the application now as by the time it is approved I'd of been there over the required year. Also, is there any leniency with the 1 year requirement).
2. There must be a physical office. (I currently work from home permanently as the office is in Ireland and I'm in the England, could this not be the same over in the US).
3. From what I've read, there is reference to managerial roles, I'm currently a Business Development Exec, but could quite easily have my job role and title amended if it made a difference? I have also seen references to visa holders 'powers' as in would I have authority to hire or fire anyone whilst there.

I appreciate these visas evolve around the same argument of 'Can a US citizen do the roll'. In response to that, the company has employed multiple people in the past which have never worked out. This is largely due to the extensive onsite training which is required of the system. This generally takes 6 months which is why I am the preferred option as I have all of the training and experience needed.

Does anyone know the importance of any of the above and whether I will have any chance what so ever with a visa?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I have a sit down with the CEO this week as we both have ambitions of expanding into the US, it's whether it will be possible for me to do so.

Many thanks

James

civilservant

Since the answers to these questions are no and no, I don't really see the point in answering anything else as you are not currently eligible.

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

I've moved your post in to a thread of your own, although your question is about the same visa it's an unrelated question really, so might be missed on that thread.

As above, you can't apply for a L1 yet anyway, but there may be other options you could explore if you did want to get over there sooner - maybe suggest to your employer that they pay for a consultation with a good immigration lawyer and see if there are any other options.

It would also be worth searching the forum to find other relevant threads that may have useful info in. I know that the question about having to have a physical office has come up before (IIRC, the answer is yes, you must have one even if you currently work from home, but a search should reveal more info).

Best of luck.

UK2US08

Many thanks for this,

This all came along quite quickly from a discussion with our head of sales, I've simply been told this is in-line with their objectives and a 'sit-down' has been arranged for us to discuss potential visas, locations, opportunities with our CEO, which is why I've not gone down route of an immigration lawyer just yet and have tried to gauge whether its even a possibility first.

All the best.

UK2US08

Appreciate the response.

What about the other points I mentioned as I can quite simply wait another another 6 months before starting the application process. Someone else commented that the physical office is required but there may be some other options around that? It would also be good to know about the 'managerial' roles and how much of an issue this could be.

Just to confirm I appreciate I don't tick a lot of the boxes now so understand that there's no point commenting further. However, this is just gathering the information so I can have an informed discussion this week which off the back of that can start to formulate a plan and get an immigration lawyer involved.

Thanks

christmasoompa

Just to say that you shouldn't be getting an immigration lawyer involved - the company should be doing that (and paying for it). They're the ones that pay for the visa and all fees, including a lawyer.

Best of luck.