davidw76

Hello everyone

My employer has agreed to transfer me to our US office in Denver on an L1B visa (I'm a software engineer). They are going to start the legal process within the next month. Can anyone with any experience of the L1 visa tell me how long the whole process might take assuming its successful? I'm guessing I'll be lucky to finish everything by Christmas?

I previously spent 1 year on an H1B (5 years ago), does anyone know if this will count against the 5 year limit on an L1B?

Can I start the GC process as soon as I arrive in the US? And if its not finished when my L1 expires, what happens next?


Thanks in advance for any advice

Just Jenney

Sorry, I don't have any advice for you, except that you would be better off posting this in the USA Visas forum, or even the USA Immigration forum. Perhaps one of the moderators can move your thread into one of those forums.

~ Jenney

Vimto

David,
It depends on if your employer has a blanket L1 visa application or is doing yours on an individual basis. My visa in September/October last year took 4 weeks between me filling out and sending off all the forms and copies of passport etc. and me receiving back from my company the L1 application letters to go to the consulate. Having said that I know that the actual letter from the company to the consulate sat almost a week in our HR department because the guy who signed it was on vacation. So the processing time took only 3 weeks for a company with a blanket application.
The time to get the visa into your passport time is taking approx 1 month from applying for an interview with the consulate, having the interview, to you getting your passport back, so getting it all done by Christmas is very doable.
Not sure if your H1 time would count against your L1, I doubt it.
You don’t start the green card process either your employer or your American spouse does. If your company would I would guess they would expect you to work at least 1 year in the US before they start just in case you don’t work out.

BritGuyTN

I did a l1b 4 years back - my company HR dept arsed about for a while, but the actual processing tool 6 weeks, then another 3 for the embassy interview - so 2-3 months total

smeg

My indivudual L1-B application (company doesn't do it often) took about 3 months, 3 weeks of that I was laid up at my parents after surgery so nothing happened during that.

It was very quick, very painless. Suprisingly easy on me.

I believe you can apply for a green card immediately, but can't confirm as I ended up getting married before I filed for the 2 year extension.

Jerseygirl

We came here on L1's...eleven years today and our timeline was roughly the same. From our visit to the US Embassy to us moving her was approx 5 weeks.

Adnams

Whatever you do dont let them send you on a H1B. Its the visa of purgatory. 5 years and still counting. What a load of bollocks.

Jerseygirl

Err...we have been living in the US for 11 yrs...don't need a visa anymore.

Adnams

Sorry I meant to quote the thread orignators post. I know you dont need anything anymore, lucky you.
Guess you have the GC or citizenship? Good for you, at this rate we will be at retiring age before our I-140 is approved.....

Jerseygirl

I didn't realise until I joined BE just how lucky we had been.

Adnams

It totally sucks. If only we had known then we would never have come here. But thats the benfit of hindsight.....

AdobePinon

Sounds like you don't have a very committed employer.

Adnams

I think its the attorney who are crap not the employer. We have always been told that its a procesing back log with labor cert and nothing else. However, I wouldnt be surprised if that was a pack of lies.... :curse:

penguinsix

It does sound like a load of hell. Have you checked the status of your application online at the BCIS website? Might yield some nuggets of information.

I can relate one point that might be of note: In situations where the employer hires an attorney to process the immigration paperwork, the EMPLOYER is the client of the attorney--not the applicant. This can lead to situations where technically, the attorney is not allowed to disclose relevant information to you as you are not the client.

This is a sore point with alot of people who get stuck in some of the cracks. If the attorney is a jerk, be sure to pass it on to your company's HR department (might make a difference for the next guy in line, might not).

Adnams

Thanks! Its been crap but I know a lot of other people on the site took years to process the h1B labor petition. OH's HR department did get on to them and have a fit the other week after OH made a lot of noise. As soon as the I-140 is sorted then we'll be processing the GC and EAD i think at that point we will be the client not the firm?? Correct?? No? OH's emloyer has already said that we can change attoreny for this part of the process, we're just keeping them on until the I-140 is done. Looks like they missed some info off on the 2003 filing so our expedited process which should have taken two weeks now has taken nearly four. :curse: :curse: