Difference Between an L1 Visa and an H1B Visa

Visas are necessary to travel to any country for any purpose. It is also necessary if you are planning to travel and work in a foreign country. 

As US visas are coveted among some professionals, let us look at the various types of US work visas, namely the L1 and H1B visas.

The Historical Background

The US Congress introduced the L1 visa way back in 1970 to facilitate foreign companies in their capacity of affiliation to a US firm in deputing employees for US operations. The USCIS Policy Manual Vol 2 Part L defines requirements for the intra-company transferees and their relevant visa petitions. It had the following conditions -

• The foreign company must be an affiliate of the US firm

• The foreign company delegating and employing the services must continuously do active business, providing goods and services

• The US company also must be doing active business continuously, providing goods and services

• The employee must be in continuous employment with the foreign company for one year in an executive, managerial or specialized knowledge capacity and to be deployed in the US in a similar role

• The Policy Manual Part L has ten chapters that deal with different aspects of this particular visa category

• This includes the two subtypes of the L1 visa, the L1A, and L1B. L1A is for managerial employees, while L1B is for extraordinarily skilled employees

L1A Visa

In a visa petition for L1A, the employee must cite evidence for holding a high managerial position with discretionary power and little/general supervision of higher management. The role demands evidence for authority and allows for a mix of job duties.

Part A of Chapter 3 defines salient points in the Determination of Managerial or Executive job duties of the beneficiary, and Part B further touches upon still finer points in deciding whether the job duties are managerial or executive.

Interesting to note that the petitioner or the beneficiary may be the company's owner as specified in Part B; however, holding designations like Director or President without direct engagement in management does not qualify for the L1 beneficiary.

Merits of an L1A Visa

The advantages of having an L1A visa are as follows - 

• Allows for the highest span of stay of 7 years, which is granted in increments of up to 3 years

• Allows easier transition for permanent residence sponsorship through EB-1C cadre. The employer can waive the labor certification process involved in employment-based green card applications.

Demerits of an L1A Visa

The V1A visa has two disadvantages, which are -

• Demands more stringent scrutiny of cited pieces of evidence by the USCIS

• Status is temporary

L1B Visa

The second type of L visa is awarded to non-immigrating employees with unique skill sets or knowledge evidenced to be not possessed by others in the petitioning organization and the relevant industry.  

Chapter 4 of the USCIS Policy Manual deals with the category of a visa petition involving beneficiaries with specialized knowledge. Part A of this chapter defines what exactly is to be considered technical knowledge by the scrutinizing officer.

Such knowledge or skill set must be narrowly held in the petitioner's organization, and the US position must involve the skill set offered to the petitioning employee. The employee also must have one year of continuous employment in a similar or higher (managerial/executive) role) within the preceding three years.

Merits of an L1B Visa

The merits of an L1B visa are listed below - 

• Works as a plan-B for the employer who could not secure an H1B visa for select employees in the US

• An employer qualifying as a multinational can submit a petition for an H1B failed employee as long as they are sufficiently experienced to fit the definition of having specialized knowledge

Demerits of an L1B Visa

The demerits of an L1B visa are as follows -

• The least duration of stay allowed is of five years, in two increments of 3 years and two years

• More petitions are rejected due to stringent scrutinization of the definition of specialized knowledge

• Green card sponsorship by the employer must involve US labor market testing for a mandatory certification obligated by regulations

H1B Visa

The USCIS Policy Manual Volume 2, which deals with non-immigrant visas, covers this variant in its Part H. Like the L visas, this too is a temporary visa granted to qualifying petitioners with specialized skills in high demand in the US.

Such specialty occupation fields are like, but not limited to -

• Medicine

• Architecture

• Technology

• Mathematics

• Science

The applicant must meet the following criteria -

• A bachelor's degree or its foreign equivalent in the specialized skill

• The petitioning employer must demonstrate the non-availability of a qualified US candidate for the same

• Applicant to have thorough, expert-level knowledge in the particular skill set/discipline

Salient Differences Between L1 and H1B Visas

Now that we have discussed the types of L1 visas and the H1B visas, let us look at the major differences between the L1 and H1B visas - 

You require visas to travel to a foreign country, and there are various types of visas - including work, tourist, and student visas. L1 and H1B are work visas issued by the US government to non-immigrant employees of a foreign company.

These employees can be working at a foreign subsidiary of a US company, or a foreign branch of a US multinational company. These visas were introduced for companies hiring foreign nationals for their specific skill sets to improve or expand their businesses. 

Please note that both of these are temporary visas issued by the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS).