1. Very Different Functions
for U.S. Businesses
There are some major differences between the
H-1B visa and the L1 visa. The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to
hire highly educated foreign professionals on a temporary basis who provide
specialized or unique skills/expertise and relieve temporary U.S. worker
shortages.
In contrast, multinational employers use the L1
visa to transfer to U.S. their own foreign national executives or managers
or employees who possess specialized or advanced knowledge. To be eligible for
L1 visa, the employee must be hired by a multinational foreign company at
least one year during the last three years.
The L1 and H-1B visa
programs serve very different functions for U.S. businesses. The
requirements
for the two visa categories reflect these differences. H-1B visas are granted
to professionals in specialty occupations to provide needed specialized or
unique skills, relieve temporary worker shortages, and supply global market
expertise. To be eligible for an H-1B visa, a foreign national must possess at
least a U.S. bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in a specific field.
By contrast, the L1 visa is designed for the more narrow purpose of helping international
companies transferring managers, executives, and employees with specialized
knowledge to assist affiliated U.S. based operations.
No degree must be met for L1 eligibility, because
an
applicant’s general educational qualifications are not relevant to this visa
category. Instead,
the L1 visa is used to enhancing an international business’s flexibility
and productivity, such as the length and type of specific experience gained
with the affiliated business entity.
2.
Very Different Employer's
Obligations
Employers must pay an
H-1B worker the higher of the prevailing wage for the position, or the actual
wage paid to similarly employees. They must also file a petition form with the
U.S. Labor Department agreeing to certain conditions. As part of the process,
they must fulfill other obligations such as publicly posting a notice of the
offered position at the place of employment, and providing notice of the hire
to any union representatives.
L1
employers are not
required to make similar petitions with
the U.S. Labor Department,
because L1 employees technically do not constitute new hires that could
displace U.S. workers. Rather, the L1 employee is being transferred
temporarily within
the
company to add value or provide expertise based on their international
experience with the company.
H-1B employers must
satisfy additional obligations if they employ a certain number or percentage
of H-1B employees. These employers are considered to be H-1B dependent and
must demonstrate that their hires of H-1B employees have not resulted in the
displacement of U.S. workers.
The L1 program does
not limit the number of L1 employees that can be hired. The L1 visa usage is
much lower than the H-1B visa usage. Unlike the H-1B visa, there are no provisions
under the L1 category allowing for portability of
employment
to unaffiliated entities, and no extensions of L1 stay beyond the maximum
five-year or
seven-year
limit. Thus, the L1 category is more restrictive than the H-1B visa category
in some ways.
The number of H-1B
visas available in any fiscal year is capped. U.S. Congress has not
placed any limit on the number of L1 visas that can be issued in a given year,
because the number of new L1 visa applicants in a given year is
insignificant. Such a cap would be unwise, because it would unnecessarily limit
the flexibility of U.S. or foreign employers who need to bring in L1 visa
holders to fulfill specific tasks.
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