Hi, I'm European and currently working for a company based in the Bay Area. I'll probably have to relocate there and I may be able to choose between asking for a L1-B or H1-B visa, I have been reading online about differences between the two but wanted to get some more feedback and hopefully personal experiences.
This is a very high level comparison I was able to pull up for the two visas (in bold is what I find to be better between the two visas):
| H1-B | L1-B | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4k - $6k | $2k - $5k |
| CAP on emitted visas | Yes | No |
| Time for approval | 4-6 months | 4-6 weeks |
| Wages | Requires minimum prevailing wage for the job role and location | No minimum wage requirements |
| Duration | 6 years and can be extended (eg. if GC process is in place) | 5 years, no extensions |
| Work limitations | Can work for other companies too | Can only work for company sponsoring the visa |
| Benefits for spouse | Cannot work in the US | Can work in the US |
| *Other | Employer cannot ask for repayment of visa costs | Employer can ask for repayment of visa costs if the employee leaves the company before a time window (eg. 2 years) |
* Read about this on a couple of threads on this sub, haven't found any hard proof.
Assuming the above is correct (please let me know if not), I have some additional questions I was not able to find answer to:
- Given the L1-B visa is tied to the expertise in one role in a company, would I be able to change role/team within that same company? Eg. if I'm hired as a software engineer, would I be able to switch to a data engineer position, which could be considered to be a similar job?
- What's the downside of not having a minimum wage with L1-B? Do I risk of getting hired with a lower salary compared to a person on my same role but on H1-B?
- Besides the lottery, if you were able to choose between L1-B and H1-B what would pick? I would probably go with the latter because of the freedom it gives and the minimum wage requirements, but curious to hear other thoughts too
Thanks a lot for your help
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/kmi16z/l1b_vs_h1b_what_would_you_choose_if_both_were_not/