advise on moving to the US with international company

[SalishSea 16,770]

12 minutes ago, JFH said:

Whoever told you that fiancé or marriage visas are harder to get than work visas has no idea what they are talking about so stop listening to them. Fiancé and marriage visas are by far the easiest to get.

I think the wait times contribute to this notion.  

[nastra30 1,983]

8 hours ago, prettylilraindrop said:

Thanks for this. However maybe I didn't make it clear. The two people who originally transferred aren't in managerial positions, one of them has the same role as me and it appeared as though whatever visa they had allowed UK citizens to transfer over to the US, therefore allowing multiple people to do so on the same visa situation, as it is difficult to hire people in the US

Can you ask your employer directly what visas specifically those other two employees got? 

[Lizzie123 9]

I assume E2 visa. I had the same when my UK company launched an office in the US. That too was for 5 years.

[Boiler 43,433]

L and E could be used for this situation, E is more easily renewable so I assumed L.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

This is all kinda weird imo

usually company lawyer determines appropriate visa, informs employee and applies for him/her 

not employee trawling VJ to try figure out what visa company may be talking about 

[prettylilraindrop 3]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I have managed to find out from my job that it is the L1 visa that they previously had and that they will need to renew. I assume it's the blanket visa as they send multiple people over at a time. 

 

Just to explain a little more about my job, although I have no formal qualifications, it does take a fair bit of training and learning knowledge on the subject, because of that and because of the competition of IT companies in the US (more specifically Arizona where the office is based) it makes it difficult for them to hire and keep staff in the US. Also because the training here in the UK is better as there are more staff members and the UK is the main office with more resources for training. Hopefully that helps to explain a little more about why they would send me over on this type of visa and why they are wanting to send others out on the same way.

 

To also give some answers on my boyfriend, he lives in SC to AZ would be the other side of the US and he would obviously be happy to move if this was the case.

 

I think the main issue with acquiring the visa is they cant pay the £3000 just for me and know how unfair this would seem to other staff too. I did ask that if I paid for a visa would they still be able to do it and he confirmed that they would, so I don't think the sponsoring on their behalf would be an issue, they are happy to do this and make allowances such as taking it out of my total pay etc. However again this is only if they personally don't renew the visa.

 

I guess my question now is whether the L1 visa is a better route than the marriage/fiancee? I feel it would be just because of the fact the fiancee/marriage has minimum income requirements which my boyfriend's job unfortunately doesn't make so we would have to get a sponsor and go through that process and also with the cost of a wedding and the visa fees I feel it would overall cost more and I would have to wait to work at the end of it. I also wondered if they so go ahead with the L1 visa whether it is easy to extend this or what are my then options for staying in the US more permanently?

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Here on VJ we usually consider it very dodgy when companies make (sorry, “help”) employees pay for their own work visas. Btw - Blanket visas have certain requirements including US employees of 1000 or more and sales of $25m or more. I’m  assuming your company doesn’t meet this if it’s quibbling about the visa fee. If you hadn’t already been working on the ground for them I’d say it sounds likes a scam. something about this whole situation is definitely off. 

 

If money is tight ask yourself how you would feel if you paid the fees and then got refused the visa? Visas are not slam dunks and tbh from what you’ve already said yours wouldn’t be either; fees are paid upfront and not refunded if you are refused. And no there is no permanent path just on an L - doesn’t sound like the company can or will sponsor you for a green card. So it just delays the requirements you need for getting one via marriage. 

 

 

 

[prettylilraindrop 3]

They're not saying I have to pay for it. They're saying they are not sure whether they will be renewing the visa because it expired last year and they may not renew it if they decide on not hiring people here and sending them over to the US. If they decide to do this they will of course pay.

 

The issue they have is how it would look to send JUST me over about pay £3000 for a visa just for me and not able to send anyone else over. I don't think it's a case of not being able to afford it, it's more a case of it not being beneficial for the business to do it solely for one person.

 

Just to add he also didn't offer the concept of me paying for it. What happened was after everything was said I asked if I looked at visas and if they DON'T renew the visa whether if I paid for this whether they would sponsor me/ do their part in helping the transfer and he confirmed they would and that we could make possible arrangements such as potentially taking this out of my yearly outcome or something similar. I had to ask for this option and I asked because ultimately I don't mind paying, any visa you have to pay so I don't mind paying for it instead of the company as I do understand it's a little unfair to expect them to do all of that and go through all paperwork and loops for just me.

 

Also just to explain that they have definitely done this before for 2 previous employees on this same visa, one of which is in the same job role as me. They have both now adjusted their status and are living there permanently so I assume they would meet all the requirements as they have previously done this.

Edited May 9, 2019 by prettylilraindrop

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

26 minutes ago, prettylilraindrop said:

 

 

The issue they have is how it would look to send JUST me over about pay £3000 for a visa just for me and not able to send anyone else over. 

Companies do things like this all the time assuming it is a legit reason to send “just” the one person over. 

 

Anyway, please keep us updated as to how your visa application progresses. 

 

I am am curious as to how the two previous employees adjusted status. 

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

 

I am am curious as to how the two previous employees adjusted status. 

 

Perhaps an I485 based on EB1 type managerial petition. Paperwork counts more than the actual work experience. 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

21 minutes ago, WeGuyGal said:

 

Perhaps an I485 based on EB1 type managerial petition. Paperwork counts more than the actual work experience. 

Does that cost less than a marriage based adjustment?

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

dunno

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

I’d assume “critical paperwork” means a lawyer should be involved which raises the cost. I485 fee I presume is the same regardless of underlying petition? I can’t see it being cheaper, best case same cost? If company won’t pay visa costs I can’t see them paying the filing/adjustment fees.

 

of course OP has to actually successfully get the visa first. We’ve seen before here people who expect to get a visa because their company has successfully sent someone else on the same basis and then get denied - remember the B1 in lieu of H1 guy?

Edited May 9, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[Boiler 43,433]

To make thing clear, the visa is for an individual, some of the OP's post suggest that it is attached to the Company, the Company needs nothing.

 

So lets assume 2 people came over and they were sponsored by the Company for Green Cards and may be still working for the Company.

 

If the Company needs more employees and can not find anybody locally then somebody being sent from the UK is not a question of fairness, one of need.

 

Obviously it would if practical be cheaper to employ somebody locally rather than relocate but that is not always possible.

 

Being moved to the US from the UK would usually entail a substantial pay rise, and of course relocation costs, the visa cost is chump change.

 

[JulienR 92]

I'll put the whole debate about who is paying what aside, you have to sort that out with your employer.

 

Sounds to me like your best option if you want ot be there rather quickly is the L1B "specialized knowledge" visa since your are not a manager. You indicated that, although you don't have formal qualification, your job is quite specific and requires significant training in the UK so that could qualify as "specialized knowledge". You'll have to convince the officer at the embassy with supporting documents from your employer but it sounds like they did that before. It is not clear if your company has a blanket petition or not. A blanket petition will make things faster but you wouldn't actually qualify for it because companies can transfer only professionals as "specialized knowledge" employees under a blanket petition. So they would need to sponsor you individually in parallel of their blanket petition. The L visa is a dual intent-visa, that means that even though it's a non-immigrant visa for 3 years, you can go to the US with the intent of staying there permanenelty (on other visas, that would be a fraud). You'll basically have two options to become a permanent resident through adjustment of status: either your employer sponsors you or you get married. The easiest way would be to get married.

 

If the L1 way doesn't work, you can still apply for a a fiancée visa. It will take longer to be processed and approved (although maybe not if you don't qualify for the blanket petition) but should be granted if you have sufficient evidence that your relationship is genuine.