K-1 and L-1 Question

[IAmTheRainKing 3]

My fiancée has her K-1 interview next week. When she informed her company (a global organization), they said they didnt' want to lose her and offered her a role in the USA. They also offered to do an L-1 Visa so she could still work instead of waiting the 3-6 months for the work authorization to come through.

 

Our immigration lawyer said that we should still go through with the K-1 Visa process as her company is starting the L-1 process a in a few weeks, and said that if the L-1 does get approved we can cancel out the K-1. Has anyone had a similar experience with this? If so, has it been an easy process or are there things we need to be careful about?

[payxibka 10,044]

2 minutes ago, IAmTheRainKing said:

My fiancée has her K-1 interview next week. When she informed her company (a global organization), they said they didnt' want to lose her and offered her a role in the USA. They also offered to do an L-1 Visa so she could still work instead of waiting the 3-6 months for the work authorization to come through.

 

Our immigration lawyer said that we should still go through with the K-1 Visa process as her company is starting the L-1 process a in a few weeks, and said that if the L-1 does get approved we can cancel out the K-1. Has anyone had a similar experience with this? If so, has it been an easy process or are there things we need to be careful about?

How long will it take to complete the L1?  A k1 once issued has a relatively short validity period.   The k1 may expire before any decision is rendered on the L1.  

[IAmTheRainKing 3]

1 minute ago, payxibka said:

How long will it take to complete the L1?  A k1 once issued has a relatively short validity period.   The k1 may expire before any decision is rendered on the L1.  

Thankfully her company is enormous and has an entire team focused on this. They said L-1 takes 2-4 months, however they could pay a fee to have that time drastically reduced (e.g. weeks). Since the K-1 is valid for 6 months, there should be no issues in timing as they plan on starting L-1 in the next 2 weeks.

[JFH 12,189]

It’s a blanket L-1? If so, it’ll be very quick as the company is already “approved” and it will just be a case of assessing her eligibility to receive the visa.

So the company has an office or branch close to or in your home town? Or are you relocating with her? Does the company know that she plans to marry you and apply for AOS as soon as she arrives and that they could then lose her as an employee after paying thousands for her visa and relocation fees? Once she has her EAD/GC she can work anywhere for any employer (with the exception of a few federal roles that require one to be a USC). 

Edited September 5, 2019 by JFH

[IAmTheRainKing 3]

2 minutes ago, JFH said:

It’s a blanket L-1? If so, it’ll be very quick as the company is already “approved” and it will just be a case of assessing her eligibility to receive the visa.

So the company has an office or branch close to or in your home town? Or are you relocating with her? Does the company know that she plans to marry you and apply for AOS as soon as she arrives and that they could then lose her as an employee after paying thousands for her visa and relocation fees? Once she has her EAD/GC she can work anywhere for any employer (with the exception of a few federal roles that require one to be a USC). 

Yes, her company is massive and does L1's all the time and is already approved.

 

Yes, they have an office where I live (New York) and she will be moving in with me.

 

They do know her plan to marry, but they also know she wants to remain with the company. She's invested a lot of time there and believe it's worth the investment. They're not paying for her relocation, just for the fees required for the Visa.

[Hank_ 9,173]

Correct me if I am wrong.   If she acquires the L-1 visa and entered the USA, then gets married (forget the K-1), could she then file the I-485 for Adjustment of Status along with the I-130?   While the I-485 is being processed her L-1 work visa is still valid.     I have read of this being done fairly often.

 

 

[payxibka 10,044]

L-1 is dual intent.    Adjustment of status means exactly that.  Your original status category doesn't change until a decision is made on the adjustment of status application