USA
USEB-5
USEB-5 short form of US employment based 5th preference created in 1990 by US Government to stimulate US economy through job creation and foreign national investment.
USCIS Governs the EB-5 Program, under this program the entrepreneurs are required to make a foreign direct investment of USD 1 Million or USD 500,000 within targeted employment area or rural area.
To be eligible as an Eb5 investor
- Must investment USD 1 million or USD 500,000 in targeted employment area where the unemployment is 150% of the US national unemployment rate or make an investment in a rural area.
- Capital investment cannot be borrowed.
- Capital Investment could be cash or equipment or inventory or any other tangible property.
- The Business or the USEB5 project must create or preserve at least 10 full time jobs for qualifying US worker for a min period of 2 years.
The flow chart below shows brief about the program:
L1 Visa
L1 Visa is an Intra company transfer to facilitate temporary foreign worker/workers in a managerial executive or specialised knowledge category.
L1 is sub categorised as L1A, L1B or person is allowed to remain in L1B status (specialised knowledge employees) for up to 5 years, or L1A status (managers/executives) for up to 7 years. Time spent in L-1 counts against the 6 year limit in H1B status and vice versa. There is no cap for the number of L-1s as there is for the H1B category.
Processing time varies: Once the petition is filed, adjudication typically takes 2 - 3 months. Premium processing is available for L-1 petitions, meaning that the employer can pay a fee (currently $1,225) and the government will adjudicate the case within 15 days.
A foreign national in L-1 status may typically change status to H1B from within the U.S to know more about options available get in touch with our team of immigration experts
The L-1 visa has two subcategories: L-1A for executives and managers, and L-1B for workers with specialized knowledge
L1A- for Managers and Executives is a very good option as you can directly file for EB-1c Green card without the need for labour certification and may be get your Green card within a year
L1B - You have to show that you have special skill of knowledge based on you education and experience to file the visa through the company you are working it may take a week to a month based on how efficient your attorney and company is to prepare all the docs. once file it takes about 2-3 months for approval and could be done faster (15 working days) if you file for premium processing at $1225 about changing to H1-b. That is possible to do. If L1-B yeah may be you want to convert to H1-B to change employer etc. but if you are L1A it will be better to go for EB1-c green card by concurrently filling I-140 and I-485 if your situation allows you to do that.