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Applying for just the right immigration status for you involves an analysis of your life, employment and family situation.
There may be more than one option available to you. Typically, a person comes to the United States first to visit. Most often this is the sole goal of entering this country.
Thereafter, circumstances evolve so as to create opportunities or desires to stay here for other reasons, and for various periods of time. Therefore, it is possible that one or more statuses can end up as part of your immigration path.
The Temporary Visas and Permanent Residence options contained in this section explain the various categories that exist under U.S. immigration laws. You can click on any of the visa options listed to get a detailed explanation of the specific options.
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L-1 INTRACOMPANY TRANSFERS
The L-1 status is being carefully examined in Congress lately because of abuse of this beautiful status by a small number of petitioners. It is used for managers, executives and those with specialized knowledge of their overseas employer to come to the U.S. quickly to work in a multi-national parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch of the same employer. It requires that the overseas company remain operational. The employee transferred must work for the employer outside the U.S. for at least one out of the past three years. The beauty of this status is that one the petition only takes 30 days and the manager or executive can apply for permanent residence without the need to go through a lengthy labor certification process first. Specialize knowledge L-1s typically go through the lengthier labor certification first before acquiring permanent residence. The status can be used by new companies, and in that situation the visa is good for one year. Otherwise, the status is good initially for three years. The maximum time a manager or executive may remain in the U.S. in L-1 status is seven years; for specialized knowledge aliens, the maximum is five years. Spouses and children under 21 can come as L-2s and may apply for employment authorization.
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