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I'm currently a citizen/resident of the United Kingdom, for the past 3 years I have been working for a US-based startup as their VP of Engineering. For a while now we've been talking about the possibility of me coming to live in the US, I'd like to finally start getting the ball rolling on this, but I'm unsure what the best path forward is.
I've zeroed in on a couple of visa types that might work - the H1-B and L1-A visa. The H1-B seems to be the easiest path forward, but I don't like it because of uncertainty around the lottery system and the timeline. On the other hand the L1-A seems to bypass all of that, but I'm not sure I'm applicable for that visa type.
With the L1-A I have to prove that I've been working in a managerial or executive position within the company for a period of time - which I can. It seems like I would also have to prove that I have been working for an affiliated company in my country of residency, this is where things get tricky. For the past 3 years I have been engaged with the US company directly on an independent contractor basis and the US company does not have any international subsidiaries. I have seen anecdotal evidence that people have been able to obtain L1-As as independent contractors, but nothing confirmed.
My questions is simply - would I be eligible for an L1-A, are there alternatives that I'm overlooking (besides H1-B) ?
Many thanks,
I've zeroed in on a couple of visa types that might work - the H1-B and L1-A visa. The H1-B seems to be the easiest path forward, but I don't like it because of uncertainty around the lottery system and the timeline. On the other hand the L1-A seems to bypass all of that, but I'm not sure I'm applicable for that visa type.
With the L1-A I have to prove that I've been working in a managerial or executive position within the company for a period of time - which I can. It seems like I would also have to prove that I have been working for an affiliated company in my country of residency, this is where things get tricky. For the past 3 years I have been engaged with the US company directly on an independent contractor basis and the US company does not have any international subsidiaries. I have seen anecdotal evidence that people have been able to obtain L1-As as independent contractors, but nothing confirmed.
My questions is simply - would I be eligible for an L1-A, are there alternatives that I'm overlooking (besides H1-B) ?
Many thanks,
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