E Visa or L Visa? Why I Like the E Visa Better than the L-1A For Small Business Executives and Managers
There are many visa options for foreigners who would like to live and work in the United States. Simply put, the correct visa depends on the background of the person (education, experience, etc.) and the details of the U.S. company (who will own it, product and service offerings, number of expected employees in the U.S., etc.). But when the visa applicant is destined to an executive or manager position, the two main options are the E-visa and the L-1A visa.
The main difference between the E and L-1A visas is that to obtain the L-1A there must be an affiliate company abroad. For example, the U.S. company can be wholly owned by the foreign company, the foreign company can own the U.S. company, or the same owner(s) can own both companies. In addition, the visa applicant has to have worked at the affiliate abroad for at least one year within the previous three years before coming to the United States.
At this point in the analysis, either the client will have worked for an affiliate abroad or not. If he or she had worked abroad then both E and L-1A visas are on the table. If he or she is coming to start a new company in the U.S. and there is no foreign affiliate, then only the E visa will be on the table.
Many people rave at the benefits of the L-1A visa over the E visa. The main reason is that later the applicant can petition residency through the company and not have to deal with the Labor Cert (PERM) process. I admit that this is a significant benefit, but there are many more benefits to the E visa that in my opinion beat out the L-1A visa for small businesses time and time again. Here is why:
Benefit #1 – You don’t have to deal with USCIS
Some visas have to be petitioned first with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), also known as “Immigration”, and after an approval by USCIS the petition is sent to the U.S. embassy or consulate abroad for a second (and simple) approval by the U.S. Department of State (DOS). Therefore, there are two main steps in the process for visas like the L visa. However, when you petition an E visa, you can petition directly to the DOS at your closest U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country. So for the E visa the DOS is completing the main adjudication of your petition, and for an L-1A visa USCIS is completing the main adjudication.
I like dealing with the DOS better than USCIS. The main reason is that when you take a successful business person with a good business plan and put them in front of a DOS officer at the embassy or consulate, if the company has begun investing it becomes hard for the DOS officer to look that business person in the eyes and deny the E visa petition.
However, if you are petitioning an L-1A visa you don’t get the benefit of face to face interaction. In fact, you can’t even speak with the actual officer. It is basic human nature that it is easier to deny something when you don’t have to look the person that you are denying in the eyes. Therefore, the standards for passing a petition through USCIS seem to be higher in some cases.
Benefit #2 – It costs less
We all like to spend less, right? The E visa has a grand total of $270.00 in government fees, whereas the L-1A visa costs $2,240.00 in government fees. Simple mathematics. Also, remember that you will have to pay those same fees again in one year because a small business will only get their first L-1A for one year. So take that $2,240 and double it, and add my fees to that again too.
Benefit #3 – It lasts longer
The L-1A visa can only last a total of 7 years, whereas the E visa can last for the rest of your life as long as the company is in operation. You will have to renew it over the years but there is no general time limit.
Benefit #4 – It has a smaller employee requirement
This point is central for small businesses. For both visas the applicant must be an executive or manager. This means that the applicant should not be completing the day to day operational tasks of the U.S. company, like billing clients, shipping orders, etc. But USCIS’s standard for this, in my experience, is much higher than the DOS. What happens is you get the L-1A visa and you need to show that within one year you will have 3-5 employees, then three years from then you need to show 5-7 employees. But when you get the E visa, depending on the type of company, you can operate forever with 2-3 employees, and sometimes you only need one employee under the applicant! This all depends on the type of work, but suffice it to say that DOS is a bit more lax on the employee requirement.
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One part that I did not mention is that the E visa is only available for foreigners from certain countries (see http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/treaty.html). So the basic analysis between the L-1A and E visa is: 1) are you from a country on the E treaty list?, and 2) do you have a company abroad?
From there the applicant really needs to decide what level of oversight he or she wants from the U.S. government on how they run their business. If you are going to have less employees, an E visa may be the right visa. If you are going to have more than 10 employees and want residency then the L-1A is probably better. But for my money the E visa is a great option even for people who would qualify for the L-1A due to the benefits mentioned above.
– John