The Trump administration recently announced a steep new $100,000 fee on fresh H-1B applications, sparking debate about whether the L-1 visa could be a viable alternative.
The L-1 visa has been around for decades, mainly used by multinationals to transfer executives and employees from overseas offices to the U.S.
L1 Visa: Alternative To H-1B?
It is strictly for intra-company transfers. Eligibility requires that an employee has worked abroad for at least one continuous year in the past three years for a parent, subsidiary, branch, or affiliate of the same company.
There are two types: L-1A for executives/managers, and L-1B for those with “specialised knowledge.” Individuals cannot apply; only companies can petition.
Texas-based attorney Chand Parvathaneni explained, “It is an intra-company transfer visa. If you are working for company X in India for a year, you can be transferred to the same company X in the US but you cannot switch to company Y or Z. The rule is very narrow.”
Issuances dipped during the pandemic but recovered: 76,988 visas were granted in FY2019, only 24,863 at the 2021 low, and 76,671 in FY2023. Refusal rates have dropped from about 10% to 3–4%.
Still, Parvathaneni warned, “L-1s have higher rejection rates than H-1Bs because of potential misuse. Specialised knowledge is vague, so consulates in India especially scrutinise them very closely.”
Advantages of L-1 Visa
Advantages include no lottery or quota, the ability to file year-round, and faster “blanket petitions” for big firms. Spouses (on L-2 visas) can also work automatically in the U.S.
But restrictions are steep: employees must have a year abroad in the same company, cannot switch employers, and face hard caps—five years for L-1B, seven for L-1A—with no easy extensions.
Houston-based attorney Rahul Reddy noted, “If a person is more eligible for L-1, they were already bringing them on L-1 because it costs less and keeps them tied to the company. But it’s not easy. Rejections are high because the government wants to make sure the skill set is truly unique.”
Unlike the H-1B, which is capped at 85,000 per year and requires prevailing wage payments, the L-1 has no wage floor. Reddy countered the “cheap labour” argument, saying H-1Bs actually cost more once wages and fees are factored in.
Experts agree the L-1 cannot replace the H-1B. Parvathaneni said companies like Infosys or TCS already use it when employees miss the H-1B lottery, while Reddy added, “It’s not something new.”
Students on F-1 visas are ineligible since they haven’t worked abroad for a year.
The L-1 remains a niche tool—powerful for multinationals but limited for most workers. As Parvathaneni summed up, “H-1B remains the main pathway.”
