The return of the U.S. manufacturing industry has attracted foreign capital to build factories in the United States. Many Chinese enterprises have purchased or leased commercial real estate in the United States and started to build factories. In doing so, they have optimized their procurement costs, shortened the supply chain time, and increased their profits.
But they are facing new challenges as well. As a result of moving to the United States: recruitment is difficult. Local employees require strict professional and technical training before they can take up their posts, while many of the most talented technicians of these Chinese companies have only high school diplomas and do not understand English. These talented technicians are not able to work in the newly established U.S. factories for a long time. The commonly used U.S. B1 business visa allows a maximum period of stay of 6 months, and the type of activities these technicians can engage in during their stay on B1 visa are also limited. In reality, when many of the skilled technicians or engineers of Chinese companies go to the U.S. embassy or consulate in China to apply for a B1 visa, their applications will be denied outright, because the consular officer thinks that they are going to the US for work rather than for a short-term business trip.
So, the allowed period of stay under the B1 visa is short, and there is no guarantee that the B1 visa will be approved in the first place. Also, these experienced technicians of the Chinese company do not meet the eligibility criteria for the H1B because of their high school education. How do we solve this problem? The immigration team of MOSAIC Paradigm Law Group PC (“MPLG”) recommends applying for an L1B visa. The L1B visa is a non-immigrant visa. It is a visa that is very useful for multinational companies to send their professional employees with relevant knowledge to work in the United States. L1B visa can be renewed for up to 5 years. Take as an example those Chinese companies that try to send technicians to their U.S. subsidiaries or affiliated companies, let’s see below a number of advantages that only the L1B visa can offer to these companies:
The H1B visa requires the applicant to have at least a bachelor’s degree or above that is recognized by the United States; one of the most important conditions for the approval of the H1B visa application is that the professional courses the applicant has received match the future job’s duties’ requirements. For experienced technicians of Chinese companies, there are usually three situations in terms of academic qualifications. 1) The Chinese technician has a bachelor's degree or above from a Chinese university and can thus participate in the H1B lottery through academic certification; 2) The Chinese technicians received a college education. In this situation, for example, technicians whose majors are, say, mechanical engineering and computer science can obtain a bachelor's degree from a certification institution by combining a specialist degree with years of relevant technical work experience, and thus can also participate in the H1b lottery and application; 3) The Chinese technician graduated from high school but has many years of work experience.
This third situation does not meet the requirements H1B applicants. However, the Chinese technician can still be sent to work for the U.S. companies by applying for L1B visas. One of the biggest advantages of the L1B visas is that they do not have requirements for academic/educational credentials, but only care about work experience and relevant knowledge. Therefore, applying for an H1B visa is not the only way for Chinese companies to send Chinese employees to their U.S. companies. The immigration team of MPLG has accumulated more than ten years of practical experience and can provide corporate clients with different L1B strategies, by which Chinese employers of various positions and levels can be sent to the United States.
Concerning this matter, many managers will ask-is the L1B visa suitable only for purely technical workers? The answer is of course not. In fact, the L1B visa can benefit many types of positions. In addition to your common L1B mechanical engineers, workshop directors, product testers, IT engineers, oilfield workers, employees in other positions, such as senior sales personnel, senior procurement personnel, senior financial personnel, consultants, and even futures traders can be sent to work in the United States on L1B visas. The key to L1B approval is to prove to the USCIS that the knowledge and skills the applicant possesses are rare, unique, or advanced.
For example, a Chinese company hopes to put into operation in its U.S. factory a self-developed, high-tech intelligent manufacturing automation assembly line, and the Chinese company’s own electrical engineers, production managers, and purchasing personnel may have the unique or advanced knowledge/skills required by the L1B visas-because they are familiar with the equipment installation and operation management of Chinese factories, including unique electrical appliances, production lines, production techniques, production process, material demand, and customer groups, etc.
(To Be Continued)
Disclaimer: The information provided on the website of MOSAIC Paradigm Law Group is for general reference purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an effective relationship with our clients. The firm has taken reasonable measures to ensure the accuracy of the information provided but does not guarantee its completeness, accuracy, or timeliness. Therefore, you should not rely on the information on this website as a basis for making decisions or taking action. The firm does not assume any responsibility or liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage resulting from using or relying on this website's information. The firm may provide links to third-party websites. These third-party links are for convenience only. The firm makes no warranties or representations regarding such third-party websites' content, accuracy, or reliability. You should assume all risks when visiting these links.
